I live in Sonoma County in the country just outside Petaluma's city limits. We moved up here from Palo Alto 5 years ago (so it seems cheap to us compared to Silicon Valley prices - the median housing price in PA was over 1 million). I haven't kept up with housing prices the past 5 years, so am not much help there, but here are some random general comments about the area:

Absolutely beautiful countryside - really lovely. Close to all kinds of different things - San Francisco, the Golden Gate Bridge is 30 minutes away (when traffic isn't bad), Point Reyes National Seashore is 20 minutes, Healdsburg about 30 minutes, Bodega Bay and the beach about 25 minutes, Napa about 30 minutes, Berkeley is 45 minutes, etc. Great skiing about 4 hours away (some people do go up just for the day although I think they're crazy).

Petaluma is a mix of old ranching families, small businesspeople, and people who commute to jobs in SF. Some really lovely old Victorian neighborhoods and some rather dreary cookie cutter tract houses and subdivisions. I find Petaluma a little provincial in attitude at times - surprising to me for a place only 35 miles from San Francisco. It is ethnically less diverse than many towns in the Bay Area. There is essentially NO department store shopping in Petaluma - we do have antique stores and things like that but for the kind of things you need in daily life (excluding food and hardware) I find myself driving north or south 20 or 30 minutes to go shopping. There is a hospital although people have to go to Santa Rosa's hospital for some things. There is a river in town (people can actually sail up here from San Francisco on their own boats).

It gets hot here in the summer but the dry heat is nothing like back East (I used to live in DC and Florida so the heat here never bothers me). It cools down every night - in fact I miss the Eastern balmy nights - here the fog frequently rolls in by evening and most nights are not especially warm. It usually freezes a few times a winter at night, although this winter at our house we did not get a single frost. Usually we get NO (not one drop) of rain from the end of May until the end of October. Then it can be rainy -interspersed with sunny days - from November through March. (Although I also used to live in Oregon so the rain is nothing compared to that.) Hope this gives some idea of the place.

Of the semi-finalists I vote for Petaluma. In addition to all that has been mentioned, there is an art house movie theatre as well as cineplex type movie houses showing the latest main line films, a state university which is growing by leaps and bounds (Sonoma State U) which also does have extension classes,a well established hospice and a hospital(Petaluma Valley) with trauma facilities up the road a piece in Santa Rosa. There is a Kaiser Hospital in Santa Rosa and Kaiser Clinics in Petaluma. The west side of town is my preferred part of Petaluma. This is where the older homes are. As you head west from there you are moving towards the coast,including Bodega Bay and Point Reyes. You will have a pretty good selection of ethnic foods from which to choose although mostly mexican,chinese and thai. I have worked and lived in Petaluma at various points in my life and I think it's a fine place. It is growing pretty fast and so is bound to lose some of its small town feel but I do think it might be a lovely place to retire if you can find housing.

I'm a Paso Roblan, and although Paso has a reputation for being "hot," it has been on a cooling trend. Last year we never experienced any 115 temps. And the cold isn't that bad .. high 50s/60s in the winter during the day time.

The wine country up north can get just as hot during the summer.

If you have any other questions about Paso and surrounding cities, let me know.

Although SLO has been crossed off the list, Cal Poly problems aren't that bad. I think the biggest issue is that SLO is a no-growth [i.e. building more homes] town right now. I'd have a hard time seeing the city accept a change from CSU to UC with its preference of small town charm.

Genesea
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Grover Beach seems very reasonable for a beach community.

Are there any reasons for this - i.e., not that desirable?

I would assume this area - Arroyo Grande/Grover Beach, etc. are not as hot as Petaluma, Santa Rosa in Summer?

Hi Wanderer: I guess from the past few posts it goes to show how temperatures (being "Too hot," or "Too cold") are very relative to the individual. I've lived in Arroyo Grande the past 2 years, 10 previous years in Pismo Beach, and the year before in SLO itself. To me SLO got as warm as I would ever want to live in! My whole life I've lived within 12 or less miles from the coast (SLO being the furthest inland!), so I'm accustomed to very mild coastal temperatures which vary little compared to other non-coastal climates. In the past 13 years, we've rarely seen a frost (I've only had plant damage one year) and I don't think the coast around here has seen 100 degrees (if it did, it would've been only a day or two in my 13 years here). We rarely even get in the nineties. So when people from the inland valley and Salinas Valley say its not "That hot," it may not be for them, but that's WAY hot in my book! 2-3 weeks of 100+ weather?! I can't enjoy walks with my dogs in that weather, nor gardening. Wow, that's hot! But that's just me. I'm used to summer temps. in the 60's-80's. So, I guess you have to just ask yourself what YOUR personal comfort range is, what you want to live with and go with that. Find out the actual statistics of each city, their summer/winter highs/lows, seasonal averages, precipitation, etc.

