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Whether it’s for cultural events, dining, shopping or recreation, Mill Valley is a draw for both visitors and residents alike.
Mill Valley is known for being an "artsy" little town. The downtown boasts many art galleries, coffee shops, and other hallmarks of a typical art town. In addition, the town has sponsored the Mill Valley Fall Arts Festival for over fifty years and also the Mill Valley Film Festival, which is part of the California Film Institute, for over thirty years. In addition, Mill Valley's Chamber of Commerce has sponsored the annual Gourmet Food and Wine Tasting in Lytton Square for many years.
The combination of Mill Valley's idyllic location nestled beneath Mount Tamalpais coupled with its ease of access to nearby San Francisco has made it a popular home for many high-income commuters. Over the last twenty years, following a trend that is endemic throughout the Bay Area, home prices have climbed in Mill Valley.
In July of 2005, CNN/Money and Money magazine ranked Mill Valley tenth on its list of the 100 Best Places to Live in the United States. In 2007, MSN and Forbes magazine ranked Mill Valley seventy-third on its "Most expensive zip codes in America."
Mill Valley has a mild "Mediterranean" climate. In the winter, daytime highs consistently range between 52 and 60 degrees. Nighttime temperatures in winter rarely drop below 38 degrees. There is abundant rainfall (sometimes 15 inches per month) in the winter, and some rain in early spring and late fall. Summer temperatures vary much more than those of the winter. A majority of the time there is abundant sunshine with temperatures between 75 and 90 degrees, and humidity between 20 and 40 percent. Fog from the coast can bring cool summer weather, with midday temperatures often not exceeding 65 degrees. Nighttime temperatures in summertime seldom drop below 60 degrees. Summer evenings can be breezy, with warm East winds, and it is not uncommon for there to be no rainfall between mid-June and mid-October; however, dew can often be found on plants in the early morning.
Theater arts have a huge following in Mill Valley. In addition to supporting the local 142 Throckmorton Theatre, which hosts theatre of all levels, Mill Valley is also home for the Marin Theatre Company, as well as the Mountain Play Association which hosts annual musical productions in the Cushing Memorial Amphitheater located in Mill Valley's neighboring Mount Tamalpais State Park. For several years the Curtain Theatre Group has also been performing annual free Shakespeare plays among the redwoods on the Old Mill Park Ampitheatre behind the Mill Valley Library.
Mill Valley has also been home to many musicians, authors, and actors. The writer Jack Kerouac and the poet Gary Snyder once shared a cabin above the 2 AM Club, and Jerry Garcia — who recorded music in a Mill Valley recording studio — also once called Mill Valley home. Other rock stars such as Huey Lewis, Jeff Watson, Bob Weir, Sammy Hagar, Bonnie Raitt, Pete Sears, have also called this small town home. Authors such as Wright Morris and Jack London have also lived here. Actors Peter Coyote, Dana Carvey, Jill Eikenberry, Kathleen Quinlan, Michael Tucker, have also called Mill Valley home and it was the place of birth for actors Eve Arden and Mariel Hemingway.
While Mill Valley has retained elements of its earlier artistic culture through galleries, festivals, and performances, its stock of affordable housing has diminished, forcing some residents to leave the area. This trend has also affected some of the cities well-known cultural centers like Village Music and the Sweetwater Saloon. As of April 2007, only one affordable housing project was underway: an initiative to raze and rebuild an abandoned motel called the Fireside.
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The city is named for a saw mill established by Irish settler John Reed in the 19th century, the site of which is now Old Mill Park. When the wooded area had been completely logged over, it was divided into small and irregular building lots, which were sold at auction. Many of the vacation homes built at that time were converted to residences during the Great Depression of the 1930s, especially after the Golden Gate Bridge eased access to San Francisco. Most of the homes are still reached by narrow, winding roads built in the early 20th century.
From 1896 to 1930, the Mt. Tamalpais and Muir Woods Railroad ran service from Mill Valley to the summit of Mt Tamalpais. The 8.25 mile long line had 22 trestles and 281 curves earning it the nickname "The Crookedest Railroad in the World".
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