Santa Rosa ranks 17th ‘happiest’ city in nation

Feel good about living in Santa Rosa?

You should, since the area, including all of Sonoma County, ranked 17th out of 189 metropolitan areas nationwide in the latest Gallup-Healthways State of American Well-being community rankings.

Santa Rosa was one of seven California communities in the top 25 nationwide, trailing Santa Cruz, which received the third-highest ranking, San Luis Obispo at the No. 7 spot and Santa Barbara at No. 12. The coastal community of Naples, Florida, topped the list for the second year in a row.

The survey reflected high marks for Sonoma County that were in abundance Friday, as sunny, temperate weather ushered in the weekend.

“It’s a healthy place to live. There’s so much to do outdoors,” said Melissa Jinks as her children, Aleah, 4, and Keaton, 3, played at Howarth Park in Santa Rosa.

A nurse practitioner, yogurt shop owner and marathon runner, Jinks said she has trained on trails in adjacent Trione-Annadel State Park, running for 20 miles and rarely seeing anyone else.

Jinks and her husband, Forrest, a Santa Rosa native, have a vacation home in Chico and sometimes consider moving there for a lower cost of living in the Butte County town. But the triple-digit summer heat is a dissuader, she said.

Santa Rosa, with a well-being index score of 64.0, came in just 2.3 points behind Naples, the ?country’s satisfaction leader.

A difference of 1 to 2 points, however, represents a “statistically significant gap” in some aspects of the index, which measures five ?elements: good health, liking what you do each day, having supportive relationships, managing your finances and liking where you live.

The scores also factor in the prevalence of chronic diseases such as obesity and diabetes.

Data for the rankings came from more than 354,000 Gallup interviews with adults in all 50 states, conducted throughout 2015 and 2016.

Santa Rosa Mayor Chris Coursey said he was skeptical of such ?ratings, without knowing the ?criteria for them, but he vouched for the community’s appeal.

“Generally, I do believe Santa Rosa is a place where well-being thrives,” he said. “People do like to live here.”

The rankings, released this week, have Santa Rosa tied with El Paso, Texas; Provo, Utah; Anchorage, Alaska; and Salinas in the nation’s “salad bowl” just south of the San Francisco Bay Area.

Santa Cruz, the sand, surf and university town, ranked third nationwide with a score of 65.9, tops among the 19 California communities on the well-being scorecard.

Itemizing her town’s assets, Mayor Cynthia Chase, a UC Santa Cruz graduate, cited “beaches, redwoods, a vibrant arts scene, eclectic local flavor, tons of locally owned businesses, the ability to bike, walk, skateboard or unicycle wherever you need to get to, artisan beers and ice cream, banana slugs.”

“I mean it seems pretty clear to me why we made the top of the list,” Chase said in an email.

Chico, a state college town tucked east of Interstate 5 in the Sacramento Valley, placed last among California communities and 183rd overall with a score of 59.5.

Mayor Sean Morgan took good-natured umbrage.

“Chico State, Bidwell Park, and Sierra Nevada Brewery alone should put us in the top 10,” he said in an email.

Sierra Nevada is one of the nation’s largest craft brewers.

Asked if residents exude a sense of well-being, Morgan joked: “Not if they come to the council meetings.”

“We’re a very relaxed people, except some of the big-city transplants,” he added.

Coursey gave modest props to Santa Cruz, calling it a “decent town” and admitting he likes the beach but maintaining “they’ll never beat Santa Rosa.”

He took an unbridled jab at No. 1 Naples, saying it is “full of people who have moved from New York, Philadelphia and Chicago hanging out on their patios,” drinking cocktails.

Naples, a tourist town on Florida’s southwest coast, is a haven for millionaires with some of the priciest real estate in the nation and more than 40 percent of its population age 65 and older.

Santa Rosa is no stranger to kind reviews, having been ranked 52nd on U.S. News & World Report’s 2017 list of the 100 best places to live in the nation, which had Austin, Texas in the top spot and Naples not included.

But the area also leads in some unfortunate ways, having been named the 10th least affordable county in the nation for home purchases last year by RealtyTrac, a housing data firm.

“Housing is expensive. Raising kids is expensive,” Jinks said, heading hers toward the toy horses on springs at Howarth Park.

The Gallup-Healthways report is available online at www.well-beingindex.com.

You can reach Staff Writer Guy Kovner at 707-521-5457 or guy.kovner@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @guykovner.