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Santa Rosa is the county seat of Sonoma County, California. As of July 1, 2005, the population was approximately 156,200 residents. Santa Rosa is the largest city in California's Wine Country and fifth largest in the San Francisco Bay Area.

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According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 104.6 km² (40.4 mi²). 103.9 km² (40.1 mi²) of it is land and 0.6 km² (0.2 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 0.62% water.

Santa Rosa lies along the U.S. Highway 101 corridor approximately 50 miles north of San Francisco via the Golden Gate Bridge. The city lies on the Santa Rosa Plain; its eastern extremities stretch into The Valley of the Moon (Sonoma Valley), while its western edge abuts the largely-rural rolling hills of western Sonoma County. To the north and to the south, a relatively developed corridor along Highway 101 leads to neighboring towns of Windsor and Rohnert Park, respectively.

The population of Santa Rosa was estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau to be 153,386 residents as of July 1, 2003. That was an increase of 0.5 percent from a year earlier and an increase of 3.7 percent from the 2000 Census. That is a rate of increase that, if continued, would double the population in 59 years.

According to the 2000 Census, Santa Rosa's population was 147,595 residents, a 30.3 percent increase from the 113,313 residents in 1990. During the previous decade, the population increased by 37.1 percent from 82,658 residents in 1980.

Per the 2000 Census, the population density is 1,420.1mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 77.60% White, 2.15% African American, 1.42% Native American, 3.84% Asian, 0.26% Pacific Islander, 10.28% from other races, and 4.44% from two or more races. 19.19% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There are 56,036 households out of which 30.9% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.9% are married couples living together, 11.0% have a female householder with no husband present, and 37.3% are non-families. 27.8% of all households are made up of individuals and 11.9% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.57 and the average family size is 3.14.

In the city, the population is spread out with 24.3% under the age of 18, 9.5% from 18 to 24, 30.0% from 25 to 44, 22.3% from 45 to 64, and 13.9% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 36 years. For every 100 females there are 95.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 91.8 males.

The median income for a household in the city is $50,931, and the median income for a family is $59,659. Males have a median income of $40,420 versus $30,597 for females. The per capita income for the city is $24,495. 8.5% of the population and 5.1% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 9.5% of those under the age of 18 and 4.7% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

One hour north of San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge, Santa Rosa and Sonoma County is renowned as the heart of California's famed Wine Country, and is a popular tourist destination. In addition to wineries and vineyards, Sonoma County's varied landscape includes the popular Russian River Resort Area, Annadel State Park, the dramatic Sonoma Coast along the Pacific Ocean, and the magnificent redwood trees of Northern California, particularly at Armstrong Redwoods State Reserve. Downtown Santa Rosa, which includes historic Railroad Square and the central Courthouse Square, is a vital shopping, restaurant, night club and theatre district. Downtown's new 6th Street Playhouse is a professional theatre facility, home to the Santa Rosa Players and the Actors Theatre. Also popular with tourists are the neighboring towns of Sonoma, Petaluma, Healdsburg, Sebastopol, Windsor, Calistoga, Guerneville and Bodega Bay.

LOCAL ATTRACTIONS:

Santa Rosa has a vibrant arts scene and is home to many influential visual and performing artists. Local facilities include the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), the Sonoma County Museum and numerous art galleries. The annual "ARTrails" event showcases local visual artists around the county, who open their private studios for two weekends in the fall.

The performing arts are well represented with the Santa Rosa Symphony, the Luther Burbank Center for the Performing Arts, the Summer Repertory Theatre, and the 6th Street Playhouse (est. 2005), home of the Santa Rosa Players and the Actors Theatre. Santa Rosa is the home of the North Bay Theatre Group, an alliance of some 40 theatre companies, theatre departments and individual performance companies in five North Bay counties. The Arts Council of Sonoma County is also based there.

In addition, environmental artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude chose Sonoma County for the construction of their famous 24-mile-long "Running Fence" (1976).

