Marin Neighborhoods

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E . C O R T E M A D E R A A T A G L A N C E

FIRE STATION 342 Tamalpais Dr.

LIBRARY 707 Meadowsweet Dr.

PARKS Corte Madera Town Park, Pixley Ave. & Redwood Ave.

POST OFFICE 7 Pixley Ave.

PUBLIC SCHOOLS Neil Cummins Elementary, 58 Mohawk Ave.

East Corte Madera Another day on Paradise

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PUEast Corte Madera’s marshlands were fi lled to make way for the

post-World War II population boom.

Pacifi c Sun Home & Garden photo by Ken Piekny

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26 Pacifi c Sun - Marin’s Best Every Week

�ast Corte Madera is a relatively recent development in the 150-year suburban-ization of Marin County. Prior to the

postwar strip-mall/tract-house building boom that defi nes the neighborhood, Corte Madera in toto was the hilly, redwooded region to the west where loggers, farmers and cattlemen fl ourished for decades and artists attracted by the nice weather and lovely bay views settled in little bun-galows on Christmas Tree Hill. Out toward San Francisco Bay was undeveloped marshland where generations of native Miwok had supplemented their venison-and-acorn diet with fresh seafood and the Larkspur steamboat stopped to load up on the town’s abundance of beef, lumber and produce on its way to San Francisco.

Th is idyllic existence ended with the country’s entrance into World War II and the creation of Marinship, the bustling 24/7 shipyard built on reclaimed marshland north of Sausalito. Welders and riveters from around the country streamed into the area looking for a place to live, and new residential neighborhoods of tightly packed tract houses sprang up overnight. Aft er the war, thousands of return-ing soldiers decided to settle here permanently, exponen-tially increasing the region’s population base for always. Practically all of the Bay Area’s salt marshes east of 101 and west of the Nimitz were fi lled and covered with housing and shopping centers to shelter and feed this staggering infl ux of humanity, and by the time it was all over, 95 percent of our wetlands had vanished.

Today, East Corte Madera has a certain cachet distinct from its older municipal sibling across the highway. Bracketed by Ring Mountain on the south, San Francisco Bay on the east, the Vil-lage shopping mall on the north and Highway 101 on the west, the neighborhood is removed enough from the rest of the county to give it a faraway, uncongested ambiance. Paradise Drive, the main drag, is the region’s dividing line. North of

Paradise is San Clemente Creek, a tidal slough that was navigable

by pleasure craft until the surrounding marshes were fi lled in 60 years ago. (In honor, perhaps, of those long-ago seafar-ing days, nearby streets have names like

Ebbtide, Tradewinds and Seamast.) Th ere are two parks here as well: the Bayside Trail, a linear park running along San Clemente Drive, and San Cle-

mente Park with its soft ball diamond, volleyball court and picnic grounds. South of Paradise you’ll fi nd more “yar, matey!” street names like Privateer, Buccaneer and Golden Hinde and two pocket-sized municipal parks, Granada and the charmingly designated Skunk Hollow, plus the Audubon Society’s Triangle Marsh project and the wild splendor of 602-foot Ring Mountain.

Th e 45-year-old Paradise Shopping Center has gotten a new lease on life from star tenant Paradise Market, one of this tony county’s toniest resources for gourmet goodies. Nearby is the internationally renowned Terwilliger Nature Education Center, a tribute if ever there was one to the area’s restored shorebird-friendly wetlands. Th ere’s lagoon living in the old ranch houses along San Clemente Creek, and winding streets and footpaths meander up Ring Mountain, reward-ing hiker and homeowner with splendid views.

Recently, Corte Madera has been mulling over a new general plan that would add 300 housing units to the town’s east side and allow the Village shopping mall to expand by another 185,000 square feet, presumably in the general direction of the surrounding wetlands. Isn’t this where we came in? —MATTHEW STAFFORD

Marin ��eighborhoods 2008–2009 27

RCFE # 216803029

While memories may fade...Love lasts forever.

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Town Center – Corte Madera (415) 945-9221

Northgate Mall – San Rafael (415) 499-0736

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T I B U R O N A T A G L A N C E

FIRE STATION - Tiburon Fire Protection District, 1679 Tiburon Blvd.

LIBRARY - Belvedere-Tiburon Library, 1501 Tiburon Blvd.

PARKS - Tiburon Uplands Nature Preserve, Paradise Dr.; Blackie's Pasture, Tiburon Blvd.; Paradise Beach Park, Paradise Dr.

POST OFFICE - Belvedere-Tiburon Post Offi ce, 6 Beach Rd.

PUBLIC SCHOOLS - Bel Aire Elementary School, 277 Karen Way; Reed Elementary School, 1199 Tiburon Blvd.; Del Mar Middle School, 105 Avenida Mirafl ores Ave.

The many sides of Marin’s near-perfect peninsulaTiburon

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The Sausalito waterfront is known for its celebrated arts community.

�s with many places, the local coff ee shop is

oft en the best spot to sum up a town’s true fl avor. But in Tiburon there is more than one and they couldn’t be more diff erent. Right downtown on Main Street is Caff e Acri, which serves espresso drinks to a steady stream of cyclists, casually dressed executive-types working at their laptops and a well-heeled set of 30-somethings and their fami-lies on the weekends. Down the street in the Boardwalk Shopping Center is Jeannie’s Java, a second home to old-timers and locals who come in to sip tea and enjoy fresh-baked pastries in overstuff ed chairs surrounded by photos of the owner’s family. With its roots imbedded in the rail-road industry, ferryboat making and dairy and cattle ranching, it’s no surprise this waterfront town with its world-class views of San Francisco has a rich and varied personality.

Th ese days Tiburon is known for Sam’s Anchor Café and cycling. Riding across the bay to enjoy a sunny aft ernoon at the ever-popular watering hole, which during Prohibition had a trap door to load booze in from small boats stationed outside the Golden Gate, is a popular weekend excursion for city dwellers. Sam Vella, an immigrant from Malta—described as a “restaurateur, barkeep, bootlegger and a scoundrel”—opened his eponymous restaurant/saloon near the end of World War I. Whether it’s one too many of the café’s famous Ramos Fizzes, or an overdose of briny sea breezes, cycling visitors oft en forgo their ride home and hop aboard the Blue and Gold Fleet ferry for the six-mile trip back to San Francisco. Th e terminal is a stone’s throw from Sam’s.

