1995-11-19 04:00:00 PDT LARKSPUR, MARIN COUNTY -- LARKSPUR - Misnamed but beloved, this city of 11,853 residents has one of the best commutes in Marin County, a charming downtown and a few streets that have all but surrendered to the forest primeval.
School rankings are high, crime low, activities many, including cricket, ambiance pure Marin. The town recreation chief, Dick Whitely, announces himself on voice mail, with "I say, hello . . ." And signs off with
"cheerio."
The accent is British, but Whitely was born and raised in Marin County. Says he, "Sort of a wake-up call. You need to break up the day."
About a year ago, Larkspur made the New York Times with an article that purred over its restaurants and shops. Rarely does it make headlines for anything else. It's a quiet burg. But film buffs will recall the town for one of the more notorious and decidedly un-Marinish (if there is such a word) endings in modern cinema.
Larkspur in capsule:
* Schools. With few exceptions, school rankings in the Larkspur Elementary District land in the 90th percentiles, sometimes the high 90s, among the highest in the state.
The same for Redwood High School, which was once about to be closed until district residents voted to raise taxes to save it. Some of the money was used to move all the schools in the Tamalpais Union High District into the late 20th century. Redwood High boasts five science-computer labs.
Voters also approved more funds for the elementary district, which also serves Corte Madera.
Larkspur Landing, the neighborhood east of U.S. 101, is served by the San Rafael Elementary School District. The
"neighborhood" elementary school for this section lands academically below the 50th percentile, but parents are free to transfer children to any other school in the San Rafael district, space permitting. First come, first served.
The older children attend San Rafael High, rankings in the 60th and 70th percentiles.
For another choice, Marin Catholic, the largest private high school in the county, is located just over the Larkspur border.
A drive of 5-10 minutes will bring you to the College of Marin.
* Crime. Larkspur and Corte Madera are served by the same police department, called Twin Cities.
Statistics collected by the state and the FBI show a crime rate that falls into the range of low suburban - lower than Piedmont, Novato, San Rafael and San Anselmo. Higher than Hillsborough and Belvedere. About in the range of San Ramon and San Carlos.
For both Larkspur and Corte Madera, one homicide in 1994 and one in 1993. The counts for the previous years are zero, one, zero, zero, zero.
* Commute. Larkspur is 10 miles from the Golden Gate Bridge. On many an evening these are tedious miles, but save your pity for the wretches who commute to Novato, Petaluma and Santa Rosa, respectively 28, 39 and 57 miles from the Golden Gate.
Larkspur has buses and it has - ta-taaaah! - ferries. The Golden Gate Transit District runs its commute ferries to downtown San Francisco out of Larkspur Landing, which has a large parking lot and is served by buses.
* Weather. Sheltered by Mount Tamalpais and the hills, located on the Bay, Larkspur enjoys the typical Marin County balm.
Some streets are, seemingly, almost perpetually shaded by redwoods.
Many people will love this, some won't.
* Appearance. Clean, well-maintained, no graffiti.
Housing, for the most part, is basic middle class tract.
But the lawns are mowed, the shrubs trimmed and so on, and many homes have been touched up with window boxes, solariums and ornaments.
Mount Tamalpais, wooded and comforting, rises in the west, a few miles off.
On some streets the redwoods rule, to the point where they are allowed to grow right in the street.
If you have ever wanted to live in a forest, take a drive west on Madrone or Baltimore avenues.
Corte Madera Creek, fringed with trails, flows through the town, another pleaser.
* Recreation. City, adult school, College of Marin and private groups run a variety of sports and activities, for adults and kids.
Marin Cricket Club is out bowling almost every weekend.
City Manager Jean Bonander says that among adults, softball is the most popular sport and among children, soccer.
Restaurants, coffee shops, boutiques line Magnolia Street in the old and quaint downtown.
On my most recent visit, the street had been closed for some kind of fair and a jazz band was wowing a crowd of about 100.
More shopping choices, including a bookstore and restaurants, can be found at Larkspur Landing.
Start in the late 180s<
Larkspur got its start in the late 1880s when a developer bought a large ranch.
He subdivided it into lots, attracted a railroad station, and went along with his wife's idea to name the hamlet after a local flower that she thought was a larkspur.
Turned out to be a lupine, but the name stuck and . . . what the hell . . . Larkspur sounds better than Lupine.
The town incorporated as a city in 1908, and slowly began to grow.
Many of the older homes can still be found around the downtown.
Following World War II, Larkspur shared in the great building boom that swept over Marin County.
In successive decades, the population went from 1,558 in 1940, to 2,905, to 5,710 to 10,487 to, in 1980, 11,065 residents.
In the last decade, the town increased its numbers by just six people and since 1990 has added about 800 residents.
Homes are still being built here and there - but for all practical purposes this is another built out Marin city.
Unusual for a small, upper-income city, however, Larkspur built more apartments than single homes.
The state in 1995 counted 6,245 residential units, of which 2,343 were single-family detached, 378 single-family attached, 3,288 apartments or condos, and 236 mobile homes (near the freeway).
Most of the apartments and condos can be found in Larkspur Landing (east of U.S. 101) and just west of U.S. 101 in the hills overlooking Corte Madera Creek.
Marin General Hospital is at the base of the hills.
Greenbrae mostly separate<
On some maps, Greenbrae is included in Larkspur.
Locals consider Greenbrae a separate entity, located just outside city limits, but parts of it wander into Larkspur.
In the first "Dirty Harry" movie, Clint Eastwood surprised the bad man in what is now Larkspur Landing, chased him back into the quarry (no longer there, but you can see the rock cuts) and cornered him down near the water.
Overlooking his Miranda rights and in a manner that would raise in Marin County a chorus of tsk, tsk, tsks, Eastwood asked the bad fellow if he felt lucky, an invitation to go for his gun.
Well, danged if the guy didn't feel lucky.
He went, and Eastwood blew him into the present ferry slip and the screen credits.
In the history of Marin County, this may have been the only person who didn't find a Larkspur address, so to speak, congenial to health and happiness.
Don McCormack, a former newspaper reporter and editor, publishes relocation and general information guides about Northern California counties. Called
"McCormack's Guides," they include county and city profiles, school rankings, SAT scores and statistics on crime, weather, commuting, local medical services and demographics. The guides are sold at bookstores or can be ordered by calling (510) 229-3581.<
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