Palo Alto is located Santa Clara County and is named after the redwood tree El Palo Alto. It is comprised of a strong economy with many business opportunities and a highly educated work force. Stanford University is at the center of the city. There are also a number of Silicon Valley company headquarters there.

These include Hewlett-Packard, Tesla Motors, IDEO, Skype, Intuit and VMware. Stanford Research Park is one of the most prominent technology firms in the area. Palo Alto is one of the most expensive cities in the US. Neighborhoods in Palo Alto include Adobe Meadow/Meadow Park, Charleston Meadows, Barron Park, Crescent Park, College Terrace, Fairmeadow, Greater Miranda, Southgate, Professorville and St. Claire Gardens among others.

It is bordered to the north by East Palo Alto, to the east by Mountain View, to the southeast and south by Los Altos and Los Altos Hills, to the southwest by Portola Valley, and to the west by Stanford and Menlo Park. It is mostly made up of older homes with Craftsman and Colonials style. There are also many Joseph Eichler designed or styled homes. The median home price is about $1,500,000. There are some of the most highly rated school including Palo Alto High School and Gunn High School.

The Palo Alto Unified School District continuously has students with the highest test scores.  Characteristic of this city is the care taken to protect open space and parkland. There are a remarkable number of City-owned parks for its size and nearly one-third of its 26 square miles is open space. Palo Alto’s San Francisco Bay location and natural environment offer the opportunity to enjoy bird and aquatic life in a natural habitat.

The city has many attractions including Hoover Tower, Memorial Church, Cantor Arts Center, Rodin Sculpture Garden and the Computer History Museum. Kid’s can enjoy the Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo, the Hiller Aviation Museum and the Great America amusement park.

For more information, please contact Area Expert kathy@parcbay.com