Living in Santa Rosa
Parent Q&A
Don't forget to consider Sonoma County - just move north from Marin! From my perspective, Santa Rosa meets all your criteria: warmer weather, good lot size (depending on the neighborhood, of course), potentially more bang for your buck (but not the "bargain" it once was, coming from Alameda or Marin counties), very close to nature with a general community emphasis on getting outside - Spring Lake Regional Park, Annadel State park, all the Sonoma County parks, the Russian River, Hwy 12 down the back to Glen Ellen and Sonoma - all very close. Yet it's a fully functional city with easily accessible amenities. There is a vibrant tennis and pickleball community at the Howarth Park courts, SF is an easy trip at off-traffic hours (much easier from here than the deep East Bay - I'd rather take the GGB than the Bay Bridge any day). We moved here 2 years ago and the community has been very welcoming - we love our neighborhood and find our neighbors and other school families to be generally quite liberal and progressive, like us. To be honest, Santa Rosa now reminds me more of the Berkeley I knew growing up than the current Berkeley does now. Work with a good realtor and they'll help you hone in on your ideal city/town - maybe it's not Santa Rosa, but perhaps you'd love Windsor, or Healdsburg, or Sebastopol. (I know a GREAT Sonoma County realtor, feel free to reach out if you want a name!)
After 30 years in the East Bay, we moved to Santa Rosa with our then middle & high school age kids a couple of yrs ago. We looked at Grass Valley/Nevada City due our love of the outdoors and proximity to skiing, but the conservative environment and lack of opportunities for the kids was a no-go. That county is the whitest in California and it shows. Our realtor & friends there tried to convince me that things have changed because there weren't as many confederate flags as when they moved there 15 or so years ago. That stuff doesn't just disappear, and instead they were replaced with Trump flags. I talked to a teacher from the public high school our kids would've gone to (very poorly rated btw) and he said that his students of Mexican descent complain of being called racial slurs on a daily basis. I knew, especially as a BIPOC, that it was far beyond what I could tolerate to have a more affordable lifestyle. Also, the constant fire risk was a huge factor. Insurance is increasingly harder to get and/or astronomically expensive, and a fire would wipe you out, leaving us with nothing for old age or our kids' futures. Driving around looking at homes I couldn't fathom what it would be like to evacuate in the event of another fire like Paradise.
Santa Rosa has been a great for us. We're less than an hour to the beach, and it's just a little bit longer than before to get to Tahoe. The East Bay & SF is only an hour away, so we go down frequently to see friends, go to museums and shows (2 people for carpool in North Bay instead of 3 helps!). We also get to regularly enjoy other great towns like Petaluma and Sonoma. The pace of life is calmer, and it is a food and culturally rich city. The bike path system is excellent, as are the many hiking trails, and the kids get around for free on the local bus system. There are museums, lots going on downtown, and great summer programs through the school and parks & rec department for the kids. This includes free camps, and work experience programs for teens. Politically it's still relatively progressive and blue voting. Sure, I've run into more conservatives than I did in the East Bay, and I have one neighbor with a blue lives matter flag, but there's a live and let vibe here.
The cost of living is considerably less as well, from everything from vet and dental services to getting your car fixed, not to mention housing. There are some bad parts of Santa Rosa but otherwise it is so much safer here. It is a stark contrast to read NextDoor up here versus down there, for ex. there are significantly fewer break-ins and catalytic converter thefts (I've not seen one post about either in our neighborhood in the last 3 years). We've left power tools in the backseat of our car parked on the curb on a busy street w/out issue.
Drawbacks are that I do have to do more driving than before to shop and go out, and it's not feasible for my kids to get to school on their own. Also, their friends are more spread out since kids at school come from all over, but now that they're older they can take public transportation safely. I also miss the rich diversity of the East Bay pretty much everywhere you go, which isn't always the case here. There is also the risk of fires depending on your neighborhood, but there are some neighborhoods (for ex around the hospital) that almost never lose power or have to evacuate.
