Community Profile: Tiburon

Tiburon, Spanish for “shark,” is a quiet town with breathtaking views. Surrounded by the magnificent San Francisco Bay on three sides, and the closest mainland point to Angel Island, Tiburon is a true sea town.

Commuter Haven

Tiburon has always been a place where commuters gather. It used to be the end-of-the-line for the Northwestern Pacific Railroad. It is now the home of fast commuter ferries to San Francisco. People who need to be close to the city for work, but prefer small town life, commute through the Tiburon ferries from Marin County.

Nearby Angel Island, part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, is best reached by ferries that regularly run form Tiburon.

A collection of unique restaurants and shops has grown near the ferry terminals to feed the tourists and commuters as they wait for their boat. The food is good enough itself to justify a trip to the city even if you have no plans on going anywhere else.

Where old meets new

History has always been important here. There are many historically important homes and attractions. The local chapter headquarters of the Audubon Society is in the Lyford House, a prominent place on the National Register of Historic Places.

The town’s famous Ark Row is a collection of fun and trendy boutiques housed in turn of the century buildings converted from houseboats.

Tiburon has also undergone a magnificent revitalization of Main Street and the downtown area. While the well-preserved town may have the look of a quaint fishing village, it also has all the attractions and amenities of a 21^st century city.

From just about anywhere in the city you have a magnificent view. From Tiburon you can see the Golden Gate Bridge, Angel Island, and of course the Bay itself. On weekends the waters are filled with ferries, sailboats, and yachts, a beautiful scene in its own right.

Schools and the People

Tiburon is part of the Reed School District. All of the schools in the district are listed as California Distinguished Schools, and the district is regularly considered one of the best in the nation.

The residents of Tiburon are active in civic affairs. Residents are trying to make Tiburon the first city in the nation to have 100 percent of the residents trained in disaster preparedness.

The Real Estate Market

Historically, Tiburon has been a strong investment, offering some of the most consistent returns for real estate investors in the world. The median home price as of end of 2014 was $2,700,000, but single family homes range in price from $1.2 to over $12 million.

Because almost every home in Tiburon has a stunning view, the schools are among the best anywhere, and the commute to San Francisco is so easy, homes are rarely on the market here for very long. It is also not uncommon for a bidding war to break out when one of the more spectacular homes along the coast come up for sale.

Behzad Zandinejad is Marin County real estate broker associate with Decker Bullock Sotheby’s International Realty.