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palo alto neighborhood guide · property nerds® at compass
Community Center, Palo Alto Homes for sale, recent sales and a Property Nerd’s guide
The blocks around Rinconada Park, the Lucie Stern Community Center and the Junior Museum and Zoo: early 1900s houses, postwar ranches and a 1970s Eichler group between Middlefield and Newell.
Community Center by the numbers
community center by the numbers · live from the mls
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Calculated in your browser from MLS data for Community Center: Middlefield Rd to Newell Rd, Channing Ave to Embarcadero Rd (approximate). Sales are single-family homes, townhomes and condos.
homes in community center · live from the mls
Homes for sale, for rent and recently sold in Community Center
Every active listing, rental and closed sale in Community Center from the MLS, updated automatically, with a map of the neighborhood outline.
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Listings come from MLSListings and other MLSs through IDX and show their listing brokerage; confirm details with the listing agent. The map outline is the neighborhood boundary used by our listing search (Community Center: Middlefield Rd to Newell Rd, Channing Ave to Embarcadero Rd (approximate)); it may not match every local definition.
the story
How Community Center came to be
The neighborhood takes its name from the civic campus at its center. Rinconada Park opened in 1922 as Waterworks Park, named for a nearby well and reservoir; two years later a Chamber of Commerce contest renamed it Rinconada, after the Rancho Rinconada del Arroyo de San Francisquito land grant. The city calls it Palo Alto's second-oldest park.
In the 1930s Lucie Stern and her daughter Ruth gave the city money for a community center at the park's north edge. Birge Clark designed the Spanish Mediterranean-style Lucie Stern Community Center, built in 1934, with a community theater and a children's theater; Ruth Stern's gift also made the big swimming pool possible. The Junior Museum and Zoo, founded in 1934, sits next door on Middlefield Road and reopened in a rebuilt home in 2021.
The houses grew up around the park. Palo Alto Online's 2015 profile says many of the early small bungalows were built as second homes for San Franciscans escaping the summer fog, and most have since given way to bigger houses. City parcel records show the layers: about 130 houses from the 1920s, a wave of postwar ranches, and just over two dozen Eichlers from 1973 and 1974 that the Eichler Network calls one of Joe Eichler's last neighborhoods.
streets and homes
The streets and the houses
This is Palo Alto's street grid, not a curving tract. Channing, Lincoln, Hopkins, Melville, Kingsley, Addison, Greenwood, Harker, Parkinson and Hutchinson avenues cross Guinda, Fulton, Cedar, Pine, Wilson and Harriet streets in short blocks between Middlefield and Newell. The city's 18-acre park parcel, with Rinconada Park, the community center, the zoo, the Children's Library at 1276 Harriet Street and Fire Station 3, fills the south end along Embarcadero Road.
Lots are mid-sized for north Palo Alto, mostly about 5,600 to 8,200 square feet, all zoned R-1 except a few small apartment lots on Middlefield and Channing. The oldest houses, from the 1900s through the 1920s, cluster on Guinda, Fulton, Lincoln, Hopkins, Addison and Cedar. Hutchinson and Greenwood avenues have more postwar houses, and Parkinson, Harker and Greenwood avenues have the most rebuilds since 2000, about one in four or five lots on each (city parcel records).
The Eichlers are the surprise. Built in 1973 and 1974 on Harker Avenue, Harriet Street and Melville Avenue (city records also show 1973 houses on Parkinson and Greenwood avenues), they sit on the regular grid next to houses from the 1910s, mostly four-bedroom plans with atriums, per the Eichler Network. Anywhere in the neighborhood, a new two-story house or a second-story addition goes through the city's Individual Review.
streets in community center
- Middlefield Road
- Channing Avenue
- Embarcadero Road
- Newell Road
- Guinda Street
- Fulton Street
- Lincoln Avenue
- Hopkins Avenue
- Melville Avenue
- Greenwood Avenue
- Harker Avenue
- Parkinson Avenue
- Hutchinson Avenue
- Harriet Street
- Cedar Street
- Wilson Street
- Addison Avenue
parks and places
Parks, shops and landmarks near Community Center
- park
Rinconada Park
777 Embarcadero Road: 19 acres of live oaks and redwoods with the city's swimming pool, tennis courts, playgrounds, picnic tables and walking paths. The Magic Forest, a redwood stand on Hopkins Avenue, was dedicated in 1971, and a coast live oak more than 200 years old became Heritage Tree No. 2 in 1994.
