I've got a job interview for a company that operates in Santa Rosa, CA. I've never been there before and just want to get some information about the place. For those who've either lived or visited there before......what's it like? Also, do you think it's a good place for a college graduate to live?
Santa Rosa, CA
- Thread starter OneOfTheseDays
- Start date
Hello no. Last time I went there, there wasn't much to be excited about...
EDIT: At least it's not far from SF.
Depends on what you like. If you want big city clubs and theaters you won't like it. If on the other hand, you enjoy a short ride to wine country and a relaxed life style then it should be just fine.
Grew up about 15 minutes south of Santa Rosa in Petaluma. Great small town back in the day. Santa Rosa grew fast (mall, chains, gangs, etc.)
Santa Rosa is located in a great spot (close enough to the Bay Area, northern California coastline, wine country, central valley, etc.)
Nightlife might be a bit restrictive for a young person these days, not sure what the club scene is like. Most of my friends that live near there are married w/kids so our activities are parties, sports, etc. There used to be a happening bar scene w/bands etc. downtown and in Petaluma (Petaluma still features an art and music culture.)
Shopping is wide open. There are all your major chains and several local businesses to cater to your needs. Prices are high but most certainly not as expensive as a major city or in Marin County to the south.
The landscape could be considered less congested and is a beautiful area (hills and oak trees or open flatland.) You can be travelling through farmland in 5 minutes. You can be on the coast in 45 minutes to an hour. You can be in wine country in 40 minutes. You can be in San Francisco in an hour and a half.
Traffic in the town is absolutely horrendous. The problem exists because of small roadways or inadequate access for present loads. The freeway through town is being widened which will help. All the alternate access roads, that us locals would use back in the day to circumvent the freeway, are now crowded.
The personality of people in the town might be considered laid back, hippyish, liberal, etc. it is northern California afterall. There are young professionals, middle age families, tons of hispanics, plenty of rural types too.
Real Estate market in the area went through huge growth in prices about 5 years ago. Seems to have leveled off or lowered in the last 2 years. Still is rather expensive to someone who like me, who grew up here. I am sure it is less expensive than almost anywhere south of Santa Rosa though.
Overall I would say a young person might find it sort of boring, but at my age I find northern California (live in Ujiah now) to be fine for me.
Oh yeah since this is a tech forum board I will mention that Santa Rosa has a CompUSA that is not closing. Has a best buy. Has an Office Depot. Has an Office Max. Has a local computer show at the fairgrounds. Your internet access is most likely going to be cable or dsl (Comcast Cable or Pacific Bell I think) in almost any area of the town you choose to reside.
Santa Rosa is located in a great spot (close enough to the Bay Area, northern California coastline, wine country, central valley, etc.)
Nightlife might be a bit restrictive for a young person these days, not sure what the club scene is like. Most of my friends that live near there are married w/kids so our activities are parties, sports, etc. There used to be a happening bar scene w/bands etc. downtown and in Petaluma (Petaluma still features an art and music culture.)
Shopping is wide open. There are all your major chains and several local businesses to cater to your needs. Prices are high but most certainly not as expensive as a major city or in Marin County to the south.
The landscape could be considered less congested and is a beautiful area (hills and oak trees or open flatland.) You can be travelling through farmland in 5 minutes. You can be on the coast in 45 minutes to an hour. You can be in wine country in 40 minutes. You can be in San Francisco in an hour and a half.
Traffic in the town is absolutely horrendous. The problem exists because of small roadways or inadequate access for present loads. The freeway through town is being widened which will help. All the alternate access roads, that us locals would use back in the day to circumvent the freeway, are now crowded.
The personality of people in the town might be considered laid back, hippyish, liberal, etc. it is northern California afterall. There are young professionals, middle age families, tons of hispanics, plenty of rural types too.
Real Estate market in the area went through huge growth in prices about 5 years ago. Seems to have leveled off or lowered in the last 2 years. Still is rather expensive to someone who like me, who grew up here. I am sure it is less expensive than almost anywhere south of Santa Rosa though.
Overall I would say a young person might find it sort of boring, but at my age I find northern California (live in Ujiah now) to be fine for me.
Oh yeah since this is a tech forum board I will mention that Santa Rosa has a CompUSA that is not closing. Has a best buy. Has an Office Depot. Has an Office Max. Has a local computer show at the fairgrounds. Your internet access is most likely going to be cable or dsl (Comcast Cable or Pacific Bell I think) in almost any area of the town you choose to reside.
