FACTOID # 127: Norwegians consume more than 15 times as much coffee per person as the Irish.
 
 Home   Encyclopedia   Statistics   Countries A-Z   Flags   Maps   Education   Forum   FAQ   About 
 
WHAT'S NEW
RECENT ARTICLES
More Recent Articles »
 

SEARCH ALL

FACTS & STATISTICS   

Search encyclopedia, statistics and forums:

 

 

(* = Graphable)

 

 


Encyclopedia > Palo Alto, California

City of Palo Alto
Official seal of City of Palo Alto
Seal
Location in Santa Clara County and the state of California
Coordinates: 37°25′45″N 122°8′17″W / 37.42917, -122.13806
Country United States of America
State California
County Santa Clara
Government
 - Mayor Yoriko Kishimoto[1]
Area
 - City 25.6 sq mi (66.4 km²)
 - Land 23.7 sq mi (61.3 km²)
 - Water 2 sq mi (5.1 km²)
Population (2007)
 - City 61,200
 - Density 2,475.5/sq mi (955.8/km²)
Time zone PST (UTC-8)
 - Summer (DST) PDT (UTC-7)
Website: http://www.cityofpaloalto.org/

Palo Alto (IPA: [pælo ælto], from Spanish: palo: "stick" and alto: "high", i.e., "tall tree") is a city located in the northwest corner of Santa Clara County, in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, USA. It is named after a tree called El Palo Alto. The city is located at the northern end of Silicon Valley, and includes portions of Stanford University and is headquarters to a number of high-technology companies, including Hewlett-Packard. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 58,598 residents. University Avenue at Ramona, in Palo Alto, California, looking roughly Northwest. ... Not GFDL. Seal of the city of Palo Alto, California. ... Image File history File links Santa_Clara_County_California_Incorporated_and_Unincorporated_areas_Palo_Alto_Highlighted. ... Santa Clara County is a county located in the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Largest metro area Greater Los Angeles Area  Ranked 3rd  - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 770 miles (1,240 km)  - % water 4. ... This is an alphabetical list of the sovereign states of the world, including both de jure and de facto independent states. ... Federal courts Supreme Court Circuit Courts of Appeal District Courts Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Political Parties Democratic Republican Third parties State & Local government Governors Legislatures (List) State Courts Local Government Other countries Atlas  US Government Portal      The political units and divisions of the United States include: The 50 states... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Largest metro area Greater Los Angeles Area  Ranked 3rd  - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 770 miles (1,240 km)  - % water 4. ... The U.S. state of California is divided into 58 counties. ... Santa Clara County is a county located in the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. ... A mayor (from the Latin māior, meaning larger, greater) is the modern title of the highest ranking municipal officer. ... This article is about the physical quantity. ... A square mile is an English unit of area equal to that of a square with sides each 1 statute mile (≈1,609 m) in length. ... To help compare different orders of magnitude and geographical regions, we list here areas between 100 km² and 1000 km². See also areas of other orders of magnitude. ... Population density per square kilometre by country, 2006 Population density map of the world in 1994. ... Timezone and TimeZone redirect here. ... The Pacific Standard Time Zone is a geographic region that keeps time by subtracting eight hours from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). ... −12 | −11 | −10 | −9:30 | −9 | −8 | −7 | −6 | −5 | −4 | −3:30 | −3 | −2:30 | −2 | −1 | −0:25 | UTC (0) | +0:20 | +0:30 | +1 | +2 | +3 | +3:30 | +4 | +4:30 | +4:51 | +5 | +5:30 | +5:40 | +5:45 | +6 | +6:30 | +7 | +7:20 | +7... Though DST is common in Europe and North America, most of the worlds people do not use it. ... PDT is UTC-7 The Pacific Time Zone observes standard time by subtracting eight hours from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC-8). ... −12 | −11 | −10 | −9:30 | −9 | −8 | −7 | −6 | −5 | −4 | −3:30 | −3 | −2:30 | −2 | −1 | −0:25 | UTC (0) | +0:20 | +0:30 | +1 | +2 | +3 | +3:30 | +4 | +4:30 | +4:51 | +5 | +5:30 | +5:40 | +5:45 | +6 | +6:30 | +7 | +7:20 | +7... Palo Alto may refer to: Palo Alto, California, United States El Palo Alto (tree) Palo Alto High School Palo Alto Research Center (formerly Xerox PARC) Palo Alto Internet Exchange (PAIX) Palo Alto Unified School District Palo Alto Airport of Santa Clara County East Palo Alto, California, United States Palo Alto... Articles with similar titles include the NATO phonetic alphabet, which has also informally been called the “International Phonetic Alphabet”. For information on how to read IPA transcriptions of English words, see IPA chart for English. ... Santa Clara County is a county located in the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. ... USGS satellite photo of the San Francisco Bay Area. ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Largest metro area Greater Los Angeles Area  Ranked 3rd  - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 770 miles (1,240 km)  - % water 4. ... El Palo Alto, circa 1910 El Palo Alto is a coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) tree located in El Palo Alto Park on the banks of San Francisquito Creek in Palo Alto, California, United States. ... For the Nintendo 64 game, see Space Station Silicon Valley. ... “Stanford” redirects here. ... By the mid 20th century humans had achieved a mastery of technology sufficient to leave the surface of the Earth for the first time and explore space. ... The Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE: HPQ), commonly known as HP, is a very large, global company headquartered in Palo Alto, California, United States. ... 2000 US Census logo The Twenty-Second United States Census, known as Census 2000 and conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13. ...


Palo Alto, north of Oregon Expressway, is filled with older homes, including Craftsman and California Colonials, some of which date back to the 1890s but most of which were built in the first four decades of the 20th century. South of Oregon Expressway, the homes, including many Joseph Eichler-designed or Eichler-style houses, were primarily built in the first 20 years after World War II. Santa Clara County Route G3, more commonly known as Page Mill Road and Oregon Expressway is a short 4. ... This subject should not be confused with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999... Joseph Eichler (1900 - 1974) was a California-based, post-war residential real estate developer known for building homes in the Modernist style. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000...


