Marin County, California
Marin County is a
county located in the North
San Francisco Bay Area of the
U.S. state of
California, across the
Golden Gate Bridge from
San Francisco. As of 2000, the population was 247,289. The
county seat is
San Rafael.
Marin County is world-renowned for its stunning natural beauty, liberal politics and pockets of extreme
affluence.
San Quentin Prison is located in the
county, as is
Skywalker Ranch.
Autodesk, the publisher of
AutoCAD, is located there, as are numerous other high-tech companies. The headquarters of film and media company
Lucasfilm Ltd. has moved to the
Presidio of San Francisco.
United States Senator Barbara Boxer is from Marin.
The
Marin County Civic Center was designed by
Frank Lloyd Wright and draws thousands of visitors a year to guided tours of its
arch and
atrium design.
Marin County's many beautiful
natural sites include the famous
Muir Woods redwood forest,
Stinson Beach,
Point Reyes National Seashore, and
Mount Tamalpais, the birthplace of
mountain biking.
Marin County is one of the original counties of California, created in
1850 at the time of statehood.
The origin of the county's name is not clear. One version is the county was named for Chief Marin, of the
Licatiut tribe of
Native Americans who inhabited that section and waged fierce battle against the early
Spanish military explorers. The other version is that the bay between San Pedro and San Quentin points was named
Bahia de Nuestra Senora del Rosario la Marinera in
1775, and it is quite possible that Marin is simply an abbreviation of this name.
According to the
U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 2,145
km² (828
mi²). 1,346 km² (520 mi²) of it is land and 799 km² (308 mi²) of it (37.24%) is water.
Geographically, the county forms a large, southward-facing peninsula, with the
Pacific Ocean to the west,
San Pablo Bay and
San Francisco Bay to the east, and the city of
San Francisco to the south. Marin County's northern border is with
Sonoma County.
Most of the county's population resides on the eastern side, with a string of communities running along the Bay, from
Sausalito to
Tiburon to
Corte Madera to
San Rafael. The interior contains large areas of agricultural and open space;
West Marin, through which
California State Route 1 runs alongside the California coast, contains many small unincorporated communities dependent on agriculture and tourism for their economies.
Adjacent Counties
*
San Francisco County, California - south (across the
Golden Gate Bridge)
*
Contra Costa County, California - east (across the
Richmond-San Rafael Bridge)
*
Sonoma County, California - north
As of the
census² of 2000, there were 247,289 people, 100,650 households, and 60,691 families residing in the county. The
population density was 184/km² (476/mi²). There were 104,990 housing units at an average density of 78/km² (202/mi²). The racial makeup of the county was 84.03%
White, 2.89%
Black or
African American, 0.43%
Native American, 4.53%
Asian, 0.16%
Pacific Islander, 4.50% from
other races, and 3.47% from two or more races. 11.06% of the population were
Hispanic or
Latino of any race.
There were 100,650 households out of which 27.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.40% were
married couples living together, 8.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.70% were non-families. 29.80% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.60% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34 and the average family size was 2.90.
In the county the population was spread out with 20.30% under the age of 18, 5.50% from 18 to 24, 31.00% from 25 to 44, 29.70% from 45 to 64, and 13.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 98.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.40 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $71,306, and the median income for a family was $88,934. Males had a median income of $61,282 versus $45,448 for females. The
per capita income for the county was $44,962. About 3.70% of families and 6.60% of the population were below the
poverty line, including 6.90% of those under age 18 and 4.50% of those age 65 or over.
Marin County has the
highest per capita income of any county in the United States. This is driven in particular by expensive enclaves in Belvedere, Kentfield, Ross, Tiburon, Mill Valley, Sausalito, San Anselmo and portions of San Rafael and Novato.
The traditionally middle class towns of Corte Madera, Fairfax, Novato and San Rafael (where per capita incomes typically paralleled the California state average as late as
1985) also have experienced especially sharp rises in real estate values, due in part to their proximity to the "prestige" address areas. The county's resistance to
urban sprawl and its preservation of
open space have also had an upward impact on housing prices by reducing the number of new
subdivisions built in the area since
1970. As a result of these factors, many lower-income middle class families have moved, often to
Sonoma County, California, for cheaper housing.
The trend of increased affluence has not held true for two neighborhoods in particular, populated almost exclusively by low-income persons of color: Marin City (which shares a zip code with Sausalito) and the Canal Neighborhood in San Rafael.
* Marin City has a population of 2,500 and is ethnically diverse with large East Asian, Hispanic, and African American populations. Many families live in
public housing apartment buildings that are now approaching 50 years old.
