Was Sonoma Valley Bank's death a murder in disguise? Some folks are saying it didn't have to happen and that state and federal regulators should have given SVB more time. The bank was seized by government officials on Friday August 20th becoming the tenth bank in California shut down this year. It reopened the next day under new ownership as a branch of the Marin County-based WestAmerica Bank.
Under-capitalization and bad real estate loans for out-of-area development are the reasons officials give for their move. Here's a link to an article in the Sonoma Index Tribune on efforts made to save SVB before it died.
As SIT Editor/Publisher Bill Lynch points out and other articles have reported the demise of our local bank has shocked and shaken many folks here. SVB stockholders whose shares are now worthless and local businesses seeking financing will likely suffer the most financially. Existing deposits are protected by the FDIC. But what of the long term ramifications of our loss of our small town bank? The friendly and familiar support for our local economy is no more. Did government officials have to bring it down?
Our banking choices in Sonoma Valley now include the giants that many folks love to hate: BofA, Wells Fargo, USB, Citibank. Options also include regional financial institutions but there's fear that what happened to SVB might also happen to some of them. And underlying this fear remains the question---was Sonoma Valley Bank unecessarily put down .... when it was said to be on the road to recovery?
Kirsten Lindquist
kirsten.lindquist@pacunion.com
707.337.1182
CA DRE #01313592
Pacific Union International
Christie's Great Estates
109 East Napa Street
Sonoma, Ca 95476

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Sonoma Neighborhoods













Sonoma's Mission Highlands, with views overlooking Sonoma Valley, is my favorite kind of "exclusive" neighborhood because the only thing that makes it exclusive, really, is the limited number of properties located here. There's no more room for development under current zoning so there's little likelihood that Mission Highlands will ever grow. It's an ecclectic Sonoma neighborhood of about 70 homes---modest cottages, contemporary houses, and elegant villas. Residents include long-time Sonoma families, recent arrivals, and second home owners. I love this area, perched above the valley, because it feels so far away from everything and it's just minutes from Sonoma plaza. I've sold five homes in Mission Highlands over the past decade. Parcel sizes in Mission Highlands vary from under half an acre to over ten acres. All the homes have distinctively unique settings and charming qualities of their own. A mutual water system, supplied by several wells, provides ample water to everyone.