While the city contains homes that now cost anywhere from $800,000 to well in excess of $10 million, much of Palo Alto's housing stock is in the style of California mid-century middle-class suburbia. It has highly rated public schools (See: PALY and GUNN), a high quality of life, and a vibrant downtown. The median home sale price for all of Palo Alto was more than $1.3 Million in 2006.[2] Palo Alto Senior High School is the older of the two high schools in Palo Alto, California, United States. ... Gunn High School is one of two public high schools in Palo Alto, California. ... The well-being or quality of life of a population is an important concern in economics and political science. ...

Contents

History

University Avenue at the Circle with train steaming toward El Palo Alto, 1894
University Avenue at the Circle with train steaming toward El Palo Alto, 1894

Earliest recorded history stems from 1769, when Gaspar de Portolá noted an Ohlone settlement. This remains an area of known Indian mounds. A plaque is erected at Middlefield Road and Webster Street to commemorate this area. University Avenue at the Circle with train steaming toward El Palo Alto, 1894. ... University Avenue at the Circle with train steaming toward El Palo Alto, 1894. ... Gaspar de Portolà (ca. ... For the college of the same name, see Ohlone College. ... Ronda, Spain Main street in Bastrop, Texas, United States, a small town A town is a community of people ranging from a few hundred to several thousands, although it may be applied loosely even to huge metropolitan areas. ...


The city got its name from a tall tree, El Palo Alto, by the banks of the San Francisquito Creek bordering Menlo Park. You can still find half of this tree (the other half was destroyed when the creek flooded) along the foot bridge on Alma Street. A plaque recounts the story of a 63 man, 200 horse expedition from San Diego to the mission at Monterey from November 7–11, 1769. The group overshot and reached the bay instead. Regarding the bay as too wide to cross, the group decided to turn around near 'el palo alto.' El Palo Alto, circa 1910 El Palo Alto is a coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) tree located in El Palo Alto Park on the banks of San Francisquito Creek in Palo Alto, California, United States. ...


Rafael Soto, tenth child and son of a De Anza Expedition settler, Ignacio Soto and wife María Bárbara Espinosa de Lugo to Alta California. He settled near the San Francisquito Creek between El Camino Real and Middlefield. Selling goods to travelers in the area about 1830. His property was granted at a size of about 2,400 acres (10 km²) and reduced over time and claim. His wife met with problems maintaining ownership. Their daughter María Luisa married (1) John Coppinger in 1837 who owned vast areas north of the Creek in present San Mateo County. Upon his death she inherited it and married later a visiting boat captain, John Greer, who stumbled into the area. He owned a home on the property that is now Town & Country Village on Embarcadero & El Camino Real. Greer Avenue and Court are named for him. Juan Bautista de Anza (July 1736 - December 19, 1788) was a Basque explorer working for the Spanish empire. ... The San Francisquito Creek is a creek that flows into San Francisco Bay in California, United States of America. ... An editor has expressed a concern that the subject of the article does not satisfy the notability guideline or one of the following guidelines for inclusion on Wikipedia: Biographies, Books, Companies, Fiction, Music, Neologisms, Numbers, Web content, or several proposals for new guidelines. ...


To the south of Oregon Expwy was another grantee owner; the Robles brothers. Espanolos, Castilian, they said, and named Don Secundino and Teodoro. The older born in 1813 at Presidio Branciforte (Santa Cruz). They bought their 8,500 acres (34 km²) property from José Peña, his 1841 grantee of Rancho Santa Rita. It was basically from Page Mill To San Antonio Rd. and east of El Camino, AKA 'Mayfield'to the Bay. Stories say their grand hacienda was built on the former meager adobe of José Peña near Ferne off San Antonio Road, midway between Middlefield and Alma St.. These 2 boys did well. Read their story and understand how they earned money to buy this land in 1847. They later were forced to sell 250 acres (1 km²) in 1853 the present Barron Park, Matadero Creek and Stanford Business Park to Elisha Oscar Crosby ~ Creator of the term 'Mayfield'. Their hacienda hosted fiestas and bull fights. It was ruined in the 1906 earthquake and its lumber was used to build a large barn nearby which it is said lingered until the early 1950s. In 1880 Secundino Robles, father to twenty-nine children, still lived near present day Sears Dept. Store and was bounded on the south by Mariano Castro's grant across the street on San Antonio Road.


From 1846–1848, the United States and Mexico were at war (see Mexican-American War), which concluded with U.S. conquest of California and New Mexico. Mexican land grants became targets of the Americans settlers and tycoons. Although if it must be considered that seventy years earlier the Mexicans had done much the same to the native California Indians and fewer are telling tales about their losses and historic figures. They were much more passive and had no real ability to confront De Anza and his men. Palo Alto was destined to be an early settlement but was reconsidered due to low creek levels. They marched on and set up a camp (Presidio) in present day San Francisco. Combatants United States Mexico Commanders Zachary Taylor Winfield Scott Stephen W. Kearney Antonio López de Santa Anna Mariano Arista Pedro de Ampudia José Mariá Flores Strength 78,790 soldiers 25,000–40,000 soldiers Casualties KIA: 1733 Total dead: 13,271 Wounded: 4,152 AWOL: 9,200+ 25,000...


Many of the Spanish names in the Palo Alto area represent the local heritage and descriptive terms and former residents. Pena Court, Miranda Avenue, which was essentially Foothill Expwy was the married name of Juana Briones and the name occurs in Courts and Avenues others in Palo Alto to Mountain View in the quadrant where she owned vast areas between Stanford Univ., Grant Road in Mountain View and west of El Camino. Yerba Buena was to her credit. Rinconada was the major Mexican land grant name.


