Community LIVING
Welcome to San Rafael: Marin's oldest city, from the hills to the bay
Where the county seat sits, how its 30-plus neighborhoods fit together, what the wet and dry seasons bring, and where a newcomer finds the library, city services and local news.
November 9, 2026 at 3:16 PM PST
Community LIVING
Ten things worth knowing about San Rafael
A healing angel, a library that began as a temperance reading room, a sister city in Scotland and a Thursday market the chefs call their own: ten stories to tell the next visitor you show around.
November 9, 2026 at 3:16 PM PST
Shopping
Shopping LOCAL in San Rafael: Fourth Street, the West End and the markets
Handmade hats, birding books, rare vinyl and jewelry made a few doors away: where San Rafael shops independent, block by block.
November 9, 2026 at 3:16 PM PST
Community LIVING
San Rafael, one neighborhood at a time
From Gerstle Park's old streets and the West End's Miracle Mile to the Canal, Peacock Gap and Terra Linda: how San Rafael's 30-plus neighborhoods fit together, and where to meet the neighbors.
November 9, 2026 at 3:16 PM PST
Community LIVING
San Rafael's history, in places you can still visit
A mission founded to care for the sick, a Victorian gatehouse museum, a shipping captain's mansion, a Carnegie library and a shrimp village on the bay, plus the traditions that bring the town out every year.
November 9, 2026 at 3:16 PM PST
Entertainment
San Rafael events, November 2026 to February 2027
A 45th Winter Wonderland, a free light show at the fairgrounds, art walks, a giant menorah and a children's Wizard of Oz: what's on in San Rafael from now to the end of February.
Through February 28
Health & Wellness
Parks, trails and outdoor places in San Rafael
From the oak ridges above Terra Linda to the salt marsh at China Camp, San Rafael is ringed by open space. Here is where residents walk, run, ride and paddle, and how to do it safely in fire season and an El Niño winter.
November 9, 2026 at 3:16 PM PST
Entertainment
Interesting places to explore in San Rafael
A Frank Lloyd Wright doghouse, an escalator from a sci-fi film, a 210-foot mural, a Victorian estate with eleven acres of gardens and an island built for a Venice that never happened: San Rafael places worth a second look.
November 9, 2026 at 3:16 PM PST
Dining
How San Rafael eats: sourdough, red sauce, pupusas and the Chef's Market
A century-old bread bakery, a 1947 Italian-American dining room, Latin American and Indian kitchens on Fourth Street and Lincoln Avenue, and the Civic Center market where Bay Area chefs shop.
November 9, 2026 at 3:16 PM PST
Family Life
Family days in San Rafael, season by season
Playgrounds and pool days when the sun is out, storytimes and Lego tables when the rain comes in, and the holiday traditions San Rafael families keep coming back to.
November 9, 2026 at 3:16 PM PST
