The best places to live in Santa Rosa
If you are weighing up the best places to live in Santa Rosa, start with the map. Locals talk about the city in four quadrants. Highway 101 is the north-to-south dividing line, and Highway 12 is the west-to-east one. The northeastern hills and valleys are the quieter, pricier family suburbs. Head southwest or to the older west side, and you get the most house for your money. The historic centre, in between, has the walkable streets and period homes.
Santa Rosa is the largest city in Sonoma County and its county seat, about 55 miles (89km) north of San Francisco, so some residents commute south on Highway 101 or catch the SMART train from the downtown station.
Before you settle on an address, weigh up how you will get to work, which schools your children would attend, and what your budget will stretch to. Most specifically to Santa Rosa, you may want to consider how much wildfire risk you can live with in the eastern hills.
Family-friendly areas in Santa Rosa
Bennett Valley
Bennett Valley is the last neighbourhood in southeastern Santa Rosa before the vineyards start. Just a few minutes past the houses, you’ll reach open pastures and horse paddocks. Families move here for the openness and for schools among Sonoma County’s best.
Galvin Community Park, the public Bennett Valley Golf Course, Spring Lake, and the Trione-Annadel trailheads are all within a short drive. Montgomery Village, one of the county’s older shopping centres, is on the valley’s edge, and residents can walk there for shops and restaurants. The catch is that Bennett Valley is car-dependent, so you will want a vehicle for the school run and everyday errands.
Rincon Valley
Rincon Valley, in the northeast, is a favourite for families because of Maria Carrillo High and a run of well-regarded elementary schools. Weekends here are outdoorsy. The Trione-Annadel trails and the lakes at Spring Lake and Howarth Park are close enough to reach before breakfast.
The upmarket Skyhawk enclave is at the valley’s eastern edge, about five miles (8km) from downtown, where the homes are newer, and the schools are among the best in the city. Most of the housing is single-family homes, and they are in high demand among families.
Fountaingrove
Fountaingrove is one of Santa Rosa’s most prestigious addresses, a hillside community north of Santa Rosa and east of Highway 101. The Tubbs Fire of October 2017 destroyed much of the neighbourhood, and most of it has since been rebuilt to tougher fire codes. Residents still have the golf course, the ridgeline trails, the open-space parks, and the city’s main hospitals just a few minutes down the hill.
Insurance is the thing to check before you buy up here. These are the wildland-urban interface hills, and home cover has become costly and, for some carriers, hard to get at all.
Education and Schools in Santa Rosa
Central and historic areas in Santa Rosa
Railroad Square
Railroad Square is the historic heart of central Santa Rosa, a cluster of early-1900s brick-and-stone buildings just west of Highway 101. There is housing in and around the square, from old workers’ cottages to newer flats, and the restaurants, cafés, bars, and weekend farmers’ market are all within walking distance.
The big draw for newcomers is the SMART commuter train, which has its downtown station here. From this station, you can travel south through Marin to the Larkspur ferry terminal, then cross to San Francisco by boat. That’s the biggest factor for hybrid workers who split the week between Sonoma County and the Bay Area.
McDonald Historic District
The McDonald Historic District, a short walk northeast of downtown, has the city’s grandest old homes. Colonel Mark McDonald laid out the neighbourhood in the late 1800s, and the McDonald Mansion is still its centrepiece.
The streets here are wide and lined with trees, and the houses are grand Craftsman and Victorian places on large lots. It is one of the loveliest parts of Santa Rosa to live in on foot. Proctor Terrace, the smaller district next door, has much the same feel for a little less money. From both, you can walk into the centre of town, which suits buyers who want period character without leaving downtown.
Getting Around in Santa Rosa
Lifestyle in Santa Rosa
Budget-friendly areas in Santa Rosa
Roseland
Roseland, in the southwest, is where you get the most house for your money, and it has changed a great deal since it was annexed by Santa Rosa in 2017. This has long been a heart of the county’s Latino community, and after decades of thin public investment, the city has started investing heavily.
Hundreds of new homes are being built on Sebastopol Road. People now come from across Santa Rosa for the food along that road, especially the taquerias and the food-truck stalls. For younger buyers and for families priced out of the north and east, Roseland has become the obvious place to look.
Junior College neighbourhood
The Junior College neighbourhood, named for Santa Rosa Junior College, is the grid of older, mostly modest homes around the campus just north of downtown. Rents here are relatively low, partly because so many students and college staff live in the area. Humboldt Street is a designated bike route, so riding into the centre is easy.
This is a sensible first landing pad if you are new to the city. The area is central and walkable, and it's cheaper than the historic districts a few blocks east.
West End
The West End, just west of downtown, is a district on the way up. The old cottages and bungalows are being done up, and it has DeTurk Round Barn Park as a green space. A farmers’ market is held there in the warmer months.
Prices are still below the historic districts next door, although that is changing as more buyers catch on. If you want somewhere walkable and central without the McDonald district price tag, this is the compromise a lot of newcomers settle on.
Renting Accommodation in Santa Rosa
Cost of Living in Santa Rosa