The township of Mayfield was formed in 1855, in what is now part of South Palo Alto. In 1886, Leland Stanford came to the town of Mayfield, interested in founding his university there, and creating a train stop near his school on Mayfield's downtown street, Lincoln Street (now named California Avenue). However, he had one condition: alcohol be banned from the town. Known for its 13 rowdy saloons, Mayfield rejected his requests for reform. This led him to drive the formation of Palo Alto, originally called University Park, in 1887 with the help of his friend Timothy Hopkins of the Southern Pacific Railroad who bought 740 acres (3 km²) of private land for the new townsite. Stanford set up his university, Stanford University, and a train stop (on University Avenue) by his new town. With Stanford’s support, saloon days faded and Palo Alto grew to the size of Mayfield. On July 2, 1925, Palo Alto voters approved the annexation of Mayfield and the two communities were officially consolidated on July 6, 1925. This saga explains why Palo Alto has two downtown areas: one along University Avenue and one along California Avenue. The Mayfield News wrote its own obituary four days later: Amasa Leland Stanford (March 9, 1824–June 21, 1893) was an American business tycoon, politician and founder of Stanford University. ... “Stanford” redirects here. ... is the 183rd day of the year (184th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1925 (MCMXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 187th day of the year (188th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1925 (MCMXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

"It is with a feeling of deep regret that we see on our streets today those who would sell, or give, our beautiful little city to an outside community. We have watched Mayfield grow from a small hamlet, when Palo Alto was nothing more than a hayfield, to her present size … and it is with a feeling of sorrow that we contemplate the fact that there are those who would sell or give the city away."

Many of Stanford University’s first faculty members settled in the Professorville neighborhood of Palo Alto. Professorville, now a registered national historic district, is bounded by Kingsley, Lincoln, and Addison avenues and the cross streets of Ramona, Bryant, and Waverley. The district includes a large number of well preserved residences dating from the 1890s including 833 Kingsley, 345 Lincoln and 450 Kingsley. 1044 Bryant was the home of Russell Varian, co-inventor of the Klystron tube. The Lee DeForest laboratory site, situated at 218 Channing, is a California Historical Landmark recognizing DeForest's 1911 invention of the vacuum tube and electronic oscillator at that location. While not open to the public, the garage that housed the launch of Hewlett Packard is located at 367 Addison Av. Hewlett Packard recently restored the house and garage. A second historic district on Ramona Street can be found downtown between University and Hamilton Avenues. Professorville is a Registed Historic District in Palo Alto, California that contains homes that were used by Stanford University professors who preferred to own rather than lease university land. ... A klystron is a specialized vacuum tube (evacuated electron tube) called a linear-beam tube. ... Lee De Forest Lee De Forest, (August 26, 1873 - June 30, 1961), was an American inventor with over 300 patents to his name. ... California Historical Landmarks (CHLs) are buildings, structures, sites, or places in the state of California that have been determined to have statewide historical significance by meeting at least one of the criteria listed below: approved for designation by the County Board of Supervisors or the City/Town Council in whose... Structure of a vacuum tube diode Structure of a vacuum tube triode In electronics, a vacuum tube, electron tube, or (outside North America) thermionic valve or just valve, is a device used to amplify, switch or modify a signal by controlling the movement of electrons in an evacuated space. ... Cross coupled LC oscillator with output on top An electronic oscillator is an electronic circuit that produces a repetitive electronic signal, often a sine wave or a square wave. ... The Ramona Street Architectural District, in downtown Palo Alto, California, is a Registered Historic District. ...


Environmental features and geography

Guinda Street in Palo Alto
Guinda Street in Palo Alto

Palo Alto has a number of significant natural habitats, including estuarine, riparian and oak forest. The Charleston Slough contains a rich marsh and littoral zone, providing feeding areas for a variety of shorebirds and other estuarine wildlife (Jenks, 1976]. Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2592 × 1944 pixel, file size: 3. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2592 × 1944 pixel, file size: 3. ... Estuaries and coastal waters are among the most productive ecosystems on Earth, providing numerous ecological, economic, cultural, and aesthetic benefits and services. ... A riparian zone schematic from the Everglades. ... Species See List of Quercus species The term oak can be used as part of the common name of any of several hundred species of trees and shrubs in the genus Quercus (from Latin oak tree), and some related genera, notably Cyclobalanopsis and Lithocarpus. ... This article is about a community of trees. ... Families Charadridae Jacanidae Rostratulidae Ibidorhynchidae Recurvirostridae Haematopodidae Scolopacidae Dromadidae Burhinidae Glareolidae Thinocoridae Waders, called Shorebirds in North America (where wader is used to refer to long-legged wading birds such as storks and herons), are members of the order Charadriiformes, excluding the more marine web-footed seabird groups. ...


Palo Alto is located at 37°25′45″N, 122°8′17″W (37.429289, −122.138162)GR1. It is in the south-eastern section of the San Francisco Peninsula. It is bordered to the west by Menlo Park, to the north by East Palo Alto, and to the east by Mountain View and Los Altos. The southern border is made of Stanford, California (Stanford University) and Los Altos Hills. USGS Satellite photo of the San Francisco Bay Area. ... Menlo Park is a city in San Mateo County, California in the United States of America. ... East Palo Alto (often called EPA) is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States. ... Mountain View is a city in Santa Clara County, in the U.S. state of California. ... Los Altos (IPA: ) is a city at the southern end of the San Francisco Peninsula, in the San Francisco Bay Area. ... Stanford is a census-designated place (CDP) located in Santa Clara County, California. ... Los Altos Hills (IPA: ) is a town in Santa Clara County, California, United States. ...


According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 66.4 km² (25.6 mi²). 61.3 km² (23.7 mi²) of it is land and 5.1 km² (or 7.6%) is water. The United States Census Bureau (officially Bureau of the Census as defined in Title ) is a part of the United States Department of Commerce. ... Square kilometre (U.S. spelling: square kilometer), symbol km², is a decimal multiple of SI unit of surface area square metre, one of the SI derived units. ... A square mile is an English unit of area equal to that of a square with sides each 1 statute mile (≈1,609 m) in length. ...