For those who complete their ride, the route home includes a scenic three-mile stretch (the Tiburon Historical Trail) that was once an easement

for the railroad and now borders a 900-acre wildlife preserve and Audubon sanctuary. And not to be forgotten is the “jewel of San Francisco Bay,” Angel Island State Park, which is a 10-minute ferry ride from downtown.

Tiburon off ers much more than its “Ark Row” of upscale bou-tiques and art galleries. Th e early railroad and ship-building heritage is well preserved at the Railroad-Ferry Depot Museum in the Do-nahue Building on Paradise Drive. Th e museum features a working model of the Point Tiburon yard circa 1910. Th anks to the nonprofi t Landmarks Society, several cherished landmarks have been preserved and are open to the public. Old St. Hilary’s is among the few remain-ing Carpenter Gothic churches to survive in its original setting. It overlooks downtown Tiburon and the San Francisco Bay. Land-marks Art & Garden Center is the oldest structure on the Tiburon Peninsula. Th e restored cottage, built around 1870, is representative of Tiburon’s housing during the farming-railroad era.

Although the fi rst settlers came in the early 1830s and the post of-fi ce opened in 1884, Tiburon remained unincorporated until 1964.

Perhaps because Tiburon depends on tourism for much of its revenue, there is a refreshing friendliness not commonly encoun-tered in most Marin towns. Tiburon has its own International Film Festival in the spring and the town hosts its annual Wine Festival in May. Friday Nights on Main also begin in May and include plenty of eating, family gatherings and music on the downtown streets.

Maybe it’s time for us Marinites to take a little excursion our-selves, just to see what Tiburon has to off er—and what our San Francisco neighbors seem to come back for almost every weekend. —TANYA HENRY




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FIRE STATION Tiburon Fire Protection District, 1679 Tiburon Blvd.

LIBRARY Belvedere-Tiburon Library, 1501 Tiburon Blvd.

PARKS Belvedere Park, San Rafael Ave. & Community Rd.

POST OFFICE Belvedere-Tiburon Post Offi ce, 6 Beach Rd.

PUBLIC SCHOOLS Bel Aire Elementary School, 277 Karen Way; Reed Elementary School, 1199 Tiburon Blvd.; Del Mar Middle School, 105 Avenida Mirafl ores Ave.

That’s ‘beautiful view’ to you...Belvedere


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The San Francisco Yacht Club supplanted the Belvedere Hotel in 1937.

�elvedere. Th is little island commands its

dazzling vistas by the happy expedient of being situated on hilly waterfront terrain overlook-ing the profi le of Mt. Tamalpais, the spires of San Francisco, regularly scheduled sunsets behind the Golden Gate Bridge and one of the most beautiful natural harbors in the world. Belvedere juts southwestward into Rich-ardson Bay from the much larger Tiburon peninsula, from which it is almost entirely separated by a lagoon.

Known in its earliest days as “Th e Pasture of Shark Point” (“Tiburon” is Spanish for “shark”), for 30 years the whole mile-by-half-mile island was the home of one Israel Kashow. He settled here in 1855, raising Australian sheep and Texas cattle, tending an orchard and an aviary of exotic birds and establishing a codfi shery where 700 tons of seafood was cured each year by 100 Chinese workers. Kashow lost ownership of the island to attorney James C. Bolton in 1868, who won the real estate on behalf of the heirs of John Reed, the Irish wayfarer who had been granted the enormous Corte Madera del Presidio rancho from the Mexican government 30 years earlier. Bolton’s fee: half of the land in question. Kashow, however, refused to leave for 16 years, despite the eff orts of President Andrew Johnson, who claimed Belvedere for the military in 1867, and Bolton’s successor Th omas B. Valentine, who brought his case all the way to Wash-ington and in the process won 7,845 acres of Marin’s choicest real estate, gloriously undeveloped.

Valentine gave the island its evocative name, which means “beau-tiful view,” and helped create the Belvedere Land Company in 1890. M.M. O’Shaughnessy, the engineer who had devised Mill Valley’s unique footpath-and-staircase setting, laid out the new town with hill-hugging roads, stone walls and country lanes, then the slopes were terraced and subdivided, 3,500 trees were planted and the likes of Willis Polk, Julia

Morgan and Golden Gate Park landscape architect John McLaren designed a glorious mishmash of Mission Revival mansions, Nor-man manor houses and Mediterranean villas.

Th e city of Belvedere was offi cially incorporated in 1896. By 1900 the island boasted 50 houses and one hotel, the Belvedere, a splendid 50-room expanse of tennis courts, panoramic verandas and a beach with imported sand. Th ere was even a nine-hole golf course in the city’s uncharted northern reaches. Th en Corinthian Island was parceled and developed. Like Belvedere Island, in the pre-bayfi ll days it was only accessible via sandspit, and then only at low tide. In 1888 the mariners of the Corinthian Yacht Club had chosen its southern tip as their anchorage and gave the island its name into the bargain. Half of the island’s in Belvedere, half in Tiburon, and for several years homeowners straddling the city limit paid two (pre-sumably heft y) tax bills.

Today’s Belvedere is as serene as it’s been since Israel Kashow was banished from paradise 122 years ago. Even more so. Th e Belvedere Hotel was supplanted by the sedate San Francisco Yacht Club in 1937. Th e island’s two thriving codfi sheries are less than a memory. Beach Road’s produce vendor, iceman and blacksmith have departed; there are no restaurants or shops to be patronized, although there are two churches, a city hall, a nursery school, a beautiful community play-ground and several real estate agents. What’s eternal are the wooded hills, the winding streets, the lush gardens, the pocket-sized parks, the positively Neapolitan ambiance. Nice views, too. —MATTHEW STAFFORD



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FIRE STATION Mill Valley Fire Department, 1 Hamilton Ln.; Southern Marin Fire Protection District, 308 Reed Blvd.

LIBRARY Mill Valley Public Library, 375 Throckmorton Ave.

PARKS Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary

POST OFFICE Mill Valley Post Offi ce, 751 E. Blithedale Ave.

PUBLIC SCHOOLS Tamalpais High School, 700 Miller Ave.; Mill Valley Middle School, 425 Sycamore Ave.; Strawberry Point School, 117 E. Strawberry Dr.

Some of the nest real estate pickings in Marin


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Strawberry Village—more than a shopping center—it’s a destination.’