As for Grover Beach? Well, until a few years back it was "Grover City." They changed the name for marketing purposes because "Beach" sounded classier, and guess what? Property values went up! The problem? Only a small portion of the city borders the beach, and it is in no way what one thinks of as a "Beach Town." No locals think of it as a beach town, adn no one says "Im going to Grover Beach," to spend a day at the beach. Come and see and you will probably agree. The town is focused on Grand Avenue which runs east-west and looks pretty much like "Anytown USA." There aren't even any homes or businesses on the beach part (ok, maybe about 3). Come see for yourself. Don't get me wrong. You may find a very good home here in your price range. I'm just trying to paint a realistic picture for you so you don't come expecting a Pismo Beach, Morro Bay, or Santa Monica which are real "Beach Towns." The pro is that it IS a good location to enjoy all of what SLO County has to offer, and the weather is good if you don't mind things a bit on the cool side and summer fog (which is more overcast than the creeping San Francisco type of fog). One thing to think about if crime/drugs are a concern. Most of the county activity in those areas are in Oceano and the west side of Grover Beach (adjacent to Oceano). There are some better (both old and new) neighborhoods further east in Grover Beach. They are around Oak Park Blvd and east of that to Hwy. 101.

P.S. Arroyo Grande is quite a large sprawling area which includes a country cute charming village east of hwy 101, Husana Valley (more country living on acreage lots) east of the village, the area west of the 101 which is adjacent to Grover Beach and almost the same in character as GB, and what they call "Rural Arroyo Grande" on the north end of the Nipomo Mesa which is actually unincorporated SLO County (where I live). Each of these areas are all called "Arroyo Grande," but they each have their own character/feel/socio-economic/demographic, etc..... You will find varying price ranges in housing in each of the different areas.

Hello Wanderer and SloPugs,

Salinas is not the same as the Salinas Valley -- the city of Salinas has a Mediterranean climate and is protected from most of the heat visited upon other valley cities like Prunedale or King City.

Salinas temperatures rarely hit 80 degrees. The average year-round temperature in Salinas is 68 degrees, and even in July the average maximum temperature is 71 degrees. Soooo, I wouldn't consider my description of Salinas as "not hot" to be relative by any metric.

That said, I'm not pushing Salinas, though it can be a nice place to live. Since you want to be near skiing, you might prefer being further north, i.e. Petaluma or Santa Rosa (the weather *will* be warmer there, but not "2 to 3 weeks of 100+").

Check out your prospective destinations on weather.com -- you can get averages and records for any city you're interested in.

Ah..the great weather debate on Northern CA & the Bay area. One word: MICROCLIMATES. Example: Petaluma MIGHT hit a 100 twice a year, in late summer. Most of the summer months we might hit 75-80 but every aftrnoon at 4:00PM it cools off-sometimes there is fog-sometimes not. You will be wearing a sweatshirt when the fireworks start on the 4th of July. It is rare to sit outside and have dinner in the summer here(except for those 100 degree days)10 miles up the road in Santa Rosa it will be 10 degrees warmer and not so much of a nightly cool off-you will have lovely evenings. Gets even warmer in Windsor/Healsdburg/Alexander and Dry Creek Valleys, as it does in the city of Sonoma and the Napa Valley. There you can wear shorts during the day-here you can until 4:00PM-unless you are my spouse who wears shorts because it is summer and it's the principal of the thing! Happy Hunting

tpl: Wow, what a big difference from my impression of Salinas weather, but hey, you're a local, so you know ! I guess it was just cooincidental that its been very warm the handful of times when I've been there. Your description makes it sound more like Pismo Beach weather.

Our definition of "HOT" is over 80 degrees. Granted, we are on the East Coast, so more humidity here, but we live in a coastal town, so it's cooler than most.

Perfect summers would be 64-80 degree range average. A FEW hot days OK, but not weeks. I will check out the weather sites - good suggestion.

The comment on Grover "Beach" exactly what we are looking for and hard to discern if you haven't lived in a community awhile. As I said, we'd like to narrow down to just a few to actually live in so the more info the better.

Hi--
If you truly don't want temps in the 80s in the summer, I'd focus your search as close to the coast as your money allows. Petaluma and Santa Rosa are going to be at least in the 80s most of the summer and early fall.

According to weather.com, the highs for Santa Rosa and Petaluma are 83/84 for July and August.

That doesn't seem too bad to us, compared to Sonoma at 90 and Healdsburg at 94.

We are thinking also that if we want easier access to skiing, then Northern CA might be a better spot with its proximity to Tahoe, etc.

We still want to see Sonoma, Monterey and SLO counties though before we decide, so will start with Sonoma county in Oct.

Can anyone give us particular areas (neighborhoods) that we should look at while we are there? We love older homes with some style and character, in a "settled" neighborhood rather than tract housing. Smallish, and fixer-uppers are fine, as well as townhouses, as long as there is a little private yard and no one above/below us.

