Mill Valley

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Location
Mill Valley is located about 4 miles north of San Francisco via the Golden Gate Bridge. It began as a Mexican land grant to an Irish settler, John Thomas Reed, who became a Mexican citizen in 1834. He built the first saw mill in California, the "Old Mill" in Mill Valley. The population was 13,600 at the 2000 census. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.8 mi². 4.7 mi² of it is land and 0.1 mi² of it (2.28%) is water.

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 13,600 people, 6,147 households, and 3,417 families residing in the city. There were 6,147 households out of which 27.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.2% were married couples living together, 7.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 44.4% were non-families. The median income for a household in the city was $90,794, and the median income for a family was $119,669. The median single-family home price in the city was $1,500,000 as of January 2005.

Strawberry is an unincorporated segment of the town to the east of Mill Valley. Other unincorporated segments with Mill Valley mailing addresses and within the Mill Valley School District include Tamalpais-Homestead Valley and Muir Beach. Smaller unincorporated areas include Alto and Almonte.

The Arts in Mill Valley
Mill Valley is known for being an "artsy" little town. Driving or walking downtown Mill Valley will discover many art galleries, coffee shops, and other hallmarks of a typical art town. In addition, the town has sponsored the Mill Valley Fall Arts Festival for over fifty years and also the Mill Valley Film Festival, which is part of the California Film Institute, for over thirty years. In addition, Mill Valley's Chamber of Commerce has sponsored the annual Gourmet Food and Wine Tasting in Lytton Square for many years.

Theater arts also have a huge following in Mill Valley. In addition to supporting the local 142 Throckmorton Theatre, which hosts theater of all levels, Mill Valley is also home for the Marin Theatre Company, as well as the Mountain Play Association which hosts annual musical productions in the Cushing Memorial Amphitheater located in Mill Valley's neighboring Mount Tamalpais State Park. For several years the Curtain Theatre Group has also been performing annual free Shakespeare plays among the redwoods on the Old Mill Park Amphitheatre behind the Mill Valley Library.