Rohnert Park

Rohnert Park

Rohnert Park is located just off Highway 101 about fifty miles north of San Francisco. It has seen its population grow to over 45,000 since it was incorporated in 1962. It is filled predominantly with families who enjoy the city’s small town feel and relaxed pace.

People also like the relatively affordable homes for sale in Rohnert Park, making it one of the most affordable places to buy a home in Sonoma County.

The town is named after Waldo Emerson Rohnert. He was not Rohnert Park’s first mayor, developer or visionary but a guy who sold seeds for a living – go figure?

Books and Slot Machines

The seed store is gone, replaced by a business that sells dreams of wealth and riches, the Graton Resort & Casino. It is the city’s largest employer with Sonoma State University right behind it. Both create an indelible imprint on the community as each makes an enormous impact on commerce as well  providing cultural and educational offerings, including lectures, performing arts, concerts and, of course, poker and blackjack.

Being located in the heart of Sonoma’s wine country, Sonoma State has the Wine Business Institute which, among other things, markets and sells its own wine from Sonoma State Cellars.

After downing a few bottles of Sonoma State Wine, students and neighbors alike often go to the University’s Green Music Center which features a 1,400-seat concert hall, a 250-seat recital hall, and an outdoor performance space with seating for 10,000.

Back in the Day

Like most towns in Sonoma County, the Coastal Miwok tribe first settled Rohnert Park. They had a pretty good life, at least before the Europeans arrived, enjoying the mild climate, the abundance of game, fish and acorns which they made into a floury dough.

In the early 1800’s, the Mexican government doled out large land grants to settlers, one of which had in it today’s Rohnert Park. When the railroads came to the area, many more people settled in the area turning large ranches into farms and small ranches.

When Up is Down

One of Rohnert Park’s weirdest attractions is Lichau Road which mystifies drivers because it is a “gravity hill.” If you drive up the hill on Lichau Road, stop your car at a certain place and put it in neutral, your car will roll up hill, not down.

For decades people have debated the cause of this physics defying phenomenon, attributing it to an optical illusion or some sort of other worldly gravitational or magnetic anomaly. No doubt the hippies who, in the late 1960’s and 1970’s lived near this area, attributed the phenomenon to the psychedelic drugs they were taking in copious quantities.

Buying a Home in Rohnert Park

There are a lot of homes for sale in Sonoma’s wine country but some of the best priced one’s are in Rohnert Park. For example, there is a home for sale in Rohnert Park for just $328,000. It’s a small two bedroom, one bathroom condo that is 781 sq ft. The median price of a condo in Rohnert Park is $410,000, a real bargain in pricy Sonoma County.

The most expensive home for sale in Rohnert Park at the moment (3/23) is a five bedroom,  three bathroom newly constructed house that is 2,650 sq ft with an asking price of $1,225,000. The median price of a house in Rohnert Park is $702,000.

These are just two of the homes for sale* in Rohnert Park right now. Typically, it takes twenty five days to sell a home in Rohnert Park, which is pretty quick even though prices have increased 2% for the same time last year.

Buying a home in Rohnert Park is a wonderful thing unless you live on the haunted stretch of Lichua Road where you’re not sure which way is up, and which way is down.