The official elevation is 56 feet (17 m) above sea level, but the city boundaries reach well into the peninsula hills. There are signs denoting the city limits on Skyline Boulevard (highway 35) and the Stevens Canyon trail (San Andreas fault rift zone). View of the San Andreas Fault on the Carrizo Plain in central California, 35°07N, 119°39W The San Andreas Fault is a geological fault that runs a length of roughly 800 miles (1300 kilometres) through western and southern California in the United States. ...


Palo Alto Local Government

Palo Alto was incorporated in 1894, and in 1909 created, by municipal charter, a local government consisting of a fifteen-member City Council, with responsibilities for various governmental functions delegated to appointed committees. In 1950, the City adopted a Council-manager government. Several appointed committees continue to advise the City Council on specialized issues, such as land use planning, utilities, and libraries, but these committees no longer have direct authority over City staff. Today, the City Council has only nine members. (More information on Palo Alto government is available on the City of Palo Alto website) A city charter or town charter (generically, municipal charter) is a legal document establishing a municipality such as a city or town. ... The council-manager government is one of two main variations of representative municipal government in the United States. ...


Demographics

As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 58,598 people, 25,216 households, and 14,600 families residing in the city. The population density was 955.8/km² (2,475.3/mi²). There were 26,048 housing units at an average density of 424.9/km² (1,100.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 75.76% white, 2.02% African American, 0.21% Native American, 17.22% Asian, 0.14% Pacific Islander, 1.41% from other races, and 3.24% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.65% of the population. Image:1870 census Lindauer Weber 01. ... The United States Census Bureau uses the federal governments definitions of race when performing a census. ... The United States Census Bureau uses the federal governments definitions of race when performing a census. ... The United States Census Bureau uses the federal governments definitions of race when performing a census. ... The United States Census Bureau uses the federal governments definitions of race when performing a census. ... The United States Census Bureau uses the federal governments definitions of race when performing a census. ... It has been suggested that Ethnicity (United States Census) be merged into this article or section. ... The United States Census Bureau uses the federal governments definitions of race when performing a census. ... The United States Census Bureau uses the federal governments definitions of race when performing a census. ...


There were 25,216 households, of which 27.2% had resident children under the age of 18, 48.5% were married couples living together, 7.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.1% were non-families. 32.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 2.95. Marriage is an interpersonal relationship with governmental, social, or religious recognition, usually intimate and sexual, and often created as a contract, or through civil process. ...


In the city the population was spread out with 21.2% under the age of 18, 4.9% from 18 to 24, 32.4% from 25 to 44, 25.9% from 45 to 64, and 15.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 95.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.6 males.


The median income for a household in the city was $90,377, and the median income for a family was $117,574. Males had a median income of $91,051 versus $60,202 for females. The per capita income for the city was $56,257. About 3.2% of families and 4.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.0% of those under age 18 and 5.0% of those age 65 or over. The per capita income for a group of people may be defined as their total personal income, divided by the total population. ... Map of countries showing percentage of population who have an income below the national poverty line The poverty line is the level of income below which one cannot afford to purchase all the resources one requires to live. ...


Economy

Palo Alto serves as a central economic focal point of the Silicon Valley, and is home to more than 6,000 businesses employing more than 98,000 people. [3] Many innovative tech firms reside in the Stanford Research Park on Page Mill Road while Sand Hill Road is a notable haunt for venture capitalists. The city’s economy generally follows the economic trends of the rest of the Silicon Valley. Well-known companies and research facilities headquartered in Palo Alto include: Stanford Research Park stands on land on Palo Alto, California in the U.S. that is owned by Stanford University. ...

Other notable corporate citizens: Agilent Technologies NYSE: A is the actual descendant of the instrument company founded by Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard in 1939. ... Aricent is a communications software company, offering a portfolio of software services and products for the communications industry (wireline, wireless, cable and satellite). ... Screenshot of the home page A9. ... This article is about the social networking website. ... Genencor is a biotechnology company based in Palo Alto, CA and a division of Danisco, the Danish food ingredient company. ... The Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE: HPQ), commonly known as HP, is a very large, global company headquartered in Palo Alto, California, United States. ... IDEO is a design consultancy based in Palo Alto, California, with other offices in San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, London, Munich and Shanghai. ... Photobucket headquarters in Palo Alto, California Photobucket is an image hosting, video hosting, slideshow creation and photo sharing website. ... SAP AG (ISIN: DE0007164600, FWB: SAP, NYSE: SAP) is the largest European software enterprise and the third largest in the world, with headquarters in Walldorf, Germany. ... Space Systems/Loral (SS/L), of Palo Alto, California, is the wholly owned manufacturing subsidiary of Loral Space & Communications. ... Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati (WSGR) is a law firm in the United States that specializes in business, securities, and intellectual property law. ... VMware Inc. ...

