How far around the periphery of the Bay Area will work? I think Gilroy was mentioned already and then you could also go see Monterrey FC as easily as the Quakes.
Sebastopol is way nicer than Santa Rosa. https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/7591-Bately-Ct-Sebastopol-CA-95472/15747449_zpid/ https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/539-Norlee-St-Sebastopol-CA-95472/15748411_zpid/
Anywhere but Oakland, and trying to avoid Brentwood-Concord area. I do NOT want to be near my mother.
Real question here... will you have any support for you and your baby in the locations you are looking? Consider your recent illness and being a single mother.
Remote from all the chaos maybe, close enough to Santa Rosa that you can get great food and medical services within reach.
True for moral support, but I think SoccerMan94043 is actually talking about something important, financial feasibility...
I was thinking who would take care of your kid if (god forbid) you end up in the hospital kind of thing, if you were so far away from your friends and family.
Rents in Sebastopol are almost as high as comparable places in Los Angeles. And is Sebastopol really the Bay Area? It's 100 miles from PPP and the bridge traffic can be brutal.
From a lifelong north bay resident, Petaluma is the perfect go between-on 101 and close enough to the city, not Marin snobs, fun downtown lots to do, etc