Palo Alto

About Palo Alto

Located 35 miles south of San Francisco and 14 miles north of San Jose, Palo Alto is a community of over 65,000 residents. Palo Alto is located within Santa Clara County and borders San Mateo County. The City’s boundaries extend from San Francisco Bay on the east to the Skyline Ridge of the coastal mountains on the west, with Menlo Park to the north and Mountain View to the south. Palo Alto is strategically located and easily accessible to major surface routes, including Interstate 280, Highway 101, Highway 84 – the Dumbarton Bridge and Highway 92 – the Hayward-San Mateo Bridge. Air transportation is easily accessible by bus, automobile or shuttle service to San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland international airports. Within the City, commuter rail transportation is conveniently located, and the Palo Alto stop is one of the most used in the Caltrain system.

The City of Palo Alto is more than 100 years old and is named after a majestic 1000 year old coastal redwood tree along San Francisquito Creek, where early Spanish explorers settled. The blend of business and residential areas anchored by a vibrant downtown defines Palo Alto’s unique character. A charming mixture of old and new, Palo Alto’s tree-lined streets and historic buildings reflect its California heritage. At the same time, Palo Alto is recognized worldwide as a leader in cutting-edge technological development. This exciting mix of tradition and innovation makes Palo Alto an extraordinary place in which to operate a business.

As befits the City known as “Birthplace of the Silicon Valley,” the City has developed a 31-mile dark fiber ring for ultra-fast Internet access. An abundance of local pride and numerous neighborhood organizations contribute to Palo Alto’s charming historic and upscale commercial and residential areas. One of the characteristics of Palo Alto is the care taken to protect open space and parkland. Palo Alto has a 36 City-owned parks and nearly one-third of its 26 square miles is open space. Proximity to Stanford University with its cultural and educational offerings add to the vibrance, innate charm and beauty of Palo Alto.

Many well-known companies have offices in Palo Alto, among them are VMware, SAP, HP, Tesla, Palantir Technologies, Houzz, Cloudera, as well as several venture capital firms. And of course, Stanford University is nested within the city of Palo Alto.

Neighborhoods

Palo Alto consists of 13 neighborhoods: Barron Park, College Terrace, Community Center, Crescent Park, Downtown Palo Alto, Green Acres, Midtown, Old Palo Alto, Palo Alto Hills, Professorville, South Palo Alto and Stanford and Ventura.

Palo Alto spans three ZIP Codes that serve the majority of the residences in Palo Alto: 94301, 94303 and 94306 that is shared with East Palo Alto. East Palo Alto is a separate city.

Learn more at www.cityofpaloalto.org/visiting/about_palo_alto.asp.