Charleston Meadows

Bounded by El Camino Real, West Charleston Road and Alma Street, Charleston Meadows is a pleasant, somewhat family-oriented community situated within the dense residential makeup of Palo Alto. It boasts a somewhat traditional, mild-mannered theme with bushy residential aesthetics, orderly roads and clean sidewalks. The area roughly spans about 0.4 square miles with a total population just exceeding over 2,000. Demographically speaking, the community is largely white (70%) with a somewhat sizable asian minority (25%)

Charleston Meadows is firmly gripped in middle-class monotony. The area is saturated with old, mid-century homes and tends to take pride in its unglamorous, historic roots. There are also a couple ordinary and modest-looking apartment buildings/complexes that dot the area (especially around James Road). And while there have been tempered discussions about future redevelopment, there have been other homes that have been added onto or replaced completely with Mediterranean-style residences. But this still doesn’t make up for the lack of character and identity. For numbers sake, median house values are a pricey $1 million, while condominiums can run you a cheaper $500,000. Rents tend to be in the range of $1,400 to $1,600/month. And according to the 2010 US Census, the typical household rakes in an unexpected $100,000/year.

Although not the most glamorous place to live, Charleston Meadows is a somewhat desirable location for young couples and new families. For one, the district is within walking distance to Jane Lathrop Stanford Middle School and Herbert Hoover Elementary School. Both schools have been awarded high honors for their academic achievements and are well-received by the local community. For local commuters, a bus line treks through both West Charleston Road and El Camino Real every so often. Also, the neighborhood is about equidistant to US Route 101 and Highway 280. There are also a couple neighborhood eateries that line the busy El Camino Real, the central commercial strip of Palo Alto. But again, nothing too glamorous.

I visited a friend who lives in this neighborhood this weekend. Charleston Meadows is the kind of neighborhood that if it were not in one of the most expensive spots in the country would actually be a fairly standard middle class neighborhood. It has a bunch of apartment complexes on the western end where El Camino—the main north south drag on this end of town—is located.
These are pretty typical apartments of the kind you find in suburbs across northern California. Typically, these kinds of apartments might cost you about $1000/month per bedroom—roughly. Here in Palo Alto, however, you add on an extra $1000 to the total just for the pleasure of being here.

So a two bedroom like they have is running them $3000. Yikes! Some people pay that in mortgage payments on houses, but at the end of their stay they will have nothing to show for it. Don’t let anyone tell you that the housing crisis has eased things in the rental market. Not in the Peninsula where the Silicon Valley has barely slowed down by the Recession (in fact, I have heard economists say that the Recession actually boasted the Silicon Valley economy because it made companies look for tech solutions to efficiency problems).

My friend’s apartment complex is actually kind of nice in that it does have a good swimming pool, which I hear is a good idea in the summer when heat waves in San Mateo County can be pretty oppressive. (I haven’t experienced one yet and am not looking forward to it.)

There are other nearby apartment complexes that are of the older 1970’s style—boxy and tan, basically just compartments for people with little by way of aesthetic appeal—which mostly don’t seem to have the luxury of swimming pools. We tried to find an apartment here at the end of the summer but found the prices still too high, especially given all you are getting is a Palo Alto address, not much else.

On the eastern end of the neighborhood, this is a pretty classic middle class—maybe upper middle class—neighborhood. At least it is middle class in appearance. Middle class by Palo Alto standards however is upper middle class or even rich by everywhere else’s standards.

The homes here are mostly a mix of Ranch homes and Eichlers with well-kept lawns (pass through on a week day and you will see the squadron of gardeners charged with keeping it this way). At the heart of Charleston Meadow’s eastern end is Robles Park—a great green space for the kids where, again during the week, you can find the neighborhood babies and toddlers with their nannies. (There is also a pre-school, Growing Tree, at the edge of the neighborhood which seems to be the choice for those kids out of diapers.)

The schools that serve the neighborhood are also great (which is part of the reason so many people are willing to pay extra to live here). Both Hoover Elementary and Jane Lathrop Middle School are top notch when it comes to test scores and the like.

One of the benefits of living just off El Camino in this part of Palo Alto is that you basically have all the conveniences of suburbia within reach: supermarkets, daycare centers, dry cleaners, and mediocre restaurants. This is not the part of Palo Alto with the really nice restaurants and cool bars. This is more practical of neighborhood than that.

Overall it is the kind of neighborhood that is way too expensive to really buy a home in or rent in, but that will always attract those that really want the benefits of living in this area.

I visited a friend who lives in this neighborhood this weekend. Charleston Meadows is the kind of neighborhood that if it were not in one of the most expensive spots in the country would actually be a fairly standard middle class neighborhood. It has a bunch of apartment complexes on the western end where El Camino—the main north south drag on this end of town—is located.
These are pretty typical apartments of the kind you find in suburbs across northern California. Typically, these kinds of apartments might cost you about $1000/month per bedroom—roughly. Here in Palo Alto, however, you add on an extra $1000 to the total just for the pleasure of being here.

So a two bedroom like they have is running them $3000. Yikes! Some people pay that in mortgage payments on houses, but at the end of their stay they will have nothing to show for it. Don’t let anyone tell you that the housing crisis has eased things in the rental market. Not in the Peninsula where the Silicon Valley has barely slowed down by the Recession (in fact, I have heard economists say that the Recession actually boasted the Silicon Valley economy because it made companies look for tech solutions to efficiency problems).

My friend’s apartment complex is actually kind of nice in that it does have a good swimming pool, which I hear is a good idea in the summer when heat waves in San Mateo County can be pretty oppressive. (I haven’t experienced one yet and am not looking forward to it.)

There are other nearby apartment complexes that are of the older 1970’s style—boxy and tan, basically just compartments for people with little by way of aesthetic appeal—which mostly don’t seem to have the luxury of swimming pools. We tried to find an apartment here at the end of the summer but found the prices still too high, especially given all you are getting is a Palo Alto address, not much else.

On the eastern end of the neighborhood, this is a pretty classic middle class—maybe upper middle class—neighborhood. At least it is middle class in appearance. Middle class by Palo Alto standards however is upper middle class or even rich by everywhere else’s standards.

The homes here are mostly a mix of Ranch homes and Eichlers with well-kept lawns (pass through on a week day and you will see the squadron of gardeners charged with keeping it this way). At the heart of Charleston Meadow’s eastern end is Robles Park—a great green space for the kids where, again during the week, you can find the neighborhood babies and toddlers with their nannies. (There is also a pre-school, Growing Tree, at the edge of the neighborhood which seems to be the choice for those kids out of diapers.)

The schools that serve the neighborhood are also great (which is part of the reason so many people are willing to pay extra to live here). Both Hoover Elementary and Jane Lathrop Middle School are top notch when it comes to test scores and the like.

One of the benefits of living just off El Camino in this part of Palo Alto is that you basically have all the conveniences of suburbia within reach: supermarkets, daycare centers, dry cleaners, and mediocre restaurants. This is not the part of Palo Alto with the really nice restaurants and cool bars. This is more practical of neighborhood than that.

Overall it is the kind of neighborhood that is way too expensive to really buy a home in or rent in, but that will always attract those that really want the benefits of living in this area.