Tickets for Santa Rosa

Santa Rosa is the county seat of Sonoma County, California, USA. The population of Santa Rosa was approximately 156,200 residents as of July 1, 2005. Santa Rosa is the largest city in California's Wine Country. It is also the fifth largest city in the San Francisco Bay Area. Santa Rosa's Metropolitan Statistical Area is the 12th largest in California with the population of approximately 466,477 residents.

Geography
The United States Census Bureau reports the total area of Santa Rosa is 104.6 km² (40.4 mi²). Its land area comprises 103.9 km² (40.1 mi²) and the remaining 0.6 km² (0.2 mi²) of it is water.

Santa Rosa lies on the Santa Rosa Plain; its eastern extremities stretch into the Valley of the Moon, and the Sonoma Creek watershed known as the Sonoma Valley, while its western edge lies in the Laguna de Santa Rosa catchment basin.

Nature & wildlife
Due to its population, Santa Rosa's only remaining undisturbed areas are on its urban fringe. The principal corridors of Santa Rosa Creek and its tributaries are included in it. The trees of the median strip on West Ninth Street provide the nesting places for great blue herons, great egrets, snowy egrets and black-crowned herons. Nearer the eastern hills. Deer often are spotted roaming the neighborhoods. The flocks of wild turkeys are relatively common in some areas, and mountain lions are occasionally observed within the city limits.

Tourism
Santa Rosa sits at the southwestern gateway to the Sonoma and Napa Valleys of California's famed Wine Country and it is home to several vineyards such as this one near Fountain Grove. There are many wineries and vineyards are located near the city. The other nearby important places include the Russian River Resort Area, the Sonoma Coast along the Pacific Ocean, Jack London State Historic Park and the redwood trees of Armstrong Redwoods State Reserve.

The City sprawls along Highway 101. Horizon Air is scheduled to being new airline service on March 20, 2007. It will serve from the Charles M. Schulz - Sonoma County Airport, just north of Santa Rosa, to Los Angeles and Seattle. Major new commercial and residential development along a proposed Sonoma-Marin Rapid Transit (SMART) railway from Larkspur to Cloverdale is also encouraged by the City Council. It is parallel to the congested 101 freeway--which will be developed in case of approval of a new sales tax surcharge by local voters.

The Chamber of Commerce operates the Santa Rosa Convention & Visitors Bureau and is paid by the City council for this purpose.Chamber's visitors center is in the City-owned old railroad depot at the bottom of Fourth Street, in Historic Railroad Square. The SRC&VB has been a California Welcome Center since 2003.

Downtown Santa Rosa is a shopping, restaurant, nightclub, and theatre area. The central Old Courthouse Square and historic Railroad Square are included in the Downtown Santa Rosa. The important places of Downtown are City Hall, State, and Federal office buildings, many banks, and professional offices. The Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital medical center area is just to the east. A private booster group is funded by the City Council. Santa Rosa Main Street lobbies the City to revitalize the traditional business district. The neighboring towns of Bodega Bay, Calistoga, Guerneville, Healdsburg, Petaluma, Sebastopol, Sonoma and Windsor are popular with tourists, and readily accessible from Santa Rosa.

Local Attractions
The local attractions include the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center on the corner of West Steele Lane and Hardies Lane The Carrillo Adobe was the first home on the site of the future Santa Rosa. It was built in 1837 for Dona Maria Ignacio Lopez de Carrillo (General Mariano Vallejo's mother-in-law)

The other popular local attractions of Santa Rosa include Luther Burbank Home and Gardens,Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center,The Redwood Empire Ice Arena ("Snoopy's Home Ice"), Sonoma County Museum,Safari West,Annadel State Park ,Spring Lake County Park,Performing and Visual Arts.

Santa Rosa has been a thriving place of arts and culture. It is home to many influential performing and visual artists. The Santa Rosa Symphony, the Wells Fargo Center for the Performing Arts , and the Santa Rosa Players and the Actors Theatre represent the performing arts in Santa Rosa.Santa Rosa has the honor of being the home of the North Bay Theatre Group, an alliance of some 40 theatre companies, theatre departments and individual performance companies from five North Bay counties. Santa Rosa High School is the home of ArtQuest, an arts program. Many students from outside the district and city are attracted to this arts program.

The Sonoma County Museum and numerous independent art galleries represent the visual arts of Santa Rosa. The Arts Council of Sonoma County is also based there.