�erhaps one of the reasons Strawberry isn’t on the radar for many of us is that it’s one of Marin’s toniest neighborhoods. Homes regularly sell for as much as $3 million. OK, you

might fi nd a few priced under a million behind the Strawberry Vil-lage Shopping Center, but by and large, real estate sales are fi xed in the seven-fi gure range. A county-generated document for the County-wide Plan described Strawberry as a “community on the upper end of the housing price range of the county with severe limitations on housing for those of modest means.”

Th is unincorporated area near the City of Mill Valley is out-lined by Highway 101 to the west and Tiburon Boulevard to the north, with waterfront property on the Richardson Bay to the east and south. Most governmental functions reside with the County, but garbage and recycling are provided by the Strawberry Recre-ation District.

It seems an ongoing struggle has been raging among neighbors in this small enclave (made up of a fair amount of waterfront property) who can’t agree whether to become an incorporated part of Tibu-ron, or remain associated with Mill Valley. Despite sometimes vocal Tiburon proponents, the neighborhood remains untethered from its sharky neighbor.

Maybe it’s the spectacular views that have attracted harbor seals to the quiet and unspoiled coves the community off ers. Th ere was a time when the seals thrived and fi shed along the shores near Strawberry Point, but in the late ‘80s their numbers dwindled. Still, a number of Eastern Pacifi c harbor seals have made the northeastern tip of the Strawberry Peninsula a regular spot to lounge beachside. In an eff ort to protect the seals—along with other wildlife, including herons and egrets—strict building codes have been enforced. Fortunately for them, kayakers are permitted to share the area with these frolicking sea-goers.

If we didn’t mention Strawberry Village Shopping Center—which seems to be the hub/meeting place for most residents—we would be remiss. Just as its developers—the Shelter Bay Retail Group—intended, “it is more than a shopping center—it’s a destination.” As many as 60 merchants survived more than a year of construction time spent renovating the nearly half-century-old center. Th e 18-acre mall reopened in the fall of 2006 with several spiff y new

restaurants, rent increases for the tenants and newly tree-lined pe-destrian walkways. Garden retailer Smith & Hawken moved in. San Francisco restaurauteur Gordon Drysdale brought his Pizza Antica to Strawberry, and the upscale Woodland’s Pet Food and Treats caters to the neighborhood’s wealthy demographic. Even Harmony, a Chinese restaurant that off ers city-caliber dim sum, has set up shop in the center.

If ever the county begins to feel small, head east from Highway 101 out on to Tiburon Boulevard, and make a right on to Strawberry Drive. Discover (if only from your car) how the folks in Marin’s 3rd Supervisorial District live.—TANYA HENRY



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Strawberry Point is the oft-viewed land mass jutting into Richardson Bay on the east side of Highway 101 across from Mill Valley.


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PARKS Blithedale Park, Blithedale Summit Open Space Preserve


PUBLIC SCHOOLS Tamalpais High School, 700 Miller Ave.; Mill Valley Middle School, 425 Sycamore Ave.; Old Mill School, 352 Throckmorton Ave.

Towering redwoods and burbling brooksBlithedale Canyon


�or nearly a century and a half, Blithedale Canyon has been a favorite place to relax and

replenish. Dominated by Corte Madera Creek, it’s a redwood-perfumed place of dusty sunbeams, shingled cabins, blackberry bushes, bounding deer, stone walls, foggy mornings, hidden staircases and the towering presence of Sequoia sempervirens. (Also, bellowing bikers and SUVs, but you can’t have everything.)

Blithedale and Cascade are the two canyons that make Mill Valley a valley. Cascade is lined with some of the grandest homes in town, but Blithedale’s historical sights and phantoms give it unique cachet.

Coastal Miwoks preceeded the conquistadoreswho were supplanted by Mexican government offi cials. Two land grants bisected the southern Marin peninsula extending from Blithedale Canyon: John Reed’s 8,000-acre Ran-cho Corte Madera del Presidio ran eastward from Corte Madera Creek to San Quentin down to Richardson Bay; William Rich-ardson’s 19,000-acre Rancho Saucelito spread northward to Mt. Tam and westward from the creek to the ocean.

In 1873, Dr. John Cushing built a sanitarium on 360 acres. Th e new railroad line inspired his heirs to build the Blithedale Hotel on the premises. Named aft er Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel A Blithedale Romance. Other retreats—the Abbey, the Eastland, the Redwood Lodge—followed.

Meanwhile, 200 acres of Richardson’s old rancho were par-celed off , many to San Franciscans who built weekend cottages. Shortly aft er, tracks for the Mill Valley & Mt. Tamalpais Scenic Railway were laid along and over Corte Madera Creek; the Lee Street Local used the same tracks to shuttle commuters to and from the depot downtown. Th e Outdoor Art Club was founded in 1902 to (successfully) preserve Blithedale Park’s redwood grove from commercial development.

Th e sleepy aura took a hit when the 1906 earthquake caused week-enders to move into their vacation cottages. A fi re in 1913 raged for fi ve days. A bigger blaze hit in July 1929, roaring downhill along the creek and destroying 110 homes.

Building booms followed the opening of the Golden Gate Bridge and the end of WWII. Aside from the fl ood of 1982, not much has happened in the intervening years to disturb the placid nature. Above all, it’s a fi ne place for a stroll. Start at 21 Corte Madera Ave., the starting point of the railway’s spur line from the old depot, and head northwest into the canyon. On the right is the old Redwood Lodge with its low stone walls and manicured grounds; up on the left is a quasi-authentic Torii gate built by Japanese carpenters in 1920. Many Japanese-style houses were built in the canyon in the early 1900s. Remnants of the Blithedale Hotel can be seen: the adobe milk house at 205 W. Blithedale, the crumbling stone dam constructed to create a swimming hole. Up the canyon on the rail-bed across the creek from Eldridge Ave. is the foundation of the Lee Street Local’s station platform. Th e Old Railroad Grade trailhead is half a block up, but there’s something about the silent redwoods and burbling creekbed of Blithedale Canyon that make you want to stick around a while. —MATTHEW STAFFORD

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131ally known Mill Valley Film Festival, which screens many of its movies at the historic Sequoia Th eatre, at 25 Th rockmorton. As if that isn’t enough to put this town of almost 14,000 on the map, downtown Mill Val-ley is the starting point of the more than 100-year-old Dipsea footrace—a 7.1-mile course that starts along the 671 stairs through picturesque Old Mill Park and fi nishes at the bottom of steep trails in Stinson Beach. High-end clothing boutiques, pet and baby stores fl ank the town square and the perennially packed Mill Valley Market is a favorite for its upscale gourmet off erings and well-prepared deli items.

