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Marin City, California

Coordinates: 37°52′07″N 122°30′33″W / 37.86861°N 122.50917°W / 37.86861; -122.50917
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Marin City
Census-designated place
Marin Transit New Flyer 35-foot low-floor hybrid bus operating in Marin City
Marin Transit New Flyer 35-foot low-floor hybrid bus operating in Marin City
Marin City is located in California
Marin City
Marin City
Marin City is located in the United States
Marin City
Marin City
Coordinates: 37°52′07″N 122°30′33″W / 37.86861°N 122.50917°W / 37.86861; -122.50917
Country United States
State California
CountyMarin County
Government
 • County BoardDistrict 3 Kathrin Sears
 • SenateMark Leno (D)
 • AssemblyStephanie Nguyen (D)
 • U. S. CongressJared Huffman (D)[1]
Area
[2]
 • Total0.537 sq mi (1.39 km2)
 • Land0.537 sq mi (1.39 km2)
 • Water0 sq mi (0 km2)  0%
Elevation
[3]
23 ft (7 m)
Population
 (2020)[4]
 • Total2,993
 • Density5,600/sq mi (2,200/km2)
Time zoneUTC−8 (PST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−7 (PDT)
ZIP code
94965 (Sausalito)
Area codes415/628
FIPS Code06-45820

Marin City is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Marin County, California, United States.[3] As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 2,993,[4] up from 2,666 in 2010. It is located 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers) northwest of downtown Sausalito,[5] 8 miles (13 km) south-southeast of San Rafael,[6] and about 5 miles (8 km) north of San Francisco from the Golden Gate Bridge, at an elevation of 23 feet (7.0 m).[3] Marin City was developed for housing starting in 1942, to accommodate wartime shipyard workers and other migrants to California. Among those were African Americans from the South in the Great Migration, which continued until 1970.

After World War II, the area became predominantly African-American, as white residents were able to move freely to private housing elsewhere in Marin County. Since the 1980s, additional development has changed the makeup of the population while providing more local jobs. In 2018, Marin City's socioeconomic and racial makeup (median household income of $40,000, and almost 40 percent Black) contrasts with the mostly wealthy and White population in Marin County overall (greater than $80,000 median income, less than four percent Black).[7][8]

Present Day Racial Tensions in Summary [9]

[edit]

"1. In Marin County, according to Race Counts, black people are seven times as likely to be incarcerated as Latinx people and 14 times as likely as white people. Black and Latinx minors are, respectively, 11 and nine times more likely to be arrested for a status offense than white minors. Whites are 1.5 times as likely to be police officers as blacks are, and they are twice as likely to be police officers as Latinx people are. Nationwide, police violence is disproportionately likely to hurt minorities and particularly blacks.

At a panel discussing Marin’s school-to-prison pipeline, Oshalla Diana Marcus, the director of MC Arts and Culture, asked rhetorically: "If the statistics say that when you go into school you’re going into a pipeline where if you’re of African descent, if you’re of Native American descent, that your chances of going into that school mean that you’re going into a prison system — that’s really what it’s saying — is it that the system has failed our children … or is the system itself designed to?"

2. Last November, officials sent a SWAT team to Marin City. At 6 a.m., in full view of residents, officers with full-body armor and police dogs flooded the 200 block to arrest two men who had been suspects in a shooting in Orinda. The Tam district superintendent later said that students who witnessed the raid were “traumatized.” Two students said that officers had pointed guns at them. Media coverage ran pictures of the suspects — black men who were soon released without charges — next to headlines suggesting, without evidence, the existence of a “Marin City gang.”

3. That Marin’s minority residents are concentrated in just a few communities is the result of decades of segregation and racist policies. Marin City, the country’s first federal integrated housing project, was built to house shipyard workers during World War II. But when the war ended, redlining prevented black workers from buying houses elsewhere, even as most of the other workers moved out, aided by federal subsidies. After the U.S. Supreme Court outlawed racially restrictive housing covenants in 1964, many Marin communities enacted policies that had functionally the same effect.

In May 2019, Marin County entered into an agreement with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development — the previous agreement, enacted after a 2009 investigation found that the county’s housing policies contributed to the segregation of minority communities, had just expired — which outlined a commitment to “encourage and facilitate the creation of at least 100 units of affordable housing available to families outside areas of racial or ethnic concentration.”

