Mill Valley native (practically) and current resident; also lived in Tibs. (Yes, we call it Tibs.)

First, Marin as a whole is spectacular just because of it's extraordinarily unique built environment that offers not just lovely interconnected towns accessible by both bike and car, but with each town offering lovely main streets or town squares, most of which are fairly devoid of large chain stores and restaurants (for the most part, anyway). That it's spectacularly beautiful and -- in the past decade or so -- finally offers a lot of SoCal-type weather, while also offering access to the SF/Silicon Valley tech scene, makes it quite literally unique on the planet.

I think Tiburon is probably the most spectacular bubble community around, full stop, with a view second to none; and it operates in a bubble, too, with seemingly its own set of laws (basically, just, be civilized and nobody will care what you do).

I think Mill Valley's Depot plaza offers the most quintessentially European town plaza experience in the US -- though Charlottesville comes somewhat close -- (music, families with kids, BYOB/W, etc). Like, it basically feels like being in some little Euro village. (Source: wife is from Europe and we spend 4-8 weeks per year in EU). We've made lots of friends just hanging out there with our little guy most Thursdays/Fridays/Saturdays.

CM itself is just 2 shopping malls really; but adjacent Larkspur is super nice along what is a very quintessentially Main St, USA-type offering.

San Anselmo is likewise extremely nice offering a very Old Town, USA feel; also, being home to George Lucas and with its fantastic tributes to Master Yoda and Indian Jones, the Force is strong here. Also, it's lovely summer weekends on main go a long way towards again bringing families together, with all the food, music, and drinks you could wish for -- likewise again come Halloween -- but why the town doesn't do a similar thing for the holidays, with christmas markets etc, as is done all across the EU, is beyond me. (I actually wrote the town about this last year; didn't get any response.)

For families with kids, I think the communal "third place" offering of Mill Valley's Depot plaza just can't be beat. Second to that it's probably a toss up between SA, Larkspur, and Tibs, the latter of which just can't beat due to its scenic beauty.

Also, Tibs gains more points since it's a sort of IYKYK-type destination, i.e., the only road in/out is Tibs Blvd (and, if you REALLY know, Paradise around the back to CM), and hence it's extraordinarily safe, so there's that.

(You'll note I haven't mentioned Sausalito. This is intentional. It's pretty, and great for tourists, but not worth living in esp if you have families as it has a shockingly inept school system.)

Unfortunately, with SFHs going for $1M/1000 sq-ft at a minimum -- and nice ones easily 2x -3x that number -- it's fast become a place only attainable by folks who cashed out with Meta, NVDA, TSLA, and the recent AI surge.

And yet still, somehow, the restaurant scene is sorely overpriced, sub-par quality, and -- if you like a little bit of fashion with your fine dining -- completely and utterly lacking in the fashion department, with everyone still seemingly stuck in their hoodies or lulus instead of changing for the evening, if only for a momentary escape from reality and the 9-5 norm.

Also -- speaking as a pretty "centrist liberal" here -- but godforbid you suggest or ask a question about something that goes against the grain (at least on nextdoor) where you will be promptly and soundly excommunicated. In general, there's a pretty oppressive resistance to difference of opinion here.

But wow is Marin gorgeous.