Rohnert Park is a city in

Sonoma County, California Sonoma County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 488,863. Its seat of government and largest city is Santa Rosa. Sonoma County comprises the Santa Rosa-Petaluma ...

, United States, located approximately north of San Francisco. The population at the 2020 United States census was 44,390. It is an early

planned city A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...

and is the sister city of Hashimoto in Japan.

Sonoma State University Sonoma State University (SSU, Sonoma State, or Sonoma) is a public university in Sonoma County, California, United States. It is part of the California State University system. Sonoma State offers 92 bachelor's degree programs, 19 master's de ...

, part of the

California State University The California State University (Cal State or CSU) is a Public university, public university system in California, and the List of largest universities and university networks by enrollment, largest public university system in the United States ...

system, is located nearby.

History

Originally home of the

Coast Miwok The Coast Miwok are an Indigenous people of California that were the second-largest tribe of the Miwok people. Coast Miwok inhabited the general area of present-day Marin County and southern Sonoma County in Northern California, from the Golde ...

native people, the

Mexican government The Federal government of Mexico (alternately known as the Government of the Republic or ' or ') is the national government of the United Mexican States, the central government established by its constitution to share sovereignty over the republ ...

granted

Rancho Cotate Cotati (; Miwok: ''Kota’ti'') is a city in Sonoma County, California, United States, located approximately north of San Francisco in the 101 corridor between Rohnert Park and Petaluma. Cotati's population as of the 2020 Census was 7,584, m ...

to Captain Juan Castaneda in July 1844 for his military services in the region. The grant encompassed present-day Penngrove, Cotati and Rohnert Park. "Cotate Rancho is a part of the Vallejo Township which is the plain between Sonoma Mountain and Petaluma Creek

San Pablo Bay San Pablo Bay is a tidal estuary that forms the northern extension of the San Francisco Bay in the East Bay and North Bay regions of the San Francisco Bay Area in northern California. Most of the Bay is shallow; however, there is a deep wate ...

, and an east and west line dividing the tract from

Santa Rosa Santa Rosa is the Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish name for Saint Rose. Santa Rosa may also refer to: Places Argentina *Santa Rosa, Mendoza, a city * Santa Rosa, Tinogasta, Catamarca * Santa Rosa, Valle Viejo, Catamarca *Santa Rosa, La Pampa * S ...

Township."DeClercq, 1977.Harris, 1980. In 1849, Dr. Thomas S. Page, of Cotati, bought Rancho Cotate. Over time, the property was broken up and sold off piecemeal to incoming settlers. The town of Rohnert Park was named after the Rohnert family, which owned the Rohnert Seed Farm. In 1929, a successful businessman, Waldo Emerson Rohnert (1869–1933), a native of

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

, purchased a large ranch in the area and minimized flooding in the fields with a crude drainage system. He died shortly thereafter. His son, Fred Rohnert, a graduate of

Stanford Law School Stanford Law School (SLS) is the Law school in the United States, law school of Stanford University, a Private university, private research university near Palo Alto, California. Established in 1893, Stanford Law had an acceptance rate of 6.28% i ...

, took over the ranch and developed a seed growing business, the Rohnert Seed Farm, which became a major horticultural success for the county. In 1956, only four adults resided within the district boundaries. In 1956 and 1957, with the U.S. Route 101 Freeway recently completed at the Cotati bypass, Rohnert Park began to be laid out and built as a

. In a summer election in 1962, Rohnert Park was incorporated, comprising , housing an estimated 2,775 persons. It was the first town to incorporate in Sonoma County since 1905. The neighboring town of

Cotati, California Cotati (; Miwok: ''Kota’ti'') is a city in Sonoma County, California, United States, located approximately north of San Francisco in U.S. Route 101 in California, the 101 corridor between Rohnert Park, California, Rohnert Park and Petaluma, ...

, voted to incorporate the following year.