4. A proposal to renovate Golden Gate Village in Marin City into a “mixed-income” complex is the subject of ongoing controversy. Golden Gate Village is the only source of family public housing in the county, and many residents have voiced concern that the renovations will lead to gentrification and force them out. A 2018 report by the Marin County Civil Grand Jury wrote:"The GGV community is aware that the demolition of many housing projects across the country resulted in the dispersal of the established communities that lived in those projects. This situation has created a profound level of distrust as regards the ultimate intent of the Marin Housing Authority for the buildings."

5. Voters in Marin and Mill Valley have frequently shot down proposals for low-income housing developments. The Los Angeles Times wrote about a Marin real estate agent who in 2013 described an affordable housing proposal as “having volunteered us for the ghetto.” In 2017, the Marin County Board of Supervisors rejected a plan that would have allowed for the construction or replacement of 291 housing units in Strawberry. The Marin Independent Journal wrote that the board’s decision came after dozens of residents spoke in opposition to the plan. One resident complained, “We want more affordable housing but this is not the way to go about it,” although he did not offer any alternative solutions.

6. In 2018, the California attorney general’s office notified the Sausalito Marin City School District that its schools were racially segregated. The full report is clear that the segregation — and the ensuing decisions that left Bayside MLK Academy, whose students are mostly black, understaffed and underfunded — were not the result of a formless, inevitable evil called racism, but of deliberate action by some community members and complicity by others. The report describes a board meeting in 2012 in which:"A third District Trustee admitted that the plan to create separate programs for Sausalito and Marin City was motivated by a desire to create separate programs for separate communities. This Trustee was aware that one community was predominantly non-Hispanic White, and the other community was predominantly African-American or Latino. This Trustee also expressed it would improve community relations if students in Marin City were not “shipped over” to Sausalito."

7. In March, the Sausalito Marin City School District released a plan to desegregate its schools. Many parents at Willow Creek Academy, which is plurality white, have said they are worried that the quality of education at Willow Creek will decline if resources are allocated away from them. Many of those parents have transferred their kids to private schools as a result.

It’s hard to begrudge parents for wanting what they think will be the best education for their children. But the result is that the kids who transfer out are, largely, the ones whose parents can afford it. Some kids from low-income families have received merit scholarships to attend private schools — but kids with behavioral problems, learning difficulties, or other additional needs that the system has provided inadequate support for probably won’t be the ones receiving those scholarships.

8. Segregation and the academic achievement gap persist into high school. There are no black teachers at Tam. A Tam News analysis last year found that students of color were underrepresented in nearly every academic program, including AIM, CTE, Leadership, Link Crew, and this publication. In 2019, across the district, only 18 percent of black students and 35 percent of Hispanic students exceeded statewide math standards, compared to 58 percent of all students and 61 percent of white students." [10]

Ongoing Attempt at Annexation

[edit]

The locals of Marin City voice outrage over lack of incorporation into the county of Marin. Due to this lack of incorporation Marin City has no control to "elect their own leaders, run police and fire, capture property and sales tax income."[11] This lack of incorporation is garnering local attention due to the attempt of annexation by nearby (Sausalito).

"“Well if we don’t it’s going to be annexed by Sausalito,” Thompson said. “If we don’t get a hold of it they’re gonna take it over.”

“With incorporation, we get it back. Therefore we can do what we feel is best for our community,” Morgan said.

“I’ve always felt neglected from the county. Just sitting in meetings with my mom and always having to go to the table to ask for you know, resources to come back. It’s just not fair,” Austin said." [12]

"Money is key, they say. As an example, after the county last collected all the property and sales taxes from Marin City.

The December 2020 allocation for services back to Marin City was just over $46,000."[13] That same year Marin county, CA, reported $619,763,699 in total revenue. [14]


“The county needs to take their knee off our necks and be able to give us what we deserve,” Paul Austin said.

“The majority of the county knows that Marin City has been ignored,” Damian Morgan said.

“It’s all about power and it’s about control right. We know right now that the county, they make decisions based on power that they know we don’t have any control over,” Austin said. [15] (Paul Austin and Damian Morgan are part of an effort to make Marin City, a city.)

Geographically "Marin City is a mile and a half northwest of downtown (Sausalito)." [16]

History

[edit]

Prior to World War II, this area was occupied by a dairy farm and a handful of families. Soon after war was declared on December 8, 1941, Marin City was rapidly built during 1942 in order to house 6,000 of the 20,000 workers who migrated from all over the United States, attracted by the defense jobs at Marinship, the Sausalito waterfront shipyard. A total of 93 liberty ships and tankers were built and launched from Marinship in fewer than three years.[17]

