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Old 03-30-2015, 02:07 PM
 
4 posts, read 7,332 times
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Scotts Valley is great, we love the SC Mountains and would have preferred to live there if we had decided on Santa Cruz, but the rental prices there seemed to have skyrocketed in the last few years. There isn't much to choose from, and most is out of our price range. Thanks for the suggestion though.
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Old 03-30-2015, 09:39 PM
 
282 posts, read 619,108 times
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Cost of living is between the 2 places is gonna be pretty much the same. Don't think Sebastopol is cheaper cause its not directly on the coast, it is very expensive.
Both places are packed with yippies ( yuppie hippies), haha but there's lots of good folks in both places.

Vibes & people are kinda similar but obviously Santa Cruz is more surfy & beach oriented being directly on the coast & is a larger town but Sebastopol pretty much connects to Santa Rosa these days & Santa Rosa is layed out kinda similar to Santa cruz in size & housing style IMO except that its not a beach town.

Last edited by BodegaHead; 03-30-2015 at 09:47 PM..
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Old 03-30-2015, 09:45 PM
 
282 posts, read 619,108 times
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I'd stay in SD if I was you, the cost of living up here is higher & the ocean is freezing ass cold!!!
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Old 03-31-2015, 10:48 PM
 
15 posts, read 20,785 times
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My family is from Santa Cruz. I would pass with a family. Sebastanpool would be better. Santa Cruz has HORRIBLE traffic at times, crowded especially with the students there. I wouldn't say it's laid back, it's just lazy and shallow. Beautiful, but beauty is skin deep. Schools are not great (although a couple great private/magnets are there). Heavy drug influence, almost no morality and being "dumb" is cool. Really, if the local culture wasn't such a mess I would consider it, but the town is for students and druggies.
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Old 04-01-2015, 07:53 PM
 
Location: Boulder Creek, CA
9,197 posts, read 16,863,330 times
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Gotta love the predictable right wing SC-bashing posts in here. (Hint: It's not Pleasantville on purpose. Keep SC Weird)

If an affordable place could be found, the OP seems to be describing Fairfax.
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Old 04-01-2015, 08:05 PM
 
Location: State of Transition
102,251 posts, read 108,166,150 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bigdumbgod View Post
Gotta love the predictable right wing SC-bashing posts in here. (Hint: It's not Pleasantville on purpose. Keep SC Weird)

If an affordable place could be found, the OP seems to be describing Fairfax.
True. The OP might really like Fairfax. It's a little farther from the wine-tastings than Sebastopol, but it's more affordable and has good schools.
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Old 04-02-2015, 12:47 PM
 
Location: CA
47 posts, read 118,798 times
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Without kids I would say Santa Cruz for sure, but with the family sebastopol is a great choice. The area is stunningly beautiful and close to everything you need in Santa Rosa, ten minutes away. Other options might be petaluma, windsor, and healdsburg. I live in windsor and we love it. It has a lot of young families. But it doesn't quite have the charm and counterculture character of sebastopol, if that's what you're looking for. However anywhere in santa cruz or sonoma county will be more hippie and left wing than the san diego area.
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Old 04-02-2015, 11:08 PM
 
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Sebastopol seems to be a bit cheaper than Santa Cruz, and you get more for your money in terms of indoor/outdoor space. We love where we live now in Encinitas, but we are getting completely priced out. Our lease is up the end of April, and our complex has raised our rent another $175 (after raising it $50 just 9 months earlier). We also don't have the same love for Southern CA that we do for Northern CA. We want our girls to grow up with trees, rivers, lakes and open, natural space. My youngest was also a preemie, and the air quality down here is terrible. It does seems to affect her.

We did check out Fairfax. It looks absolutely beautiful, and on paper it sounds perfect. Unfortunately it seems 2 bedrooms will run you about $3k. Will definitely visit one day though!

Thanks again everyone for the suggestions!
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Old 04-02-2015, 11:12 PM
 
15 posts, read 20,785 times
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[quote=bigdumbgod;39053984]Gotta love the predictable right wing SC-bashing posts in here. (Hint: It's not Pleasantville on purpose. Keep SC Weird)

^ Thank you for raising another point. The constant labeling/shutting people out is a big theme in Santa Cruz---very hard to live with. This tends to be a Bay Area thing, but Santa Cruz locals tend to be VERY pretentious towards someone who is considered from "out of town" unless you totally adopt the mindset. My cousin who is gay experienced being called derogatory names for the first time in downtown Santa Cruz...go figure. If you're looking for an opened minded community, please be clear that "left wing" does not mean "tolerant"; it simply means political affiliation.

It was hard for me being a "free thinker/liberal" in Santa Cruz because the people there tend to just adopt the things they have heard over and over without critical thinking to their beliefs. All you hear about is the same contrived rhetoric about politics, wealth and race from people who really haven't put a lot of thought into their opinions. As a person of mixed ethnicity--I was shocked at the prejuiced opinions that flew from people's mouths regularly. That said, it hasn't happened once living in Southern California (thankfully.) Santa Cruz culture was mentally exhausting, and it was hard to form deep friendships although I did meet some really nice friends after awhile. I don't say this lightly--live there for awhile you will see what I mean. Santa Cruz gets old, fast.
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Old 06-30-2015, 01:19 AM
 
336 posts, read 412,633 times
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OP, did you move to Sebastopol? Would love to hear your experience of it if you did. I lived in Santa Cruz a couple years and past couple years in Berkeley/Oakland area so can tell you about those if you're still wanting more info.

Actually considering somewhere quieter, slower with less crime and more nature myself now such as Sebastopol, Encinitas, Half Moon Bay or Monterey so have been hanging out swimming+camping+chatting+driving+eating in western Sonoma County. Amazing nature up there. Coast is surreal. Russian River is great. Farms, forests, hot springs. Still feeling out culture but so far is very friendly and down-to-earth. Different from Santa Cruz area though both have a nice relaxed feel. Sadly can't attach photos here.

Sebastopol public schools are said to be the best in Sonoma County.

I agree, Santa Cruz maybe isn't too ideal for raising kids in some ways though everyone has their own definition of "ideal." For a free-spirited, friendly, crunchy family it could also be a fun, outdoorsy, healthy, "small town" childhood if you supplemented their education or found a good private school, encourage intelligent thinking, traveled, don't let them be racist, teach boys to really respect women, and helped them not get super caught up in drugs. Nearby Capitola and Aptos and Davenport have prettier, calmer beaches than the rollercoaster one near downtown Santa Cruz.

Last edited by NatureYogi; 06-30-2015 at 01:56 AM..
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