I interned at Agilent in Santa Rosa for a summer. Coming from the detroit area it was great. I guess it's kinda small town esque though. There was a pool hall that had dollar pints, kinda sketchy crowd etc. If I had the opportunity I would move back.
Never actually been there, but we used to own the Travelodge on Santa Rosa Avenue. If you need a place to stay, I can get you a cheap room through the new owners.
AreaCode707
Lifer
- Sep 21, 2001
- 18,447
- 133
- 106
Great post.
I was born in Santa Rosa, grew up in Petaluma, lived in Ukiah for seven years, and now am in Seattle. I'd move back to that area in a HEARTBEAT.
Santa Rosa is a decent sized city, big enough you wouldn't need to go out of town for any type of shopping. Easy drive (other than rush hour) into San Francisco, active employment area, good weather (no snow in winter, dry heat in summer), quick drive to tons of activities, such as the coast, wine tasting, lakes, or city stuff. Active community so there's lots of things to be involved in if you choose.
You can also very easily live in a nearby town if you want something a little quieter. Santa Rosa is surrounded by a set of nice little suburbs of its' own.
Well I just got into Santa Rosa about 2 hours ago. Driving up the 101North from SF was so strange for me. I've never seen so much green in my life, maybe the English country side, but certainly nothing in Southern California can compare. Santa Rosa itself is a beautiful city, my hotel is located right next to this old rustic barn looking thing. The air is clean, weather is good, people seem to be friendly. I just might like it here.....
HeroOfPellinor
Lifer
- Dec 27, 2001
- 11,272
- 1
- 0
I hope the company pays very well.
And, ya, the Winter is the green season around here....by Summer everything turns gold and isn't quite so lush looking.
And, ya, the Winter is the green season around here....by Summer everything turns gold and isn't quite so lush looking.
I visited for a week once. Very laid back, very close to SF. My first time to cali, so it was pretty amazing as far as 101 goes, etc. Also, right next to beautiful wine county. Sonoma valley ftw!
its a laid back city, more like a suburb town with nothing much to do for a young person in the city BUT as others have mentioned, wine countryside is ~1/2 hr away. SF is ~1 1/2 hrs away, coast is ~3/4 hr away and the weather is good.
compman25
Diamond Member
- Jan 12, 2006
- 3,767
- 2
- 81
I too grew up and spent 28 yrs there. I hate it now and only because of one reason, TRAFFIC. It absolutely sucks. 101 is a joke. They have talked about widening it since at least the 70's, now they are and it will still not be enough. I live in Spokane now and it's amazing how much better the traffic is here with more people. But the weather in Sonoma county is great.
I'll say this....Santa Rosa has some of the hottest white girls working as waitresses in pretty much any restaurant. I dunno what it is, but I notice it everytime I visit my friend up there.
Well the company I interviewed for just offered me a job. Pay is decent, ~70k, I just need to decide if this place would be a good fit for me.
Let me guess, Agilent?
Actually, I graduated about 7 months ago and moved here to work for Agilent. I never was really into city nightlife, so that really wasen't a factor for me. It has great access to lots of mountain biking, Tahoe & race tracks, which made it a winner in my book. There's even a local indoor airsoft arena and nearby paintball field, so I had everything I used to have in southern california (but with more race tracks).
People tell me it rains quite a bit in the winter, but it seems like this winter they had somewhat of a dry spell.
The only traffic problems I've had are on the 101 as it goes through Santa Rosa, but I don't have to take the freeway to get to work.
Most of my relatives live in SF or Marin, so I've been up to the bay area quite a bit before, but just not Santa Rosa.
Housing is still not cheap, just like the rest of CA
i don't know much about it.. it seems like it's a nice quiet city from the few times i've been there.. seems like a nice place to raise a family, but i dunno how great it is for single college grad types.. but it's close to the city
It's beautiful, but to me it's the middle of nowhere, having grown up in the Silicon Valley. I've driven up a few times through Petaluma and Santa Rosa to get to Geyserville, and it's definitely a nice scene.
Great place to retire maybe.
I got my guinea pigs in Santa Rosa.
You could say its the suburbs, but I'd rather live in the suburbs closer to the bay and know that I'm only say half an hour from The City.
Great place to retire maybe.
I got my guinea pigs in Santa Rosa.
You could say its the suburbs, but I'd rather live in the suburbs closer to the bay and know that I'm only say half an hour from The City.
Originally posted by: compman25
Originally posted by: helpme
Housing is still not cheap, just like the rest of CA
Isn't Indian Village and West 9th St still cheap?
If you call 250K+ cheap, sure
That's what I thought, though I'm not worried about that for a few more years.
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