Palo Alto is a California charter city located in the northwest corner of Santa Clara County, in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. It is named after a tree called El Palo Alto. The city includes portions of Stanford University and is headquarters to a number of Silicon Valley hight-technology companies, including Hewlett-Packard, VMware, Facebood, and Palantir Technologies.
Whether you are visiting for business, for pleasure or to attend a conference or other event at Stanford University, you will quickly discover the unusual blend of intellect, innovation, culture and natural beauty that makes Palo Alto so special.
The area is home to Nobel prize winners, Silicon Valley CEOs, venture-capital firms, HP, Facebook and one of the most renowned universities and medical centers in the world.
While Palo Alto developed as a sleepy college town, the emergence of Stanford University as the leading academic high-technology research center in the nation in the 1970s led to hundreds of start-up businesses with connections to Stanford professors and their inventions. Thus Palo Alto became known as the birthplace of Silicon Valley and attracted engineers and others from all over the world to pursue their dreams.
Palo Alto is known for the quality of its public schools, not surprising considering the close ties to Stanford and the fact that more than three-quarters of the adults in the community have advanced degrees.
The Stanford campus itself is the biggest visitor attraction, and visitors could easily spend a day or longer exploring the beautiful (and large) campus.
But at a minimum any visit should also include a walk or drive through the tree-lined (and one of the costliest in the nation) residential neighborhoods, a walk in the foothills or baylands and some great shopping and eating in the several business districts.
Housing Cost
Estimated median house or condo value in 2008: $1,338,628
Mean prices in 2008: All housing units: $1,382,740; Detached houses: $1,497,602; Townhouses or other attached units: $934,419; In 2-unit structures: $729,823; In 3-to-4-unit structures: $594,973; In 5-or-more-unit structures: $731,179; Mobile homes: $161,250; Occupied boats, RVs, vans, etc.: $12,500
Demographics
Population in July 2008: 59,395. Palo Alto covers 23.7 square miles. It sits at an elevation of 23 feet above sea level. Area code: 650
Weather
Palo Alto, CA climate is mild during summer when temperatures tend to be in the 60's and cool during winter when temperatures tend to be in the 50's.
The warmest month of the year is July with an average maximum temperature of 78.80 degrees Fahrenheit, while the coldest month of the year is December with an average minimum temperature of 39.20 degrees Fahrenheit.
Temperature variations between night and day tend to be moderate during summer with a difference that can reach 22 degrees Fahrenheit, and fairly limited during winter with an average difference of 18 degrees Fahrenheit.
The annual average precipitation at Palo Alto is 15.71 Inches. Rainfall in is fairly evenly distributed throughout the year. The wettest month of the year is January with an average rainfall of 3.24 Inches.
Information provided by idcide.com and city data.com
