SAN RAFAEL          Marin's premier city, San Rafael, is the oldest and largest city in the County and it is also the seat of County Government. Marin's second most popular tourist spot (after Muir Woods), the Frank Lloyd Wright Civic Center, was the last major structure and the only government building designed by the world famous architect. It is now a national historic landmark.
Other notable places to visit are China Camp State Park, which rims a picture perfect shoreline and is wonderfully secluded, yet only minutes from town; the lovely Dominican College campus, founded in 1888; and the Falkirk Cultural Center, a handsomely preserved, 17-room Victorian mansion that is set on 11 acres of formal grounds is just a block from downtown.
San Rafael offers a wide assortment of housing; from Peacock Gap's Golf and Country Club contemporary homes and condominiums overlooking the Bay, to spacious traditional homes in the prestigious Dominican section. 
San Rafael has 14 parks, yacht clubs, outstanding docking and launching facilities, tennis / swim clubs and bicycle trails. It is truly a community where families can enjoy an active lifestyle and partake of a rich historical and cultural heritage.
SAN RAFAEL WEB SITE:   http://www.cityofsanrafael.org/City_of_San_Rafael.htm

NOVATO               The City of Novato is located 29 miles north of San Francisco, just off Highway 101. Incorporated in 1960 and encompassing 43 square miles with 3,500 acres of open space and parks, Novato is an agreeable mixture of a variety of neighborhoods. Waterfront communities, horse farms, and beautiful mansions are all part of the eclectic collection that is Novato.
Novato began as Rancho de Novato, a Spanish land grant given in 1839 to Fernando Feliz, but its roots are far deeper.
Olompali State HIstorical Park, just north of the city, is named for a key Miwok settlement, Olemaloke, that dates to 1300. Scholars debate the significance of an Elizabethan coin found nearby. Did it belong to Sir Francis Drake's crew that hit the coast in 1579.
The only battle of the Bear Flag Rebellion, which led to California's statehood, was fought at Olompali in 1846, and the Burdell family later established the first formal garden in Marin there in the 1870's. 
The Chosen Family hippie commune — serenaded by Janis Joplin and the Grateful Dead — lived in the old Burdell mansion until it burned in 1969. 
Hamilton Field, on the southeast side of the city, served as an Army airfield from 1935 to 1947 and continued miliatry operations to 1975. After years of wrangling, Hamilton opened in 1999 as a community of new homes. 
Novato is largely a bedroom community — more than 7,600 students are enrolled in the Novato Unified School District — but the city also has made its mark in business and industry. Shopping in Novato ranges form the traditional stores and boutiques on Grant Avenue in "Old Town" to the Vintage Oaks Shopping Center.
The city is home to Fireman's Fund Insurance, the county's largest private employer with about 2,500 workers. 
The nonprofit Buck Institute for Research in Aging, located in a striking complex on the slopes of Mount Burdell, is on the leading edge of biomedical research and the science of aging.
Novato Web Site:   (www.novato.org/)