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Old 07-11-2012, 12:53 PM
 
1 posts, read 1,815 times
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We've narrowed our move down to the San Rafael area because of proximity to resources (family), recreation, jobs, the particular activities our children are interested in, etc.

What neighborhood of San Rafael? Any suggestions? Or thoughts on Larkspur?

We are not multi-millionaires, but we are professionals with good jobs and pre-teen/teen children.

We plan to rent for 1-2 years while we decide on an area. We are just not the type to make a quick decision on a house to buy. But we won't want to switch schools at that point.

We have looked at school data and test scores, but know that high test scores don't necessarily mean great schools that our kids will love. There are great teachers and not-so-great teachers everywhere. We want our kids to be happy.

A friend has suggested Lucas Valley/Marinwood area. Disadvantages?
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Old 07-26-2012, 04:54 PM
 
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There are larger houses with larger back yards and pools in Lucas Valley vs the rest of San Rafael but it is isolated and can be hot in the summers. There is very little air movement out there. It's also a drive to get to central San Rafael for movies/restaurants etc. I grew up in Marin and we lived in Lucas Valley for four years. The streets were wide, smooth and quiet, which made for good bike riding, though, and I loved that we had a huge back yard and a pool, which are rare in the rest of Marin. You may want to ask around to find out if there are families with children the same age as yours in the immediate area, though, because otherwise it can seem very isolated, living out there. If there are no kids they get along with nearby, you'll have to make long frequent drives to get them to play dates. Otherwise, your kids will go stir crazy out in Lucas Valley.

Mill Valley and Tiburon (particularly the Strawberry area) are kid central. Sometimes I think the kids outnumber the adults there. It is Kid Disneyland. They might as well be at school all the time. They'll be constantly surrounded by kids to play with. However, those towns can be prohibitively expensive.

The Dominican area of San Rafael is pricey but very nice and safe. I love the quaint houses and gardens there. Any of those school districts should get top ratings, but you'll want to check the current stats to be absolutely sure.

San Anselmo, also very pricey, but also good schools and safe neighborhoods. Adorable--though tiny--downtown. Fairfax is also nice, but harder to drive around due to their one-lane roads. Also, you may want to check the stats on local school districts there. Fairfax used to be a hippy town but now it is an expensive (though high-consciousness) yuppie town. I'm not sure if the school scores have risen along with the real estate prices, but if they haven't yet, they're sure to follow soon.

Novato has been in a rapid gentrification process over the past decade, but I'm not so sure about their schools. You may want to avoid Novato if you can afford to live elsewhere. If I had children I wouldn't raise them there.

Sausalito has a horrid school system and almost no sidewalks, plus busy streets and multi-gazillion dollar housing, so that's out. Definitely not a place for children.
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Old 07-26-2012, 05:01 PM
 
51 posts, read 328,971 times
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Oh, and you asked about Larkspur. It's a very nice and safe community, but a bit spread-out without much to do in the downtown. With kids you may want to live elsewhere. There's nothing wrong with Larkspur, it's just always struck me as a little bla. It's a place between other places; not really a destination in itself. However, it does have that huge park for kids to play in with expansive green fields and slides. I used to play in that park all the time as a child, but that's because my parents drove me there from Mill Valley. It's easy to get to that park from almost any town in the surrounding area.

If you can rent instead of buy, I'd recommend Mill Valley as the best town in all of Northern California in which to raise kids, because their public school ratings are better than private schools in most of the rest of the country, and your kids would have endless parks to play in, and millions of other children to play with. It's a very safe area, and you'd be near San Rafael and San Francisco, with all that those cities have to offer. However, if you're looking to buy, Mill Valley can be absurdly expensive. You may want to rent in Mill Valley while your kids are young so they can get the benefit of the schools there, and save your money to buy elsewhere once they've gone to college.
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