brisbane · san mateo county
Brisbane Real Estate & Neighborhood Guide
Brisbane is a small city on the east slope of San Bruno Mountain and the bay shore below it: about 2.99 square miles of land, plus bay water inside its limits. It began as Visitacion City, a 1908 subdivision of small lots that still sets the street grid above Bayshore Boulevard, and incorporated on November 27, 1961. Business districts took the flats: Crocker Park's warehouses in the valley north of town, mostly built from the late 1950s to about 1980, and the Sierra Point offices and marina east of US 101 from 1981 on. The Northeast Ridge's condominiums and houses followed from 1997 under the San Bruno Mountain Habitat Conservation Plan. Homes are mostly single-family houses on small hillside lots, with condominiums and townhouses on the ridge.
population, 2020 census
land area
zip codes
incorporated
neighborhoods
Brisbane neighborhoods
Brisbane's homes sit in two separate places, and our two guides follow the city's zoning. Central Brisbane & Brisbane Acres is the 1908 town grid on the lower slope above Bayshore Blvd, where more than half of the house lots are under 5,000 square feet (median about 4,500 by our measurement of county parcel maps), plus the Brisbane Acres hillside along the south side of town, zoned for 20,000-square-foot lots inside the San Bruno Mountain habitat plan and still mostly open. Northeast Ridge is the planned development of about 500 condominiums and houses above Crocker Park, recorded from 1997 on, with single-family lots of about 6,000 to 10,800 square feet and conserved habitat around it. Between the two lies the Crocker Park business district, and east of Bayshore Blvd the Baylands and Sierra Point hold businesses, the marina, the former rail yard and landfill, and open space. Every city address is in ZIP 94005, and Census maps show no unincorporated neighborhood sharing Brisbane addresses.
Central Brisbane & Brisbane Acres
Brisbane's original town: the 1908 Visitacion City grid of small lots climbing San Bruno Mountain's east slope above Bayshore Blvd, plus the large hillside lots of Brisbane Acres.
Northeast Ridge
About 500 homes in compact groups on San Bruno Mountain's northeast shoulder above Crocker Park, built under the mountain's habitat conservation plan with conserved slopes all around.
schools
Brisbane public schools
Elementary and middle
- Brisbane School District. Serves all of Brisbane's current residential areas: central Brisbane, Brisbane Acres and the Northeast Ridge (the city's school-district layer and Census maps agree). It has three schools: Brisbane Elementary (500 San Bruno Ave) and Lipman Middle School (1 Solano St) in central Brisbane, and Panorama Elementary in Daly City.
- Bayshore Elementary School District. Covers most of the Baylands north of Crocker Park, including Industrial Way, Tunnel Ave and the area around the Bayshore station; the city's Baylands FAQ names it for the Baylands. No homes are there today; the Baylands plan would put housing in the northwest corner.
High school
- Jefferson Union High School District. Serves the whole city, the Baylands included. The city's school page says Brisbane students are eligible to attend the district's high schools; none is in Brisbane, and the district office is in Daly City.
property nerd note
For today's homes Brisbane is simple: Brisbane School District plus Jefferson Union. The catch is the Baylands, which sit in a different elementary district, Bayshore Elementary. Attendance boundaries change, so check any address with the district before you write an offer. Start with our Silicon Valley schools guide.
zip codes
Brisbane ZIP codes
Covers all of Brisbane: every one of the city's 2,674 address points carries 94005. On Census ZIP maps it also takes in unincorporated San Bruno Mountain parkland west and south of town; the county park's entrance at 555 Guadalupe Canyon Pkwy uses a Brisbane address. Caltrain lists the Bayshore station, which is inside the city limit, with a San Francisco 94134 address.
getting around
Getting around Brisbane
Bayshore Caltrain
Bayshore station (zone 1) on Tunnel Ave sits inside Brisbane's city limit at its north end, though Caltrain lists a San Francisco address. Muni lines, SamTrans 292 and 397 and the Brisbane-Crocker Park shuttle stop there. It is about 1.6 miles straight-line from downtown Brisbane and 1.3 miles from the Northeast Ridge.
SamTrans and shuttles
SamTrans Route 292 links San Francisco, Brisbane, SFO and Hillsdale. Commute.org's free Brisbane-Crocker Park shuttle runs weekday commute hours between Balboa Park BART and Bayshore Caltrain.
US 101 and Bayshore Blvd
US 101 runs along the bay on the city's east side, with a Sierra Point Pkwy exit for Sierra Point and the marina (public maps). Bayshore Blvd is the town's main road, from the South San Francisco line north past downtown, Crocker Park and the Baylands into San Francisco.