Many of the neighborhood’s old-timers long for the days when downtown Mill Valley was a funky, artsy community sought out by folks who loved nature and wanted to be away from the hustle and bustle of urban living. With the inf lux of boomers and commuters, the town has become more subur-ban—yet it’s suburbia with a lingering bohemian sentiment still evident.

Whether it’s a good, strong cup of coff ee, a grueling footrace up Tam or the opportunity to simply curl up in a comfortable chair at the library and take in some of the area’s most spec-tacular vistas—you’ll fi nd it all in this quintessential Marin neighborhood. —TANYA HENRY

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PARKS Boyle Park, 50 Thalia St.; Old Mill Park, 300 Throckmorton Ave.



Down by the ol’ Mill stream...


�nly four miles past the Golden Gate Bridge and a seven-minute jaunt west of the Downtown Mill Val-ley exit rests the heart of the leafy, affl uent and politi-

cally progressive community of Mill Valley—a city named by the national magazine, Money (and the CNN Money Web site), as the 10th best city in the nation to live. Th e magazine put it this way: “Dot-com mil-lionaires and power couples in the fi lm and music industries are fl ocking to what long ago was a hangout for artists and re-formed hippies.”

Despite downtown’s current high cost of living and frequently congested traffi c conditions, the allure of this charming, mystical little part of town shows no signs of waning. Th ough the parameters of the downtown are loosely defi ned, the bulk of the action takes place toward the west end of E. Blithedale Avenue, up along Th rockmorton, all the way past Old Mill Park and the city’s well stocked library. Th ere, within a radius of only a couple of miles, community members and out-of-towners can fi nd everything they need—from sophisticated shops and topnotch restaurants to theater, movies and live music. Among the downtown’s primary draws is the Depot Bookstore and Café (a former Greyhound bus depot), where locals turn for coff ee-sipping and people watching in the town’s center, also known as Lytton Square.

Amid an eclectic mix of young families, aging hippies and sportily clad cyclists, it is not unusual to spot a rock star now and then. (Mill Valley has been home to the likes of Maria Muldaur, Bonnie Raitt, Bob Weir and Sammy Hagar, among others.)

Every October for almost 30 years, the downtown has been transformed by the nation-

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been transformed by the nation- Pacifi c Sun Home & Garden photo by Ken Piekny

Downtown Mill Valley is one of the busiest destinations in all Marin.


Marin �eighborhoods 2008–2009 37

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Marin��eighborhoods�� 2008 2009 37

The Depot Café draws its name from the building’s long-ago life as Mill Valley’s central rail hub.


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FIRE STATION Mill Valley Fire Department Main Station, 1 Hamilton Ln.; Southern Marin Fire Protection District Stations No. 4 & 9, 309 Poplar & 308 Reed Blvd.


PARKS Bayfront Park, 425 Sycamore Ave.;Bothin Marsh Open Space Preserve; Molino Park,Molino Ave. & Janes St.; Sycamore Park, 4 Park Terrace


PUBLIC SCHOOLS Tamalpais High School, 700 Miller Ave.; Mill Valley Middle School, 425 Sycamore Ave.;Park Elementary School, E. Blithedale Ave.

Miller Avenue


Mill Valley’s working-class hero

iller Avenue is Mill Valley’s great civic en-tranceway. Like every portal thoroughfare from the Via Appia to Market Street, it escorts the

visitor from point of arrival to the center of the action. Its four lanes of asphalt, concrete, cherry blossoms and usurped railbed link two intra-urban highways with the town’s tree-shaded hub; aspects of the town’s inclusive past sharing frontage space with its loft y status quo: a rambling, century-old high school, a storied saloon, supermar-kets for patrician and proletariat alike, gas stations and fast-food joints, the town’s oldest business and some of its most venerable and beautiful homes.

Th e Coast Miwok were the fi rst inhabitants of the neighborhood, reveling in the climate and the abundant wildlife since about the time of the Magna Carta. One of their shellmounds was at present-day Locke and LaGoma streets, two blocks east of Miller, which was once, in those pre-bay-fi ll days, a point on the Richardson Bay shoreline. It was here that Irish immigrant John Reed built his adobe home in the 1830s. Th e wayfarer had recently acquired a phenomenal land grant from the Mexican government that encompassed the Tibu-ron peninsula, a substantial chunk of Corte Madera and half of Mill Valley—everything east of that aforementioned creekbed. Here Reed raised horses, sheep and cattle, operated a quarry and hosted the occasional rodeo, but his most famous enterprise was the sawmill he operated a few miles northwest in present-day Old Mill Park. Th e burgeoning, lumber-hungry city of San Francisco helped ensure the mill’s success, and to transport all of that har-vested redwood across the bay, Reed’s laborers built a road from the shores of Cascade Creek to the train station at Almonte: the primal prototype for our own Miller Avenue.

In 1892 the Mill Valley Lumber Company opened for busi-ness at 129 Miller, straddling the creek that defi nes the town and supplying the raw materials for most of the homes and busi-nesses that cropped up hereabouts aft er the 1906 earthquake. As the town doubled in population, two new neighborhoods were developed on both sides of Miller: on the west Homestead Valley, an adamantly unincorporated region of sylvan glades, gullies and rolling hills, and on the east Tamalpais Park, with

its unique midblock shortcuts for tardy commuters hurrying aft er the next train.

Aft er a century Miller Avenue was still the border between east and west, city and county, and the Brown Jug saloon at Miller and Montford advertised its prime location just outside Mill Valley and its midnight closing time by renaming itself the 2AM Club. It was also in 1940 that the train that gave Miller Avenue so much of its character closed up shop, a victim of the automobile’s new citywide dominance aft er the opening of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Plans have been bandied about to reconstruct this storied boulevard into a carefully designed showplace of upscale shops, multi-use housing, landscaped brickways and sheltered bike paths. Stay tuned. Despite the occasional canoe-friendly fl ood—its proximity to creek and reclaimed marshland has helped submerge the avenue during many a stormy season—Miller Avenue has survived Mill Valley’s every municipal upheaval and makeover to remain the town’s busiest, broadest-minded thoroughfare. —MATTHEW STAFFORD



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LIBRARY - Mill Valley Public Library, 375 Throckmorton Ave.