In addition, Palo Alto has a lively retail and restaurant trade, and the Stanford Shopping Center and downtown Palo Alto (centered around University Avenue) are popular destinations. CNF, Inc. ... The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) conducts research on issues of interest to the electric power industry in the USA. EPRI is an independent, nonprofit organization funded by the electric utility industry. ... Frys Electronics is a specialty retailer of software, consumer electronics, computer hardware and household appliances with a chain of superstores headquartered in Silicon Valley. ... New York Stock Exchange (June 2003) The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is one of the largest stock exchanges in the world. ... PAIX initially stood for Palo Alto Internet Exchange, and was later remarketed as Peering And Internet eXchange, a service of Switch and Data. ... Hoffmann-La Roche, Ltd. ... The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) is an international daily newspaper published by Dow Jones & Company in New York City, New York, USA, with Asian and European editions, and a worldwide daily circulation of more than 2 million as of 2006, with 931,000 paying online subscribers. ... Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) was a flagship research division of the Xerox Corporation, based in Palo Alto, California, USA, which essentially created the modern personal computer paper paradigm. ... Lockheed/BAE/Northrop F-35 Lockheed Trident missile C-130 Hercules; in production since the 1950s, now as the C-130J Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) is an aerospace manufacturer formed in 1995 by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta. ... Merrill Lynch & Co. ... Varian Medical Systems NYSE: VAR is engaged in designing and manufacturing advanced equipment and software solutions for treating cancer with radiation, as well as x-ray tubes for original equipment manufacturers, replacement x-ray tubes and flat-panel digital subsystems for imaging in medical, scientific and industrial applications. ... Xerox Corporation (NYSE: XRX) (name pronounced ) is a global document management company, which manufactures and sells a range of color and black-and-white printers, multifunction systems, photo copiers, digital production printing presses, and related consulting services and supplies. ... Stanford Shopping Center is an upscale shopping mall located on El Camino Real at Sand Hill Road in Palo Alto, California. ...


See also: Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce list of Major Employers (archived)


Utilities

Unlike surrounding communities, electric and gas service within city limits are provided by the city of Palo Alto. A minor exception is a rural portion of the city limits in hills area — west of Interstate 280 and along Page Mill Road — which gets gas and electric service from Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E).


Water and Gas Services (WGS) operates gas and water distribution networks within the city limits. Natural gas is purchased from PG&E or third parties and delivered to Palo Alto via PG&E's gas transmission pipeline network. The city operates gas meters and the distribution pipelines. Water comes from city-operated watershed and wells, the Santa Clara Valley Water District, and the City and County of San Francisco Hetch Hetchy system. The city is located in Santa Clara Valley Water District, North Zone. Hetch Hetchy pipeline #3 and #4 pass through the city.


The city operates its own electric power distribution network and telemetry cable network. Interconnection points tie the city into PG&E's electric transmission system, which brings power from several sources to the city. A claim to fame is the city's exemption from rolling blackouts during the summer 2000 power shortages. Palo Alto is a member of a joint powers authority which cooperatively generates electricity for government power providers such as the city of Santa Clara, city of Redding, and Modesto Irrigation District. Roughly the same group of entities operate the Transmission Agency of Northern California (TANC). TANC transports power (called wheeling) over its own lines from as far as British Columbia through an interconnection with the federal Bonneville Power Administration. A local oddity is a series of joint poles on Arastradero Road near Page Mill Road. The primary conductor cross arms are marked PGE and CPA (city of Palo Alto) to identify each utility's side of the shared cross arms.


Palo Alto has an ongoing community debate about the city providing fiber optic connectivity to all residences. A series of pilot programs were proposed. One proposal called for the city to install dark fiber which would be made live by a contractor. Internet connectivity over fiber optic lines is not universal or city-wide as of spring 2006. Fiber Optic strands An optical fiber in American English or fibre in British English is a transparent thin fiber for transmitting light. ...


Services traditionally attributed to a cable television provider were sold to a regulated commercial concern. Previously the cable system was operated by a cooperative called Palo Alto Cable Coop.


The former Regional Bell Operating Company in Palo Alto was Pacific Telephone. The company is now called AT&T and was previously called SBC and Pacific Bell. One of the earliest central office facilities switching Palo Alto calls is the historic Davenport central office (CO) at 529 Bryant St. The building was sold and is now used as offices. The former CO building is marked by a bronze plaque and is located on the north side of Bryant Street between University Avenue and Hamilton Avenue. It was called Davenport after the exchange name at the introduction of dial telephone service in Palo Alto. For example, modern numbers starting with 325- were DAvenport 5 in the 1950s and '60s. The Bryant CO, located at 37°26′44″N, 122°09′39″W, contained several floors of clattering Western Electric Step-by-Step switching equipment that historically handled calls for homes and businesses in Menlo Park, Atherton, East Palo Alto, and Palo Alto. The Step-by-Step office was scrapped and replaced by stored-program-controlled equipment at a different location about 1980. Stanford calls ran on a Step-by-Step Western Electric 701 PBX until the university purchased its own switch about 1980. It had the older, traditional Bell System 600 Hz+120 Hz dialtone. The old 497-number PBX, MDF, and battery string were housed in a steel building at 333 Bonair Siding. (The building still stands but Stanford's present-day PBX switch is elsewhere.) From 1950s to 1980s, the bulk of Palo Alto calls were switched on Number 5 Crossbar systems. By the mid-1980s, these electromechanical systems had been junked. Under the Bell System's regulated monopoly, local coin telephone calls were ten cents until the early 1980s. Map of the original and current companies. ... This article is about the current AT&T. For the 1885-2005 company, see American Telephone & Telegraph. ... In the field of telecommunications, a central office or telephone exchange houses equipment that is commonly known as simply a switch, which is a piece of equipment that connects phone calls. ...


During the drought of the early 1990s, Palo Alto employed water waste patrol officers to enforce water saving regulations. The team, called "Gush Busters" patrolled city streets looking for broken water pipes and poorly managed irrigation systems. Regulations were set to stop restaurants from habitually serving water, run off from irrigation and irrigation during the day. The main goal of the team was to educate the public in ways to save water. Citations consisted of Friendly Reminder post cards and more formal notices. To help promote the conservation message, the team only used bicycles and mopeds.


Sources

  • Coleman, Charles M., P. G. and E. of California: The Centennial Story of Pacific Gas and Electric Company 1852–1952, (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1952).
  • Hanson, Warren D., San Francisco Water and Power: A History of the Municipal Water Department and Hetch Hetchy System, (San Francisco: San Francisco Public Utilities Communications Group, 2002).
  • Map: PG&E Backbone Gas Transmission System, (San Francisco: Pacific Gas and Electric Co., undated).
  • Map: Water Conveyance, Treatment, and Distribution System, (San Jose: Santa Clara Valley Water District, 1978).
  • Earthquake Planning Scenario Special Publication #61, (Sacramento, California: State of California, Division of Mines and Geology, 1981).
  • $117,730,000 Bond Offering: Transmission Agency of Northern California, (Sacramento, California: Transmission Agency of Northern California, 1992).

