UNITED WAY IN MARIN

United Way offices in five Bay Area counties, Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco and San Mateo, work together to promote the health and development of the Bay Area. Taking the Bay Area as its frame of reference, the five-county coalition of United Ways is uniquely able to see common needs cutting across the region and to develop strategies that cross geographic lines. The reality of community development, however, is that social needs and change impact certain communities with much greater intensity than others. This differential impact may be geographically-based and it may also be more highly correlated with other characteristics such as age, income, gender, nationality or race. While the United Way maintains a firm focus on the "big picture" of the Bay Area, its county offices contribute an understanding of local variation in development that is vital in making responsive and responsible funding decisions. Periodic community assessment research is a key tool used by each of the United Way chapters to understand the local needs.

The principle underlying this community assessment by the United Way in Marin is that areas of high need in the county be compared and contrasted with county-wide, Bay Area, California and U.S. statistics. This approach will give volunteers a picture of needs in this county in a variety of contexts without diluting the stress that always accompanies change in our communities. In this chapter, the particularly intense impact of social needs and changes on four key geographic areas in the county will be explored: Marin City, Novato, San Rafael and West Marin.

This approach ultimately tells a story of community development and change that could not be more removed from the widespread perception that wealth and privilege not only dominates, but defines Marin County. The social and economic realities of Marin County are complex, yet this fact is easy to miss. Commonly used indices of social health and welfare, such as average income and housing prices, mask the rapid change and sizable populations in need in the county. In fact, the extreme dichotomy between wealth and poverty in Marin is itself important in understanding the nature and perception of social needs here, and in responding most effectively to those needs. Chapter 3 moves to a county-wide focus to discuss specific indicators of social needs in Marin County.

The four geographic areas highlighted in this chapter are not commonly denominated; two are cities, another is an unincorporated area and the other is a region encompassing both rural and incorporated areas. While under ideal circumstances it would be preferable and "cleaner" to present commonly denominated data, in this case it is impossible. The presentation of data in this chapter is, however, consistent with the main criteria of this report that areas of high need in Marin be highlighted. In every case, data is presented for all notable cities and neighborhoods in addition to the four key areas highlighted. Below is a list of the communities most frequently cited, their corresponding census tracts and a description of how data was collected for each area.

Source: 1990 U.S. Census

Unless otherwise noted, data for these areas was collected on the following bases:

* Bay Area data was calculated from data for Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin Counties.

* Marin City data was drawn from census tract 1290 figures.

* Novato and San Rafael figures usually encompass each city's sphere of influence. In a few cases, data based on the cities' official municipal limits was used; footnotes mark all tables where municipal data was used.

* East San Rafael data is drawn from census tract 1122 figures.

* West Marin data was calculated from data for census tracts 1130, 1310, 1321, 1322 and 1330.

Data used in the 1994 Community Assessment came from three basic sources: the U.S. Census, reports by local experts and agencies on particular issues, and reports by the United Way of the Bay Area. Chapter 2, an overview of Marin County which contrasts four geographic regions with the county as a whole, is largely based on data from the 1980 and 1990 U.S. Census. The organization of the data used in this report was based largely on the 1994 Needs Assessment report conducted by Harder+Kibbe Research for the United Way in Santa Clara. Data in Chapter 3, which examines particular areas of social service needs, was mainly drawn from reports by local experts and the United Way of the Bay Area.

Go To Chapter 2
Go To Chapter 3
Go to Index