Predominantly composed of hillside and waterfront terrain, its homes and offices are known for their views of the San Francisco Bay, Corte Madera Creek, and Mount Tamalpais. "Brae" means a steep bank or hillside in dialects of Scotland and Northern Ireland; Greenbrae translates to "green hillside."
Greenbrae's neighborhoods are bordered by downtown Larkspur to the south, Larkspur Landing to the east, the unincorporated area of Kentfield to the west, and the city of San Rafael to the north. Straddling Sir Francis Drake Boulevard, its most frequented points of interest include Marin General Hospital and Bon Air Shopping Center.
It is in the Tamalpais Union High School District.
The developer of Greenbrae was Schultz Building Company, which included Niels Schultz and his son Niels Schultz Jr.[3] In 1946, the land was originally 635 acres (257 ha) of farmland and was purchased for development by the Archdiocese of San Francisco.[3] Schultz built more than 1,000 homes, 1,500 apartments and dozens of businesses.[3] When designing the neighborhood they focused on saving the local oak trees, design, housing setbacks, landscaped medians, and open areas.[3]
Many years ago, Larkspur annexed Greenbrae; as a result, Greenbrae is sometimes referred to as a neighborhood within Larkspur.[4]
This region experiences warm (but not hot) and dry summers, with no average monthly temperatures above 71.6 °F (22.0 °C). According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Greenbrae has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate, abbreviated Csb on climate maps.[6]
Director Don Siegal filmed the final scenes from the 1971 movie Dirty Harry on East Sir Francis Drake Boulevard. After hijacking a school bus, "Scorpio" (Andy Robinson) drives into East Sir Francis Drake Boulevard at the Greenbrae interchange.[16]
^Durham, David L. (1998). California's Geographic Names: A Gazetteer of Historic and Modern Names of the State. Clovis, Calif.: Word Dancer Press. p. 638. ISBN1-884995-14-4.
