Selby

If there is a relatively affordable area in Woodside it is around here. These are no longer the woodsy mansions that you get farther up into the hills—these are far more modest homes in comparison. The neighborhood mostly looks like many others in the Peninsula—perhaps just a touch more upscale than some of the others in the area, but certainly nothing in comparison to say Hillsborough or even neighboring Atherton.

Home prices in the Selby neighborhood are much more affordable—still over $500 K but not in the multi-million dollar range like in much of the rest of Woodside. The streets are mostly flat and laid out in a grid, with homes built one next to another.

On one end of the neighborhood is Selby Elementary, while on the other you find Woodside High. Selby is unfortunately not a very well performing school, with an API of 3. Woodside High is quite a bit better, with an API of 7.

This is also not quite as safe a neighborhood as many others in Woodside, with many of the surrounding areas having problems with burglaries and even a couple of assaults in nearby Redwood City.

That said, this is still a pretty good area, though still a bit overpriced, in my opinion.

Located on the eastern side of Woodside Road, Selby is a boring, middle-class suburb with nothing really special to offer. At first glance, you can tell the neighborhood is somewhat crowded with homes tightly packed along its flat residential terrain. Also, the district’s high concentration of ordinary community aesthetics make it difficult to talk it up. However, it’s two biggest perks are its proximity to Stanford University and the private Menlo Country Club.

If I haven’t made it abundantly clear, Selby brims with suburban anonymity. Most homes are older with many eyesores in the bunch. They are usually mixed between one and two-story homes (but mostly one-story). Moreover, the district is saturated with garden-variety homes, mildly groomed properties with shallow front yards and maybe an attached one or two-car garage. But unfortunately, there’s nothing else that really pops out at you when you trek through the area.

For young families, the neighborhood incorporates Woodside High School. It is part of the Sequoia Union High School District and bolsters an above average reputation. Younger students usually attend John F. Kennedy Middle School, which is a couple blocks north. Elsewhere, the Woodside Plaza Shopping Center skirts the western edge of the community. Yet, the plaza really only provides the neighborhood essentials (i.e. supermarket, drug store, beauty salon and a couple chains restaurants).