Mill Valley? (Oakland, San Rafael, Petaluma: apartments, condo, theater)

[alliance]

Hello,
I'm looking for some advice from you guys on the Mill Valley area. I am looking to move there for work, but do not know much about the area other than it is very expensive. I am a 28 year old single male professional moving from southern california and was wondering if there is anything that could be considered a social lifestyle in that area. I am not the clubbing type, but would appreciate some interesting social options. Does Mill Valley have anything like that? Would I be bored out of my mind? And assume no social life whatsoever?
Also, is there any public transportation that goes into SF, or is the golden gate the only option?

Thanks in advance.

[CarlosAtun]

Mill Valley offers very convenient access to lots of outdoor activities such as hiking, biking, going to the nearby beaches or sailing on the bay. The roads are overrun on weekends with visitors from SF enjoying the area. I'm not sure about social life as I'm years beyond that. The demographic may skew older than 20's because it is an expensive place to live, and most of the housing stock is single family/condo rather than apartments. Many families live here for the excellent schools.

Golden Gate Transit provides comfortable bus service to SF with frequent runs during commute hours and less frequent service otherwise. You can also ride the ferry from Sausalito.

[grapico]

There is some night life in San Rafael and Petaluma... you aren't exactly far from SF / Oakland. As for PT, it is not that great from the north bay imho... but there is some nice development going on that should be done in 3-4 years.

[kayy911]

Mill Valley is a great town. It has the kind of nightlife that they had in the early American days. People dress up in snazzy clothes and go to the theater. Every Tuesday night at the Throckmorton theater there is a comedy show that is always packed with well dressed people and you never know which comedians are going to show up, it could be locals like Dana Carvey or Robin Williams, who knows? Mill Valley is amazing.

[user376]

If you work in Mill Valley and want to be near nightlife, why not just live in SF and commute up?

[alliance]

Originally Posted by user376

If you work in Mill Valley and want to be near nightlife, why not just live in SF and commute up?

What would that be, 30 minute commute each way? I'd assume that's going against traffic, no? It's an interesting idea...

[Doggz3]

In Mill Valley, you have one good dive bar (2AM Club); one tiny brew pub in downtown and six or seven cougar bars scattered around town, invariably connected to California cuisine type and/or mexican and/or roadhouse type restaurants. There used to be the Sweetwater - a great, historic rock club that has been closed down now for several years. That's all, folks.

[TruthInJest]

Mill Valley has changed a lot. It used to be much more laid back and fun... now it seems to be overrun with "finance" types and their families. Lots of giant SUVs, and people who really only seem to care about themselves. I know it is a generalization but we lived there for the past two years and had to get out. Spend a few minutes in the "new" Whole Foods parking lot and you will see why it has become "Me Valley." You get women in giant SUVs who will practically run you over so they can get the spot closest to the store. It is still a beautiful town in a great location, but we find that the people are much nicer and more laid back up in Fairfax.