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Old 03-22-2011, 03:10 PM
 
4 posts, read 9,872 times
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After visiting the area we have decided to move to Marin County this summer. We visited Los Altos / Walnut Creek / Berkley/ Piedmont and Marin County. It seems that they are all great places to live and raise a family but we think that Marin offers everything that is important for us; it is liberal, safe and beautiful, with good schools and is close to the city.

However, there is one concern: how rural is Marin??? Can we find all the resources for the kids (under age 6)? classes, activities, cultural events or do we need to go to the city for everything?
We spent only one night in Marin and downtown Tiburon was very dark and quite at 6 pm. Are other downtowns (Mill Valley, Larkspur, Corte Madera) more vibrant or is it all the same?

Thank you in advance for your feedback!
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Old 03-22-2011, 03:58 PM
 
Location: San Francisco Bay Area
1,482 posts, read 5,161,090 times
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Most of Marin shuts down early and the smaller the town the more certain of that you can be. If you want all the late night activity of a city then none of the places you've visited really fit the bill. Having said that though, I can't think of a single activity or class for children under six that would take place in the middle of the night. Visits to museums and other sporadic activities don't require you to live in the city and they're only a short drive away.
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Old 03-22-2011, 05:00 PM
 
Location: Los Altos Hills, CA
36,628 posts, read 67,168,373 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by olivia45 View Post
After visiting the area we have decided to move to Marin County this summer. We visited Los Altos / Walnut Creek / Berkley/ Piedmont and Marin County. It seems that they are all great places to live and raise a family but we think that Marin offers everything that is important for us; it is liberal, safe and beautiful, with good schools and is close to the city.

However, there is one concern: how rural is Marin??? Can we find all the resources for the kids (under age 6)? classes, activities, cultural events or do we need to go to the city for everything?
We spent only one night in Marin and downtown Tiburon was very dark and quite at 6 pm. Are other downtowns (Mill Valley, Larkspur, Corte Madera) more vibrant or is it all the same?

Thank you in advance for your feedback!

Downtown San Rafael is pretty vibrant in my experience.

Having lived in Tiburon, I can say that its very quiet just the way locals want it to be. Mill Valley has more activity than Belvedere-Tiburon. San Rafael is bigger and has quite a bit going on compared to Tiburon.

And the city is not really far at all.

Such is the nature of bedroom communities-in the case of Marin, these bedroom communities offer spectacular views.
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Old 03-22-2011, 05:07 PM
 
2,106 posts, read 5,768,345 times
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I've never thought of Marin as being rural. Its one of the most expensive, affluent areas of the country. I actually grew up in the sticks and in my opinion its far from being rural. There are some residential areas that are up in the hills, but that doesn't make it rural either.
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Old 03-22-2011, 06:27 PM
 
86 posts, read 245,544 times
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The developed part of Marin (about 25% more or less of the land) is along the highway 101 corridor. The rest of the county is mostly undeveloped open space, national/state parkland, watershed or agricultural zoning. If you go to West Marin, you will see cows grazing and rows of organic field crops so yes it is rural in that respect.

Lots of things to do for children in every community and opportunities exist for grown up entertainment such as live music, symphony concerts, lectures, art exhibits, and good restaurants as well as myriad outdoor activities for all ages.

"Downtown" Tiburon is really only about one block so except for a couple of restaurants it is quiet at night. Other communities in Marin are larger and have more going on at night.
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Old 04-06-2011, 10:39 PM
 
Location: Centennial, CO
11 posts, read 28,608 times
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Marin is amazing. West Marin is definitely rural - cows, horses, farms, natural beauty. If you live in Southern Marin, you're a max of 12 freeway minutes from the city, which has decent night life. You literally CANNOT beat the amenities for children available by living in Marin. Most child-centered things are within spitting distance (gorgeous beaches, parks, playgrounds, music lessons, dance lessons, karate, etc), but if there's something lacking in Marin (extremely unlikely) you can find it within 20-30 minutes on the freeway by going up to Sonoma, into SF, Oakland, Berkeley, etc.

If you can afford it, you sincerely can NOT go wrong, especially in Southern Marin.
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Old 04-06-2011, 11:22 PM
 
99 posts, read 193,291 times
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Where the civilization is in Marin is not rural. It is just the fact that a large percentage of land in Marin County is protected and undeveloped which makes it seem more rural than it actually is.
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Old 04-07-2011, 03:18 AM
 
24,324 posts, read 26,712,807 times
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Downtown San Rafael is vibrant, it doesn't look like it from the hwy, but once you get 101, you'll see it immediately.
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Old 04-07-2011, 11:07 AM
 
Location: San Francisco
1,472 posts, read 3,532,467 times
Reputation: 1583
I always remember Dr. Donald D. Rose on KFRC calling San Rafael "San Raquel". Oops, sorry for the nostalgic thread derailment.

Suburban Marin is extremely well set up for "helicopter" parents. Tons of resources, sports and activities if that's your thing. Most of SE Marin is like that and the truly rural areas of the county for the most part can't be developed (so its unlikely you'd end up living there).
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