The mountain road and trails
Guadalupe Canyon Pkwy climbs from Bayshore Blvd past the Northeast Ridge and the county park entrance to Daly City. The Crocker Park Recreational Trail is a level 2.5-mile loop around the business park, and the Bay Trail passes the Sierra Point marina.
living here
Living in Brisbane
Downtown and the Community Park
Visitacion Ave and San Bruno Ave form the downtown commercial district. The Community Park on Old County Rd, whose land the city's redevelopment agency bought in 1986, has the main playground, a gazebo, picnic tables and the Thursday farmers' market; the skatepark and basketball courts are at Old County Rd and Park Lane.
Library and civic buildings
The Brisbane Library, a San Mateo County Libraries branch, opened in a new building at 163 Visitacion Ave in October 2020. City Hall is at 50 Park Place, and the city's Mission Blue Center at 475 Mission Blue Dr on the Northeast Ridge holds meetings and events for up to 200.
San Bruno Mountain
San Bruno Mountain State and County Park (2,416 acres; summit 1,314 feet) borders and almost surrounds the city, with its entrance at 555 Guadalupe Canyon Pkwy. The San Bruno Mountain Habitat Conservation Plan, under a federal permit issued in 1983, covers private land the city lists in Brisbane Acres, the Northeast Ridge, the Southwest Bayshore subarea and Guadalupe Hills; building there starts with a biological review and a habitat operating program.
Sierra Point and the marina
East of US 101, the Sierra Point office park was built in 1981-1983 through the city's redevelopment agency, and the city's building-energy records date the office, lab and hotel buildings along Marina Blvd and Sierra Point Pkwy from 1983 to 2000. The city's Brisbane Marina at 400 Sierra Point Pkwy has about 580 berths assigned through the harbor office, a 270-foot guest dock, a public 300-foot fishing pier and a stretch of the Bay Trail.
Crocker Park
The TC-1 business park in the valley between central Brisbane and the Northeast Ridge: warehouses, distribution and light-industrial buildings, most built from the late 1950s to about 1980. Parts of the valley floor are in a FEMA flood zone and a state liquefaction zone. The Parkside Precise Plan (2017) added housing overlay zoning on Park Ln, Park Place and Old County Rd at its south end.
The Baylands
About 680 acres east of Bayshore Blvd (558 of land and 122 of lagoon), on the former rail yard and landfill, where state water and toxics agencies oversee cleanup. Measure JJ (November 2018) allows 1,800 to 2,200 homes, limited to the northwest corner. As of mid-October 2026 the Baylands Specific Plan had not been adopted: the Planning Commission recommended adoption on August 13, 2026, and City Council hearings were scheduled into November 2026. Check the city's Baylands page for the current status.
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faq
Brisbane real estate FAQ
When did Brisbane become a city?
Brisbane incorporated on November 27, 1961, and is a general-law city with a five-member council elected at large. The town itself began as Visitacion City, a 1908 subdivision; county records still describe most central lots as part of the City of Visitacion map.
Which school districts serve Brisbane?
Brisbane School District for elementary and middle school (Brisbane Elementary and Lipman Middle are in town) and Jefferson Union High School District for high school. Most of the Baylands, which has no homes today, is in the Bayshore Elementary School District instead. Check the exact address with the district.
Is the Bayshore Caltrain station in Brisbane?
Yes. The station on Tunnel Ave is inside Brisbane's city limit on both the city's and the Census maps, although Caltrain lists it with a San Francisco address. It is in fare zone 1.
Has the Baylands plan been adopted?
Not as of mid-October 2026. Voters approved Measure JJ in November 2018, allowing 1,800 to 2,200 homes in the northwest Baylands; the Specific Plan's final EIR came out in May 2026, the Planning Commission recommended adoption in August 2026, and City Council hearings were running into November 2026.
Which hazard maps matter in Brisbane?
On the mountain side, CAL FIRE's 2025 map (as loaded in the city's GIS) shows Moderate fire hazard severity zones on the upper streets of central Brisbane, Brisbane Acres and most of the Northeast Ridge, and state landslide zones cover parts of the slopes. Down low, liquefaction zones cover the lower downtown blocks and much of Crocker Park, the Baylands and Sierra Point, and FEMA flood zones touch parts of Crocker Park, Industrial Way, the Baylands and the Sierra Point shore. FEMA maps every residential address point in zone X. Check the parcel.
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