KCRag Forum

grovester wrote: ↑Tue Sep 17, 2019 9:16 am We stay in Marin often as we have relatives in Mill Valley and try to use the ferries from either Sausalito or Larkspur.

We did have a car last trip since the folks were with us and didn't find the drive into SF that bad at all. Of course timing is everything.

earthling wrote: ↑Tue Sep 17, 2019 9:23 am Of course more affordable the further north you stay in Sonoma County but could understand why you'd want to be closer towards city for a short stint. Depends on which you'd rather deal with, work commute or longer city adventures.

chrizow wrote: ↑Tue Sep 17, 2019 12:14 pm here is my 2 cents:

if you're going to be in sonoma county, i honestly would not even bother with trying to pop down to SF (or OAK) , unless it's the weekend and you have all day (and maybe could consider staying overnight in the city). there is no fast, convenient, or pleasant way to get from anywhere worthwhile in Sonoma County to SF with a car, let alone transit. My recommendation is to explore the natural splendor and abundant wine/food/beer in Sonoma County itself when you're there and forget about going to SF/Oak. (Related, Sonoma County is pretty large, and most of the good stuff is pretty far off 101 so you're on 2-lane, curving highways most of the time).

Unless work requires you to stay in either Santa Rosa or Petaluma, I would say make a different choice. Neither of those cities have anything particularly worthwhile, so the pros/cons of each would pertain to their proximity to other destinations. Santa Rosa is nice b/c it's close to Healdsburg (a pretty charming little town with a lot of great food options) and the beautiful Alexander Valley region to the north, then you h ave Sebastapol/Forestville/Guerneville (Russian River wine country) etc to the west along Hwy 116 on your way to the ocean, Sonoma State Park, etc. If you haven't done Hwy 1 in this area, it is pretty epic.

Petaluma is kind of close-ish to the southern part of Sonoma county, like Sonoma town (which is fairly charming) and it has decent access over to the Napa valley (although Santa Rosa does too, maybe even better). The scenery down here is a little more arid and austere (and beautiful, warmer and more sunny), whereas up near Santa Rosa and over to the west it's heavily forested (and more likely to be wet/foggy). Both are great, just different. If you have a large amount of time in Sonoma County, I would recommend exploring all over. Lots of cool hiking and exploring to do, esp. along the coast.

Then if work has you move down to Marin County, you could stay almost anywhere but I would recommend getting farther west into the undeveloped area of the county, so you access natural splendor around Stinson Beach and (especially) Point Reyes Nat'l Seashore. From this area you could pop over the GG Bridge to SF without any problem.

As far as Oakland, it's pretty interesting. I have only really spent any time in the Temescal area and other neighborhoods closer to Berkeley. Oakland definitely has more of an edgy, countercultural vibe than SF at this point. SF is pretty amazing but the last couple times i've been out there, I have also noticed a real dire, dystopian vibe. Homeless encampments everywhere, filthy streets, tons of empty speculative development, etc., you really feel the huge disparity out there. I still really dig the far west neighborhoods like the Outer Sunset and going to Ocean Beach. The Mission retains a pretty cool feel despite extreme gentrification.

warwickland wrote: ↑Wed Sep 18, 2019 5:22 pm addendum: i’ve never crossed the golden gate so the entire west coast between marin and central oregon/crater lake is unknown to me.

warwickland wrote: ↑Tue Oct 15, 2019 4:25 pm so, got a dose of california reality between having two fires (and a third-degree burned homeless guy who started them) next to my jobsite (we had to actually fight one of them to prevent it from spreading onto our jobsite), traffic (mainly the horror of 3 hour commutes/car sleeping for co-workers), vast power outages and resultant chaos...after being there for almost three weeks i was ready to head home (or have a long weekend in mendocino county).

also, one of the most beautiful places in the country, without a doubt, and would love to go back for work. this is the third trip to california this year but really my first real california reality check i guess.