Windsor’s west side Town Green features new live-work-retail buildings in a carefully planned environment.
Family-friendly and growing
With nearly 23,000 residents, nearly 85 percent of whom are families that include a married couple, Windsor is Sonoma County’s youngest and fastest-growing community. Hundreds of new homes have sprung up in Windsor over the last 15 years, and with the town of Windsor’s incorporation in 1992, a pronounced feeling of community and intense interest in resident-friendly planning has grown along with the new neighborhoods.
Some of Windsor’s communities are built beside sylvan lakes. The area’s parks, like Shiloh Park below right, afford a wealth of recreational space.
Community planning standards are evident as Windsor grows. Streets are required to include trees and neighborhoods are designed such that parks and shopping centers are within walking distance. The town’s center, a history-rich agricultural center that fell into decline as the county’s larger cities grew, now is undergoing both redevelopment and historical preservation, maintaining the best of the old while incorporating modern infrastructure to serve a growing and vibrant population.
Notable is Windsor’s four-acre Town Green, which is the site of a variety of concerts and community events throughout the year, like the Art on the Green festival each summer which showcases the work of local artists and winemakers. Also enormously popular is the Sonoma County Hot Air Balloon and Wine Festival, which offers a breathtaking opportunity to see dozens of hot air balloons take flight in addition to games, food, ongoing entertainment, and, of course, wine.
Like all of Sonoma County, Windsor offers plenty of recreation along with the sparkling new homes. Foothills Regional Park offers peaceful trails through the oaks; Shiloh Park climbs the hills to the east with three miles of trails loved by hikers and equestrians alike. Windsor Water Works, with its several towering water slides, is a favorite with youngsters, while more mature youngsters head to the Windsor Golf Club. The town has a bowling alley and several thriving youth athletic programs. An eight-screen theater multi-plex is just down the road near the Charles M. Schulz Sonoma County Airport.
Windsor Vital Statistics
Year settled: 1855
Year incorporated: 1992
Population: 22,744 (2000 US Census)
Area (square miles): 6.5
Major industries: agriculture, retail
Farmers’ markets:
? Healdsburg – 9 a.m. to noon Saturdays, May through November, at Vine and North streets; 4 to 6:30 p.m. Tuesdays, June through October, in parking lot of Vintage Plaza Antiques at Mill Street and Healdsburg Avenue. 431-1956.
? Santa Rosa Certified Farmers Market – 8:30 a.m. to noon Wednesdays and Saturdays, year-round, rain or shine, at Veterans Memorial Building east parking lot, 1351 Maple St. Food stamps accepted. 522-8629.
? Santa Rosa Downtown Market – 5 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesdays, May 31 through Sept. 6, B Street in front of Santa Rosa Plaza, and Fourth Street between B and D streets. Information: 524-2123.