Guinda St, Crescent Park

Guinda Street is one of the last streets that intersects University (when you are coming from the 101) before you hit true downtown Palo Alto. The benefit to living here is that the proximity to the great restaurants, cafes, shops, yoga studios, and bars of downtown Palo Alto is excellent. However, with proximity comes traffic. While it is not as horrific as it is a bit further into downtown, it is still pretty rough. Furthermore, if you choose to drive on one of the streets that parallels University on the Northwest side, Guinda is the last street you can take before the other roads dead end and you have to take University. As a result, that section of the road can get blocked up with traffic.

But on the plus side, the homes are beautiful and the downtown area of Palo Alto is a bit more subdued than the western section, near Stanford University and Sand Hill Road. Real estate is sky-high, but the community feels a bit more modest, and the schools are excellent to boot. Overall, this would be a very nice street to grow up on, or move into as a young person - if you can afford it.