Cotati (/koʊˈtɑːtiː/; Miwok: Kota’ti) is an incorporated city in Sonoma County, California, United States, located approximately 45 mi (70 km) north of San Francisco in the 101 corridor between Rohnert Park and Petaluma.

Like the rest of Sonoma County, Cotati is included in both the San Francisco Bay Area and the North Coast.

Located in the Sonoma Coast AVA, Cotati can also be considered part of Wine Country.

[11] The Coast Miwok civilization thrived in the Cotati area since at least 2000 BC, with principal villages built near major streams.

[12] In 1827, an Irishman named John Thomas Reed ventured into Miwok territory and built a cabin near Crane Creek.

[13][14] In July 1844, the Mexican government granted Rancho Cotate (encompassing present-day towns of Cotati, Penngrove and Rohnert Park, and home to Coast Miwok people) to Captain Juan Castaneda, a Mexican military commander from Texas,[15] in payment for his service as a soldier under General Vallejo.

Because he failed to fulfill the legal requirements of the grant, he lost control of the rancho, which passed to Thomas Larkin and then to Joseph Ruckle.

In 1849, Ruckle sold the land to Dr. Thomas Stokes Page, a former resident of Valparaíso, Chile, for $1,600.

In T 5-6N, R 7-8W, MDM.With the cession of California to the United States following the Mexican-American War, the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo provided that the land grants would be honored.

Subject to seasonal flooding from the Laguna de Santa Rosa, the land was used to graze cattle and sheep.

In October 1870, the San Francisco and North Pacific Railroad completed the first railroad from Petaluma to Santa Rosa, and a town formed around the wood and water stop called Page's Station, then Cotati.

In 1892, the Page family created the Cotati Land Company to subdivide their ranch into parcels of five to twenty acres (two to eight hectares).

[29] The Cotati Speedway, a wooden oval track for automobile racing, was built near the depot around 1921.

[16] After incorporation, the city grew rapidly, due in part to being within commuting range of San Francisco.

(The other cities were West Hollywood, Santa Monica, Berkeley and East Palo Alto).

The Costa/Hawkins bill made it impossible for California municipalities to enforce vacancy control, except in special cases like mobile home parks.

[34] At the present time, eight of the nine incorporated areas in Sonoma County have rent control for mobile home parks, the exception being Healdsburg.

[38] In 1990, Cotati citizens voted to impose a limit on future annexation of land by the city.

However, on November 4, 2003, Cotati voters approved (by 1,047 votes to 1,013) Measure B, granting an exception to this ordinance so that a Lowe's home improvement warehouse could be built on the west side of U.S.

[40] In order to cope with declining revenue, the City instituted a series of budget cuts, starting in 2007.

[41] In April 2010, Cotati voters passed Measure A, which imposed a 0.5% sales tax for five years.

[42][43] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.89 sq mi (4.9 km2), 0.53% of which is water.

The sources of all three watercourses lie in the hilly area between Stony Point Road and U.S. 101, just west of town.

[46] To the west of Cotati is wetland habitat for Sebastopol meadowfoam, Pitkin Marsh lily, Showy Indian clover, and several other endangered species.

There were 3,143 housing units at an average density of 1,669.0 per square mile (644.4/km2), of which 59.1% were owner-occupied and 40.9% were occupied by renters.

11% reported languages other than English, including Spanish (8%), Italian (1%), French (1%), Russian (1%), and Portuguese (less than 1%).

The chamber is a nonprofit 501(c)(6) organization funded by membership dues, fundraising projects and donations.

Sonoma State University, a public college about 1 mi (1.6 km) east of the city limits, has an influence on Cotati.

From the south, U.S. Route 101 North and State Route 116 West approach Cotati on a multi-lane freeway alignment which Caltrans calls the Cotati Grade, with exits at Railroad Avenue and West Sierra Avenue.

From the north, U.S. Route 101 South approaches Cotati as a multi-lane freeway with a single exit at Gravenstein Highway.