Where are the bad parts of Marin. (San Francisco, Oakland: apartment complexes, lease)

[dennyduck81]

Where exactly are the shady parts of Marin county? I know there is Marin city and parts of San Rafael. Where exactly is the bad part of San Rafael? Any specific zip codes or streets. Is the Dominican university area in the canal area?

What about the area near San Pedro mountains? Near the jcc?

What about Novato and Fairfield?

And what makes them so bad? I can't imagine Marin having many shootings or stabbings. Sure every place has random psychos but I feel like most of Marin Is just wealthy, educated, white and Asia folks.

Is it mostly property crimes?

Also, what about the east part of Corte Madera?

[415native]

The "bad" part of San Rafael is the Canal - Canal Area, San Rafael, California - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia I don't know about crime rates, but my impression is that it is just low-income - lots of spanish-speaking immigrants.

Fairfax is very nice.

The east part of Corte Madera is also very nice (and the hill is part of the Reed Union School District - a good district).

[Nineties Flava]

Originally Posted by dennyduck81

Where exactly are the shady parts of Marin county? I know there is Marin city and parts of San Rafael. Where exactly is the bad part of San Rafael? Any specific zip codes or streets. Is the Dominican university area in the canal area?

What about the area near San Pedro mountains? Near the jcc?

What about Novato and Fairfield?

And what makes them so bad? I can't imagine Marin having many shootings or stabbings. Sure every place has random psychos but I feel like most of Marin Is just wealthy, educated, white and Asia folks.

Is it mostly property crimes?

Also, what about the east part of Corte Madera?

Fairfield is not part of Marin County, I think you meant Fairfax.


And what exactly makes it hard to believe Marin County has poverty and crime just like every other part of the Bay Area?

[clongirl]

Best to look up the kind of housing you can afford and then go from there.

There aren't really any "bad" parts of Marin County. Nothing I'd seriously avoid--perhaps just stay away from the area called East San Rafael (Canal Area, as mentioned already). If you've been good with living in San Francisco, I can't see any issues with Marin Co.

The only issue I would avoid long term is falling in love with the region---it's VERY pricey and..after kids, there can be some issues with the "haves and have nots". It's very white, very upscale, a lot of psychological competition.

If you're interested in the area, I read an interesting article (take it with a grain of salt, however!! It's not really anything new from my perspective) ...Are tech-sector newcomers elbowing out Mill Valley's funky-arty vibe? - SFGate.

Best to spend some time during the workweek to kind of get a more realistic feel of the areas you mentioned. Drive around...talk to people that look friendly and ask questions. If you're interested in buying in a specific neighborhood, knock on doors--look for people that look like they've lived there for decades. Check out the weekends too---to see if it's gonna be an issue if you actually decide to buy something. Traffic can be HORRIBLE on the weekends (people trying to get their nature fix coming from the Peninsula/San Francisco).

Very cool area---IF you're very wealthy. Very cool places IF you're not bothered by the culture of $$$ and feeling insecure if that 12k couch is out of reach and your kids aren't in private lessons for this or that.

BTW..I have a friend that is looking to move to the "upscale" part of the East Bay because Marin has been too cold/white/upscale/competitive. It really all depends on your expectations and groove.

[ServoMiff]

Originally Posted by clongirl

Very cool area---IF you're very wealthy. Very cool places IF you're not bothered by the culture of $$$ and feeling insecure if that 12k couch is out of reach and your kids aren't in private lessons for this or that.

BTW..I have a friend that is looking to move to the "upscale" part of the East Bay because Marin has been too cold/white/upscale/competitive. It really all depends on your expectations and groove.

This is pretty much how I feel about Walnut Creek. I realize Marin is on another level, but we chose Walnut Creek based on the price and convenience to BART for a place we leased before we even got out here to look at it. We like the apartment quite a bit, but when we have a beat up 06 Prius from Florida that has paint fade from the sun and most other people in our building have all of the Tesla's, upper end Beamers, Benz's and whatnot, and then walking/driving around the Broadway Plaza area it certainly casts a different image of living here than we're really comfortable in.

