Where do tree hugging, vegetarian liberals belong in Marin? (San Diego: houses, neighborhoods)

[jaynetarzana]

DH and I are tree hugging, liberal, fashionable, ethical vegetarians and parents of two little girls in our mid 30's. We grew up in Detroit, moved to San Diego after our wedding where we lived for 10 years and then moved to Santa Cruz for 3 years. This past summer we moved to Chicago and even though we moved to Evanston, the most liberal part of Chicago and most like California, we're completely miserable. We miss California something terrible, especially Northern California because it is so lush and green with the Redwoods etc. We are planning to move back by summer. DH prefers Marin county to Santa Cruz though. The gang activity was getting worse, downtown is full of junkies, the boardwalk was scary, the public schools aren't great and the people were almost too hippie for him.

DH will be working in Salinas, but he only drives into the office 2 days a week so he doesn't mind an atrocious commute if it means a higher quality of life. But we need to narrow it down to a specific town in Marin.
Our priorities in order:
1. Very safe, clean neighborhoods (read: no gang or drug activity)
2. Clean air (Money magazine gives Novato and San Rafael high marks)
3. Great public schools
4. Like minded people
5. Close proximity to health food stores (Trader Joes, Whole Foods type)
6. We'd like to be able to afford to buy a home at some point in the $450-$550K range.

We plan to visit the area in January to see things for ourselves since we haven't spent much time in Marin, but I was hoping to get some direction and input from the locals as well. Thanks in advance!

[humboldtrat]

Originally Posted by jaynetarzana

Our priorities in order:
1. Very safe, clean neighborhoods (read: no gang or drug activity)
2. Clean air (Money magazine gives Novato and San Rafael high marks)
3. Great public schools
4. Like minded people
5. Close proximity to health food stores (Trader Joes, Whole Foods type)
6. We'd like to be able to afford to buy a home at some point in the $450-$550K range.

You're not going to find all of that in Marin county for that price

[jaynetarzana]

I have been subscribed to mls listings for the past 6 months for the area and prices just keep dropping. In fact, a few of the houses that used to be listed for $699K are now listed for $549K. I know it isn't going to be easy to find all of this, but I think with some patience we can do it. We lost everything when we sold our house in Santa Cruz. I'm hoping that we do better when we do finally get to buy something of our own again.

[eightiesfan]

Originally Posted by humboldtrat

You're not going to find all of that in Marin county for that price

True. If you take price out of the equation I'd take a look at Fairfax.

[gizmo980]

Also without considering price (since homes ARE going down rapidly), you might want to check out Petaluma... I actually don't know much about it, but from what I've heard it seems to fit the bill. Might be a little isolated, in which case you could look around San Rafael or Novato. Have you considered the East Bay too? Berkeley is a HAVEN for vegetarian/liberal types, but definitely has a city vibe to it - which may or may not be your cup of tea. Good luck!

[gizmo980]

Oh, but if he's driving to Salinas (even only 2 days a week), it will be a terrible commute! Maybe other towns in the Santa Cruz area would be better? Boulder Creek is an adorable little town in the mountains, and might be just what you're looking for.

[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

[jaynetarzana]

Originally Posted by gizmo980

Oh, but if he's driving to Salinas (even only 2 days a week), it will be a terrible commute! Maybe other towns in the Santa Cruz area would be better? Boulder Creek is an adorable little town in the mountains, and might be just what you're looking for.

We lived in Santa Cruz already. Dh doesn't want to go back there.

[jaynetarzana]

Can anyone tell me about the gang problems in Marin? I've been reading a lot about it and it seems to be a growing problem.

[artemis78]

Can you look into alternate jobs? (I know, tough in this economy, but....) Marin to Salinas is really a TERRIBLE commute. I have to do Berkeley to Salinas once every other month or so for a project, and even that is painful. You're talking about driving through multiple cities' rush hours, so there's not even a good way to time it to miss that unless he wants to drive overnight. Even if he only goes twice a week, he's spending two *full work days* (if not more) just driving to and from work each week. That's the same as not having a weekend. Ouch.

There are some gang issues in parts of Marin (Novato, Marin City, San Rafael), though you'd have to ask someone living in each city more about it---it's certainly not pervasive, but it's definitely there. The challenge you have is that your description certainly matches parts of Marin---but not the affordable parts of Marin, and certainly not the parts of Marin that you can get for $500K (or are likely to get for that ever).

I'd look more closely at the South Bay, if the job can't move. Morgan Hill might fit the bill. Even Palo Alto or other peninsula cities would be a much, much better commute, and in the same ballpark as Marin.

Good luck!