Cece

There's got to be a reason why Petaluma has always been the "darling" of movie location scouts!

It's a fabulous slice-out-of-time with a true old-fashioned downtown complete with pre-1906 Earthquake Victorian commercial buildings and an active riverside complete with mooring for both commercial fishing vessels and visiting sail boats, masted scooners and kajaks.

Because Petaluma is located between the Petaluma River and the Pacific Ocean, it is one of the few places in Sonoma County that has a true Mediterranean climate and just about every type of plant and tree thrives here. Which brings out the "gardener" in just about everybody who lives here.

You can pick any residential street on either the West or East sides of Petaluma and drive down it and find beautifully maintained front yard gardens. Each year Petaluma puts on a Garden Tour so that all the avid gardeners can share their creations with other Petalumans and the many tourists who continually visit our town.

We have a very watchful police department and citizens who care about this lovely historic town, so crime is kept at a minimum. Our schools continually receive awards and our residents enjoy the arts, music, dance, live theatre, poetry and film.

Jobs are plentiful, because many companies move here to attract better employees, so the average family income is higher than normal for Northern California.

The churches are varied and many and attended regularly. We have everything from the Baha'i Faith to Islam in Petaluma worship choices along with every denomination of the Christian Church and very active Jewish, Hindu and Buddhist communities as well. So there is some place to worship for everyone. All are welcome in open-minded Petaluma.

Community events happen almost every month of the year. Everything from our two Farmer's Markets, our Butter & Egg Days Parade, our Halloween Historic House Tour, Through The Garden Gate Tour, Veteran's Parade, 4th of July Fireworks display, our Day of the Dead Celebrations, History Week, Cruisin' The Boulevard, Chili Cookoff, County Fair, Jazz & Blues Festival and more.

To learn more about Petaluma, just do a keyword search on Google.com or Flickr.com and you will get a real sense of what makes Petaluma such a special place to live or visit. - Sun Aug 10 2008, 12:22

I was forced to move away when my husband received a promotion a few years back, which meant we had to leave Petaluma and move to another area in Northern California. As soon as we could we moved our family back to Petaluma because it IS one of the rare places still left in the U.S. where small town friendliness and family centered activities are still the rule.

Petalumans love their town; the children and teens love their town and it shows. Example: each Halloween, one of Petaluma's most beautiful historic residential streets, D Street, is the place to be. Both adults and children dress in ornate costumes and meander up and down both sides of the Victorian lined street, trick-or-treating at the many gorgeous, gaily decorated mansions. Many of the home owners on D Street give out more than a 1,000 pieces of candy each Halloween and love it.

Once I saw a young teen boy, kneel down on the sidewalk, throw his hands up in the air, and yell "I LOVE this town!" when he looked up the street and saw the huge numbers of costumed trick-or-treaters. In fact, many of the people trick-or-treating on D Street on Halloween night don't even live in Petaluma. They make a point of driving here each Halloween night just to take part in such a fun family orientated quaintly, spooky fall happening with their kids.

Petaluma home prices are VERY affordable right now. Even Petaluma's much-prized "Heritage Homes" in the 94952 zip code are a bargain for the first time in many, many years. It is really an ideal time to buy a large family-sized historic home in one of the best Westside Petaluma neighborhoods, and enjoy living within walking distance of the charming, historic riverside downtown, with it's new multi-screen movie theatre, tons of gourmet restaurants, cafes, boutiques, old-fashioned candy and toy stores & much more.

Historic downtown Petaluma has always been, and still remains, a great place to sit back and watch Petaluma families having a great time in the perfect weather (some of the very best year round temperatures in the Northbay region). - Sun Aug 10 2008, 11:45