East Coaster with Job in Novato...need help (Los Angeles, San Rafael: houses, theatre)

[gcnevs]

I have a job lined up in Novato and need help finding a town with excellent schools and a decent community feel. I can spend around 750k. The wife would like a house with some land and a more rural feel. I prefer a less rural feel...we're working this out. Schools are the number one priority as we have 3 young children. Thanks for helping!

[Bulldogdad]

Originally Posted by gcnevs

I have a job lined up in Novato and need help finding a town with excellent schools and a decent community feel. I can spend around 750k. The wife would like a house with some land and a more rural feel. I prefer a less rural feel...we're working this out. Schools are the number one priority as we have 3 young children. Thanks for helping!

Petaluma, Sebastepol, Sonoma, etc....

Go here to check out where the great schools are and welcome to the Tax base. This state needs all the money it can get.

http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/ac/ap/

[gcnevs]

Thanks for the link and the towns...what can you tell me about taxes? How are they levied? Auto? Sales? Property? I've heard about schools strongly "suggesting" parents pay each $$ each year for programs? Has anyone heard of this?

[hanngabr]

I moved to Novato from Los Angeles about 8 months ago. I can help you quite a bit as I've been getting to know the area. Public Schools in Novato and all of Marin County are very good from what I understand. My daughter goes to private school so I didn't do the complete research. The public elementary school near my house has a 19/1 ratio and a pretty high rating. Working in Novato will be great because anywhere you live in Marin County you will travel against traffic. House wise 750 is a solid price point but with land also that might be tricky. Novato will give you the most for your money but as far as a social atmosphere it's not here. It's a cute community but a Friday night date night and a dinner out you will really need to travel to another community near by. The sidewalks roll up pretty early here. Grocery shopping 24 hrs here but kids clothes and shoes and housewares that kind of stuff you have to travel a bit for unless Target covers all your needs. Coming from Los Angeles I'm used to everything at my fingertips at all hours life is not like that here. Make sure you factor into your budget high gas and electric bills and high food bills. The cost of living is extremely high. I have a 3000 sq. ft. house and I've never paid less than 400 a month to PG&E. I would take a hard look at Fairfax it might give you both something. Really cute area with houses nestled among the trees but also a cute little town with boutiques, a movie theatre and cute little bistro's for a glass of wine when needed. It's also close to San Rafael where you would do most of your shopping. There is so much to tell I hope this helps.

[lrmsd]

Fairfax, maybe Mill Valley. Sebastopol has great schools, some orchards and farmland, small town, and a few charter schools, including two waldorf based. Petaluma and Novato schools not that great. Fairfax and mill valley have good schools. Further north, though you'd have a bit of a commute, Healdsburg is charming, safe, beautiful and has good schools.

great schools dot org is an excellent resource, with parent reviews, test score ratings, etc.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

In your shoes I would chose Novato itself. With 3 kids you'll want a 4BR, houses here in the Bay Area are small by normal US standards. The rest of Marin is quite expensive and less family friendly than Novato.