PARKS Edgewood Park, Mt. Tamalpais State Park



Homestead Valley Where the mountain meets Marin


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Pacifi c Sun Home & Garden pen acific Sun Home & Garden photo by Ken Piekny


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The Homestead Valley Community Center brings neighbors together

for swimming, croquet and bocce.

he fi rst thing any good Homestead Valley citizen will tell you about this rustic, woodsy community is that it’s not a Mill Valley neighborhood. For a century now the city has

been trying to maneuver this sea-breezed, sylvan, unincorporated acreage within its boundaries, but Homesteaders have clung to their independence. (Mill Valley did manage to usurp three blocks 60 years ago.) Folks here aren’t unfriendly; it’s just that the resolutely rural status quo has been good to this lovely enclave.

Th e boundaries are erratic. In the most general sense it’s the water-shed formed by Reed Creek, entered from the blocks of Miller Avenue between Reed and Montford and opening westward, ending at the coast range and the valley’s two enclosing ridges. Follow Montford as it ascends and morphs into Molino and then Edgewood, then head south on Sequoia Valley Road and Panoramic Highway where the GGNRA pokes up from the Headlands alongside Mt. Tamalpais State Park. At Four Corners take Highway 1 east along the ridge separating Homestead from Tam Valley and make your way via California or LaVerne or Morningsun or Reed to Miller.

Four Corners is one of the lowest points along the coast range, and it’s said that the Miwok traversed it on visits to seaside tribal settle-ments. Later, conquistadores chose the spot to make their way from the Presidio to Bodega Bay, and later still it was where dairymen headed inland to bring their wares to market.

Mill Valley founding father John Reed raised cattle here in the 1840s, and in 1857 Samuel Th rockmorton acquired the land, converted it to dairy ranches and built a hunting lodge—at the intersection of Ethel and Montford avenues. (Homestead Valley hasn’t always been tranquil. Th ere was the time the lodge’s cook murdered the ranch manager, buried the body, fl ed to Sausalito and was arrested and thrown in jail, where he hanged himself with his own underwear.) Th rockmorton’s holdings were subdivided into lots and sold in 1890; the land was carved into parcels in 1903. Th e population increased dramatically aft er the 1906 earthquake. Cabins and manor houses alike sprang up, and a school opened at Janes and Montford in 1908.

It was an idyllic time. City commuters went by electric train and ferryboat. One commuter, ad exec Fred Stolte, would invite fellow hucksters to his woodland grove for an annual “bull roast” com-

plete with sack races and horseshoes. Ritzier soirees were held at the Th euriet estate at Ferndale and Ridgewood, where, allegedly,

Mary Pickford and Charlie Chaplin occasionally frolicked. During Prohibition residents unwound at the speakeasy

at Ethel and Montford or the dance hall at Linden and Evergreen. Th e outside world encroached with the

Depression and America’s entry into World War II. (A shameful aspect of wartime

was the internment of Harry Oka-bura, who had operated a poultry

farm on Montford since 1909.) Th e old bohemian traditions

fl ourished when Gary Snyder and Jack Kerouac occupied a (since-demolished) cabin above 370 Montford and threw a

three-day wing-ding recounted in Kerouac’s Th e Dharma Bums. Fel-

low hipster Jon Hendricks bought a house on Ridgewood a decade later, and Sam Shepard was living on Evergreen when he won his Pulitzer Prize for Th e Buried Child. An annual Mozart concert kicked off at Fred Stolte’s beautiful glade, and fl ourished. An experi-ment in communal living blossomed at the edge of the GGNRA.

A proposal for a freeway from the Golden Gate Bridge to West Marin, fought by Homesteaders as long ago as 1920, was buried; residents also headed off a subdivision and paid dearly to create 80 acres of open space. Just what you’d expect from independent-mind-ed, nature-loving, community-spirited, free-thinking Arcadians. Long may they wave. —MATTHEW STAFFORD



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FIRE STATION - Mill Valley Fire Department, 1 Hamilton Ln.; Southern Marin Fire Protection District, 308 Reed Blvd.

LIBRARY - Mill Valley Public Library, 375 Throckmorton Ave.

PARKS - Bothin Marsh Open Space Preserve

POST OFFICE - Mill Valley Post Offi ce, 751 E. Blithedale Ave.

PUBLIC SCHOOLS - Tamalpais High School, 700 Miller Ave.; Mill Valley Middle School, 425 Sycamore Ave.; Tam Valley School, 350 Beel Ln.

Tam Valley


Mill Valley’s junction to Marin

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With its surf shops and ice cream stores, Tam Valley has become

Marin’s inland beach town.

am Valley. Not sure exactly what it encompasses? You’re not the only one. Oft en referred to interchangeably as

Tam Junction, it’s a crossroads—a fl yby spot, where scenic route and freeway meet. Part thoroughfare, commercial square and na-ture preserve, Tam Valley’s at odds with itself. It hasn’t always been this way.

Mistakenly affi liated with Mill Valley, its neighbor city to the north, Tam Valley is an unincorporated part of Marin. It’s a curious fi t with the rest of the county. “Th e best way to put it,” says longtime resident Judy Martin, “is that Mill Valley does not think of us as Mill Valley. We’re that place between them and Sausalito and Marin City.” To residents, Tam Valley “starts with the Dipsea Cafe, goes until Rosemont and then up the road to the beach.” Bordered on the east by Almonte Boulevard and Tennessee Valley Road, Shoreline Highway cuts through the middle. Th e main drag to Mt. Tam and the coast, Shoreline has come to defi ne the area.

Before it was a beeline to the beach, Tam Valley was a quiet place. It was populated by horse stables, dairy farms and chicken ranches; kids played in the streets. Today, cars roar past on Shore-line, but it’s calm inside Scads of Th ings, Judy’s knickknack store, one of the oldest buildings in Tam Valley. Years ago, it housed the incubator for the T&M Hatchery. Now, hand-knitted scarves drape over shelves in the front where chickens used to be slaugh-tered; it’s a near perfect juxtaposition for defi ning the old and new Tam Valley.

As the community developed, the low cost of housing made it an ideal site for craft speople. Judy says, “It used to be a place where they could aff ord studios.” Th at has certainly changed over the years. Motorists whizzing by rarely stop at the modest studio/storefronts. Poke around and you’ll fi nd a few—a cera-mist, a cabinet shop and a gold exchange among them. Some things remain the same, though: Th e gas station, grocery store and other service-oriented businesses may have changed

hands over the years, but the neigh-borhood feeling and familiarity is still alive.

