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PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA - USA
Palo Alto is a city in Santa Clara County, in the San Francisco Bay Area of
California, USA. Palo Alto is located at the northern end of the Silicon
Valley, and is home to Stanford University (which is technically located in
an adjacent area — Stanford, California), and to several successful high-technology
companies. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 58,598.
Palo Alto is home to the headquarters of Hewlett-Packard. It is named for a
tree called El Palo Alto.
The northern half of Palo Alto, north of
Oregon Expressway, is filled with graceful homes, some of which date back to
the 1890s but most of which were built in the first four decades of the 20th
century on tree-lined streets. South of Oregon Expressway, in the southern
half of Palo Alto, the homes were primarily built in the first 20 years
after World War II. While both halves of the city contain homes that now
cost anywhere from $700,000 to well in excess of $1 million, giving the
entire city a somewhat-deserved reputation as an extremely wealthy enclave,
the fact is that the housing stock of south Palo Alto is rather middle-class
in the style of mid-century California suburbia, and would not be so
expensive were it not in such a desirable location, close both to Stanford
University and the Silicon Valley. Palo Alto is also generally perceived to
have excellent public schools (at least by California standards) and a high
quality of life.
A good description of high-tech life in Palo Alto around 1995 is found in
the novel by Douglas Coupland, Microserfs. One visible trend at the time was
that of people who lived in San Francisco, but who drove south 30 to 50
miles each weekday in order to work in Silicon Valley.
Geography
Palo Alto is located at 37°25'45" North, 122°8'17" West (37.429289,
−122.138162)1. It is in the south-eastern section of the San Francisco
Peninsula.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of
66.4 km˛ (25.6 mi˛). 61.3 km˛ (23.7 mi˛) of it is land and 5.1 km˛ (2.0 mi˛)
of it is water. The total area is 7.65% water.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there are 58,598 people, 25,216 households, and
14,600 families residing in the city. The population density is 955.8/km˛
(2,475.3/mi˛). There are 26,048 housing units at an average density of
424.9/km˛ (1,100.3/mi˛). The racial makeup of the city is 75.76% White,
2.02% African American, 0.21% Native American, 17.22% Asian, 0.14% Pacific
Islander, 1.41% from other races, and 3.24% from two or more races. 4.65% of
the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 25,216 households out of which 27.2% have children under the age
of 18 living with them, 48.5% are married couples living together, 7.0% have
a female householder with no husband present, and 42.1% are non-families.
32.6% of all households are made up of individuals and 10.8% have someone
living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is
2.30 and the average family size is 2.95.
In the city the population is spread out with 21.2% under the age of 18,
4.9% from 18 to 24, 32.4% from 25 to 44, 25.9% from 45 to 64, and 15.6% who
are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 40 years. For every 100
females there are 95.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there
are 93.6 males.
The median income for a household in the city is $90,377, and the median
income for a family is $117,574. Males have a median income of $91,051
versus $60,202 for females. The per capita income for the city is $56,257.
4.8% of the population and 3.2% of families are below the poverty line. Out
of the total people living in poverty, 4.0% are under the age of 18 and 5.0%
are 65 or older.
History
The township of Mayfield was formed in 1855, in what is now South Palo Alto
some 40 years before Palo Alto. Known for its roudy saloons, it rejected
Leland Stanford's requests for reform which led him to drive the formation
of Palo Alto. With Stanford's support, saloon days faded and Palo Alto grew
to the size of Mayfield. The two communities came together and eventually
there was talk of annexation.
On July 2, 1925, Palo Alto voters approved the annexation of Mayfield and
the two communities were officially consolidated on July 6, 1925. The
Mayfield News wrote its own obituary four days later:
"It is with a feeling of deep regret that we see on our streets today those
who would sell, or give, our beautiful little city to an outside community.
We have watched Mayfield grow from a small hamlet, when Palo Alto was
nothing more than a hayfield, to her present size . . . and it is with a
feeling of sorrow that we contemplate the fact that there are those who
would sell or give the city away."
Economy
Palo Alto serves as a central economic focal point of the Silicon Valley,
due in large part to the Stanford Research Park on Page Mill Road. The
city's economy generally follows the economic trends of the rest of the
Silicon Valley.
Several well-known companies are headquartered in Palo Alto, including:
Agilent
CNF Inc. (Fortune 500)
Genencor
Hewlett-Packard
IDEO
Space Systems/Loral
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati (IP law firm)
Other notable corporate citizens:
Fry's Electronics
NYSE
PAIX
Roche Bioscience
Sun Microsystems
The Wall Street Journal
Xerox PARC
In addition, Palo Alto has a lively retail and restaurant trade, and the
Stanford Shopping Center and downtown Palo Alto (centered around University
Avenue) are popular destinations.
School System
Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) is well known for being one of the
finest in the State, if not the Nation.
High Schools
Palo Alto High School - "Paly" - Opened in 1898, moved to current site in
1918
Gunn High School - Opened in 1964
Cubberley High School - Opened in 1956, Closed in 1979
Transportation
Palo Alto is served by two major freeways, US Highway 101 and Interstate
280, and is traversed by the Peninsula's main north-south boulevard, El
Camino Real (California State Highway 82).
The city is also served indirectly by California State Highway 84 which
traverses the Dumbarton Bridge to the north. None of the highways on the
Peninsula side of the bridge have been upgraded to freeway status due to
opposition from residents of Palo Alto, Atherton and Menlo Park. The freeway
opponents fear that upgrading Highway 84 will encourage more people to live
in Alameda County (where housing is more affordable) and commute to jobs in
the mid-Peninsula area, thus increasing traffic in their neighborhoods to
the south of the bridge. Also, Palo Alto has only one major crosstown
arterial, Page Mill Road/Oregon Expressway, which completely connects the
two freeways. Because of these two defects in the regional road network,
Palo Alto is notorious for severe traffic congestion at rush hour.
Palo Alto boasts a municipal airport, with IATA airport code PAO. The Palo
Alto airport is one of the busiest single-runway general aviation airports
in the country.
Train service is available via Caltrain with service to San Francisco and
San Jose. Caltrain has two regular stops in Palo Alto, one at University
Avenue (local and express) and the other at California Avenue (local only).
A third, located beside Alma Street at Embarcadero Road, is used to provide
special services for occasional sports events (generally football) at
Stanford Stadium.
The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) provides primary bus
serivce through Palo Alto with service to the south bay and Silicon Valley.
The San Mateo Transit District (SamTrans) provides service to San Mateo
County to the north. The Stanford University Free Shuttle (Marguerite)
provides a supplementary bus service in and around Palo Alto.
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