Novato, California Relocation Guide
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Population: 47,700 Located in Marin County
Novato's history dates back to 1200 AD when Miwok Native Americans lived in a village at the base of Mount Burdell. They prospered with the areas abundant resources and are considered to be among the finest artisans of the Pacific Coast tribes. Legend has it that the Spaniards taught the Miwok how to build with adobe and cultivate food crops, which they then traded to the Spanish missions. Olompali is the site of the first Spanish colonial house believed to have been built in Marin County. After being sold several times, Rancho Novato was purchased in 1856 by Francis DeLong and Joseph Sweeter. They planted thousands of trees, mostly apples, and it became one of the largest orchards in the world. In the 1870's, Portuguese and Swiss-Italian farmers and dairymen began to settle in Novato. In the 1880's, the Northwest Pacific Railroad reached Novato, connecting the small agricultural community to the rest of the North Bay. By 1910, chicken ranches, orchards, diaries and vineyards were the mainstay of Novato's economy. The subdivision of 6,000 acres by DeLong was the beginning of the present city of Novato. Novato has a long list of attractive features for businesses and residents, including a small town atmosphere, low population density, high household income, lower housing prices than many Bay Area cities, high investment in public schools and education and one of the lowest crime rates in the Bay Area. Novato's economic base is well integrated into the emerging new economy of the San Francisco Bay Area. This new economy represents a fundamental shift towards small, knowledge-based businesses launched by entrepreneurs. These businesses also are typically oriented towards global, rather than local markets. Businesses are supported by Novato's high-skilled, highly-educated labor force of nearly 25,000. These workers are increasingly engaged in professional service industries, including business, legal, engineering, and other services. Novato's public schools are among the best in the Bay Area, demonstrated by higher-than-average student assessment scores and higher-than-average spending per pupil. Novato's per pupil spending is about 10 percent higher than the average in Sonoma and Solano counties. Another benefit of Novato is its low crime rate, which is much lower than the Bay Area average. In 1995, 4.5 crimes were committed per 1,000 Novato residents, about one-half the rate in San Francisco and Vallejo. |
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