Why does the town of Novato get disparaged so much by the rest of Marin?It's no secret that it happens. Be honest, you know that it does. It doesn't happen in the mainstream media. It's only amongst ourselves in private, at parties and other social gatherings, where, when the topic of Marin towns comes up, the negative comments are made and noses are pointed skyward with a haughty sniff.
Is it because working folk live there in greater abundance? Although affordability has reached crisis levels all across the Bay Area, Novato should be praised for doing what it can to house Marin's workforce which, as has been pointed out elsewhere on this blog, has been shamefully offloaded to other counties for the most part.
Is it because Novato allows convenient shopping to be built (e.g., Costco, Target, etc.) whereas the rest of Marin does not? How many south Marin residents do you think shop at these stores? Probably quite a few.
Is it because Novato actually builds housing? What can I say? God bless Novato for allowing new houses to be built.
I think it is nothing more than elitist Marin snobbery and prejudice against a town that has a sense of independence, pragmatism, and vision. Such animosity betrays a shallow, insecure, and inward-looking nature that harbors a deep-seated fear of change.
Share your thoughts if you'd like.
13 comments:
What's wrong with Novato!?! NUTHIN!
...AND it's only getting better...after all, we're getting a Whole Foods! So There!!
My sister lives in Novato, and my whole family lived there before I was born (and still went there for orthodontia long after, before they fixed up 37), so I have to say I'm biased in Novato's favor.
Reading your blog brings back all the (mostly) good memory of the brief one year that I lived in Novato (May 2002 to May 2003). After relocating from San Antonio, Texas, we bought a house (in a "lucky" lottery draw) in Pointe Marin (the Centex development off Ignacio Blvd). 2 weeks after we closed in December 2002, my company decided to relocate my job from Marin to Virginia, so we had to tearfully sell the house. The house was 1,900 square feet, but in the fall 2002, it still costs us an arm and a leg (north of $650K). We sold it in May 2003 for just north of $700K and counted ourselves lucky for coming out whole (my company's relo package paid the commission). Astoundingly I later found out that the same house was appraised north of $800K in 2005.
I must say we loved the house. Centex then built a very solid house, and had great customer service.
I agree w/ your post about Novato's somewhat exceptional more "middle-of-the-road" feel compared to the elitist other parts of Marin. I certainly don't feel at home south of Corte Madera! And I consider myself a Texan!
Novato is a trailer-trash town for the working class. I can't stand the garbage conservative Americans that live there. Southern Marin (Sausalito, Mill Valley, Belvedere, Tiburon, Larkspur, Kentfield, Ross) + San Francisco (Pacific Heights, Marina, Presidio Terrace) = the only decent parts of the Bay Area
I stay away from the other areas.
Sausalito Resident--I dare say you are missing the point. Or rather, that you are the point.
I stay away from the other areas.
It sounds like you've chosen your punishment--and thank goodness for the rest of us.
Novato is great for me.
I've got gunracks in my old Ford truck and I keep a couple of fixer cars in my front yard.
It gets hot here, but a couple of six packs can fix that too.
I will admit when I lived in Marin (sausalito) I did go to Novato to shop at Target and Costco and yes I had the view that Novato was not as nice as the rest of Marin
Of course the joke is on those living in Southern Marin (and by way of a similar situation people in Carmel where my folks live) since, as I now tell my folks, unless there is a huge inheritance or unless I manage to make $400k or more a year I won't be living in their neighborhood as long as they continue to support zero growth policies. The joke part -- even with zero growth policies if you look at population stats the population growth in Southern Marin and Carmel continues -- albeit without the infrastructure and planning to support it as Novato (and I would argue places like Laguna and Dana Point down south) have done. So yes, I do have liberal bent on politics and yes I don't love some of the politics in places like Novato and Laguna / Dana point but where would I rather live -- in an area where only the super rich can live where buildings are old, grocery stores crowded with narrow isles and you can't hire workers at any decent rate -- or in an area with new stores, large parking lots and the ability to truely live in an economically integrated area. I love the people in Southern Marin who support the middle class folks with their politics -- just as long as they don't live there.
...ran screaming from the avalanche of wealthy selfish snobs especially from "points east".
I've run into that annoying "social clique" mentality, and I can only hope these people keep to themselves. Best thing for everyone really.
Hey snobalito -
You must have missed it, but in a recent survey it was shown that the "garbage conservative Americans" quotient was higher at Smitty's and The Deuce than at any similar places in the Bay Area.
Those people are your neighbors.
Another study found the asshole quotient higher in Snobalito than anywhere else in California.
Congratulations!
Please do all us Novato homeowners a favor and just focus your blog on Southern Marin. We have a great thing going up here in Novato.
I grew up in East Corte Madera and you really had a community. In the summer we played out to 10:30 when our parents would make us come in. (They were usually at one of the neighborhood houses for cocktails.) We have some of that going on up here and it's great. We watch each others kids, just like the old days. Southern Marin for the most part has none of this community sprit that I can see.
We are Ok being the red headed step child of Marin. You southerners keep chugging down there. We doing just fine, Thanks
fred -
It's not obvious my reply is in kind?
Y'all need to read a great book on
white collar trash like yrselves its called "White Like Me"
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