Fire and police history: 1960–present

Palo Alto City Hall, as seen in 2004.
Palo Alto City Hall, as seen in 2004.

In the 1960s, rapid growth began to fill in the blank spaces on the Palo Alto map. Unincorporated areas and orchards still dotted the map. Prune and apricot orchards became suburban streets. The size and expertise of public safety services has evolved along with this constant growth in population. The city was among the first in Santa Clara County to offer advanced life support (ALS) paramedic-level (EMT-P) ambulance service. In an arrangement predating countywide paramedic service, Palo Alto Fire operates two paramedic ambulances which are theoretically shared with county EMS assets. The Palo Alto Fire Department is currently the only fire department in Santa Clara County that routinely transports patients. American Medical Response holds the Santa Clara County 911 contract and provides transportation in other cities. Enhanced 9-1-1 arrived in about 1980 and included the then-new ability to report emergencies from coin telephones without using a coin. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1200x1600, 629 KB) Summary Author: Nader Moussa Source: Myself This is a photograph of Palo Alto, California City Hall. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1200x1600, 629 KB) Summary Author: Nader Moussa Source: Myself This is a photograph of Palo Alto, California City Hall. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from 1960 to 1969, inclusive. ... An orchard is an intentional planting of trees maintained for food production. ... Prune refers to any of more than 125 varieties of fruit, most grown for drying. ... Binomial name Prunus armeniaca L. For other uses, see Apricot (disambiguation). ... Illustration of the backyards of a surburban neighbourhood Suburbs are inhabited districts located either on the outer rim of a city or outside the official limits of a city (the term varies from country to country), or the outer elements of a conurbation. ... This is an article about the modern meaning of the term public safety. ... Santa Clara County is a county located in Californias San Francisco Bay Area. ... An ambulance in San Jose del Cabo, Mexico A Helicopter used as an Ambulance. ... Firefighter with an axe A firefighter, sometimes still called a fireman though women have increasingly joined firefighting units, is a person who is trained and equipped to put out fires, rescue people and in some areas provide emergency medical services. ... A telephone handset A touch-tone telephone dial Telephone The telephone or phone (Greek: tele = far away and phone = voice) is a telecommunications device that transmits speech by means of electric signals. ...


Before the 1980s, Palo Alto police shared a single radio channel with Atherton and Menlo Park, (154.950 MHz). While located in Santa Clara County, in one sense, the police had closer ties to San Mateo County because of this arrangement. Until the 1970s, a Motorola FMTRU-series DC-remote base — possibly a backup system — was housed at EOC on Newell Rd. The police station was housed in a stone building (still) marked Police Court at 450 Bryant St. The building is now a senior citizens center. In the late 1970s, FCC regulations changed to allow sharing of television frequencies in major US metropolitan areas. About 1980, the city built their own voted repeater system on TV-sharing frequencies for Police. Fire systems evolved from stand-alone base stations to a voted modern, system using DTMF station ringdowns. The current city systems are models of good level discipline. Old age consists of ages nearing the average lifespan of human beings, and thus the end of the human life cycle. ... The abbreviation FCC can refer to: Face-centered cubic (usually fcc), a crystallographic structure Federal Communications Commission, a US government organization Farm Credit Corporation/Farm Credit Canada, a Canadian government organization Families with Children from China, an adoption support organization Florida Christian College, a college in central Florida Fresno City... Base stations are low-power multi-channel two-way radios which are in a fixed location. ... For other uses, see Discipline (disambiguation). ...


Palo Alto Police in the modern day In modern times, police have enjoyed a reputation for professionalism and quick response times and are headquarted in the City Hall high rise. The Department is staffed by just under 100 sworn officers ranking from Chief, Captain, Lieutenant, Sergeant, Agent (corporal) and Officer. The staff is supplemented by approximately 10 Reserve Officers and numerous non-sworn employees who support the Department. The Department has been recognized for it’s prowess at criminal investigation and critical incident resolution including handling numerous large scale protests in town.


In modern times, the larger population and difficult target hazards of the campus are addressed by the resources of Palo Alto Fire, which handles daily calls for service. Stanford University Department of Public Safety ran their own fire department and dispatched their own police calls until about 1980. Prior to that time, Stanford Department of Public Safety Sheriff's Deputies used County Frequency 7 (154.740 MHz). The University's radio equipment had been upgraded after protests against the Vietnam War tested readiness and limitations of the agency in the 1960s. At the time, the channel (Frequency 7) was also shared primary dispatch for Los Altos and Mountain View police. Under the county radio identifier prefix system in use at the time, Stanford units were identified by a prefix 26. A typical Stanford DPS patrol unit might identify as twenty-six-ess-eight (26S8), for example. The University's Frequency 7 police base station had a call sign of KBF249. In the early 1980s, Stanford turned their dispatching for fire and police over to the City of Palo Alto. Before the early 1980s, Stanford Fire units were dispatched by university staff on County Frequency 8 (154.400 MHz) and used identifiers including Engine 95 and Rescue 95. Fire equipment ran calls out of the station that is today identified as Palo Alto Station 6: a.k.a. 711 Serra Street or Quad 9 Building 300. The need for a new fire station may have partly been dictated by needs for a large ladder truck because of the arrival of Escondido Village high rise buildings. Prior to the construction of this station, fire units worked out of a building that is now marked, "Old Fire Truck House." The old fire station is located on Santa Teresa Street near Tressider Memorial Union: Quad 2 Building 620. Radio equipment: As defined in Federal Information Management Regulations, any equipment or interconnected system or subsystem of equipment (both transmission and reception) that is used to communicate over a distance by modulating and radiating electromagnetic waves in space without artificial guide. ... Combatants Republic of Vietnam United States Republic of Korea Thailand Australia New Zealand The Philippines National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam Democratic Republic of Vietnam People’s Republic of China Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea Strength US 1,000,000 South Korea 300,000 Australia 48,000... Fire station in Kostroma, Russia (1823-26). ... A fire apparatus, fire engine or fire truck usually refers to a vehicle designed to fight fires. ...