21st-century development

Sonoma Mountain Village Rohnert Park is a , solar-powered, zero-waste community currently under development. The

Graton Resort & Casino Graton Resort & Casino is an Indian casino and hotel outside Rohnert Park, California, that opened on November 5, 2013. It is owned and operated by the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria. The casino has 3,000 slot machines, 144 table games, a ...

opened on November 5, 2013.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, Rohnert Park has a total area of , 99.93% of it land and 0.07% of it water. The city neighborhoods east of Highway 101 are organized into sections, generally designated by the letters A–H, J-M, R, S, and W. In most cases, the names of streets and parks begin with the letter of the section they are in. K Section is also referred to as the "University District" and is the residential development of the city's University Specific Plan Area; W Section is also referred to as "Willowglen" and is the residential development of the city's Southeast Specific Plan Area. There is a small

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

called

Roberts Lake Roberts Lake is a reservoir at 5010 Roberts Lake Road in Rohnert Park, California, USA. Named after Arthur N. Roberts, a five-term mayor who died in 1986, it is the centerpiece of Roberts Lake Park, a city park. The lake is the site of an annual ...

at the north end of the city and a number of creeks. Important creeks include the

Laguna de Santa Rosa The Laguna de Santa Rosa is a wetland complex that drains a watershed encompassing most of the Santa Rosa Plain in Sonoma County, California, United States. The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment has issued a safe ...

(which forms part of the border with the City of Cotati), Copeland Creek,

Hinebaugh Creek Hinebaugh Creek (Latitude: 38.35; Longitude:-122.73) is a westward-flowing stream in western Sonoma County within the Laguna de Santa Rosa watershed. As this watercourse proceeds westerly through the city of Rohnert Park, it has largely been cha ...

, Crane Creek and

Five Creek Five Creek is a westward flowing stream that rises in the city of Rohnert Park, California, United States and discharges to the Laguna de Santa Rosa. The creek is channelized as it flows through the city and runs in an artificially rectilinear fas ...

. All creeks within the city limits have been channelized. Spivock Creek, Coleman Creek, Wilfred Channel, and Labath Channel are artificial channels designed to convey runoff. FiveCreekPICT2916

Riparian A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. In some regions, the terms riparian woodland, riparian forest, riparian buffer zone, riparian corridor, and riparian strip are used to characterize a ripar ...

communities within the city are limited by channelization of creekbeds. Vegetation alongside the city's streams primarily consists of grass and sedge species. The Laguna de Santa Rosa contains bands of thick native riparian vegetation, including

willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, of the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 350 species (plus numerous hybrids) of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions. Most species are known ...

(''Salix'' spp.) and

alder Alders are trees of the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus includes about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few species ex ...

(''Alnus'' spp.) trees.

Sudden oak death James Green aka "Sudden" is a fictional character created by an English author Oliver Strange in the early 1930s as the hero of a series, originally published by George Newnes Books Ltd, set in the American Wild West era. Oliver Strange died ...

fungus A fungus (: fungi , , , or ; or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as one ...

risks are present in the Rohnert Park area. Research is ongoing at the nearby

Fairfield Osborn Preserve The Fairfield Osborn Preserve is a 450-acre nature reserve situated on the northwest flank of Sonoma Mountain in Sonoma County, California. There are eight plant communities within the property, oak woodland being the dominant type. Other communi ...

Geology

The

Rodgers Creek Fault The Hayward Fault Zone is a right-lateral strike-slip geologic fault zone capable of generating destructive earthquakes. The fault was first named in the Lawson Report of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake in recognition of its involvement in the ...

is an active fault influencing earthquake activity in the Rohnert Park area. The city also experiences earthquakes from the

San Andreas Fault The San Andreas Fault is a continental Fault (geology)#Strike-slip faults, right-lateral strike-slip transform fault that extends roughly through the U.S. state of California. It forms part of the tectonics, tectonic boundary between the Paci ...

Demographics

2020

The 2020 United States census reported that Rohnert Park had a population of 44,390. The population density was . The racial makeup of Rohnert Park was 59.2%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 2.2%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 1.6% Native American, 6.4% Asian, 0.4%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 15.6% from other races, and 14.6% from two or more races.

Hispanic or Latino ''Hispanic'' and '' Latino'' are ethnonyms used to refer collectively to the inhabitants of the United States who are of Spanish or Latin American ancestry (). While many use the terms interchangeably, for example, the United States Census Bureau ...

of any race were 29.6% of the population. The census reported that 99.2% of the population lived in households, 0.8% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0.0% were institutionalized. There were 16,827 households, out of which 30.1% included children under the age of 18, 43.1% were married-couple households, 9.1% were

cohabiting Cohabitation is an arrangement where people who are not legally married live together as a couple. They are often involved in a romantic or sexually intimate relationship on a long-term or permanent basis. Such arrangements have become incr ...

couple households, 29.1% had a female householder with no partner present, and 18.7% had a male householder with no partner present. 25.0% of households were one person, and 11.4% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.62. There were 10,537

families Family (from ) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictability, structure, and safety as ...

