Community Guide 2017
Valley Housing and Population continued
before 1990. Thirty-five percent of all housing in the Valley is more than 75 years old—built in 1939 or earlier. This com- pares to 12% countywide. Twenty-eight percent of Valley residents had moved into their present homes since 2000 and 2015. Twenty-six percent of Valley residents had been living in their homes for 25 years or more. Valley houses are on average smaller than in the rest of the County. Nineteen percent of Valley dwellings are only one or two rooms compare to 8% county-wide. Forty-two percent of Valley houses have three or more bedrooms. Larger houses—those with eight or more rooms—comprise only 7% of the Valley housing stock, but in the County as a whole 19% of dwellings are eight rooms—or larger. More than half of Valley houses are gas heated, another 20% are heated with electricity, and 21% are wood heated. (Less than 2% of homes countywide are wood heated.) One percent of homes in the Valley were solar powered. Monthly rents in 2015 averaged $1,482 in the Valley—$196 a month less than $1,678 countywide; however, average household income of Valley residents was $893 a month less than the County average. Forty-three percent of Valley rent- ers were paying 35% or more of their monthly household income for rent. The average value of owner-occupied homes in the Valley was estimated as $673,400, compared to $815,100 countywide. One-quarter of homeowners living in their own homes in the Valley did not have a mortgage on their homes. Median monthly housing costs for those without a mortgage averaged $663 while the median monthly costs for those with mortgages was $2,767. Note: This article by Suzanne Sadowsky provides a brief summary of some of the information available about the Valley from the U.S. Census Bureau. Data in the article were compiled from the Census Bureau website. Data for 1980 to 2010 are from the U.S. Census Bureau Decennial Population Survey. Data for 2015 are from the Census Bureau’s American Community Sur- vey. The U.S. Census Bureau conducts a complete Census every 10 years which provides a count of people and housing units. The American Community Survey (ACS) data are based on sample surveys and are subject to sampling variability. More detailed information on the ACS data and sampling variability are available on the American Community Survey website: https://fact- finder.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/index.xhtml
Affordable Housing by Suzanne Sadowsky
created in three buildings on Sage Lane in Forest Knolls. The properties were purchased by the SGVAHA with support from the County of Marin. In 2014 the County purchased the Forest Knolls Trailer Park from the Yerion family so that the 19 owner-occupied mobile homes on the property could remain affordable for the existing and future tenants. With support from the Marin Com- munity Foundation, the Workforce Housing Trust and the County of Marin, the SGVAHA purchased the prop- erty in December 2015, and in 2017 completed needed repairs and renovations of the property. An additional one-bedroom mobile home was purchased to serve as an affordable rental at the Trailer Park. The SGVAHA is a resource for information on new California laws that took effect on January 1, 2017, affect- ing second units, now called “accessory dwelling units” (ADUs). The new legislation and accompanying County ordinances make it easier to get approval to build an ADU and radically cut costs to create it. The SGVAHA, in col- laboration with other affordable housing advocacy groups, is also looking at such issues as renter protection measures and the impact of short-term rentals on the availability of permanent affordable housing in our communities.
The San Geronimo Valley has historically been an afford- able community for both homeowners and renters—peo- ple of diverse economic circumstances. Working people, families with young children, artists, musicians, crafts- persons have contributed to the vibrant culture of the community. Skyrocketing home prices and rental market costs in recent years are making it increasingly difficult for young families and public services workers to live here, and for seniors and those who grew up in the Valley to remain part of this vibrant community. The San Geronimo Valley Affordable Housing Associa- tion (SGVAHA) was incorporated as a non-profit com- munity organization in 1983, but local folks including Joe Walsh and Bill Blanton had been meeting as early as 1978. The mission of the association is to create, preserve and manage affordable housing in the San Geronimo Val- ley and beyond. The organization envisions a culturally diverse and vibrant San Geronimo Valley community that retains its unique rural and natural qualities while offering housing opportunities for people of all income levels and walks of life. In 2001 as part of the French Ranch development in San Geronimo, six affordable dwellings for seniors were
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SGVCC
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