We moved from Piedmont Ave/Oakland area to Santa Rosa.
SUMMERFIELD - Our friends have two children at Summerfield. They are finding that their high schooler was ill-prepared for the PSAT given the coursework for high school kids. He will need to take online and week-long intensives for the SATs. The focus of the school is on nature, farming and outdoors education. It is in many ways a 19th century education. Camping trips are scheduled throughout the school year. Any sports needs will need to met outside of the school community as there is very little to offer in that regards. For the younger ones, there is no learning the alphabet until grade 2 or 3. Our friends said that the kids did this in first and second grade: cut out dolls and whittling. I think for the little ones it is probably a wonderful and wholesome environment. I like that technology is not the focus of the school, until 10th grade. Many families chose Sonoma Academy prep for high school, leaving after 8th grade.
FIRES... this is the main reason we will be moving away after our son graduates from HS. I live in the Montgomery Village area and we have been spared from actual damage and power shut-offs. We can't escape the air though. I developed a lung infection after the first set of fires in 2017. I know of at least ten women who did so as well - all ages too, not just middle aged like me LOL. It was a sad and incredibly tense time after the fires. We all know someone who lost a home (I know of 8 families) and it is devastating. We have PTSD - every time we hear a fire truck siren.
NICE AREAS - Petaluma is very quaint and I love going there to dine and shop. Petaluma has been lucky and has avoided fires, so I would assume it is a safer area of Sonoma County. Your neighbors will be from a broad spectrum including old timers who work in agriculture, hip chef-owners, and escapees from SF who wanted more land. Sebastopol is the "Berkeley" of Sonoma County. I love it there too. It is a smallish city with craftsman homes and rural homesteads. A progressive area. Sebastopol was at-risk to fires during the Kincaide fires of 2019. They survived. Feel free to ask me about other issues.
Archived Q&A and Reviews
| Questions about Living in Santa Rosa | Related Pages |
2008 - 2012 Reviews
April 2012
Re: Moving from NYC with 13yo - need affordable and safe
Have you considered Santa Rosa? Lots of food and beverage jobs around here since it's the Sonoma wine country and you can find decent housing in your price range especially in one of the historic neighborhoods near downtown. School quality varies so you should definitely examine that closely but there are some excellent public charter schools in addition to neighborhood schools. Santa Rosa's population is greater than 160K so while it's certainly much smaller than many cities, it's not a teeny tiny town either. Santa Rosan
Unplugging from the Bay Area - to Santa Rosa?
Has anyone moved to Santa Rosa - from the Bay Area - and really enjoying it? Certainly, there are trade-offs. Thanks. unplugging
Moved from Berkeley to Santa Rosa in about 1987 because I wanted to get out, too. I also have an uncle who moved from Stockton to Santa Rosa in about 1980 because they also wanted to get out. For me, Santa Rosa was a spectacular change--I always remember feeling the pressure lift every time I crossed the Richmond Bridge heading north. Santa Rosa Junior College was a big pull for me as well. Great school and then went on to Sonoma State U. I stayed in Sonoma County until about 1997 when job pulled me back into the Bay Area. At that time, Santa Rosa was great--not too sure about now, though. I think it's changed a lot, but it's far enough removed from the Bay Area that some of the nuances of rural must exist. Take a drive up there and get a room for the weekend and drive around. Go to the colleges, talk to locals, hang out at either of the malls, eat at some restaurants . . . Been There, Done That
I can't answer all of your question, but may be able to give you some perspective. I grew up in Santa Rosa, moved to Berkeley for college and then have moved to four very different places. In my final two moves we considered moving back to the East Bay, but opted for other places. The East Bay has a great view of San Francisco, but beyond that, there was so much else that we were looking for and the East Bay just couldn't provide it. So, I guess to answer the second part of your question - yes, it is possible to live outside the East Bay and like it.
Whether you will like it or not is a different story. There are trade-offs. But, from my point of view now (married with two kids), we have gained far more than we have lost.