The Barron Park Fire District #2 was also known by its radio callsign "High Pressure 90."
The Barron Park Fire District #2 was also known by its radio callsign "High Pressure 90."

Along the 4000-block of El Camino Real in Palo Alto exists a community built in the late 1940s known as Barron Park. Barron Park remained outside the city limits until a 1970s zeal for annexation brought it into the city. As an unincorporated area, police services were handled by the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department. Fire services were the domain of the volunteer Barron Park Fire District, (BPFD). Based on the age of their equipment, the Barron Park subdivision is believed to have been built in 1949. The district housed two firefighting vehicles in a steel shed (the fire station) behind Lanai Florist at 4050 El Camino Real. The shed still stands today. Only one fire unit had a radio: a 1950 GMC/FMC pickup marked, "Barron Park Fire District Number Two," and used the radio callsign, "High Pressure 90." A second unit, a 1949 White/Van Pelt, was not radio equipped. In practice, it was referred to on the radio as, "The Big One." As it had no official identifier, volunteers would tell county fire dispatch over the radio, "The Big One is also responding." Barron Park Fire operated its radios on the county-dispatched primary fire channel then referred to as Frequency 2. The department was self-dispatched. The department's seven-digit emergency number rang at the BPFD Chief's house. If the call was a fire, the Chief pulled an exclusion key on the emergency line telephone and dialed zero. This grounded one conductor of the seven-digit emergency number's phone line and actuated a relay which turned on a Federal-brand, air-raid style siren at the site where the firefighting vehicles were parked. As the siren would cycle through its repartee, all available volunteers would go to the station. At the station, the first to arrive would lift the receiver of an extension of the seven digit emergency phone and the Chief would tell them what the call was. The first volunteer would write the call on a blackboard so late arrivals could know the location of the event. Typical of fire calls in any area, a large fire will generate many reports. The telephone technology used by many volunteer fire departments at the time — including BPFD — used an electromechanical device called a line turret. This was a predecessor to modern conference calls and call waiting. After the Chief answered the first call, if a second person called the seven-digit emergency number to report a fire, the second caller would be bridged onto the first call. This allowed a single, rotary-dial telephone to answer multiple lines. In a typical volunteer department, emergency phones would be wired to the homes of several volunteers and they would take turns maintaining watch over the phone. It also led to confusion because the second caller might get conferenced with an earlier caller who was halfway through the process of reporting a fire. When Barron Park was annexed to Palo Alto about 1979, The Big One was donated to San Jose City College Fire Academy program where it was subsequently scrapped. High Pressure 90 was sold at auction and still resides in the area of Barron Park. Today the area receives city services and is part of the city of Palo Alto. Image File history File links HP90. ... Image File history File links HP90. ... A community is a social group of organisms sharing an environment, normally with shared interests. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... City limits refers to the defined limits of a citys area. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... 5th generation Chevrolet El Camino The Chevrolet El Camino, a car-based small pickup truck built by Chevrolet in the United States, was produced in response to the success of the rival Ford Ranchero. ... Many countries public telephone networks have a single emergency telephone number, sometimes known as the universal emergency telephone number or occasionally the emergency services number, that allows a caller to contact local emergency services for assistance. ... In science and engineering, conductors, such as a electrical connector, are materials that readily conduct electric current through electrical conduction. ... A blackboard, with multiple colors of chalk A blackboard or chalkboard is a reusable writing surface on which text or drawings are made with chalk or other erasable markers. ... In engineering, electromechanics combines electromagnetism and mechanics. ... A conference call is a telephone call where the calling party wants to have more than one called party listen in to the audio portion of the call. ... Call waiting, in telephony, is a feature on some telephone networks. ... Also: 1979 by Smashing Pumpkins. ... A breakers yard in the UK, showing cars stacked on a metal grid to make it easier to find and remove usable parts. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ...

Sources

  • Richmond, Emily, “Teen Girls Claim Cop Demanded a Peek,” Palo Alto Daily News, October 9, 1999, pp. 1,20.
  • Stanford University Base Map, (Stanford: Facilities Information and Technology Maps and Records Office, Stanford University, 2003).
  • "1117 Compass Way: Summer 1976," Fremont Fire District Audio Archive 1976–1981, Compact Disc 1, Track 3.

is the 282nd day of the year (283rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year. ...

School system

Public schools

The Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) provides public education for Palo Alto. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, Palo Alto has a student-teacher ratio of less than 17, much lower than some surrounding communities. Juana Briones Elementary has a student/teacher ratio of 14.4.[4] The school board meets at 7 p.m. the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of the month; the meetings are open to the public and city cast live on Cable Services Channel 28 in Palo Alto. Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) in Palo Alto, California is known for being one of the finest in the state. ... The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), as part of the U.S. Department of Education, collects, analyzes, and publishes statistics on education and public school district finance information in the United States; conducts studies on international comparisons of education statistics; and provides leadership in developing and promoting the use...


High Schools

Middle Schools Palo Alto Senior High School is the older of the two high schools in Palo Alto, California, United States. ... Gunn High School is one of two public high schools in Palo Alto, California. ...

Elementary Schools Aerial photograph of David Starr Jordan Middle School. ... Jane Lathrop Stanford Middle School is a middle school in Palo Alto, California. ... Entrance to Terman Middle School. ...