- landmark
Lucie Stern Community Center
Birge Clark's 1934 Spanish Mediterranean-style complex on the park's north side, home to the city's Recreation Department, a community theater and a children's theater.
- landmark
Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo
At 1451 Middlefield Road. Founded in 1934, it reopened in a rebuilt facility in 2021 after the City Council approved the reconstruction in 2017.
- landmark
Rinconada Library and Palo Alto Art Center
Just across Newell Road at 1213 and 1313 Newell. The library opened in 1958, designed by Edward Durell Stone, and reopened after an expansion in 2015.
- shopping
Downtown Palo Alto
University Avenue's shops and restaurants begin about a third of a mile up Middlefield Road from Channing Avenue.
schools and commute
School districts and getting around
School districts
Community Center is served by the Palo Alto Unified School District. Walter Hays Elementary School is inside the neighborhood at 1525 Middlefield Road, at the corner of Embarcadero Road. Attendance boundaries change, so check the exact address with PAUSD's school locator before you rely on any assignment.
Getting around
- Palo Alto (University Avenue) Caltrain station is about 1.1 miles west and California Avenue station about 1.2 miles south (straight-line distances from the middle of the neighborhood).
- VTA Route 21 runs along Middlefield Road on the west edge, with a timepoint at Middlefield and Embarcadero.
- Embarcadero Road runs east to US 101 (about 1.2 miles) and west to El Camino Real and Stanford.
- The Bryant Street bike boulevard runs north-south a few blocks west of Middlefield Road.
nerd notes
Buying or selling in Community Center: what we check
Buying here
- Check the city's historic status for the parcel. A few houses here are on Palo Alto's historic inventory (Category 3 or 4) or were found eligible for the National Register in a 1998 survey, which can shape remodel and demolition review.
- City parcel records show about 55 parcels, mostly along Channing, Greenwood and Hutchinson avenues and Newell Road, in FEMA flood zones A or AH (shallow flooding). Get the flood zone for the address and an insurance quote.
- City records flag about 27 lots as substandard and 8 as flag lots. Substandard lots can face tighter rules, such as a 17-foot height limit, so read the zoning standards before you plan a second story.
- For the oldest houses, budget for foundation, wiring, plumbing and sewer lateral checks, and compare what is permitted against what was built.
- In the 1973-74 Eichlers, ask about the radiant heating, roof and glazing; on blocks next to the park, zoo, pool or Walter Hays School, visit at event and drop-off times.
Selling here
- Lead with the walk: Rinconada Park, the pool, the Junior Museum and Zoo, two libraries and Walter Hays School are all within a few blocks.
- Have the parcel's historic status, flood zone and any substandard-lot notes from the city's parcel report ready for buyers.
- Pull permit history; many houses here have additions or full rebuilds, and buyers compare against them.
- For an Eichler, say so and give the year (1973 or 1974); a late Eichler on the regular grid is unusual.
nerd noteCommissions are always negotiable, and we offer bundled services, so ask us what's included.
faq
Community Center questions, answered
What are the boundaries of the Community Center neighborhood?
Middlefield Road on the west, Channing Avenue on the north, Newell Road on the east and Embarcadero Road on the south. The city's GIS neighborhood map draws the east edge further out, at Heather Lane.
Why is it called Community Center?
For the civic campus at its center: Rinconada Park, the Lucie Stern Community Center, the Junior Museum and Zoo and the Children's Library, with Rinconada Library and the Art Center just across Newell Road.
Are there Eichlers in Community Center?
Yes, just over two dozen from 1973 and 1974, mainly on Harker Avenue, Harriet Street and Melville Avenue. They are among Joe Eichler's last homes and sit on the regular street grid.
What kind of houses are in Community Center?
A mix: cottages and bungalows from the 1900s-1920s, 1930s period-revival houses, postwar ranches, the 1970s Eichlers and many newer two-story houses. About 190 of roughly 430 houses predate 1940.
Is Community Center in a flood zone?
Mostly not, but city parcel records show about 55 parcels, mainly toward Channing Avenue and Newell Road, in FEMA zones A or AH. Check the map for the exact address.
Which school is in the neighborhood?
Walter Hays Elementary, at 1525 Middlefield Road. All addresses are in the Palo Alto Unified School District; confirm assignments with the district's school locator.
next door
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