Community Center

Cornered into Middlefield Road and Embarcadero Road, Palo Alto’s Community Center is a close-knit, middle-class community with a family-friendly appeal. It spans about 0.4 square miles of dense residential terrain with a total population approaching 2,000. Its few perks include its proximity to the community-based attractions, its central location in Palo Alto and its reasonable distance to the many happenings of Stanford University. Demographically speaking, the racial makeup of the neighborhood is overwhelmingly white (over 80%), while the minority is mixed between asian and hispanic residents.

Although a bit drab, Community Center’s residential aesthetics are a step above most Palo Alto communities. If you’re driving through the neighborhood, you’ll find it’s a clean and quiet neighborhood with wide, orderly streets and leafy properties. In fact, its bushy trees tend to overhang onto streets making for a relatively shady neighborhood. For the perspective resident, most homes are rather old, built between 1930 and 1960. They are also mixed between one and two-story homes, with relatively attractive house fronts (although there are a fair share of shabby looking residences). Residences usually sit on somewhat sizable lots (for Palo Alto) with trimmed lawns and primped bushes. They tend to sell around a pricey $1.5 million, but homes have sold for over $4 million before. As for the typical resident, he or she lives in a household that rakes in around a wealthy $175,000/year.

While it might be a little unexpected, Community Center sits within a desirable real-estate market, mostly due to Palo alto’s fine public school system (Palo Alto Unified School District). The district includes such schools as Walter Hays or Duveneck Elementary School, Jordan Middle School and Palo Alto High School. Also, the district offers the Children’s Theater, Walter Hays Kids’ Club and Art Center all within the community’s recreation center. And finally, the neighborhood is within walking distance to Downtown Palo Alto (coffee shops and retail stores) and close proximity to US Route 101. As a result from all these amenities, Community Center has become an attractive option for young families.

The main thing that brings me here is the Palo Alto Library—which is pretty good as far as public libraries go. Before I had gotten my student ID, I checked it out just to get some reading in and not have to spend money. It is very nice.

You can see why Palo Alto is such a popular place for families when you check out this area. Right around the library there is a community pool, a children’s library, tennis courts, the Palo Alto Children’s Theatre and the Palo Alto Jr. Museum and Zoo. The museum and zoo are actually pretty good for a smallish sort of place. I went with a friend and her kids. They have bobcats and bats and hedgehogs. The science museum section is like a mini Exploratorium.

The Main Library is also the location the anchor of the Palo Alto Community gardens. Residents in Palo Alto volunteer to keep up these gardens across the city with the goal of committing to an organic, more sustainable way of life. (In case you hadn’t noticed, we’re in California.)

North of the library, in there is a very attractive residential neighborhood with quiet leafy streets and an attractive mix of home styles. Overall this is pretty nice neighborhood like a lot of the ones in this part of Palo Alto.