Downtown Fairfax, Fairfax, CA

Downtown Fairfax packs the town of Fairfax's shops, bars and cafes into a handful of streets at the foot of Mount Tamalpais, with Bolinas Road, Broadway and Sir Francis Drake Boulevard as the main streets. A creek and a wall of redwoods sit right behind the storefronts. It reads as part mountain town and part music hall, and most of the businesses are local. Homes here are mostly flats and older cottages close to the restaurants, with a few lodge-style places where the street starts to climb. Yards are small, and the hillsides begin almost at the back fences. Mornings start at The Coffee Roastery or Java Hut for espresso, and Taste Kitchen & Table for croissants and breakfast sandwiches. Later the choices run to Village Sake, a Michelin-recognized izakaya on Bolinas Road, and Fairfax Scoop, where the ice cream is made from Straus Creamery milk. Peri's Silver Dollar Bar has been a stage for local bands for more than eight decades, and Gestalt Haus keeps pouring German beer until 2 a.m. On weekends. For fresh air there is Peri Park, a redwood-shaded playground with picnic tables and a small outdoor stage, and Bolinas Park next to it. The Fairfax Community Farmers Market runs on Wednesdays from 4 to 8 p.m. At 124 Bolinas Road, close to the community Pavilion, a hall that has hosted shows since 1921. The Cascade Falls trail is a bit more than a mile out of the town center. Day to day, the organic grocery on Center Boulevard has been stocking shelves since 1969, and Marin Transit routes 23 and 68 both run along Sir Francis Drake toward San Rafael. A full-size supermarket means a short drive into San Anselmo. The cost of living near the action is noise. Late-night bars and weekend crowds sit within earshot of some of the nearest homes, so a bedroom window on Broadway hears more than one on a side lane. On a Wednesday evening the market, the park and the bar stools all fill up together, and that is when Downtown Fairfax makes the most sense.