Many of the African-American shipyard laborers who had migrated to the Bay Area from the South during the second phase of the Great Migration continued to live in Marin City after the war, either by choice or because many black families were restricted by local zoning from living in or buying homes in the towns surrounding Marin City.[17] They became the core of the community after many of the other workers moved to other areas at the end of the war.[17] During the war, African Americans comprised about 10 percent of Marin City's population. By the 1970s, African Americans comprised more than 75 percent of the population of Marin City, most of whom were descendants of the Marinship workers.[17]

During the 1980s and 1990s there was considerable residential and commercial development in the community, including several new housing developments, apartment complexes, and condo developments.[17] The commercial area was expanded, particularly with the construction of the Gateway Shopping Center in 1996, which displaced a locally renowned flea market.[17] As of 2010, the community population was 38.9 percent white and 38.1 percent African American; nearly 14 percent were Hispanic of any race. In the early 21st century, Marin City residents and officials have begun to think about incorporating as a city.[18]

Geography

[edit]

Marin City is located in southern Marin County at 38°52'07" North, 122°30'33" West,[3] about 5 miles (8 km) north of San Francisco. It is bordered to the southeast by the city of Sausalito and to the west by Tamalpais Valley. The U.S. Route 101 freeway forms the northeast edge of the community, beyond which is Richardson Bay, an arm of San Francisco Bay. The community is bordered to the southwest by the hills of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP had an area of 0.54 square miles (1.40 km2), all land.[2]

Government

[edit]

The municipal authority for Marin City is the Marin City Community Services District (MCCSD), a multi-purpose California special district that is governed by a publicly elected five-member board of directors. It is administered by a district manager and staff. As of June 2011, the District Manager is Monique Brown and the Board President is Nancy Johnson.[19]

Chartered in 1958, the MCCSD is responsible for providing services in the areas of parks and recreation, street lighting, recycling and refuse removal. Total operating revenue for MCCSD's fiscal year 2016–2017 was $1,300,000.

According to the Marin County Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO), the District has a total area of 0.9 square miles (2.3 km2).

Demographics

[edit]
Historical population
CensusPop.Note%±
20102,666—
20202,99312.3%
US Census[20]
Race and Ethnicity
Racial and ethnic composition 2010[21] 2020[22]
White (non-Hispanic) 31.62% 33.98%
Black or African American (non-Hispanic) 37.32% 26.53%
Hispanic or Latino (of any race) 13.69% 17.44%
Asian (non-Hispanic) 10.69% 13.5%
Two or more races (non-Hispanic) 4.73% 7.18%
Other (non-Hispanic) 0.9% 0.9%
Pacific Islander (non-Hispanic) 0.79% 0.43%
Native American (non-Hispanic) 0.26% 0.03%

The 2010 United States Census[23] reported that Marin City had a population of 2,666. The population density was 4,967.0 inhabitants per square mile (1,917.8/km2). The racial makeup of Marin City was 1,037 (38.9%) White, 1,017 (38.1%) African American, 15 (0.6%) Native American, 287 (10.8%) Asian, 21 (0.8%) Pacific Islander, 120 (4.5%) from other races, and 169 (6.3%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 365 persons (13.7%).

Among the Asian population, largest ethnic groups were Vietnamese (3.0%), followed by Indians (2.9%), Filipinos (1.7%), Chinese (1.2%), Japanese (0.6%), Koreans (0.3%), and Other Asian (1.3%). Among Hispanics and Latinos, the largest ethnic groups were Mexican (5.7%), followed by Central Americans (3.4%), South Americans (1.8%), Puerto Ricans (0.6%), and Other Hispanics (2.0%).

The Census reported that 100% of the population lived in households.

There were 1,197 households, out of which 380 (31.7%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 298 (24.9%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 300 (25.1%) had a female householder with no husband present, 57 (4.8%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 85 (7.1%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 18 (1.5%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 427 households (35.7%) were made up of individuals, and 94 (7.9%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.23. There were 655 families (54.7% of all households); the average family size was 2.91.

The population was spread out, with 633 people (23.7%) under the age of 18, 261 people (9.8%) aged 18 to 24, 820 people (30.8%) aged 25 to 44, 703 people (26.4%) aged 45 to 64, and 249 people (9.3%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35.6 years. For every 100 females, there were 83.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 75.4 males.

There were 1,309 housing units at an average density of 2,438.8 per square mile (941.6/km2), of which 30.7% were owner-occupied and 69.3% were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.1%; the rental vacancy rate was 8.6%. 27.2% of the population lived in owner-occupied housing units and 72.8% lived in rental housing units.

