S: Sebastopol, CA

    S is for Sebastopol, CA, the place that I now call home.  Sebby (one of two common nicknames - the other is Sebtown) is a quirky small town about 60 miles north of San Francisco.  We are on the western edge of the Santa Rosa plain, about 8 miles from downtown Santa Rosa and about 12 miles from the Pacific Ocean.  Our population is about 7,500 but the surrounding rural population brings the "market" population up to about 50,000.





 We are quirky in the way that many small towns are quirky.

Of course, there is a quirky store called "Funk and Flash".

     We are a haven for artists.  There is an Art Center, a Community Center (with regular musical performances), an art supply store, a small town theater, and lots of public art.

This is one of many murals in town.  It lives on the back of the surf shop.

 Our population is diverse, though largely white (72%).  Our community is comfortable with  same sex partnerships and tends to support the Occupy movement.  There also is a politically conservative element in town and people generally treat each other with respect despite political or social differences.

The town has much pride in its sister cities and its high school.

      Our town used to be largely about agriculture, primarily apples.  In recent years, the wineries have taken over many of the apple orchards and tourism is becoming a more and more important industry.

       Sebby has an almost year round Farmer's Market and is home to several CSA's.  We have a thriving Whole Foods, two independent groceries, and two big name groceries.  The town residents have access to curbside recycling and need to be aware of water use all year round.

Sunday morning is Farmer's Market Day at the town plaza.  Lots of flowers and veggies and generally some kind of musical entertainment.

Our climate is Mediterranean.  The winters tend to be mild and not too wet (about 40 inches of rain a year) with an average winter high temperature of 56 degrees and average low of 30 degrees.  Summer temperatures are tempered by the marine influence off the Pacific coast.  The average high in the summer is 80 degrees and the average summer low is 44 degrees.

The Laguna de Santa Rosa sits on our northern edge.  It has many trails and is visited by lots of birds, migratory and otherwise.

I really could go on about all the pluses of this community but it would boil down to good people working hard to build a tolerant , sustainable community for all residents.  We have a long way to go but the desire and energy are there.  Go, Sebtown.