My husband's job is taking our family from Chicago to Novato next month. We've done a lot of homework and thinking, and have decided that we'd most like to live in Petaluma. We have seen some houses but haven't found the ONE yet, so renting will probably be our best bet until we can get to know the area better and wait for the house we love. I've tried to look online for rentals, and what comes up are the 4 complexes in town (Waterfront, Theatre Square, Park Central and some townhouses). Does anyone have any experience with any of these places? Any other recommendations about how to go about finding rentals? We're probably not going to rent a house, wanting to keep the costs low while we shop around, so a 2- or 3-bedroom apartment or townhouse will be the most cost-effective. Thanks for any input you can share!
UPDATED: We are not looking at Novato, or any towns farther south, because our closest friends live in Sebastopol and we want to be closer to them. And my husband has had a few weeks working from Petaluma in a hotel and commuting to Novato, and he thought the drive was fine. But thanks for those thoughts.
I'm not too up on rentals but are you thinking of buying after you get settled in. I can help you with that...
Also the area's you are looking at sound find but if you want to let me know the area once you find a house let me know and I'll confirm if it is a good area or not (most are good)
I'm a realtor in this area and have lived here since I was 13.
I my experience those apartments are about teh same price as a house. They are newish apartments and kinda yuppie in my opinion. But that is just an opinion. We have the whole bottom floor of a Victorian (there is a studio attic apartment above) for $1350. and we live about 3 blocks from those apartments you are talking about and have a yard. We have a good deal, but a 2-3 house around here goes for about 1400-2000, so I would think about that when looking for housing. Please check out craigslist. You will see that those apartments are about the same as a house in the same proximity.
Saying that, I love living here, just two blocks from the farmer market, an few blocks from downtown, community gardens all over, a few block from the river, and Aqus has music every Saturday morning to take the kids too. I moved here from Oakland in September and love it! Very strong community, if you are in to that...
Also, anything near downtown would be considered Westside. So consider that when looking for a house if you want to live so you don't have to drive everywhere.
Hi K.,
Welcome to Petaluma! I have lived here since college and love it. It's a great town to raise kids in. That being said, there is a big debate in town between the west and the east side. The west has the older side of town and the fun downtown. The east side has the big new houses and the bigger shopping centers. Either way it's all here when you need it. School wise there are many wonderful places to go, and it really depends on what you are looking for. Housing is really expensive but you can find some great homes for rent if you are around to look. I agree, it's good to check out the Argus Courier (local Petaluma paper) on line as well as the Press Democrat (Bigger paper in Santa Rosa) as well as Craigslist. Another great rental agency for nicer homes in the area is Mahoney Davidson, though it sounds like you're not wanting to spend that much... you never know - there could be a great deal now with the housing market. They just want to get some cash in! Call them for a set of listings they can fax or send. I would avoid some area townhomes on the east side... the newer ones especially downtown are nice, but pricey. Give me some more idea on what you want school and area wise and I can be more specific!
E.
Dear K.,
When my husband and I needed to move out of a fixed income apartment in Petaluma because we exceeded the income eligibilty levels we checked all the local apartment complexes. Most were extremely high priced for layouts that wouldn't work well with our family size. We decided to scan the local paper The Press Democrat and surprisingly found many homes for rent for much less than the apartment complexes rent with a lot more room inside and out for the kids. It may be worth a quick glance if you are trying to keep costs low,especially with all the houses currently sitting vacant with the housing market troubles. Good luck.
First of all, welcome to the North Bay!! We moved here (to Sebastopol) two years ago and I couldn't ever imagine living elsewhere now. Have you looked at Craigslist for rentals?
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/search/apa/nby?query=&min...
have you considered Fairfax...that is 15mile down the road from novato....such a cool town!