Notable residents

[edit]
  • Harry Bowden, artist and photographer; lived in Marin City 1949–65
  • William Del Monte (1905–2016), the last living survivor of the San Francisco earthquake of 1906[24]
  • George Duke, keyboardist, composer, singer-songwriter; born in San Rafael and raised in Marin City[25]
  • Jack Kerouac stayed in Marin City and nearby Mill Valley during his travels in the 1940s and 1950s. (He combined the two cities' names into "Mill City" in On the Road.) [26]
  • Anne Lamott, novelist, political activist, and teacher; former resident
  • Tupac Shakur (1971–1996), rapper and actor; moved to Marin City with his family in 1988. He attended nearby Tamalpais High School, before moving to Oakland after graduation to pursue his music career.
  • Lew Welch (August 1924-May 1971), Beat poet; lived in Marin City during the 1960s

Education

[edit]

Marin City is served by the Sausalito Marin City School District for primary grades (K-8) and the Tamalpais Union High School District for secondary grades. The K-8 district operates Martin Luther King, Jr. Academy (Formerly Bayside-Martin Luther King Jr. Academy), a K-8 school with preschool and middle school in Marin City and elementary school in Sausalito.[27]

There was formerly Willow Creek Academy, a public charter school in Sausalito which is affiliated with the district. As of 2016 about 150 students in Marin City attended Willow Creek, while Bayside King had a total student enrollment of 143.[28] As of the 2018–2019 school year Willow Creek Academy has 407 students enrolled. Being that Willow Creek is a charter school they welcome anyone who lives in California, although most of the students live within the school district, which is Sausalito and Marin City and other communities in Marin County. Several parents outside of the county also found that Willow Creek was a good fit for their children, most of them being from Fairfield and Vallejo.[29]

In previous eras Grades K-6 were allowed to attended either Bayside Elementary School in Sausalito or Willow Creek Academy (a public charter school), both in Sausalito. Grades 7–8 attended Martin Luther King Jr. Academy in Marin City, or Willow Creek Academy. Residents may attend Willow Creek Academy, a K-8 school in Sausalito. Beginning in the fall of 2013, Bayside was scheduled to close, with Willow Creek taking the former Bayside campus, making MLK a K-8.[30] The consolidation of Bayside into MLK will be in effect in the fall of 2013.[31] In 2014 Bayside moved to Marin City joining MLK, now being known as Bayside MLK Academy. During this time they had no stable principal and not enough teachers for each class. As of now the principal of the school is David Finnane. The new motto of the school is "Panther Pride". Pride standing for, Pride, Respect, Integrity, Determination, Excellence.[32] In 2021 Willow Creek consolidated into the Martin Luther King School in Marin City.[33]

Students in grades 9–12 attend Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley, of the Tamalpais Union High School District.[34]

Marin City is served by the Marin City Library, a branch of the Marin County Free Library that is within the Gateway Shopping Center.[35]

Housing

[edit]

Homes sold in Marin City are often labeled as being located in Sausalito since Marin City shares the 94965 ZIP Code, the 331 and 332 telephone prefixes, and Sausalito Marin City School District with its close neighbor Sausalito. Most of the housing in Marin City was developed in the 1970s, '80s and '90s after much of the temporary Marinship housing put up in 1942 had been razed.

Business

[edit]

