Trulia took a shot at researching for affordable homes and great schools in and around the country. The top choices are Philadelphia, Dallas and Boston. While those are great selections, I feel that my hometown of Novato in Marin County, San Francisco North Bay was over looked.
While being in Marin county, San Francisco North Bay, we can not claim that we have the ‘Cheap Homes', but Trulia might have overlooked a couple recent articles about the Town of Novato in Marin and the quality of Marin county schools.
Marin County Schools was voted the best schools for the money by Forbes Magazine
And our local town of Novato was selected as the Best Affordable Suburbs in California by Business Week.
Granted, everything is relative (meaning affordability), but Novato is the most affordable town in Marin county and probably near and around the city.
A quick description about Novato:
When you drive from either North or South 101 into Novato, you will be awed by the breath-taking scenery as you enter. As you get to know Novato, and just look all aroudn you, you will be constantly amazed and reminded as how lucky you are to live here. There are several areas in Novato, each with their own characteristics. Novato is famous for it's surrounding hills and Open Spaces with small town feel and wonderful schools.Some noted areas are the Partidge Knolls areas, San Marin, Pleasant Valley; Indian Valley for Horse properties; Black Point and Green Point areas sites on a ridge overlooking acres of oak trees, distant petaluma river, marshland; Pacheco Creek, Country Club area; Hamilton, Ignacio, Stone Tree, Down Town (new town and old town), and many other areas, to name a few. Each suites many special needs for the residents. Depending on what you are looking for, we have the right place for you
And schools:
For pre-schools, there are traditional day care/pre schools/nursery school, Montessori, YMCA run, Novato Youth Center, and others. For K to 12 schools, you have religious school, none denominational; alternative schools, charter schools, and traditional public schools; there are GATE programs, special ED programs and many others; same as high schools. Our public schools have some of the best academic and performing arts programs, along with excellent athletic and extra curriculum programs. Coupling with that, the Novato Parks and Recreation offers many enrichment programs throughout the year.