Before it became the main drag for passing tourists, Tam Valley was a bit of a salty backwater. Tam Valley became a stomping ground for trac-tor drivers, veterans and hard drinkers; San Quentin employees, electricians and bait-shop owners also made their homes there. Eventually, local boozing haunts like the Pastime were replaced by surf shops and ice cream stores, as the community set roots and started families.

Th e infl uence of the bay and the Pacifi c is felt in its architecture, as homes built by fi shermen climb high into the hills. Down in the fl ats was the noir-ish Fireside Motel, the legendary stopover and unoffi cial entrance to the valley right off the highway. Derelict for years, now it’s the site of a controversial new project—aff ordable housing for seniors and middle-income families.

With a history of being betwixt and between, Tam Valley is still trying to fi nd itself. Many insist they’re happy with change—but prefer it to be slow. Some environmentalists want to make it marshland. Developers have cutesy cafés and boutiques in mind. Some locals want to keep it just the way it is, imperfect and unim-proved. With no consensus in sight, it may just stay as it’s always been—good. —LAUREL KELLNER



I am proud to call Tam Valley home for almost a decade. What I love most about Tam Valley is the community. I am grateful for the opportunity to bring Tam Valley residents together by sponsoring community events such as Creekside Fridays, TamFest and the upcoming Holiday event. Who’s the next person you know who wants to join our community? Invest? Buy a first home? OR move into larger, more spacious home? Please show them this ad and when they contact me they will get the most accurate and current information.

“Simple Real Estate Solutions. Simply Excellent Service.”

Amy Glaser

[email protected]

We’ve Moved803 BridgewayNext to Casa Madrona Hotel

Books, Gifts

Free Book Groups

415-331-3344www.habitatbooks.com

Sausalito, CAOpen 7 DaysTam Valley residents can relax along the banks of Corte Madera Creek as it rolls its way toward Richardson Bay.


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FIRE STATION Marin City Fire Station, 850 Drake Ave.

LIBRARY Marin City Library, 164 Donahue St.

PARKS George Graham Park, 100 Drake Ave.

POST OFFICE Sausalito Post Offi ce, 150 Harbor Dr.

PUBLIC SCHOOLS Martin Luther King Jr. Academy, 610 Drake Ave.

Marin City


From World War II to the modern world

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The Marin City hills provide striking views of the bay.


�riginally this grassy gully between Sausalito and Tam Valley was farmland. But when the U.S. entered WWII, northern Sausalito marshland was used to create a shipyard where a

fl eet of “Liberty ships” and tankers could be built. Over the next three-and-a-half years, 20,000 workers toiled 24/7, building 93 vessels.

To assemble the vessels, a draft -depleted workforce was recruit-ed—many were African-Americans from the Midwest and the South. Women, like their black, Asian and Latino colleagues, were paid $1.20 per hour, same as the white men they worked alongside. Marinship was the best-integrated shipyard in the West.

With wartime housing scarce, a makeshift community was fashioned on 356 acres. In just over three months, 700 apartments and dormitories for 1,000 singles covered the valley, with 800 de-tached homes built into the hills. Th e community grew to 6,000 by Christmas 1943.

In practically every respect, the community was a success. Th ere was a newspaper, an elected city council, a post offi ce, a library, schools, a grocery store, a barbershop and beauty salon, a hospital, a laundry and a drugstore.

All was not idyllic, however. Simmering endemic racism reared its head on occasion. Th ere was a teen gang problem and the unpaved streets and sidewalks fl ooded and fi lled with mud at the fi rst drop of rain.

As the war drew to a close, Marin City’s population was cut in half. Th e population dropped to 1,300 in 1970 as unemployment rose. Community development and revitalization ceased for three decades as the county’s housing revenues soared. Two decades of systematic racism were taking their toll (Marin City was now 90 percent black—the rest of the county was 1 percent black), and the community felt more segregated and disenfranchised than ever. Th ere was arson and vandalism. Gunfi re wasn’t a rare occurrence, and a night of fi rebombs and sniper fi re erupted in the summer of 1967. Black Panthers Eldridge Cleaver and Stokely Carmichael told residents to defend themselves, by violence if necessary.

But this very sense of isolation served to unite the community. Th ere were rallies and picnics and a fl ourishing street life, and the local citizenry included Beat poet Lew Welch, Tam High student Tupac Shakur and the great bossa nova guitarist Bola Sete.

In 1980, residents organized the Marin City Community Development Corporation, purchasing the remaining 42 acres of undeveloped property—where a windswept fl ea market took place every weekend for over a decade—for a $110 mil-lion housing/retail development.

Th e new housing adjoins the Gateway shopping complex, where locals get fi rst refusal of most job opportunities. Th e population has risen above 3,000 in recent years, and several community assistance programs help residents improve their way of life. But problems remain. Violence and drug abuse continue. Th e job opportunities off er generally low wages, and even the “below-market-value” housing is beyond the reach of many. Th e African-American population dropped from 58 percent in 1990 to 39 percent in 2000 while the white population grew to 33 per-cent and the threat grew of Marin City’s heritage being gentrifi ed out of existence.

But the new Marin City also has the Manzanita Recreation Center, sports facilities, a community garden, a childcare center, parks and ponds and new roads and six churches. And there are plans for a new Marin City Center encompassing teen and senior centers, recording and broadcasting studios, classrooms, a gym, swimming facilities, a dance studio, an amphitheater, a game room, retail development and new housing. Th is proud, troubled, vibrant community, in other words, is reinventing itself once again. —MATTHEW STAFFORD

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The Sausalito waterfront is known for its celebrated art community.

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FIRE STATION Sausalito Fire Department, 333 Johnson St.

LIBRARY Sausalito Library, 420 Litho St.

PARKS Dunphy Park, 1600 Bridgeway


PUBLIC SCHOOLS Bayside Elementary/Willow Creek Academy, 630 Nevada St.

