Menlo Park

Menlo Park

One of the mid-Peninsula’s prestige addresses, Menlo Park offers a wide range of neighborhoods and ambiences.

pros and cons

pros

· One of the more consistently attractive cities on the mid-Peninsula.

· Superb weather.

· Of the three elementary school districts within its boundaries, two have excellent test scores.

· Downtown is attractive and upscale but has a relaxed feel.

· Wide range of affordability, from entry-level Belle Haven to numerous upscale neighborhoods.

· While post-war ranchers predominate, there’s still a good variety of neighborhood types and architectural styles.

· Upscale areas have attracted a fair amount of new construction, and older homes have often been extensively remodeled and expanded.

· Live in the hills or on the flatlands.

· One of the better townhouse and condo markets, especially in the hills, with a good supply of upscale developments.

· Excellent recreation programs.

· Good network of parks.

· Has benefited culturally, intellectually and financially from its location next to a major university.

cons

· Like Palo Alto, Menlo Park is not a “bang for the buck” town, unless you value the intangibles that come from living there. But there’s no doubt that your money gets you less house and neighborhood than in most other cities. See Neighboring Cities for more affordable alternatives.

· Not a large selection of pre-war homes, and what there is is often modest.

· Compared to most nearby cities, Menlo Park doesn’t have a great selection of affordable condos.

· During rush hour, getting across the city or along El Camino can be difficult. Willow and Sand Hill are bumper-to-bumper.

Interested in buying a home in Menlo Park? Please contact me at jfyten@cbnorcal.com.

neighborhoods

Click on each of these Menlo Park neighborhoods for an in-depth look.

Allied Arts	Alpine	Bay Road	Belle Haven
Central Menlo Park	County	Downtown	Felton Gables
Ladera	Linfield Oaks	Menlo Oaks	North Fair Oaks
Sharon Heights	Stanford Hills	The Willows	Vintage Oaks

price performance

Here's how Menlo Park has performed over the past two years. SFR is single-family residence, CID condos and townhomes. These graphs are based on data from the Multiple Listing Service, corrected to eliminate anomalies at both ends of the price range that skew average sales price. The data has also been adjusted to compensate for the often substantial differences in average property size from year to year that can also skew the average.

useful links

introduction

weather

demographics

Yellow Pages and White Pages

businesses and organizations

Chamber of Commerce	The Almanac	Yelp Menlo Park	Peninsula Volunteers
SRI	Sunset Magazine	U.S. Geological Survey	St. Patrick’s Seminary
JobTrain (formerly OICW)	Menlo Park Library - Friends	Clara-Mateo Alliance	Menlo Players Guild

public services

City of Menlo Park	Menlo Park Police Department	Menlo Park Fire Protection District	Menlo Park Library
California Water Service	Allied Waste of San Mateo County	Pacific Gas & Electric

dining, shopping and entertainment

Connoisseur’s Marketplace	Farmer’s Market	restaurant guide	another restaurant guide
Kepler’s Books	Sharon Heights Golf & Country Club

history and landmarks

Allied Arts	Corpus Christi Monastery	early days in Menlo Park	Nativity Church
Menlo Park Fire Protection District history	historic topographic maps	San Francisquito Creek watershed	San Francisquito Creek levee project

schools

Las Lomitas Elementary School District	Menlo Park City School District	Ravenswood City School District	Menlo-Atherton High School
Sequoia Union High School District	Peninsula High School (private)	Mid Peninsula High School (private)	Nativity School (Catholic)
Sacred Heart Schools (Catholic): Sacred Heart Preparatory and St. Joseph’s Elementary School	St. Raymond’s School (Catholic)	Phillips Brooks (private)	German-American School of San Francisco (private)
Trinity Episcopal Day School (private)	Canada College	San Jose State University	Stanford University