Santa Rosa is famous as the home of the horticulturalist, Luther Burbank, who said of Sonoma County, i"I firmly believe, from what I have seen, that this is the chosen spot of all this earth as far as Nature is concerned." Burbank lived in Santa Rosa for more than 50 years in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, working to develop new strains of plants and towards improving the world's food supply. During that time, he introduced more than 200 varieties of fruits, vegetables, grains, and ornamental flowers, most notably the Burbank Russet Potato, the Shasta Daisy, and the Santa Rosa Plum. The Luther Burbank Home and Gardens in downtown Santa Rosa has been designated a National Historic Landmark.

Santa Rosa is the birthplace of Robert Ripley, creator of Ripley's Believe It or Not!. The "Church of the One Tree", a church built entirely from the wood of a single redwood tree, and popularized by Ripley, stands on the north side of Juilliard Park in downtown Santa Rosa, across from the Luther Burbank Home and Gardens. Ripley is now buried in the Santa Rosa Rural Cemetery.

For over 30 years, Santa Rosa was home to Charles M. Schulz, the world-famous cartoonist and creator of the beloved comic strip Peanuts. The Charles Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa celebrates his life's work and the art of cartooning. A bronze statue of Charlie Brown and Snoopy stands in Depot Park at the northwest corner of 4th and Wilson Streets in downtown Santa Rosa's Railroad Square District. In 2000, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors rechristened the "Charles M. Schulz Sonoma County Airport" in his honor. The airport's amusing logo features Snoopy with goggles and scarf, taking to the skies on top of his red doghouse.

Since 1993, Santa Rosa has been the home of William Mark Felt, who revealed in 2005 that he had been the Washington Post's Watergate source known to the public only as "Deep Throat".

Santa Rosa (and Sebastopol, CA) is the home of noted musician and actor Tom Waits. Known for his thick, raspy voice, and songs that vary from love ballad to freakish storyline, he has been a cult music icon for decades. It is not uncommon for locals to see him browsing the racks of The Last Record Store or at Copperfield's Books.

Professional cyclist Levi Leipheimer calls Santa Rosa his home when not racing in Europe. He was a member of the United States Postal Service cycling team that saw Lance Armstrong win the Tour de France. While a domestique with the Postal Service team, he has moved up to team leader with the Gerolsteiner team. He is always competitive with a win in the Tour of Germany, top five finishes in the Tour de France and top five performances in the Vuelta de Espana as well as a podium finish in the Dauphine Libere. He still resides in Santa Rosa as well as participates competitively in the UCI Pro Tour which includes the Tour, Giro, and Vuelta.

Santa Rosa has served as a location for many major films, including (courtesy of oldmovies.com):

(1943) Alfred Hitchcock's personal favorite, filmed at Santa Rosa Railroad Depot, NWP Engine #140, Old Courthouse Square, Public Library, and McDonald Avenue. Made into a TV-movie in 1991 (eight weeks filming on McDonald Avenue). (1954- Present) In the early 1970s, the episodes "City Fox" and "Harbor Seals" were filmed just outside of Healdsburg. For the latter, water from Russian River was pumped into a huge pool used for filming. In the late 1960s to early 1970s, the "Inky the Crow" episodes filmed in Fountain Grove. (1956) The story of small-town witch-hunting and book-burning used the Santa Rosa Library, with Bette Davis spending six weeks on the location: from the Library's collection of clippings on the film, you can see that she spent a lot of time with the women's clubs and, especially, with real librarian Ruth Hall, and that she made a strong impression on them. Shot mostly at Santa Rosa's Main Library. (1960) Filming locations include the Mableton Mansion (aka the McDonald Mansion), on McDonald Ave. in Santa Rosa. (1963) The sequence involving the plane and the control tower was shot at the Sonoma County Airport in Santa Rosa. (1975) Shot at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium and many other locales in and around Santa Rosa. Later made into a Broadway musical with songs by Marvin Hamlisch. (1982) The scene where Albert Finney took his kids to Carl's Jr. was the filmed at a real Carl's Jr. near Hopper Avenue. Also filmed at Wolf House at Jack London State Park. (1996) Contains scenes shot at the Santa Rosa Junior College and various locations in Sonoma County. (2001) The Flamingo Hotel was given a light makeover in preparation for some scenes that were shot there. (2004) The family home in fictional Midland, IL, was actually filmed in rural Petaluma. Also Filmed in Railroad Square.