Crescent Park

Crescent Park is the neighborhood people mean when they talk about old money in Palo Alto. Its streets bend instead of running straight. Its lots are wide and its trees are tall. It sits in the crook of San Francisquito Creek on the city's northern edge, a few minutes by bike from downtown and the Caltrain station.

That creek gives the neighborhood its shape and its main worry. This guide covers the history of the original tract, how the streets and lots are arranged, the houses and the architects behind them, parks, schools and the flood that still shapes local life almost three decades later.

Where Crescent Park is

Crescent Park lies east of Middlefield Road and north of Channing Avenue. San Francisquito Creek wraps around its northern side and separates it from Menlo Park and East Palo Alto, which are in San Mateo County. To the east it blends into the Duveneck/St. Francis neighborhood around Newell Road. Exact lines vary by source. The Almanac describes the neighborhood as bounded by the creek, Fulton Street, Edgewood Drive and Channing Avenue, while real estate maps often stretch it to Middlefield Road and Woodland Avenue.

The main streets are easy to learn. University Avenue cuts through the neighborhood on its way toward East Palo Alto and US 101. Hamilton Avenue, Forest Avenue and Channing Avenue run parallel to it. Crescent Drive, Southwood Drive and Edgewood Drive curve along the creek side. Forest Avenue has planted medians wide enough for children to play on.

From farm to planned subdivision

The land was part of the Spanish and Mexican land grants that once covered the area. In 1864 Dr. William Newell bought a large piece of it and planted some of the first Australian eucalyptus trees grown in the United States. As Palo Alto grew, the city reached toward the creek. In 1920 it annexed much of the former Newell farmland under the name Crescent Park 1.

The planned subdivision went on sale in 1924, with Place, Brewer and Clark as general sales managers. It was designed for families who owned cars, which is why it did not need to sit on top of the train station like the original town. The rules were strict for the time. Every house had to cost at least $10,000, about 1.6 times the national average. Livestock and poultry were banned. Setbacks were fixed so the houses would line up. Deeds also carried racial covenants barring nonwhite residents, a common practice in the 1920s that was later outlawed and formally ended.

The developers spent heavily on infrastructure. By 1925 the tract had more than 2,500 feet of sidewalk, an electrolier street lighting system like the one downtown and partly underground power lines, which were unusual then. In June 1924 newspapers counted 17 high-end homes under construction, some costing close to $30,000. A 31-acre parcel along the creek was added in 1928. More annexations in the late 1940s filled in the edges to meet postwar housing demand.

Curving streets and big lots

The crescent shape is not decoration. The streets trace the bend of San Francisquito Creek, which is why a drive through the neighborhood feels unlike the grid of downtown or Professorville. The original lots averaged roughly half an acre. Many of the largest parcels sit near the creek and along University Avenue. Other blocks have smaller lots and more modest houses, especially toward Channing Avenue and the later additions.

Over the decades some lots were split and others were combined. The result is an uneven pattern, with a 1920s cottage next to a rebuilt estate. Big front lawns, old oaks and the city's street trees give the neighborhood a green, quiet feel. There are no shops inside it. For errands residents head to downtown, to Town and Country Village or across the creek into Menlo Park.

Homes and architects

Crescent Park has no single style. The 1920s and 1930s houses mix English, Spanish and Colonial influences. Later decades added ranch houses, midcentury modern homes and large new builds. A few names stand out.

• Charles K. Sumner designed some of the earliest and grandest houses, with formal symmetrical plans. His 1916 English manor-style house is on the 800 block of Hamilton Avenue.
• Birge Clark, Palo Alto's most prolific architect, shaped much of the streetscape with Spanish Colonial Revival houses. His Dunker House on Maple Street, from the mid-1920s, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is considered one of the city's earliest Spanish Colonial Revival homes.
• 1023 Forest Avenue is a Queen Anne house that preservationists call the grande dame of Crescent Park and one of the best examples of the style in Palo Alto.

Home sizes run from compact older houses to estates of 20 rooms or more. Large remodels and rebuilds are common. Many houses near the creek are in a mapped flood zone, which affects design choices such as basements and raised floors.

Parks and green space

Eleanor Pardee Park sits at Center Drive and Channing Avenue on the neighborhood's southern edge. At about 9.6 acres it is one of the larger neighborhood parks in the city. It has play areas for younger and older children, open lawns under big shade trees, picnic tables and a community garden. The park is named for Eleanor Pardee, whose family gave the land to the city in her memory.

Hopkins Creekside Park, named for Timothy Hopkins, runs along the creek side of nearby Downtown North and is a pleasant walk west. Rinconada Park and the Junior Museum and Zoo are a short bike ride south on Middlefield Road. For bigger outdoor days see our outdoors guide. The Baylands Nature Preserve is a 10 minute drive east.

Schools

Palo Alto Unified School District assigns schools by home address and has adjusted north Palo Alto boundaries before. Many Crescent Park addresses fall within the Duveneck Elementary attendance area, while others are assigned to nearby schools such as Addison or Walter Hays. Students in this part of the city generally continue to Frank S. Greene Jr. Middle School, which was called Jordan until 2018. From there they go on to Palo Alto High School. Before you rely on a listing description, check the exact address with the district's School Finder. Our schools guide covers public and private options.

San Francisquito Creek and the 1998 flood

Living next to the creek has costs. In early February 1998, after days of heavy El Niño rain, San Francisquito Creek overflowed at about 1 a.m. on February 3, just as the bay hit high tide. Water broke out at the Pope-Chaucer Street Bridge, a narrow crossing that has been blamed for much of the flooding. About 1,700 properties in Palo Alto, East Palo Alto and Menlo Park flooded. Damage reached about $40 million. Around 500 people were evacuated and US 101 and the Palo Alto Airport were closed. Our history of the 1998 flood tells the full story.

Today the three cities work on the creek together with Valley Water and the San Mateo County flood control district through the San Francisquito Creek Joint Powers Authority. Progress has been slow. On December 31, 2022, storm water backed up at the narrow Pope-Chaucer bridge again and flooded the immediate neighborhood. The creek peaked at about 6,340 cubic feet per second, according to the creek authority's ranked list of flows. That was the second highest peak on record, behind about 7,200 in 1998.

In 2026 work finally reached Crescent Park's doorstep. On May 21, 2026, crews closed the 1911 Newell Road Bridge to begin replacing it with a longer, wider span. The $16 million project is expected to finish in spring 2027. It is the first major step of a larger plan that includes floodwalls and channel widening. The Pope-Chaucer bridge cannot be replaced until those pieces are done, because removing it first would push more water toward downstream homes. Residents have been told that could take five years or more. Valley Water explains the program on its San Francisquito Creek flood protection page.

What living there is like

Crescent Park is quiet, leafy and almost entirely residential. Mornings bring dog walkers and kids biking to school. Downtown Palo Alto, with its restaurants and the Caltrain station, is about a 10 minute bike ride. University Avenue carries steady traffic toward the freeway, so homes right on it trade some quiet for convenience.

It is also one of the most expensive places to live in a very expensive city. The Almanac reported in December 2025 that Crescent Park had the city's highest median home price, at about $6 million. The same report noted a 1916 English manor on Hamilton Avenue that sold for $15.1 million in 2024. For context on prices and how the market works see our real estate guide and living in Palo Alto.

Visitors will find no hotels or attractions inside the neighborhood, but it makes a fine bike loop from downtown. To stay nearby, compare hotels near downtown Palo Alto. Compare Crescent Park with its neighbors on our neighborhoods overview, or continue south to Old Palo Alto.

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