Ursula Way, East Palo Alto

Not all of East Palo Alto is run-down - University Village has some nice, modern ranches, and the condos on University Avenue and just east of IKEA practically scream "up-and-coming" area. However, Ursula way does not fall into this category.

While this street DOES have sidewalks and is close to the University Village "shopping center" (which consists mainly of office buildings), those are about the only benefits of the area. The houses are small and run-down, it is at the end of another road and not as easy to get to (which translates to not as much visibility, and potentially more crime), and even during the daytime, it has a bit of a sketchy feel driving along.

Schools here are not great, although there is the option to attend nearby school districts. The one major benefit of buying property here is the consistent appreciation of real estate, although it is a long-term investment.

For some reason, certain streets in East Palo Alto seem to look somewhat decent and managable (University Village, for one, seems to be filled with contemporary ranchers), while others look like they belong in a third-world country. While Emmett Way does have the benefit of having sidewalks, that is about the only thing that it has in its favor.

The houses are small, run down, and surrounded with chain-link fences, particularly on the southern half. Schools in this town are pretty terrible, although there is the benefit of attending certain nearby school districts, with permission. The area lacks any kind of shopping for basic amenities, although nearby Palo Alto and Menlo Park have residents more than covered in this respect, and the shopping plaza near IKEA has some necessary basics as well.

The one up-side is that this is one of the most dirt-cheap places to buy real estate anywhere on the Peninsula. However, I'd be more inclined to buy in one of the other, more well-developed areas of EPA.