Sausalito Waterfront

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Sittin’ on the dock of the bay

“Sittin’ in the mornin’ sun, I’ ll be sittin’ when the evenin’ comes. Watchin’ the ships roll in, and then I watch ’em roll away again...”—Otis Redding

�resh off his soulful showing at the Monterey Pop Festival in June 1967,

Otis Redding sat on a houseboat at Wal-do Point Marina in Sausalito and scribbled the immortal lines to “(Sittin’ on) Th e Dock of the Bay.” Redding is gone but the song, and the dock that inspired it, remain.Th e waterfront is Sausalito’s salty underbelly as it has been throughout its history. During Marin’s turn-of-the-century growth spurt, Sausalito served as the primary port of entry for commuters. De-cades later Golden Gate Bridge construction brought increased development, but it wasn’t until World War II that the town’s character was cemented. Aft er the attack on Pearl Harbor, the government identifi ed Sausalito as an ideal spot for an emergency shipyard location—Bechtel moved in, and soon hulking steel craft were sliding down Marinship’s launch ways. Th ousands of laborers were brought in to work on the Liberty ships and tank-ers, causing a population explosion. Aft er the war ended, things quieted down again, but the infrastructure remained. In the ’60s and ’70s, the houseboat community became a haven for artists and bohemian types looking to escape the rat race. (Others were simply looking to escape: Members of the FBI-wanted Weather Underground holed up on the waterfront in the mid-’70s.) Film star, writer and sailor Sterling Hayden, among other famous folk, served for a time as part of that inimitable littoral confederacy. As was oft en the case, the countercultural off -the-grid boat dwellers regularly found themselves running afoul of local laws. Th e freewheeling idealism of the day is perhaps best exemplifi ed in the title of a homemade documentary shot at the height of the waterfront’s cultural clash—Th e Last Free Ride. Today, a few docks have retained their bohemian fl air, but the waterfront is calmer, fi lled with rows of fl oating homes, ranging from diminu-tive wooden craft to palatial domiciles. Some are occupied by full-time by legal residents; others serve as pleasure craft , art stu-dios or vacation getaways. One constant is the waterfront’s thriv-ing coalition of artisans. Another waterfront fi xture is the Bay Model Visitor Center, an educational facility run by the Army Corps of Engineers, off of Marinship Way. While most of the wa-terfront is developed, one signifi cant blip of green exists—Dun-

phy Park. Adorned with a stately white gazebo and benches overlooking the water, it’s a favorite gathering place. Scattered among the docks and shipyards are also a few businesses including a handful of bait shops, boat supply stores and a kayak excursion outfi t located at Schoonmaker Point. Asked to sum up what it means to live on the waterfront, even some of the saltiest locals come up short. One resident, who was there for the upheaval of the ’60s and ’70s, is back, living the quiet existence of a happily starving artist. “It’s one of those places,” he says, peering out over the placid, shimmering water from the prow of his brightly painted vessel. “You leave, but it never leaves you.” —JACOB SHAFER


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PARKS Robin Sweeny Park, Caledonia & Litho St.



Caledonia Street The soul of Sausalito

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Caledonia is what the locals think of when they think of Sausalito.


ucked just above Bridgeway between Napa and Johnson streets, Caledonia Street is not far from the San Francisco ferry drop-off .

Still, it remains a well-kept secret compared with Bridgeway, its tourist-haven counterpart to the north. Out-of-towners on a straight shot to the waterfront walk right by, missing what most residents consider the soul of Sausalito.

Hidden here are the essentials—a bookstore, a gourmet grocer, ethnic restaurants, fi tness centers, art galleries, antiques, a theater, a park, even a neighborhood bar—run for years by the same family. City Hall sits at one end, the fi re station at the other. A few spots draw folks from around Marin—like the Michelin Guide-listed Sushi Ran—but most cater to Cale-donians. Longtime resident Vicki Nichols says, “You can get around without a car. I can hear the foot traffi c—the moms and the nannies coming down the street. Th at really sets the tone, the community feel.”

Caledonia Street developed along a diff erent track from the rest of Sausalito. In the late-19th century, developers bought a ferry to bring in settlers from San Francisco. Th e wealthy built mansions in the hills at the southern end of the city. At the other end of town, the working class populated the mudfl ats. Land was divided up from William Richardson’s old Rancho del Sausalito. Many lots sold in the 1880s were small, but that wasn’t the case on Caledonia. With the dairies up in the hills, the lowland remained undeveloped.

On these mid-sized plots, builders, dairy hands and railroad workers formed a community. A welcoming, residential feel grew, new businesses sprang up and “New Town” Sausalito developed.

Back then, Caledonia was Sausalito’s main street. A few buildings from that era remain, including the ice house, now Sausalito’s visitor center. Th e oldest remaining house is the Bower, at Caledonia and Turney. Dating from 1869, the historic facade has been preserved by current resident and owner Mary Griffi n. Th e hardware store, too, has survived the years with a number of diff erent lives.

Th e biggest threat to the neighborhood is creeping commercial development. Chains bring money. Some

landlords want to cash in at the cost of Cale-donia’s character. But residents revere their local establish-ments. Smitty’s must be the homiest bar in town. And Waterstreet Hardware is the city’s last-standing fi x-it shop.

Th at’s something to celebrate, and sunny Caledonia is perfect for parties. Protected from the fog of the Golden Gate, it’s the site of the spring street fair and the city’s main parade route. Chamari-ta, the annual Portuguese celebration, includes a grand procession with marching bands and a queen, in recognition of the bounty of food that Queen Isabella once gave a group of starving Portuguese travelers. One of the most infl uential groups in the city’s history, the Portuguese left several halls and the festival as a legacy before many went north for more land.

Th e original inhabitants weren’t the Portuguese. Around 1920, Sonoma State University archaeologists uncovered evi-dence of earlier Miwok habitation. Much of Caledonia heritage is buried or behind facades, including its remaining echoes of WWII. In the ‘40s, dock workers fl ooded Sausalito to build warships. Many homeowners craft ed in-law units to accom-modate them. Still there weren’t enough rooms. Th ousands of men worked around the clock. With housing scarce, they needed something to do—and thus Caledonia got a cinema, which con-tinues showing movies today.

Th e end of the war brought a sleepy feel back to the street. “Af-ter the war it was a spot where the neighborhood kids gathered in the sand pit behind the fi re department,” one resident remembers. “Everyone knew each other and ran through the hills. Th ey took kayaks out on the water whether their moms knew it or not.”

Th at’s Sausalito’s soul, which locals strive to protect. —LAUREL KELLNER



Fort Baker, 557 McReynolds RoadSausalito, CA 94965(415) 339-3900www.BayKidsMuseum.org

Th e Bay Model Visitor Center is a working hydraulic model of the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta System. Th e model provides scientists, educators and citizens interested in San Francisco Bay and Bay-Delta Model a unique opportunity to view the complete bay-delta system at a glance. Learn about the SF Bay, water related issues and the history of the Bay Model.Group tours available! See our Web sitewww.spn.usace.army.mil/bmvc formore information.

The Only One of Its Kind

Our programs are fun for the whole family!