(62.6% of all households). The age distribution was 19.7% under the age of 18, 12.1% aged 18 to 24, 29.5% aged 25 to 44, 24.0% aged 45 to 64, and 14.7% who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 36.3years. For every 100 females, there were 94.2 males. There were 17,768 housing units at an average density of , of which 16,827 (94.7%) were occupied. Of these, 53.5% were owner-occupied, and 46.5% were occupied by renters. In 2023, the US Census Bureau estimated that 15.5% of the population were foreign-born. Of all people aged 5 or older, 72.0% spoke only English at home, 20.0% spoke

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

, 3.0% spoke other

Indo-European languages The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the northern Indian subcontinent, most of Europe, and the Iranian plateau with additional native branches found in regions such as Sri Lanka, the Maldives, parts of Central Asia (e. ...

, 4.5% spoke Asian or Pacific Islander languages, and 0.5% spoke other languages. Of those aged 25 or older, 89.9% were high school graduates and 30.1% had a bachelor's degree. The median household income in 2023 was $96,635, and the

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

was $45,603. About 6.4% of families and 10.2% of the population were below the poverty line.

2010

At the 2010 census Rohnert Park had a population of 40,971. The population density was . The racial makeup of Rohnert Park was 31,178 (76.1%) White, 759 (1.9%) African American, 407 (1.0%) Native American, 2,144 (5.2%) Asian, 179 (0.4%) Pacific Islander, 3,967 (9.7%) from other races, and 2,337 (5.7%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 9,068 persons (22.1%). The census reported that 99.0% of the population lived in households and 1.0% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters. There were 15,808 households, 4,842 (30.6%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 6,546 (41.4%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 1,883 (11.9%) had a female householder with no husband present, 907 (5.7%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 1,201 (7.6%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 144 (0.9%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 4,177 households (26.4%) were one person and 1,374 (8.7%) had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.57. There were 9,336 families (59.1% of households); the average family size was 3.13. The age distribution was 8,571 people (20.9%) under the age of 18, 6,853 people (16.7%) aged 18 to 24, 11,035 people (26.9%) aged 25 to 44, 10,710 people (26.1%) aged 45 to 64, and 3,802 people (9.3%) who were 65 or older. The median age was 33.0 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.7 males. There were 16,551 housing units at an average density of , of which 54.0% were owner-occupied and 46.0% were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.1%; the rental vacancy rate was 4.8%. 55.8% of the population lived in owner-occupied housing units and 43.3% lived in rental housing units.

Law and government

Council

Rohnert Park is governed by a City Council of five members, who serve staggered four-year terms. Municipal elections are held in November of even-numbered years. In 2019, the Rohnert Park City Council voted to transition from at-large elections to a district based system in which voters elect one councilmember to represent each district. Any registered voter who resides within Rohnert Park is eligible to run for City Council in the district in which they live.

County, state, and federal representation

Rohnert Park is split between Sonoma County's 2nd and 3rd supervisorial districts. In the

California State Legislature The California State Legislature is the bicameral state legislature of the U.S. state of California, consisting of the California State Assembly (lower house with 80 members) and the California State Senate (upper house with 40 members). ...

, Rohnert Park is in , and in the 12th Assembly District represented by Democrat Damon Connolly. In the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

, Rohnert Park is part of . According to the

California Secretary of State The secretary of state of California is the chief clerk of the U.S. state of California, overseeing a department of 500 people. The Secretary of state (U.S. state government), secretary of state is elected for four year terms, like the state's o ...

, as of February 10, 2019, Rohnert Park has 22,583 registered voters. Of those, 11,010 (48.8%) are registered Democrats, 4,051 (17.9%) are registered

Republicans Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

, and 6,234 (27.6%) have declined to state a political party.

Department of Public Safety

Rohnert Park is patrolled by the Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety, established in 1962, that operates as an integrated fire and police department. This is one of only two cities operating Departments of Public Safety in California.

