Moving to Palo Alto: Everything You Need to Know
Moving to Palo Alto? If you love sunshine, start-ups, and smart neighbors, you’ll be right at home in this Bay Area city. But you should never make a move without being thoroughly informed about where you’re heading. We’ve come up with eight important things everyone should know before moving to Palo Alto, the home of Hewlett-Packard and Stanford University.
You’ll Be Immersed in Tech
Palo Alto is a start-up haven, and plenty of influential companies have made their home in the city. Facebook is in nearby Menlo Park, Google is a stone’s throw away in Mountain View, and Tesla and Hewlett-Packard are in the heart of Palo Alto. If you want to work at a Silicon Valley tech company, or you’re already employed by one, Palo Alto is a great place to be. And if the sky-high costs of real estate in Palo Alto aren’t an issue for you, living and working in the same city will help you avoid the rush-hour traffic that plagues many Bay Area commuters.
Public Schools Are Excellent
The Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) is one of the most highly regarded public school districts in the country. Niche.com even ranked the district the best in the entire state of California in 2017. Niche also ranked PAUSD at number 18 across the country. The district includes twelve elementary schools, three middle schools, and two high schools, all of which consistently place among the top schools in the state on various publications’ rankings. If you want your children to be surrounded by studiousness and taught by excellent faculty, PAUSD is an option to consider over private schools.
There Are a Lot of Trees
And we mean a lot. There are approximately 36,000 trees lining the various streets of Palo Alto, which is a lot when you consider the fact that it isn’t a huge city. The name itself literally means “tall tree” in Spanish. If you like being surrounded by plenty of green, Palo Alto is the place to be. Even the downtown area at University Avenue is lined with trees that are lit up with festive lights throughout the year.
Everyone Has a Favorite Coffee Shop
Between all the students earning degrees at Stanford University and all the techies working for Fortune 500 companies, Palo Alto is filled with citizens who are running on caffeine. And pretty much everyone has an opinion about where the best coffee shop in Palo Alto is. Some are partial to Cafe Venetia on University Avenue, while others are loyal to the joe at Philz Coffee. Still, others may prefer Coupa Cafe, which is such a popular coffee joint that its mugs were featured in some scenes from The Social Network.
California Avenue Has Free Parking
If you’re moving to Palo Alto from a major city such as San Francisco, Los Angeles, or New York City, you’ll probably be relieved to find out that the California Avenue business district has no parking meters. So you can park for free on the street! On weekdays, municipal parking lots and parking structures are often free for two hours, and indoor garages are free for three hours. Gone are the days of scrambling for change in your pockets when you’re running late to a meeting.
Enjoy the Year-Round Sun
Just like the rest of the Bay Area, Palo Alto has a pleasant climate all year round, and you can enjoy outdoor running and barbecues on the patio from January all the way to December. But Palo Alto might have even better weather than the rest of the region, as it’s flanked by the Santa Cruz Mountains to the west, thus thrusting the city into a rain shadow. That means your tomato plants may not get much rain for most of the year, but it also means that you’ll never be freezing cold or sweltering hot in this city.
It’s Really Bike-Friendly
Prefer traveling on two wheels over traveling on four? Luckily for you, Palo Alto is a very bike-friendly city, with plenty of designated bike lanes. Plus, Palo Alto is mostly flat (unlike its hilly neighbor to the north, San Francisco), so you can enjoy a pretty pleasant ride no matter what your physical abilities are. For that reason, many Palo Alto residents enjoying biking to school or work. Need more evidence that Palo Alto loves its bikers? Since 2003, the city has boasted a “Gold” level status from the League of American Bicyclists, which designated the city a Bicycle-Friendly Community.
The Caltrain Is Convenient Public Transportation
Commuting north to San Francisco for work? Don’t drive if you don’t have to — the commute is 45 minutes or so without traffic, but during rush hour, you can prepare to spend anywhere from 1.5 to 2 hours slogging through congested cars. Instead, take the CalTrain, and spend the hour catching up on reading, doing some work, or just admiring the Bay Area views through the window.