Everyone here has said "West Petaluma" is best for that. How about Santa Rosa? We won't have alot of time, perhaps a day to split between the 2. If anyone can give us streets, etc. to check out, that would be great.

Have you thought of calling a realtor in Petaluma ? Or any other city you think you might want to live in. Since your time is short she/he could set up places to see in your price range for the best use of your time. Just tell them everything you've told us! I know of a couple very good ones if you would like a referral, but only if you're serious.

We are very serious, but where retirement is 5-8 yrs. away, I'd hate to "waste" a realtor's time.

We're trying to use this time to get to know the state, the different areas we might want to live, and the housing market - which will change no doubt, as will the profile of the communities.

We are set that CA is the right choice for us, and just trying to narrow down to 2-3 towns to rent in for "trial-runs" so to speak to see if they fit what we want.

We are coming out in Oct. to check out Sonoma Valley, and will have to book another trip next year or so to see SLO County and Monterey County.

We were hoping folks on this board could provide real insight into the flavor of the towns, which they have, and which has really been helpful to us!

If someone could alert us to the "nice" neighborhoods, or those that suit what we are looking for in Petaluma, Santa Rosa, so that we are not driving all over the place, that would be great. Right now we just want to get a sense of the area, not of the homes themselves. If we like these two places, what neighborhoods we like, etc.

Thanks everyone for your help.

<Our definition of "HOT" is over 80 degrees. Granted, we are on the East Coast, so more humidity here, but we live in a coastal town, so it's cooler than most.>

wanderer:

I recall visiting NYC when it was about 90 deg and 98% humidty. I lived near Fresno, CA at the time (a very hot place by California standards). I remember thinking as I got off the plane in NYC, "You have got to be joking! Put me back on the plane!"

We were there for 11 days in that swealtering heat. I recall flying back to Fresno and the pilot told us when we landed that it was 103 degrees! When I stepped off the plane, I recall how "cool" it felt minus the east coast humidity. My point: It's very hard to compare California temps to east coast temperatures. Some find 80 deg on the CA central coast to be extremely comfortable and 60 deg to be a bit chilly. Our high humidity consists mainly of a marine layer that comes in and later retreats mostly during the summer months. We complain about it under our breath knowing full well how good we really have it here. We have no air conditioning, and for the most part, no swimming pools.

I have brothers and sisters in the Fresno and Oakhurst areas, but you just about have to put a gun to my head to visit there in the summertime now. Paso Robles in the summer is about the same.

Downtown SLO had a freaky temperature spike of 100+ degrees for a couple of days last summer, but was still easy to get around in compared to areas without a coastal breeze.

I agree with the above comments on SLO county, and the poster did a nice job of painting an accurate picture of the area. The Nipomo Mesa also has some of the best temps in the country I heave heard.

Here's a bit of interesting news I just heard on the radio last week: tourism is the number one industry for SLO County and is close to $1 billion dollars/year. That speaks volumes in many ways.

not sweating it,
~ ben

bear, this post is 2 years old.

OK - still relevant. We have visited - twice now - Northern CA and fallen in love with Sonoma, St. Helena and Yountville - and maybe Calistoga.

We have yet to visit Central, CA - that is next on our list.

We've learned that as much as you read, you've got to see a place to decide if it's for you, then others can tell you the "inside story" - alot of crime, etc. that the books won't tell you.

Thanks bear.

So, wanderer, you are still in the process of making the decision? I'm biased myself, living in Marin County, towards northern California.

Mammoth Mountain is about 6 hours from the Central Coast but it is a relatively easy drive. It is a great place to ski. There is a ski resort about 3-4 hours away (used to be called China Peak) but if you are avid skiers you would probably get bored after skiing there a couple of days. Tahoe is about 7 hours.

As for Napa, Tahoe is close - about 2-3 hours depending on which resort.

Another thing to consider is airport access. I lived in SLO and my relatives live there now and it is not easy for some of the family to get there, having to fly into San Jose or LA and then taking an expensive small flight to SLO or being picked up (a 3 1/2 hour drive either direction). As I recall, Napa is about 2 hours from the SF Airport and Oakland is probably even closer.

Yes, we still are deciding, as unfortunately, we have some time to go before retirement. We just thought we'd start the process of seeking out our new home a little early.

Right now, not having seen the Central Coast, we are leaning toward Northern CA for a couple of reasons:

1. We love what we've seen so far
2. We like the sense of seasons and weather changes
3. We are avid skiiers, so Tahoe would be closer
4. We may be wrong, but Northern CA does not seem quite as built up as Central CA
5. Airport access
6. We have found a retirement community in Sonoma that is very reasonable, and in checking prices around SLO, can't seem to find anything similar - probably more expensive to live near the coast.
7. We have friends in Northern CA area.

Appreciate everyone's input.