There are a few rental agencies that are in the area. Dede's Rentals, Baker Rentals. You can look online at the local paper- PressDemocrat.com. Most of the places you mentioned are newer- part of the downtown redevelopment. The West Side of Petaluma is where downtown is, very quaint and charming. Please feel free to contact me privately for any other info!
yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!!! I'm moving to Novato as well, but we chose to rent there.. why have you ruled out living in Novato? It's actually a very nice place. Living in Petaluma, he will have to face traffic on the 101 every morning and then again in the evening when he comes home.
Needless to say... I have checked out both areas. Park Central has nice townhouses, but we ruled it out because the stairs were steep and narrow and all the bathrooms were upstairs. They had no floor models to show me and the lady was not the friendliest. But right across the street from them were the Azure condos. They were originally built for sale, but with the housing slump being as it is, no one bought and so they flipped them and rented them. They are gorgeous and no one has lived in the one that you would get. Rent is at about $1860 a month for a 2 bedroom/2 bathroom. You can check them out at liveatazure.com
If you lived IN chicago, then the area that is the closest to what you're used to will the the theatre square apartments. They have recently renovated parts of their downtown area and those are the apartments that are there. I didn't like it because I don't like living that close and friendly to others and being in the heart of the town wasn't appealing. The Waterfront is right on the river. It's pretty, but I didn't go in and check it out.
We decided to live in Novato because it was within walking distance from him work. There are some cheaper apartments in Novato as well. Depends on if you have pets and what you want to spend on rent. Most of the places around there want some sort of lease, with many being at least a year. Hamilton Woods apartments and Hill Apartments are the cheapest in that area.
Have you looked on Craigslist.com yet? That area is considered North Bay so click on the san francisco link and then select the little tab at the top that says nby meaning north bay. Petaluma is close, so is Larkspur, Mill Valley, Greenbrae and Fairfax. You can also google Marin County and see what cities pop up. For the most part any of those would be good.
If you choose to live in Novato, get your son in to the charter school if you can. It's the better of the two options. Petaluma is a little bit more rural in their schooling and I haven't checked out their school districts.
Coming from Chicago to the Bay area will be a shocker, no doubt. Oh! And if there is a bridge... know that you're paying to get over it so ALWAYS keep at least $5 in your pocket at all times. :)
I just moved here from ... well... I moved to San Diego to be with my fiance before the baby... but originally I'm from Los Angeles area. I'm still getting adjusted. Oh and make sure that you select a place with A/C because it can get toasty in either place, although it doesn't too too often. It comes in waves, and other than that the average temp is 80 degrees. Cooler when you're near the Water of course.
Feel free to email me back if you have more questions.. or if after reading my profile you feel like we'd make friends... i still haven't been able to meet anyone yet. :(
I would look on craiglist for rentals most of the local real estate agents advertise on there as well as individual people.
Down town is a great place to live, you can get to every type of shop or business that you would want to just by walking. There's a park right near the Theatre Square and on Wed night during the summer there is a farmers market at the "Theater District", as well as one on Saturdays at the park I just mentioned. I love down town Petaluma.
As far as schools, from what I understand (which my daughter is 1 so this is just from friends and family) sometimes they will let you do an inter-district transfer, but it depends on how crowded the school is. I know a lot of people who want their younger kids to go to Valley Vista because it's right nest the Petaluma Junior High school so it would be a one stop drop off, but they are booked up. Just call and ask.
I also wanted to mention that the other person made a really good point about the drive time from Petaluma to Novato. There is normally major traffic from the last Petaluma on-ramp (Petaluma Blvd South) to where the Novato narrows end (where 101 goes from 2 lanes to 3 lanes heading south). There is a lot of time sitting in your car for those miles.
Best of luck and welcome to California =o)
Petaluma Villa Apartments are town houses that rent month to month. At least they did when I first moved to Petaluma. What about the news paper from this area. You can probablly read it online. I would also look at schools and let that help you deside where you want to live. For example if you rent a house that is 200.00 more per month but in the school district you want your child to attend...might be worth it.
