The Four C’s Of Selecting Where To Live In Marin County
Just like the Four C’s of buying a diamond, there’s four C’s to selecting where to live in Marin County. They are:
Today’s topic is climate.
I remember when I first moved to Marin County seventeen years ago, and friends started talking about climate differences. I had just moved here from Chicago, and quite frankly, I thought they were nuts. It didn’t take long, though, to figure out how wrong I was.
In the summer, the temperature in Marin County can be 60 degrees, or 100 degrees, at the same time! The beaches may be fogged in, windy and cold, and the northern valleys will be baking. Microclimates are everywhere.
I do a lot of road biking, and the main rule when riding is to wear layers, to pull off and put on as needed. Weather can change half a dozen times in a simple, 30 mile loop.
Even within a town, the differences can be significant. Chapman Park in Corte Madera can be warm and sunny. Drive one mile to the Bayside of Corte Madera though, and it might be cool and breezy. Go one more mile inland to downtown Larkspur, and it will be almost hot.
You expect perfection when you live in Marin County, so we may be guilty of splitting hairs here. But believe me - all you need is to nearly freeze to death on a sunny July day at Stinson Beach, and you’ll know what I mean.
Here’s a few general rules:
1. The closer you are to water, the cooler it will be in the summer. The bay and the ocean create the famous San Francisco fog in the summer. These areas tend to be the coolest and windiest.
2. For every valley you move north, expect the temperature to go up 8 to 10 degrees. So Mill Valley might be cool and foggy and 60 degrees; go over the hill to Corte Madera, and it’s sunny and 70. Go north to San Rafael, and it’s 75. Up in Novato, it’s over 80 degrees.
3. Mt. Tamalpais means rain. The “rain shadow” of Mt. Tam is the Kentfield - Ross - San Anselmo - Larkspur area. Kentfield is the wettest spot in the Bay Area, receiving nearly twice as much rain, on average, as San Francisco. But the resulting redwood forest is also what makes Kentfield and Ross some of the most expensive real estate in the Bay Area also.
4. There can be big differences within the same town. There’s an area in Sausalito called the Banana Belt, because it’s protected from the fog that comes over the mountains most afternoons in the summer. The Point in Tiburon is probably the warmest spot on the peninsula. Real estate in both of these spots is highly desirable. Little microclimates exist everywhere, and can affect how much you enjoy your Marin County home.
There are no guarantees, but a smart realtor can help identify climate patterns. They’re there, and readily apparent if you look around a bit, even when just driving around looking at open houses.
[…] 3. Climate […]