What is Napa County (California) like?

Question

Thinking about moving there...

Please tell me anything you have to tell about Napa County. Anything would be helpful. Thank you!

specifically Napa County, not just California (Maham E)

I already know that it's famous for wine. I'd like to know more about climate, surroundings, etc.

Some questions I have...

Are the schools good around there?

Is it a nice place to live? A good place to raise a family?

What is there to do there?

If you've been there/live there, do you/did you like it? Why or why not?

Answer 1

Wow, where to begin?!? The weather is always beautiful to me. Cold-ish in the mornings, warm in the afternoon in summer. Rainy and cool in the winter. Just average temps for me.

The schools are great, good passing scores on the exit exams and kids going to Stanford, Yale, etc... Housing is expensive. Our rent is cheap for a small house, but if we had to move we'd be looking at $1400+ a month for another 2 BR. Napa proper is cheaper than Upvalley, the farther you go Upvalley, the more expensive it gets.

Not a whole lot of crime depending on what neighborhood you live in. There are two gangs, but if you don't rent in those neighborhoods, you're fine. People complain about a lack of nightlife, but there's the Opera House (which also does comedy and Broadway shows), a great Town Center for shopping (antique stores everywhere, and a ton of grocery stores, and other chains like Wal-Mart, Target, Petco), restaurants everywhere. Traffic can be hairy on 29 during the rush hours and during tourist season, but it's nothing that terrible.

Um, it's not that far from SF, and there's a ferry from Vallejo if you want to go into the city. (Do NOT consider Vallejo!) So it's like living in a small community, people talk to their neighbors still. There's so much to do and see here. I've been in Napa almost 3 years and I still discover things.

Email me if you want more info. Or to get a general idea of what's going on here, www.napavalleyregister.com.

I'll never move out of Napa Valley.

Answer 2

Would have to agree with Chefgrille. it does rain a lot in the winter from January - March. Beyond that it is pretty mellow weather wise. Napa could be 70 for example and calistoga could be 80 on the same day, 30 miles apart. It is very foggy most of the year. especially the morning. And I usually have to dress in layers and carry jacket at all times.

It is first and foremost a farming community due to the wine biz. So it is not really "citified" so to speak. Though it is considered quite uppity and sometimes can be considered snobbish. But you get that everywhere in the bay area.

I prefer napa county to sonoma county for convenience to the rest of the bay area. I can hop on the ferry in be in SF in under an hour, be up to tahoe for skiing in 3 hours. It is very well located.

Housing pricing is kind of all over the place. a lot of the older houses need some TLC. So you can find bargains, but look at dumping a lot of money in to fixing them up. Rental market is also very up and down. And the further north up valley you go the more expensive it gets.

The only down side is that if you are a single woman in say your 30s, the single men field of same age group is either non-existent or they are all dating people already. That is my only gripe. For the longest time napa was primarily senior citizen type community. But as time is moving on it is filled with people in their 20s or 40s and old. The 30 something group is quite small.

And if you are looking for shopping, like a mall you will have to drive anywhere from 15 - 40 miles to either Fairfield, Santa Rosa, Corte Madera or Walnut Creek. Napa only has unique shops down town and outlet mall.

I love living here. I have been here 7 years and wouldn't change a thing.

Answer 3

They make wine there. You better have lots of money if you want to buy a home. Lots of the natives are pretty ok, as long as you're hanging to the left. Northern Ca has pretty decent weather, but depends where you're coming from.

Answer 4

The State of California (is the most populous state of the United States of America. Located on the Pacific coast of North America, it is bordered by Oregon, Nevada and Arizona in the United States, and Baja California in Mexico. The state's four largest cities are Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose and San Francisco. California is known for its diverse climate and ethnically diverse population. The state has 58 counties.

Inhabited by indigenous people for millennia, Alta California was first colonized by the Spanish Empire in 1769, and after Mexican independence in 1821, continued as part of Mexico. Following one brief week as the independent California Republic in 1846, and the conclusion of the Mexican-American war in 1848, California was annexed by the United States and was admitted to the Union as the thirty-first state on September 9, 1850.

California's diverse geography ranges from the sandy beaches of the Pacific coast to the rugged, snow-capped Sierra Nevada mountains in the east. The central portion of the state is dominated by the Central Valley, one of the most vital agricultural areas in the country. The Sierra Nevada contains Yosemite Valley, famous for its glacially-carved domes, and Sequoia National Park, home to the largest living organisms on Earth, the giant sequoia trees, and the highest point in the contiguous United States, Mount Whitney.[2] The tallest living things on Earth, the ancient redwood trees, dot the coastline, mainly north of San Francisco. California is also home to the second lowest and hottest place in the Western Hemisphere, Death Valley. Bristlecone pines located in the White Mountains are the oldest known trees in the world; one has an age of 4,700 years.

The California Gold Rush, beginning in 1848, dramatically changed California with an influx of population and an economic boom, and San Francisco became a financial and cultural center. The early part of the 20th century was marked by Los Angeles becoming the center of the entertainment industry, in addition to the growth of a large tourism sector in the state. The Central Valley is home to California's important agricultural industry, the largest of any state. Other important industries have included the aerospace and oil industries. In recent decades, California has become a global leader in computers and information technology. If California were a country, its economy would rank among the ten largest in the world,[3] and it would be the 35th largest country by population (behind Kenya).

Climate
Main article: Climate of California
California climate varies from Mediterranean to subarctic. Much of the state has a Mediterranean climate, with cool, rainy winters and dry summers. The cool California Current offshore often creates summer fog near the coast. Further inland, the climate has colder winters and hotter summers.

Northern parts of the state average higher annual rainfall than the south. California's mountain ranges influence the climate as well: some of the rainiest parts of the state are west-facing mountain slopes. Northwestern California has a temperate climate and the Central Valley has a Mediterranean climate but with greater temperature extremes than the coast. The high mountains, including the Sierra Nevada, have a mountain climate with snow in winter and mild to moderate heat in summer.


This mountain is characteristic of the Mojave Desert in southern California.The east side of California's mountains has a drier rain shadow. The low deserts east of the southern California mountains have hot summers and nearly frostless mild winters; the higher elevation deserts of eastern California have hot summers and cold winters. In Death Valley, the highest temperature in the Western Hemisphere, 134 °F (56.6 °C), was recorded July 10, 1913.

Answer 5

Marvelous landscapes and lots of free wine. ~

Answer 6

it's a pretty area and there's lots of vinyards there.

Answer 7

It's too hot and it's too expensive.