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Ted Strodder


415.377.5222
Golden Gate
Sotheby's International Realty
189 Sir Francis Drake Blvd
Greenbrae CA 94904

About Mill Valley CA

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The Town Square is a great place to hang out or meet friends.
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Downtown has a variety of shops and restaurants for everyone.
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Mill Valley Market has been owned by the Canepa family for years.
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Downtown is the heart of Mill Valley, seen here by air.
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Mill Valley is one of the most popular towns in the county, close to the City and great schools.
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Mill Creek Meadows features waterfront townhomes near the High School.
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Strawberry Point has many beautiful water and City view homes.
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Mountain Biking up Mount Tam.
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The Bike Path cuts through Mill Valley and runs to the Golden Gate Bridge.
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Bayfront Park behind the Middle School, also known as Dog Heaven.
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D'Angelo's is a popular restaurant, right on the Square.
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 My Short Film “You Dog” |

Mill Valley Mill Valley 1 Mill Valley 2

Mill Valley is one of the greatest small towns in America. I know, I lived there for 15 years. It is my favorite town in Marin. Simply put, it has a little bit of everything and it is still a small town. It embodies everything you’re looking for in a place to live and possibly more:

Excellent Location: This is key to wherever you buy your home in Marin County. Mill Valley is close to San Francisco, the Bay, the Beaches and the Wine Country, yet still far enough from all of them to remain quiet and serene. Most homes in Mill Valley are no more than a few minutes from nearby Hwy. 101, the main artery running north to south through Marin. As a rule of thumb, during most commute times (morning or evening) traffic on that highway backs up starting at Mill Valley. Therefore, it has a relatively quick commute to and from San Francisco.

Excellent Downtown: This is my favorite part of Mill Valley. It is the only town in Marin with a postcard perfect Town Square. In fact, there is only one other Town Square I have seen that even comes close and that is in the Wine Country town of Sonoma, 40 minutes to the north. Like Sonoma, Mill Valley’s Town Square has everything: shops, restaurants, parking and, of course, the Square itself, which was the old stopping depot for travelers through Mill Valley a hundred years ago. The late Bill Graham donated the gaming tables there and the Depot itself is currently a coffee shop and bookstore. It is the Town Square I used for my short film “You Dog” , which was shown during the Mill Valley Film Festival in 1996.

Excellent Weather: You can pull up the average mean temperature for Mill Valley anywhere on the internet, or from this site, but let me sum it up for you: it’s great. Not perfect, but very pleasant. Still, it is subject to all four seasons. Late spring and summer are nice: mostly in the 70’s and 80’s. Late summer, early fall is our warmest time: 80’s and 90’s. Winter and early spring are mostly rainy and damp, however. If you want warmer weather, stay out of the cooler, hillside areas of Mill Valley and keep to the flatter, sunny pockets. Basically, though, the farther south or west you go, the cooler and foggier it can be. If you want really warm weather, stay out of Mill Valley altogether. The simple rule is, the farther north and/or east you go, the warmer the weather. Even simpler, the farther up Hwy. 101 away from San Francisco, the warmer it is.

Excellent People: I don’t know of any town where there is a more genuine, eclectic group of people who live, work or just visit, than Mill Valley. Walk around downtown, visit local shops, or have a bite to eat in any of the local restaurants and you’ll see what I mean. Look at the people who work there or who come in to visit. They’re, for the most part, a nice, educated bunch. Keep an eye out for local celebrities like rockers Huey Lewis, Sammy Hagar, actor Peter Coyote, news anchor Ross McGowan or Dr. Dean Edell.

Excellent Things to Do: Besides visiting Downtown, Mill Valley also is a place with a lot of things to do. The aforementioned San Francisco Bay fronts many parts of Mill Valley, along with bayside parks and trails for walking or biking. Nearby Mount Tamalpais provides a thousand acre recreational playground that is just out Mill Valley’s backdoor. There you’ll find a wide enough variety of hiking, mountainbiking or hang gliding to last you for the next ten years. There is also an annual Mountain Play, held at the outdoor amphitheatre, which also plays host to the occasional. Mill Valley is also close to two main Pacific Ocean beaches: Muir Beach and Stinson Beach. Though these are very beautiful spots that are generally uncrowded, you’ll find they’re not exactly the quintessential California beaches made famous by the media or the occasional Beach Boy song. They’re much cooler, remote and less crowded, for one thing, which is just fine for most people.

Excellent Schools: Please see the ensuing pages and links, but you should know that Mill Valley has some of the best public (and private) schools in the nation. It is one of the main reasons many people live here and one of the culprits for keeping the real estate prices so high. It’s all about quality of life. My wife and I live in Marin for that very reason. As for your comfort zone, where would you rather live? Where it’s average and affordable or where it’s excellent and a bit pricey? You choose.

Excellent Real Estate: This is, after all, the reason you may have come to this page originally, right? Simply put, the real estate in Mill Valley isn’t cheap, but the best things in life generally aren’t. Actually, the best things in life are free, but that’s beside the point. What Mill Valley does have is a tremendous variety of homes for sale. You can live on the beach, the bay, or on a hillside with a spectacular view. You can live in a forest or a valley far from the closest neighbor, or on a flat lot in a charming area with actual sidewalks and everything. Whichever, Mill Valley has it all. Please call me or send me an email to let me know how I may help you.

Weather:

  • Winter temperatures range from 43 to 63
  • Spring temperatures range from 60 to 85
  • Summer temperatures range from 64 to 86
  • Fall temperatures range from 73 to 88
  • Rainfall 55-65 days per year
  • Precipitation 42 inches per year