If I were heading to Sonoma County now, I would head to West Sonoma County. If you have kids, the Oak Grove Elementary School/Willowside Charter Schools are unique, thoughtful learning environments (safe, clean and free, too which is always a bonus). Your 'city' would be Sebastopol. You'd be living on the edge of the Russian River Valley filled with creative types who dropped out of the Bay Area in the 60s and haven't really left. West Sonoma County is filled with 'hippy red-necks' (yes, it is possible to be the same thing in the same person...very crunchy left wingers who voted for Obama but drive pick-ups and shoot rabbits for dinner). Hm, maybe a better way to describe it would be 'broad minded with feet firmly placed on the ground.' West County is also filled with great food and wine. -anon
2004 - 2007 Reviews
Job offer in Santa Rosa
Feb 2004
My husband has been offered a job in Santa Rosa and we are seriously considering moving up there. I have done some internet research on home prices/schools and it does seem that there are some good public schools available (particularly in the Rincon Valley school district), but I would love to hear from anyone on this network that has personal experience living in this area. We are generally interested in knowing about quality of life and community issues. I am hoping that by moving to an area where more people send their children to the local public school we would have more of a sense of community than we currently have living in Richmond (and going to private school out of our immediate area). If anyone is either from Santa Rosa or has lived there, I would love to hear from you. Susan
I grew up in Santa Rosa and my mother, sister and nephew still live there. I would move back to SR in a second, but becuase of work, we live here. I consider SR to be an ideal community: great schools, great neighborhoods, progressively liberal people, great restaurants, fantastic weather, nice, walkable downtown, etc., etc. Most people send their kids to public schools. Housing prices are high but you get more for your money than in Oakland/Berkeley. Most public schools are very good. A few are not so good. I attended rincon valley schools and Santa Rosa high and my nephew attends elementary school in rincon valley. My mom has been teaching in the Santa Rosa public schools forever. If you would like to talk more about life in SR, feel free to email me. I love to talk about my favorite place to live and (fingers crossed), hopefully my family will live there again someday soon. SR native
Santa Rosa is a great place to grow up and a great place to go to public school (though, I am a bit biased as my Father was superintendent of schools in Santa Rosa while I was at Berkeley and before that Superintendent of the West County Schools). I graduated from the West County Schools (Oak Grove, Willowside and El Molino) and managed to get into Berekely. Depending on where your husband will be working, you may wish to consider one of the surrounding communities -- Sebastopol (which will put you into the West County Schools) or Healdsburg or Glen Ellen. All have 'small town appeal,' but thanks to the wine industry, you will find that all are reasonably sophisticated. All are easy commutes to Santa Rosa.
The down side of Santa Rosa is all of the suburban sprawl. I am not a big fan of track homes, which sadly cover much of the valley floor. The upside is that you are living in the middle of/short drive to everything (wineries, great food, redwoods, the ocean, the Russian River, etc) Enjoy!
We did the move from Piedmont Ave, Oakland to Santa Rosa about ten years ago. I can recommend Brush Creek Montessori for pre-school. We moved when our son was four years old. Feel free to email me regarding neighborhoods, other questions. You will get more house for your dollar, but it depends on the neighborhood (very high rents here). Overall, Santa Rosa is great for families and family-friendly activities. You can reach me: gudenzim at aol dot com
Have you considered Petaluma? Both the East and West side have tons of family-friendly neighborhoods. Nearly all of the schools and preschools are really good - you really can't go wrong (and you can apply to schools in any part of the city). There's a great local mothers' group if you have kids under 5. Message me directly if you want more info! We used to live in Oakland too.
We just moved from Santa Rosa to El Cerrito after living in Santa Rosa for 15 years. Our daughter is 8. It's a wonderful place.
Agree with Brush Creek Montessori. Also like Brush Creek Nursery, and Hidden Valley Nursery School (they have a few sites - Mark West, another too). Sonoma Country Day School has a TK program.
Lots of family friendly areas. You'll love it there.