Town file
Terra Linda, California
Terra Linda, California (Marin County, California) is the town in one episode of Small Town Murder, the comedy true-crime podcast: episode 411, "Her Emo Eyes Have Powers" (3 August 2023). Terra Linda is a small community within San Rafael, in Marin County, California, about half an hour north of San Francisco.
- Town
- Terra Linda
- County
- Marin County
- State
- California
- Country
- USA
- Episodes
- 411
- Approximate location
- 38.012, -122.543
Episode 411 / 3 August 2023 / 178 min / full
Her Emo Eyes Have Powers
"Terralinda, California, which is actually a smaller town inside of another not very big city called San Rafael... in Marin County... about a half hour outside San Francisco." about 0:04:42
The case: The barbecue murders of James and Naomi Olive (June 1975). Read the case file.
The figures, as told in 2023
- Median age
- 41
- Median household income
- $75,668
- Median home value
- $1,209,300
- Two-bedroom rent
- $3,300 a month
- Cost of living
- 217
- Religious
- 44%
- Property crime
- ▲ slightly high but not too high
- Violent crime
- ▼ about a quarter under the national average
History, in brief
- Terra Linda means beautiful land. about 0:05:12
- The town sits on land once owned by Manuel T. Freitas, whose family held parts of the Rancho San Pedro, Santa Margarita and Las Gallinas Mexican land grants. about 0:06:29
- About 900 homes were built by Joseph Eichler in 1955, giving Terra Linda its distinctive mid-century style. about 0:07:14
- Guide Dogs for the Blind has been based on the edge of Terra Linda since before there was a town there. about 0:08:40
- The Mall at Northgate is the only enclosed mall in Marin County, and Sears is its only original tenant from the 1960s. about 0:09:25
- Spaceman Bill Lee, who pitched for the Red Sox in the 1970s, is from Terra Linda. about 0:10:00
- James Hetfield of Metallica bought a house in Terra Linda in 2010. about 0:10:15
- The legend that 420 began with San Rafael High School students in 1975, who used it as the time they met to smoke weed. about 0:10:31
The reviews read out
4 stars
"The people are kind and friendly, everyone seems to know one another and there is a good mix of young families and elderly couples."about 0:12:09
4 stars
"It is mostly pet friendly and there are lots of dogs on the roads throughout the hills."about 0:12:39
4 stars
"The owners are very nice."about 0:12:49
3 stars
"Some places are very bad."about 0:12:56
2 stars
"The area has deteriorated since the demise of Northgate Mall; it is now a dump, with constant strong winds, brutal summer heat, drought, poor dining and more homeless and mentally ill people around."about 0:13:13
Nearest Small Town Murder towns
- Lafayette, California25 miles
- Burlingame, California31 miles
- Milpitas, California54 miles
- Antelope, California80 miles
- Grass Valley, California116 miles
- South Lake Tahoe, California152 miles
Everything here is as told in the episode, on the date it went out; figures and places may have changed since. Endings are covered: open an episode and use the spoiler switch to read them.