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Old 01-25-2009, 10:45 AM
 
10 posts, read 30,007 times
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Out of the following towns, which do you feel are the best to live with 2 teenage boys ages 16 & 14 with regards to high schools & things to do in town so they're not too bored. My 14 year old loves skateboarding & my 16 year old plays guitar & loves playing in bands. He is currently attending Paul Green's School of Rock in NY & I know there is a location in SF so while we aren't looking into living in SF I don't want to be more than 1/2 hr-45min away. These are the towns we are interested in:
Benicia
Petaluma
Napa
Concord
Walnut Creek
Healdsburg
Novato
Sonoma
Livermore
Any suggestions &/or advise would be greatly appreciated
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Old 01-25-2009, 10:55 AM
 
Location: 38°14′45″N 122°37′53″W
4,156 posts, read 11,013,417 times
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ok. this one's easy!

Petaluma.

While the P-town skatepark is old and has no coping anywhere...you can't chuck a stick in downtown historic West Petaluma without hitting a bunch of 11-18 year old skaterboarders!

Granted the drive into SF is at about 40 minutes non-commute times...but Petaluma is also filled with musicians, Tall Toad Music store, The Mystic, The Phoenix and it's a great location to get to the excellent skateparks in San Rafael, Healdsburg, Novato, SF, Berkeley and there's also a Northern California Skate circuit too...
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Old 01-25-2009, 11:29 AM
 
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Default Thanks!

Wow thanks so much for the info & quick response! I checked out The Phoenix & Mystic web sites & they look like awesome places. Do you have any info on the high schools there?
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Old 01-25-2009, 11:37 AM
 
Location: 38°14′45″N 122°37′53″W
4,156 posts, read 11,013,417 times
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Yep. There are 2 major High Schools. There's also St. Vincent's Catholic High School as well.

Petaluma High on the West side of town

Casa Grande on the East side of town.

to get an idea of what's going on around petaluma see:

Petaluma | Petaluma360.com | Petaluma Argus-Courier | Petaluma, CA

and see also

http://www.aquscafe.com
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Old 01-25-2009, 11:38 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bellalunatic View Post
ok. this one's easy!

Petaluma
I agree with Petaluma. They may get bored out of their minds in the other cities. No offence to anyone.

I would add Walnut Creek & Concord as runner ups. Just because they have good high schools and there seem to be a lot of teens there.
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Old 01-25-2009, 11:50 AM
 
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Thanks once a agin for the helpful responses. Regarding the east side & west side of the town of Petaluma, is there a difference? Some towns have a good side & a bad side or does it not really matter in this case. I guess I'm trying to narrow down areas to search for houses.
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Old 01-25-2009, 12:34 PM
 
Location: 38°14′45″N 122°37′53″W
4,156 posts, read 11,013,417 times
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It's not necessarily that one side is better or worse than the other, it is that they are vastly different.
The original side of town (West) is a more walkable place since the town grew naturally from the 1850's there are lots and lots of victorians, and slews of homes from the pre 1950's but there are also now loft type spaces near the river and some McMansion type developments further out into the ranch land area.
The home prices do tend to be on average, more expensive on the West side, although there are quite pricey homes in some subdivisions on the East side.
The East side grew straight out of the planning department's minds back in the 50's after the 101 was completed. It's much more car oriented and it's pretty much various subdivisions, very typical suburban and has zero historic character.
The Old East side of town is wedged between the Petaluma River and the 101...west of 101. It is an more up and coming neighborhood with working class bungalows, mostly from the 20's - 40's and on the Southern part of the neighborhood along East D street is especially walkable to downtown west side...
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Old 01-25-2009, 04:55 PM
 
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Regarding the 2 high schools: is one better than the other or is there not much of a difference.
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Old 01-25-2009, 07:09 PM
 
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I did my student teaching at Casa Grande and it seemed like an alright place. There is a good diversity of courses (and students) there. They have tracking which I am not a fan of, but so does Petaluma High so whatcanya do?

My cousins go/went to Petaluma High and they love/ed it.

I def. agree with the posters who say Petaluma. The teens who live there actually have places to hang out and stuff to do (unlike Napa...which seems to be very teen-unfriendly).
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Old 01-25-2009, 07:48 PM
 
Location: NorCal and Vegas!
269 posts, read 977,237 times
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Come up north, easy choice if you don't mind the commute. It does grate on you after a while going into SF....did it for a year, then I did a commute into Oakland for a year. Sounds good in principle but in actuality, it sucks. We have no BART and no rail like the South Bay does. Easily an hour or two into SF. You WILL look for job here in county very soon. If you need to be here....look into Santa Rosa too.
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