Addison School is an elementary school located in Palo Alto, California. ... Duveneck School is an elementary school located in Palo Alto, California on Channing Ave. ... Fairmeadow Elementary School is located in Palo Alto, California, United States. ... Walter Hays School is an elementary school in Palo Alto, California at the intersection of Middlefield Road and Embarcadero Road. ... Hoover Elementary School is an elementary school in the Palo Alto Unified School District. ... Ohlone Elementary School is a public elementary school in Palo Alto, California United States. ...

Private schools

  • Bowman International School – a K-8 school founded in 1995 which emphasizes learning about different cultures.
  • Palo Alto Montessori School – an accredited preschool which has been educating 2–5 years olds since 1977.
  • Pinewood School – located on Fremont Road in Los Altos Hills; most of the students are from Los Altos Hills/Los Altos area
  • Kitty Petty Institute – a preschool for disabled children
  • St Elizabeth Seton Extended – a Catholic school
  • Keys School – a co-ed, independent K-8 school focused on learning for life
  • Castilleja School – a prestigious girls’ school
  • International School of the Peninsula – a K-8 school emphasizing dual language teaching
  • Kehillah Jewish High School – a new preparatory high school with both secular and Jewish studies
  • Gideon Hausner Jewish Day School [5] – a K-8 school focused on academic excellence, community responsibility, and vibrant Jewish living; school's name changed from Mid-Peninsula Jewish Community Day School (MPJCDS)
  • Stratford School – a K-5 school focussed on all round development
  • Challenger School – a K-5 School with extreme emphasis on academics

Bowman International School is a K-8, Montessori school located in Palo Alto, California. ... This article lacks information on the importance of the subject matter. ... Castilleja School is a private college preparatory school for girls located in Palo Alto, California. ... This article should appear in one or more categories. ... Kehillah Jewish High School is a dual-education preparatory school located in Palo Alto, California, United States, in the Bay Area. ...

Libraries

The Palo Alto City Library has five branches, with a total of 265,000 items in their collections. Hours and locations of libraries. The Library's mission is to enable people to explore library resources in order to enrich their lives with knowledge, information, and enjoyment. Find out more in the Reports and Statistics section of the web site. It is simple to contact the library for more information.


Media

First edition of the Palo Alto Daily News. ...

Transportation

Palo Alto is served by two major freeways, Highway 101, and Interstate 280, and is traversed by the Peninsula’s main north-south boulevard, El Camino Real (CA-82). Interstate 80 (Eastshore Freeway) in Berkeley, California: a typical American freeway (MUTCD definition) A freeway, also known as a highway, superhighway, autoroute, autobahn, autostrada, dual carriageway, expressway, Autosnelweg or motorway, depending on the country of discussion, is a type of road designed for safer high-speed operation of motor vehicles... JUNCTION POSTMILE I-5 LA 0. ... A view of the scenic portion of Interstate 280 Interstate 280 (abbreviated I-280) is a 57-mile-long interstate highway in the San Francisco Bay Area metropolitan area of Northern California. ... An early map traces the mission trail in Baja California as it existed in 1769. ... JUNCTION POSTMILE 101 SCL 0. ...


The city is also served indirectly by California State Route 84 which traverses the Dumbarton Bridge to the north. None of the highways on the Peninsula side of the bridge have been upgraded to freeway status due to opposition from residents of Palo Alto, Atherton and Menlo Park. The freeway opponents fear that upgrading Highway 84 will encourage more people to live in Alameda County (where housing is more affordable) and commute to jobs in the mid-Peninsula area, thus increasing traffic in their neighborhoods to the south of the bridge. Also, Palo Alto has only one major crosstown arterial, Page Mill Road / Oregon Expressway, which completely connects the two freeways. Because of these two defects in the regional road network, Palo Alto is notorious for severe traffic congestion at rush hour. JUNCTION POSTMILE Segment 1 SR-1 SM 0. ... The Dumbarton Bridge is the southernmost of the highway bridges that span the San Francisco Bay in California. ... Atherton is a town in San Mateo County, California, United States. ... Alameda County is a suburban county in Californias San Francisco Bay Area. ...


Palo Alto is served by Palo Alto Airport of Santa Clara County, one of the busiest single-runway general aviation airports in the country. Palo Alto Airport (KPAO) is used by many daily commuters who fly (usually in private singled engine aircraft) from their homes in the Central Valley to work in the Palo Alto area. Palo Alto Airport of Santa Clara County is located in Palo Alto, California, USA, near the south end of San Francisco Bay on the western shore. ... General aviation (abbr. ...


Train service is available via Caltrain with service to San Francisco and San Jose. Caltrain has two regular stops in Palo Alto, one at University Avenue (local and express) and the other at California Avenue (local only). A third, located beside Alma Street at Embarcadero Road, is used to provide special services for occasional sports events (generally football) at Stanford Stadium. The University Avenue stop is the second most popular (behind 4th and King in San Francisco) on Caltrain's entire line. Caltrain is a commuter rail line on the San Francisco Peninsula and the Santa Clara Valley in the United States. ... This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ... For other uses, see San José. Nickname: Location of San Jose within Santa Clara County, California. ... Palo Alto Station is the main train station in Palo Alto, California. ... A college football game between Colorado State and Air Force. ... Stanford Stadium (capacity 50,000 as of 2006) is a stadium on the Stanford University campus. ...


The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) provides primary bus service through Palo Alto with service to the south bay and Silicon Valley. The San Mateo County Transit District (SamTrans) provides service to San Mateo County to the north. The Stanford University Free Shuttle (Marguerite) provides a supplementary bus service to and from the campus, and the Palo Alto Free Shuttle (Crosstown and Embarcadero), which circulates frequently, and provides service to major points in Palo Alto, including the main library, downtown, the Municipal Golf Course, the Caltrain University Ave. Station, and both high schools. [[|right|200px]] Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) is a special-purpose district responsible for public transit services, conges