Shooting of Kuanchung Kao

On April 29, 1997, Kuanchung Kao was waving a wooden stick in the street in front of his driveway. When some neighbors called 911, two officers, Jack Shields and Mike Lynch, responded. Shields shot Kao once in the chest. Shields stated that he believed Kao was waving the stick in a

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defence; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; ...

fashion, and that he and Lynch had to respond by using deadly force. The incident was investigated by the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office, the Sonoma County District Attorney's Office, and

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

, who all cleared Shields. Kao's family and attorney

John Burris John Leonard Burris (born May 8, 1945) is an American civil rights attorney, based in Oakland, California, known for his work in police brutality cases representing plaintiffs. The John Burris law firm practices employment, criminal defense, DUI, ...

filed a lawsuit against the city of Rohnert Park, and received a settlement of $1 million in 2001.

2015 police controversy

On July 29, 2015, Rohnert Park Public Safety Officer Dave Rodriguez drew his sidearm during an encounter with city resident, while the resident was hitching his boat trailer to his vehicle. The resident recorded the incident and posted it on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

. Rodriguez was placed on administrative leave while the city conducted an internal investigation into the incident. In August 2015, the city engaged an independent investigator, who found that Rodriguez's actions were within the law and followed department policy. A civil rights claim filed on behalf of the resident asserted that Rodriguez was trying to intimidate him. The lawsuit concluded in a settlement. On November 16, 2018, a civil rights lawsuit was filed against Rohnert Park alleging that Rohnert Park police "conspired to expand the legitimate interdiction mission to one of personal financial gain, and over the years seized thousands of pounds of cannabis and hundreds of thousands of dollars of currency without issuing receipts for the seizures, without making arrests for any crimes, and without any official report of the forfeitures being made". KQED published an investigation in June 2018, quoting complaints by other motorists saying they were "robbed" by the Rohnert Park police, including the officers named in the lawsuit. The police department has since ceased most of its seizure efforts. In 2020, the city agreed to a $2 Million settlement with the family of Branch Wroth, who died in police custody in 2017, after a $4 Million judgment was vacated on appeal.

Transportation

Rohnert Park is served by a station on the

Sonoma–Marin Area Rail Transit Sonoma–Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) is a commuter rail service and bicycle-pedestrian pathway project in Sonoma and Marin counties of the U.S. state of California. When completed, the entire system will serve a corridor between Clover ...

commuter rail Commuter rail or suburban rail is a Passenger train, passenger rail service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Central business district, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter town ...

line since it became operational on August 25, 2017. Sonoma County Airport Express buses connect Rohnert Park with

Oakland International Airport Oakland International Airport is an international airport in Oakland, California, United States. The airport is located south of downtown Oakland and east of San Francisco, serving the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. The airport is ...

and

San Francisco International Airport San Francisco International Airport is the primary international airport for the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. Owned and operated by the City and County of San Francisco, the airport has a San Francisco mailing ...

Education

The Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified School District serves the city, which is also home to

High schools

Rancho Cotate High School Rancho Cotate High School is a four-year comprehensive high school in Rohnert Park, California. It is located at 5450 Snyder Lane, adjacent to the campus of Sonoma State University. Students have opportunities to participate in a wide variety of ...

is the main comprehensive high school for both Rohnert Park and Cotati. Alternative education consists of: *

Credo High School Credo High School is a tuition-free, college prep public charter school in Rohnert Park, California, following the core principles of public Waldorf education and serving students in ninth through twelfth grades. The school has been expanding a ...

, a charter public high school * Flex Academy (on RCHS campus) * Technology High School, a small public high school * Phoenix High School (on RCHS campus) *

Independent study Independent study is a form of education offered by many high schools, colleges, and other educational institutions. It is sometimes referred to as directed study, and is an educational activity undertaken by an individual with little to no supervi ...

Notes

References

"Access Genealogy: Indian Tribal records, Miwok Indian Tribe.
Retrieved on 2006-08-06. A list of all verified Coastal Miwok villages in the area.

Retrieved on 2006-08-06. * Harris, Ellen. "Penngrove: A Jigsaw Puzzle of its Past and Present." Penngrove, California: n.p. rivate Publication 1980.

External links

*
Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified School DistrictSonoma State UniversityThe Press Democrat Online: News for Rohnert Park and the Surrounding Sonoma RegionThe Community Voice: Rohnert Park, Cotati and Penngrove
{{authority control 1962 establishments in California Cities in Sonoma County, California Cities in the San Francisco Bay Area Incorporated cities and towns in California Planned communities in California Populated places established in 1962