Palo Alto neighborhoods compared

Palo Alto is small, about 24 square miles, but its neighborhoods differ a lot. A block of 1890s shingle houses near downtown has little in common with a 1950s Eichler tract by Mitchell Park or a hillside lot above Interstate 280. This page puts all 37 neighborhood guides on our site into one table so you can compare them on the same three points: housing type, reported school assignments and distance to Caltrain.

The table is neutral. It does not rank neighborhoods or call any of them the best. Each row links to a full guide. It is general information, not real estate, legal or financial advice. School assignments in particular must be confirmed for each address with the district. Read the notes below the table before relying on any column.

The comparison table

Neighborhoods are listed alphabetically. "Part of town" uses the common local split at Oregon Expressway and Page Mill Road, with "Central" for areas near the divide.

How to read each column

Main housing

This is a short summary drawn from each neighborhood guide. Most blocks hold more than one type of home. A largely Eichler tract may include ranch houses and two-story rebuilds. A neighborhood described as single-family may still have apartments along its busier edges. Our housing statistics page gives citywide counts by building type.

Schools reported

The school column repeats what our neighborhood guides found in dated sources, mostly Palo Alto Online and Palo Alto Weekly neighborhood profiles. Where a guide found no dated source, the cell says so. Middle schools are shown by their current names: Greene was Jordan until 2018 and Fletcher was Terman. PAUSD assigns students by address rather than by neighborhood name. Attendance areas can also change. A single neighborhood can be split between two elementary schools. Before you rent or buy, look up the exact address with the district. Our school boundaries guide explains how the finder works and what happens when a school is full.

Nearest Caltrain and distance

Distances are our own straight-line estimates from roughly the middle of each neighborhood to the nearest station, rounded into bands. Real walking or biking routes are longer, often by a third or more, because of the rail line, creeks and expressways. Large neighborhoods vary from one end to the other. San Antonio station is in Mountain View, just south of the city line. Palo Alto's own stations are Palo Alto (at University Avenue) and California Avenue. Our Palo Alto station guide and California Avenue station guide cover parking and service.

North and south in brief

A rough pattern helps make sense of the table. North of Oregon Expressway, the older neighborhoods (Downtown North, University South, Professorville, Old Palo Alto and Crescent Park) were mostly built before World War II. Many lots are larger, styles vary from house to house and the Palo Alto station is often within a walk or a short ride. Public school addresses here have generally been assigned to Greene Middle School and Palo Alto High School.

South of the expressway, most homes date from the late 1940s to the 1960s, including most of the city's roughly 2,700 Eichlers. Lots are more uniform and many streets are quieter cul-de-sacs. Addresses here have generally been assigned to JLS or Fletcher middle schools and to Gunn High School, with exceptions near the middle of town. The California Avenue and San Antonio stations serve this half. Our south Palo Alto overview explains how the tracts fit together.

The central band around California Avenue, Mayfield, Evergreen Park, Ventura and Midtown mixes apartments, condos and older small houses with postwar tracts. It has the most rental housing outside downtown.

Other factors the table leaves out

• Price. Medians differ widely by neighborhood and swing with small samples. Our home prices page explains the published figures.
• Flood and fire zones. Parts of Crescent Park, Duveneck/St. Francis and other areas near San Francisquito Creek and the bay are in mapped flood zones. Palo Alto Hills carries high or very high fire hazard designations. See our flood zones guide.
• Zoning layers. Single-story overlays cover parts of eleven Eichler tracts, including Triple El and Walnut Grove. Historic districts include Professorville, Greenmeadow and Green Gables. Our historic home rules page explains what they mean for remodeling.
• Parking permits. Southgate, Evergreen Park and Mayfield have residential permit programs. Our parking permits guide has details.
• Shops and parks. Each neighborhood guide lists its nearest parks, library and shopping.

Method and sources

We built this table from the neighborhood guides already published on this site, each of which cites its own sources. Housing descriptions and school notes come from those guides. Station distances are our calculation from approximate center points and are rounded on purpose. Nothing here is a survey of residents or a measure of quality. If a neighborhood guide is updated, the guide is the better source. Caltrain schedules and fares change, so check Caltrain before planning a commute. Check PAUSD placement information for any school question.

Using the table to shortlist

1. Pick the columns that matter most to you, such as a walk to the train or a particular high school.
2. Narrow the list to five or six neighborhoods, then read each full guide.
3. Visit on a weekday morning and a weekend afternoon to see traffic, parking and noise.
4. Check the address with the PAUSD finder, the city's zoning map and the FEMA flood map.
5. Compare current listings, since housing type drives price more than the neighborhood name.

Renters can start with our rent prices page. Buyers can move on to our buying a home guide. Everyone can browse the full neighborhoods hub.

Frequently asked questions