We've considered moving, but our lease expires in 30 days and my wife and I are both looking for different jobs, so we're probably going to have to stay here for another year to get our feet under us, but are there decent neighborhoods surrounding BART in the East Bay? We only have the one car, and the purpose of us moving would be to reduce the commute into the city to about 45 mins each way or less (Montgomery or Embarcadero stops on BART or some other public transport - AC Transit?). We thought about the Rockridge area as well as possibly Berkeley, but we've only lived here for 6 months and haven't really had time to explore too much. I currently work in Pleasanton and either drive or take Wheels from WC BART.

[davdaven]

dennyduck81 - The "bad" part of Marin County is Marin City. That is where the "crime" occurs. Usually the occasional robbery and once in a blue moon a shooting. Nothing really compared to urban parts of the Bay Area, even in nice towns. The Canal area in San Rafael is not bad, it's undesirable. It's mostly poorly maintained apartment complexes full of Spanish-speaking families, and the area is peppered with auto repair shops. It's a really weird take on mixed-use development. BTW, for the record, the Canal is not East San Rafael. East San Rafael is east of Montecito Shopping Center on 3rd Street/Point San Pedro Road.

ServoMiff - You'll get better answers if you start your own thread. Long story short, you should look into the Rockridge, Piedmont Avenue, Temescal, and Montclair neighborhoods in Oakland. Also consider the Elmwood neighborhood in Berkeley. Where you end up will depend upon your budget, and in the case of Montclair, if you are willing to drive to Pleasanton exclusively (rather than switch between driving and taking BART).

[clongirl]

Originally Posted by ServoMiff

This is pretty much how I feel about Walnut Creek. I realize Marin is on another level, but we chose Walnut Creek based on the price and convenience to BART for a place we leased before we even got out here to look at it. We like the apartment quite a bit, but when we have a beat up 06 Prius from Florida that has paint fade from the sun and most other people in our building have all of the Tesla's, upper end Beamers, Benz's and whatnot, and then walking/driving around the Broadway Plaza area it certainly casts a different image of living here than we're really comfortable in.

We've considered moving, but our lease expires in 30 days and my wife and I are both looking for different jobs, so we're probably going to have to stay here for another year to get our feet under us, but are there decent neighborhoods surrounding BART in the East Bay? We only have the one car, and the purpose of us moving would be to reduce the commute into the city to about 45 mins each way or less (Montgomery or Embarcadero stops on BART or some other public transport - AC Transit?). We thought about the Rockridge area as well as possibly Berkeley, but we've only lived here for 6 months and haven't really had time to explore too much. I currently work in Pleasanton and either drive or take Wheels from WC BART.

Many people seem to think this! I totally get that "snooty" vibe in The Broadway Plaza-- but laughably it's from the people working in Macy's or other more upscale shops (which cracks me up since they're not making much more than minimum wage). I haven't felt that way when I'm in Target or in more day to day dealings like the dog park or doctors offices, etc. I only live five minutes away where it's probably more affluent and much smaller but I've never experienced anyone with an attitude (not that I'd be friends with those kinds of people anyway).

It does sound like another city like Oakland/Berkeley would totally suit you, but yeah, the attitude in Marin also has that reputation-- ugh for me, San Anselmo really takes the cake... And ANY furniture store in the region!! Lol.

[Jaggerwoman99]

Anyone who thinks white= low crime and black= high crime neighborhood is just idiotic to be bothered with. I just spent a week-end in Novato with friends (mixed raced couple) in a neighborhood that's fairly mixed (some Hispanics, some Blacks,
some Asians and some whites). The area was clean, quiet, pleasant and my friends said they have no qualms about walking their dog at night. I don't know about the rest of Novato but my friends love it.

[Larry Siegel]

Originally Posted by davdaven

ServoMiff - You'll get better answers if you start your own thread. Long story short, you should look into the Rockridge, Piedmont Avenue, Temescal, and Montclair neighborhoods in Oakland. Also consider the Elmwood neighborhood in Berkeley. Where you end up will depend upon your budget, and in the case of Montclair, if you are willing to drive to Pleasanton exclusively (rather than switch between driving and taking BART).

Also North Berkeley/Berkeley Hills. It's not all $2 million houses.