* The population in
The Canal is largely Hispanic, with many households residing in over-crowded apartment units. San Rafael has asserted to the Federal Government that this population is significantly undercounted by the
U.S. Census due to the high percentage of
illegal immigrants, depriving the city of tax funds for improved social services. They assert that the 6.6% of the county-wide population listed as below the poverty line is both under-reported, and heavily concentrated in The Canal.
*
Isabel Allende, writer.
*
Barbara Boxer, current
United States Senator.
*
Pete Carroll, head
football coach at
USC.
*
Ram Dass, author of
Be Here Now.
*
Dana Carvey, actor and comedian.
*
Gary Fisher, mountain biking pioneer.
*
Klaus Kinski, actor.
*
Chad Kreuter, former professional
baseball player.
*
Anne Lamott, writer.
*
Sammy Hagar, singer.
*
Janis Joplin, singer.
*
John Lasseter, director and Disney executive.
*
Barry Levinson, director.
*
Huey Lewis, singer.
*
John Walker Lindh, American who fought for the
Taliban.
*
George Lucas,
film director and founder of
Lucasfilm.
*
Van Morrison, singer and songwriter.
*
Jonny Moseley,
gold medal winning
Olympic skier.
*
Gavin Newsom, current
mayor of
San Francisco.
*
Sean Penn, actor.
*
Robin Wright Penn, actress.
*
Kathleen Quinlan, actress.
*
Bonnie Raitt, singer.
*
Michael Savage (commentator), conservative radio host
*
Tupac Shakur, rapper, poet, and actor.
*
Peter Tork, musician. Member of
The Monkees*
Carlos Santana, musician.
*
Charles Schwab, investor.
*
Robin Williams, actor and comedian.
*
Tony Williams, drummer.
*Most members of The
Grateful DeadPresidential election results| Year | Republican! Democratic |
|---|
| 2004 | 25.4% 34,378 | 73.2% 99,070 |
| 2000 | 28.3% 34,872 | 64.3% 79,135 |
| 1996 | 28.2% 32,714 | 58.0% 67,406 |
| 1992 | 23.3% 30,479 | 58.3% 76,158 |
| 1988 | 39.7% 46,855 | 58.8% 69,394 |
| 1984 | 49.0% 56,887 | 49.6% 57,533 |
| 1980 | 45.8% 49,678 | 42.9% 39,231 |
| 1976 | 52.5% 53,425 | 42.9% 43,590 |
| 1972 | 52.1% 54,123 | 45.6% 47,414 |
| 1968 | 50.1% 41,422 | 43.8% 36,278 |
| 1964 | 38.1% 28,682 | 61.7% 46,462 |
| 1960 | 57.3% 37,620 | 42.5% 27,888 |
|
Though the county is marked by its fiscal conservatism and
isolationism, it tends to support
liberal positions on social issues, and it (like much of the rest of the San Francisco Bay Area) has become a stronghold of the
Democratic Party in recent decades. Marin County presidential election returns since 1960 can be seen in the adjoining table.
*
Belvedere*
Bolinas*
Corte Madera*
Dillon Beach*
Fairfax*
Inverness*
Inverness Park*
Kentfield*
Lagunitas-Forest Knolls*
Larkspur::*
Greenbrae*
Marin City*
Marshall*
Mill Valley::*
Strawberry::*
Tamalpais-Homestead Valley*
Muir Beach*
Nicasio*
Novato::*
Bel Marin Keys::*
Black Point-Green Point::*
Hamilton*
Olema*
Point Reyes Station*
Ross*
San Anselmo*
San Geronimo*
San Rafael::*
Lucas Valley-Marinwood::*
Peacock Gap::*
Santa Venetia*
Sausalito*
Stinson Beach*
Tiburon*
Tomales*
WoodacreMarin County lifestyles of the 1970s were spoofed in the 1977 novel
The Serial: A Year in the Life of Marin County by
Cyra McFadden, and in the subsequent film
Serial (1980 film) which was based on the novel.
Marin County's reputation as a
counterculture enclave, especially the town of Bolinas and its isolationist reputation, made it a location of many key events in the 1981 novel
Ecotopia Emerging by
Ernest Callenbach.
*
List of California counties*
Golden Gate Transit*
List of school districts in Marin County, California*
Gnoss Field*
County of Marin official website*
Marin County Free Library*
Marin County Real Estate*
Photos of Marin County - Terra Galleria*
Marin Fraternal Organizations*
Marin County community profiles at the Marin Independent Journal*
Marin County Arts