Once famous for the Marin City Flea Market which was forcibly closed in the mid-1990s, despite community protest, to make way for the Gateway Shopping Center, the MCCSD had planned to launch the smaller-scale Marin City Market Fest on selected Saturdays in the summer of 2006.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "California's 2nd Congressional District - Representatives & District Map". Civic Impulse, LLC. Retrieved March 8, 2013.
  2. ^ a b "2021 U.S. Gazetteer Files: California". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Marin City, California
  4. ^ a b "P1. Race – Marin City CDP, California: 2020 DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171)". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
  5. ^ Durham, David L. (1998). California's Geographic Names: A Gazetteer of Historic and Modern Names of the State. Clovis, Calif.: Word Dancer Press. p. 660. ISBN 1-884995-14-4.
  6. ^ Durham, David L. (1998). California's Geographic Names: A Gazetteer of Historic and Modern Names of the State. Clovis, Calif.: Word Dancer Press. p. 699. ISBN 1-884995-14-4.
  7. ^ "Rich Man's Ghetto." Metroactive. December 1, 2004. Retrieved on January 3, 2008.
  8. ^ Dillon, Liam (January 7, 2018). "Marin County has long resisted growth in the name of environmentalism. But high housing costs and segregation persist". Los Angeles Times. In Marin City, an unincorporated neighborhood in southern Marin County, the effects of discriminatory federal housing policies remain stark. ... Blacks make up less than 4% of Marin County's population, but almost 40% of Marin City's.
  9. ^ {{cite web|url=https://thetamnews.org/20746/opinion/racism-is-of-immediate-local-importance/ Talia Smith, "Racism is of “immediate local importance”"], The Tam News. 8 June 2020. Retrieved on September 14, 2024
  10. ^ {{cite web|url=https://thetamnews.org/20746/opinion/racism-is-of-immediate-local-importance/ Talia Smith, "Racism is of “immediate local importance”"], The Tam News. 8 June 2020. Retrieved on September 14, 2024
  11. ^ {{cite web|url=https://www.kron4.com/hidden-history/black-history-month/honoring-black-history-efforts-to-make-marin-city-a-city/ Pam Moore, "Honoring Black History: Efforts to make Marin City a city"], Kron 4. 24 Feburary 2021. Retrieved on September 14, 2024
  12. ^ {{cite web|url=https://www.kron4.com/hidden-history/black-history-month/honoring-black-history-efforts-to-make-marin-city-a-city/ Pam Moore, "Honoring Black History: Efforts to make Marin City a city"], Kron 4. 24 Feburary 2021. Retrieved on September 14, 2024
  13. ^ {{cite web|url=https://www.kron4.com/hidden-history/black-history-month/honoring-black-history-efforts-to-make-marin-city-a-city/ Pam Moore, "Honoring Black History: Efforts to make Marin City a city"], Kron 4. 24 Feburary 2021. Retrieved on September 14, 2024
  14. ^ {{cite web|url=https://www.marincounty.gov/sites/g/files/fdkgoe241/files/2023-11/fy202021-budget-in-brief.pdf Talia Smith, "Budget in Brief"], Marincounty.gov. 7 November 2020. Retrieved on September 14, 2024
  15. ^ {{cite web|url=https://www.kron4.com/hidden-history/black-history-month/honoring-black-history-efforts-to-make-marin-city-a-city/ Pam Moore, "Honoring Black History: Efforts to make Marin City a city"], Kron 4. 24 Feburary 2021. Retrieved on September 14, 2024
  16. ^ {{cite web|url=https://www.kron4.com/hidden-history/black-history-month/honoring-black-history-efforts-to-make-marin-city-a-city/ Pam Moore, "Honoring Black History: Efforts to make Marin City a city"], Kron 4. 24 Feburary 2021. Retrieved on September 14, 2024
  17. ^ a b c d e f Dana Perrigan, "Marin City looks to better days", San Francisco Chronicle. 15 March 2009. Retrieved on September 14, 2012
  18. ^ Marin City eyes incorporation to become independent city by Prado, Mark. Marin Independent Journal. July 31, 2012. Retrieved on September 14, 2012
  19. ^ Marin City Community Services District official site, accessed November 8, 2022
  20. ^ "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov.
  21. ^ "2010: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171)". US Census Bureau.
  22. ^ "2020: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171)". US Census Bureau.
  23. ^ "2010 Census Interactive Population Search: CA – Marin City CDP". U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on July 15, 2014. Retrieved July 12, 2014.
  24. ^ William Del Monte dies at 109; last survivor of San Francisco quake and fire of 1906, Los Angeles Times (AP), January 12, 2016. Retrieved May 7, 2021.
  25. ^ "Biography." George Duke. Retrieved on May 4, 2009.
  26. ^ The Beat generation n San Francisco: a literary tour by Bill Morgan, City Lights Books, 2003. p 214. ISBN 0-87286-417-0.
  27. ^ Brenner, Keri (March 20, 2021). "Sausalito Marin City School District sets unification date". Marin Independent Journal. Retrieved July 24, 2022.
  28. ^ "Willow Creek Academy Response to The August 10, 2016 FCMAT Report: Management Review of the Sausalito Marin City School District." Willow Creek Academy. September 14, 2016. Retrieved on September 27, 2016. p. 1 (PDF 6/31).
  29. ^ "Our Charter / Our Charter".
  30. ^ Prado, Mark. "Board vote will result in closure of Bayside School in Sausalito." Marin Independent Journal. January 24, 2013. Retrieved on February 3, 2013.
  31. ^ "K-8 Comprehensive Education Program." (Archive) Sausalito Marin City School District. Retrieved on February 3, 2013.
  32. ^ "Bayside Martin Luther King Jr. AcademyHome".
  33. ^ Brenner, Keri (June 7, 2021). "Sausalito Marin City School District gears for desegregation". Marin Independent Journal. Retrieved July 24, 2022.
  34. ^ "About Us". Tamalpais Union High School District. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
  35. ^ "Marin City Library." Marin County Free Library. Retrieved on January 27, 2017.
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