Where do tree hugging, vegetarian liberals belong in Marin?

[jaynetarzana]

Can anyone who is familiar with the two areas tell me what the weather differences are between Scotts Valley and Fairfax/San Anselmo area?

[jaynetarzana]

Originally Posted by 18Montclair

Albany actually would be better for you than Marin imHo. I live in Marin and while people love to talk about being organic, Marinites have one heck of a carbon footprint. LOL

I think that you are right. Thanks for your valuable input.

[tstieber]

I would say the climate is fairly similar between Fairfax and Scotts Valley. Both are sort of in the coastal mountains and catch a good amount of the winter rains when they come, so there are lots of redwoods and such. Summers are warm, sunny, and dry, and winters are cool to mild and unpredictable. Scotts Valley probably has more warm days in the winter, but Fairfax is probably a bit warmer in summer.

Fairfax would also be a good fit for you. It's really a whole lifestyle, and it's incredibly unique -- more so than Albany, which I know you're looking at too. But for the price range you want, Albany can be a great compromise because of the demographic, location, etc. You'll get a lot more house for the money there.

[jaynetarzana]

*Update* So we have been living in Capitola (Santa Cruz) since March. On the way in from Chicago we drove through Albany and while it was nice, it wasn't for us. Scotts Valley had too much of a conservative, mountain town vibe. We didn't even bother looking in Marin since the commute would be terrible for DH. But things could be changing soon and they may finally let him work from home full time. That would make Marin an option for us again. We plan to drive up there this weekend.

Can anyone comment on how the real estate market is going up there? I am finding that most of the houses in our price range are in San Rafael. There also happen to be mid century modern homes (our favorite!) and the Dixie school district which has a great reputation. I'd love to hear everyone's take on living in San Rafael. TIA!

[jaynetarzana]

Of course we will be looking at Fairfax extensively as well since so many of you pointed us in that direction (thanks again everyone!). I took a look at median sales prices in the different cities in Marin this morning and they have come down quite a bit. When I look at mls though, Fairfax seems out of our reach for now anyway.

[eightiesfan]

San Rafael is nice and close enough that you could spend your evenings or weekends in neighboring areas like Fairfax. Some people complain about the sketchy areas of San Rafael like the Canal District, it never seemed that bad to me and it's easy to avoid since it's limited to a few areas. I don't think it's as charming as Fairfax or San Anselmo, but the price reflects that.

[jaynetarzana]

Thanks for your reply eightiesfan. I'm really looking forward to our drive up these this weekend.

Can anyone tell me about the weather in Fairfax, San Anselmo & San Rafael (or any other place you think we should be looking)? Are there well known microclimates? When I look at weather statistics, they always seem inaccurate. For example, the stats show that the average sunny days are 258 in Aptos, 255 in Soquel (which gets MUCH less fog than Aptos) and 257 in Fairfax. The rainfall is 35.5" in Fairfax and only 24.9" in Aptos. Yet people tell me that Fairfax is warmer, sunnier and less rainy than Aptos.

[eightiesfan]

No worries. I'm not sure that the 3 vary that much climate wise. I can tell you it's usually much warmer and sunnier in those 3 than it is in the city. It's not uncommon that I'll leave my place in SF with a jacket or sweater on and by the time I'm across the Golden Gate I'm just in a tshirt.

I've never lived in Santa Cruz but the time I've spent there seems much cooler and foggier than the North Bay communities discussed.

[jaynetarzana]

That sounds good to me. Santa Cruz is chilly and foggy quite a bit and that is a bummer for me.

[AuntDianesArk]

Fairfax is a cute organic hippie town.