If you like village life, you'll like the town of
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2/7/2011
I have lived in Sonoma for 3 years now. I relocated after a brief stint in Salt Lake City but lived in San Francisco for 30 years before that. If you like small town life this is the place for you. Sonoma is located in Sonoma County, one of the most beautiful places on earth. It's difficult to find employment in this county even if you're in the food and wine industry, which I am not. Having lived in cities all my life, I find Sonoma to be too quiet. Although it's a convenient 50 minute drive to S.F., I find myself going there less than I thought I would. The town of Sonoma skews older with lots of retirees. You pay dearly for every minute you live in this beautiful place. Housing is expensive (think over a half million for a little bungalow in town) as is the overall cost of living...can you say $80 haircuts and $3/lb organic veggies? The weather is almost perfect. Winters can be rainy but are almost always punctuated with sunny days. In January, I was working in my garden, pruning fruit trees and doing cleanup because Spring comes in late February or eary March. This February the weather has been unseasonable warm...in the 70's while the rest of the country has been frozen. It's a beautiful place to retire if you have a lot of money but too quiet for me. Very well situated being almost equal distance to the wine country town of Napa or the riverfront town of Petaluma. Seems like it would be hard to sustain a high standard of living here unless you have lots of dough.
M.Ray | Sonoma, CA