Gerstle Park

The Gerstle Park neighborhood in San Rafael is an older neighborhood. Most of the homes here date from before 1945. These are mostly walk-up bungalows. You will also find some occasional apartments mixed in here and there.

Homes here can sell for close to $1 million dollars. Most homes, however, go for about half that.

One of the central benefits of living in Marin County are the good schools. Even when you are living in one of the more affordable areas, this tends to still hold true. This is somewhat the case here. Most of the schools are above average. The local elementary--Dell, however, has an API of 4 which makes it about average, or slightly below.

This is also a very safe area with few criminal incidents to report beyond mostly minor stuff. There are of course more incidents near 2nd streets and the higher traffic area, but most of these are of the petty theft and occasional public urination variety--as can be expected in any high traffic area like this.

This is also one of the draws of the area, you are within walking distance of pubs like the Flatiron Saloon and restaurants like Citrus and Spice (a Thai place).

This is part of what makes this an attractive area for the historic century old Panama Hotel. The hotel, which also has a restaurant, is a popular place to lodge visiting business folks and vacationers visiting Marin. They also have live music. A few other inns have also popped up, such as the Gerstle Park Inn.

So this is actually a pretty good spot to live if you like older homes and living close to the action--such as it is in San Rafael.