Ten miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge, Mill Valley has long offered wealthy liberals a redwood-shaded haven. It’s a place where pro-democracy stickers adorn Tesla bumpers, natural food stores cater to health-conscious shoppers and the verdant trails of Mount Tamalpais beckon weekend explorers.
But behind the lush scenery and bohemian vibe is an uncomfortable paradox. Despite its progressive politics, this Marin County enclave is strikingly homogeneous: About 80% of its roughly 14,000 residents are non-Hispanic white, making Mill Valley the whitest town its size in the Bay Area. As of the 2020 census, it was also the region’s third-most segregated municipality, a pattern rooted in exclusionary housing practices that trace back to the early 20th century.
In recent years, city officials have tried to confront this fraught legacy by promoting diversity initiatives and planning the town’s first fully affordable housing development in three decades. Proposed on a city-owned parking lot serving a popular park, Bayfront Terrace would be a 45-unit apartment building for families earning roughly $40,000 to $140,000 a year, depending on household size.
Though Mill Valley’s City Council unanimously approved the project in January, lawsuits filed by a neighborhood group have left the development in legal limbo. Friends of Hauke Park argues that building Bayfront Terrace in one of the town’s more racially diverse — and less affluent — neighborhoods would perpetuate the very segregation officials say they want to dismantle…