Belvedere
Location
Situated on the Tiburon Peninsula at the southeastern base of Ring
Mountain, between Richardson Bay and the Town of Tiburon, Belvedere
consists of two "islands" and the lagoon (Belvedere Lagoon)
between them. The larger of the two islands is Belvedere Island, and
the smaller one is Corinthian Island, which is shared with Tiburon.
History
The first settlers arrived in the late 1800s, then the railroad came
and Tiburon was the last stop for passengers and cargo heading to
San Francisco and beyond. The Belvedere Lagoon was partially filled
after World War II to provide building sites for tract houses and
to improve access to Belvedere Island. It was also once the home to
a 9 hole golf course.
Architecture
Belvedere sits on the south side of the tip of Tiburon Peninsula,
a small peninsula that extends into the San Francisco Bay. Many Belvedere
properties are renowned for their spectacular views of the Bay Area,
Angel Island, San Francisco, Sausalito, the Golden Gate Bridge and
Mount Tamalpais. As a result, land values are extremely high. As of
2000, 87.6% of the city's owner-occupied housing units cost more than
$1,000,000,[3] compared with 2.3% for California as a whole. Many
houses in Belvedere fall under the Victorian Style of architecture.
Some Belvedere homes are featured on "The Home Tour" every
May. With a recent flood of attention and demand for housing in Belvedere,
housing and building has become a contentious issue as older members
of the community have increasingly become frustrated with the large
construction projects being developed in what once was a more humble
community.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 2,125 people, 956 households,
and 656 families residing in the city. There were 956 households out
of which 24.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them,
62.4% were married couples living together, 4.9% had a female householder
with no husband present, and 31.3% were non-families. 27.0% of all
households were made up of individuals and 15.3% had someone living
alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size
was 2.22 and the average family size was 2.68.
The median income for a household in the city was $130,796, and the median income for a family was $185,590. The per capita income for the city was $113,595. About 2.9% of families and 5.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.3% of those under age 18 and 4.5% of those age 65 or over.
It is the only town in Marin County, to have more registered Republicans than Democrats, the former outnumbering the latter by 8 people
Schools
Two public school districts serve Belvedere. Elementary and middle
school students attend schools in the Reed Union School District,
and most high school students attend Redwood High School, which is
in the Tamalpais Union High School District.
Reed Union School District serves the elementary schools in the communities
of Belvedere, Tiburon, and a portion of East Corte Madera.
Tamalpais Union High School District provides secondary school education to students coming from ten elementary districts in Marin County, including the Reed Union School District. It includes three comprehensive high schools, all of which have been designated as California Distinguished Schools, and two alternative schools.
•
Reed Elementary School (K-2)
• Bel Aire School (3-5)
• Del Mar Middle School (6-8)
• Redwood High School (9-12)
• Tamiscal High Alternative High School (9-12)