In the shadow of Mt. Tamalpais, where redwoods meet the bay and generations have built their lives, a growing crisis threatens the very fabric of Marin County.
Teachers, first responders, small business owners and seniors, the people who make the community strong, are increasingly unable to afford to live here. The soaring cost of housing isn’t just pushing families out; it’s eroding the diversity, vitality and resilience that make Marin’s community so unique.
But in the face of these challenges, a grassroots solution is taking root. The Mt. Tam Community Land Trust (CLT), a nonprofit born from local collaboration and urgency, is working to protect homes and futures by reshaping how land and housing are held.
Instead of leaving neighborhoods vulnerable to market speculation, the trust acquires and stewards local homes to permanently allow for affordable housing options in a philanthropic effort to ensure that the people who keep Marin running can remain part of its story for generations to come.
This isn’t just about housing units; it’s about the collective vision of the Marin County community. By focusing on long-term affordability, equity and sustainability, Mt. Tam CLT is helping Marin imagine a different future—one where families aren’t forced to choose between their livelihoods and their hometowns, where seniors can age in place with dignity and where public resources are preserved for the common good.
“I grew up for part of my childhood in Marin County, but my single mother was displaced after separation and, as a schoolteacher, she didn’t make enough to remain in my hometown,” explained Luke Barnesmoore, a member of the board of directors for Mt. Tam Community Land Trust. “This is a deeply personal issue for me. I believe if someone is going to dedicate their lives to the community and be part of what makes Marin’s schools some of the best in the country, and help maintain the quality of life that Marin offers, [that person] should be able to afford to live in the place they work.”
Unlike large-scale developers, the Mt. Tam Community Land Trust isn’t in the business of bulldozing open space or pushing out existing neighborhoods. Instead, the trust focuses on acquiring existing homes and properties, then preserving them as permanently affordable housing. By taking land off the speculative market and placing it into community stewardship, Mt. Tam CLT ensures that these homes remain stable and accessible to locals, while keeping the character of Marin’s towns and landscapes intact.
“The Mt. Tam CLT is focused on preservation,” said Barnesmoore. “We’re not focused on developing and changing the environment—we’re focused on acquiring the existing structure to allow those who live and work in Marin to afford their housing in perpetuity.”
“We hope to steward the noble cause of providing more affordable housing to locals while also maintaining the open space so people can enjoy the beauty of nature,” Barnesmoore continued. “If teachers are commuting for hours a day, they don’t have the energy to be as engaged and present for their students. So, there’s a very human motivation to our organization, one that says, ‘I don’t think it is right for people to work full-time jobs in the county and be a huge part of what makes it the amazing county that it is, and then not get to live in it.’”
According to the Mt. Tam CLT statistics on housing in Marin County, 43% of school staff cannot afford even a studio apartment until a decade into their careers, making it difficult to recruit and retain educators. Nearly 20% of seniors live below the poverty line, many pushed from lifelong homes by rising costs.
Marin ranks among the top three California counties with the widest economic and racial inequities. Sixty-two percent of the workforce lives outside the county, driving congestion and pollution while straining local businesses. To afford average rent in Marin, renters must earn $53.96 an hour, which, for context, is 3.5 times the state’s minimum wage.
“Reduced to the barest of bones, the dominant world view in American society typically forms a form of dualism: good vs. bad, worthy vs. unworthy—the idea is that it’s OK for the ‘unworthy’ people to have unjust outcomes or suffer or face the consequences of their unworthiness,” explained Barnesmoore. “Throughout the history of city planning in the U.S., we designed the cities and regional planning schemes to create places where the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’ should live, and … Marin County, for the last 50-plus years, has been imagined as a place of the ‘haves.’”
Marin’s housing crisis is also about inclusion. The Mt. Tam CLT is working to make sure opportunities extend to those who have historically had the least access, including lower-income households and minority residents. Its focus areas range from workforce housing and affordable senior living to accessory dwelling units that support multigenerational families and add gentle density.
With an emphasis on stewardship and long-term community benefit, the trust also acknowledges that its work takes place on the ancestral lands of the Coast Miwok people, a reminder that caring for the land and those who live on it is part of a deeper responsibility to the future.
“I find myself frequently reminding people that Utopia was never a step away, and the next possible, practical, doable step on our journey to a better society isn’t going to be the perfect one because we don’t live in a perfect world,” said Barnesmoore. “We have to grapple with what’s actually around us. And there’s a certain degree of impatience among people who don’t feel like they have time to wait to live in a utopian society.”
“Given that, the next practical step should be a gesture at the change we want to see,” continued Barnesmoore. “Hopelessness is what leads to radical behaviors, where people try to force the system in the direction we want to see, and we usually break the world when we do that.”
Marin’s housing challenges won’t be solved overnight, but the Mt. Tam Community Land Trust offers a hopeful path forward. By protecting land, preserving affordability and centering community needs, the trust is helping ensure that Marin remains a place where people of all ages and incomes can put down roots and thrive. Everyone has a part to play in shaping that vision.
From supporting projects to fiscal donations to something as simple as spreading the word, small actions build toward lasting change. Together, neighbors can create a Marin that reflects its best values: equity, sustainability and community.
“We’re a community that I really believe has strong values,” concluded Barnesmoore. “I think that we, in general, believe that the world should be more equitable than it is, and we’re also lucky enough to have the resources here in Marin to walk the talk and bring the equitable world that we imagine and preach about so often into practice in our day-to-day lives.”
To learn more about Mt. Tam Community Land Trust, upcoming projects and ways to get involved, visit mttamclt.org, email mt*******@***il.com or call 415.855.5617.