The Only One of Its Kind

BayModelVisitor Center

Sausalito residents’ thirst for knowledge can be quenched at the library on Litho Street.



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PARKS Vina Del Mar Plaza, Bridgeway & Anchor St.;Gabrielson Park, Anchor St.



Bridgeway


A cruise down Sausalito’s tourist mecca

�n a clear day from many places on the Bridgeway thor-oughfare, there’s a straight shot view of the city’s iconic skyline—with eastern views to Angel Island and Alca-

traz. as you walk, run or stroll along the bay on Bridgeway, it be-comes clear that it’s a place for locals, visitors and day-trippers alike. Cozy cafés, knickknack stores, art galleries, swanky boutiques and exquisite restaurants line the route once intended to be a freeway that connected with the Golden Gate Bridge. Fortunately, Bridgeway remains a 2.5-mile stretch of shoreline road, leading traffi c through a pedestrian’s paradise of culture and recreation.

Sausalito has been a desirable place to live since the days of its original inhabitants, the Costal Miwoks. Explorers and traders from Spain and Mexico successively snuff ed out the Native Ameri-can infl uence by the 1850s. Th e allure for those conquistadors was sheltered inlets, abundant natural resources and ideal climate. By 1868, Gold Rush miners discovered Sausalito—or, as it was known then, Saucelito—. According to the Sausalito Historical Society, 19 savvy businessmen bought the land from English settler Wil-liam Richardson and began a ferrying business. Th e Land & Ferry Company was slow to turn a profi t until 1871, when a deal was struck with the North Pacifi c Railroad—. Rail brought diversity —attracting Portuguese, Germans, Chinese, Italians, Greeks and others. Wealthy San Franciscans built summer homes in the hills (known as the Banana Belt for its "tropical" climate) and became known as "the codfi sh aristocracy." Workers, known as the "siluri-ans," and artists lived along the shoreline. Perhaps Bridgeway's most renowned resident was Sally Stanford, who made her way across the bay in the late-1940s, bringing, as Doris Berdahl of the town's visitor center puts it, "both controversy and unity to Sausalito." Stanford was a 5 foot tall, fl amboyantly dressed "madam" who ran a well-known bordello in San Francisco. Stanford opened up the Valhalla restaurant—where Gaylord India Restaurant now stands. Later, she decided to run for mayor and aft er fi ve failed bids, was fi nally elected in her sixth try. Stanford was not the only famous face to come to Sausalito. Children's author Shel Silverstein, author Jack London, publisher William Randolph Hearst and writer Evan Connell also had

homes along the banks of the bay. Architecture along Bridgeway refl ects its rich history, from Gold Rush, to ornate Victorian, to hints of Italian and Portuguese infl uence. Plaza Vina del Mar stands on the northern end of Bridgeway with its elegant fountain and tall fl agpoles donated by the town's Chilean sister city, Vina del Mar. Slightly further north, one comes across the historic Casa Madrona Hotel. Th ere is also a small residential section of Bridgeway where homes go for a million or more. Sausalito's main corridor has managed to maintain much of its neighborhood feel. Community events bring entertainment and diversity to the town. From May to August, residents fl ock to Gabrielson Park Friday evenings for Jazz & Blues by the Bay, free outdoor concerts where families and friends come together to picnic, sip wine and soak up the good vibes. Th e Sausalito Art Festival, which draws thousands of artists and collectors each year, is held each Labor Day weekend in Marinship Park. Bridgeway is a tourist attraction—and justly so,—but any local will tell you that the neighborhood is their own. "In the morning, Bridgeway is for the townspeople," says Susan Forrest, local teacher and longtime resident. "It is a place for people of the community to meet and catch up." In the early morning hours and in the fading light of dusk, Sausalitans sit back and admire the panoramic views, knowing that they are right at home. —KARA MADDALENA



How does one property stand out from the large inven-

tory of other properties on the market? How can any

property’s resale value be improved in today’s market?

How can long-term property owners plan for the futures

continually escalating energy prices with no end in

sight?

Green design and construction increase a buildings

value and decreases the costs of ownership. Green is in

and this trend is not going to go away. From Wired maga-

zine, to Elle, to Vanity Fair, the topic so popular a Google

search yields more than 15 million hits.

Green buildings are designed and constructed to the

highest environmental standards. They minimize energy

and water usage, as well as reduce the impact on cli-

mate change. They are constructed to be cost-effective

through their entire lifetime and sufficiently flexible to

meet the needs of future generations. They are also de-

signed to not compromise the health of the environment

or the health and well being of the buildings occupants,

its builders, the general public or future generations.

Green structures are better for human wellness and the

environment, without costing more than traditional

construction. It is a common misconception green

buildings cost more. The greenest commercial buildings

constructed in recent years have even cost less than their

counterparts, with most coming in about the same price

or at less than five percent higher.

This doesn’t event take into consideration the energy

savings. Figures from recent case studies of certified Cali-

fornia green buildings by the U.S. Green Building Council

found an average of:

30% Energy Savings20-50% Water Use Savings50-90% Waste cost savings

In considering these figures, the question becomes

“What it will cost you NOT to build green?” Is a zero to

five percent premium yielding lower energy and mainte-

nance costs over time worth it? Property owners electing

to save a little bit of money now by ignoring available

green options could be throwing away

money for years to come, as well as decreasing the mar-

ketability and value of their property for future buyers.

California has a myriad of state and local incentives,

rebates and programs available for green building and

retrofits. However, the window for property owners

to stand out as green leaders and reap some of these

rewards is closing quickly. Most Bay Area counties have

already issued green building mandates and ordinances

requiring new buildings to be certified or equivalent un-

der the USGBC’s LEED system, or the Green Point Rated

System. Legislation on the requirements for existing

buildings will be coming soon. As of 2011, the state will

adopt a Green Building Code as well. Because buildings

are responsible for 60 percent of GHG emissions globally,

by improving them significant headway can be made

towards mitigating climate change. Moreover, today’s

incentives of may become unrewarded standards of

practice in the near future.

In the not so distant future, non-green buildings will

become obsolete because they waste high volumes of

money and limited resources and operate at a high cost

to the environment. If building a NEW HOME or com-

mercial building, or embarking on a significant remodel,

consider having it certified as green through LEED or

Green Point rating systems. When it comes time to sell,

certification will provide buyers interested in green ben-

efits assurance they are getting what they paid for..

Why Build Green?GREEN: The New Builder Quality

15 million + google hits for green construction

P A I D A D V E R T I S E M E N T

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