lorli

Hi, does anyone here (my source of all knowledge and wisdom) live in or know St Helena? I'm thinking about applying for a job there and I don't know anyone who has been there. I wondered what it is like to live there.
Thanks,
Lorli

willferg

I live in Sonoma County, about an hour away from St. Helena. I haven't gone there often; mostly I've passed through on my way to other places like Clearlake. It's north of Napa, and while that whole valley is kinda pricey, I'm not sure if St. Helena is more or less expensive than Napa – probably depends on the neighborhood. I think it gets pretty warm over there, but it's a good location. Not too long to San Francisco or Sacramento. I think if you can get a good job there, it would be a nice place to live.

Hope that helps some!

Stitchnripper

Their website is lovely. But they are in a water crisis right now. Can you take a trip out there and see?

Monika

I live in Sacramento about 2-3 hours away. We used to go there a lot for wine tasting. LOTS of vineyards around there. I like St. Helena, but have only visited. The weather is pretty good. No snow. I don't know if you deal with snow now, but that no snow would be a selling point for me. I think Stitchnripper has a good idea, taking a trip out here.

auntpiggylpn

Do a home search on realtor.com. We did this when we were looking into moving to Michigan. We chose general areas of where we could wind up (company transfer with locations all over the state). By looking at the real estate that was available, it gave us an idea of what the cities would be like. If most of the properties were foreclosures or generally in states of disrepair, or selling for very low prices (ie: 1800 sqft home with 5+ acres priced at $29,000) we knew it wasn't an area that we wanted to relocate to. It also showed us what we size of home we could get in our price range. In some of the cities we were looking at, we could only afford a 1100 sq ft home with .25 acres and others we could get 2000 sqft with 2+ acres. Also, we did google searches of the towns and were able to find out information regarding schools (not info that we needed), general economics, population and crime rates. We were able to eliminate several cities that we had no interest in locating to.

0tis

It's been years since I've been there - it is sort of out of the way - lots of vineyards and if I remember right there is hot springs and a local geyser - It would be beautiful there - I would think a vineyard job would be in order - take a look at it.

rjwilder

St Helena is in Napa County, there are lots of vineyards, shopping, etc. It is also close to Santa Rosa, Petaluma, San Francisco, and a short trip to Bodega Bay if you like the ocean. Also, it's about 3 1/2 hours or so from Reno and Tahoe. Homes there range from $250.00 on up to over a million dollars. Like any city, there are condos and mansions. Yes, we do have a water shortage but we will be getting help from the government soon. In fact where I live we are on voluntary cut back only. The shortage is hitting the farming community very hard. I used to live in New York, it is expensive, in my opinion more expensive than Napa or Sonoma County. I love the Napa/Sonoma area so much that I live there half the time and in Sacramento the rest of the time. I suggest you think about what you like to do for entertainment, do you like being outdoors, prefer big city life. If your family is in NY can you live so far away?

lorli

Thank you for all your advice!

RJWilder - what part of NY did you live in? I'm in central NY so houses are not that expensive but taxes are pretty bad. We are out in the country and I am spoiled, we have a farm with sheep and goats and NO NEIGHBORS. But DH loves the ocean and misses it terribly, he is from the Caribbean and has had enough of. Cold and snow after 18 years here.

I grew up near Boston and, after my mother died, my father moved to southern California. I have not. Been able to vist him yet but he loves it there.

I looked at Realtor.com and it seemed like the houses within 10 miles of St Helena were very expensive, but people might live further away, if the roads are good. I generally have to be within 30 to 45 minutes from work but it depends on the employer. Guess I will call about the job tomorrow.

Thanks again!

JoyceHoopes

Lorli, whatever you choose, good luck tomorrow . Joyce

IBQUILTIN

I truly love the Napa Valley. There is so much to see and do. The Delta Breezes can be troublesome in the spring, but otherwise it is usually pretty nice. My kids live over there and just love it. Central to San Francisco, Sacramento, The Delta for boating and not far from some lovely lovely beaches.