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belmont neighborhood guide · property nerds® at compass
Downtown Belmont Homes for sale, recent sales and a Property Nerd’s guide
The blocks south of Ralston Avenue from Twin Pines Park to Old County Road: 1920s to 1950s houses on Sixth and Sunnyslope, hillside lots on Vine and Talbryn, City Hall, and the El Camino Real village core.
Downtown Belmont by the numbers
downtown belmont by the numbers · live from the mls
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Calculated in your browser from MLS data for Downtown Belmont (approximate outline traced from the boundary streets). Sales are single-family homes, townhomes and condos.
homes in downtown belmont · live from the mls
Homes for sale, for rent and recently sold in Downtown Belmont
Every active listing, rental and closed sale in Downtown Belmont 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 (Downtown Belmont (approximate outline traced from the boundary streets)); it may not match every local definition.
the story
How Downtown Belmont came to be
Downtown is the City of Belmont's name for about 198 acres south of Ralston Avenue between Twin Pines Park and Old County Road, with El Camino Real running through the middle. It holds the oldest houses in this part of town. County parcel records show lots on a map called West Belmont (county map book 3, page 74) on Waltermire Street, Sixth Avenue, Emmett Street and O'Neill Avenue, with assessor years as early as 1905 and a median of 1922. Next came Bay View Heights (book 14) and Bay View Heights 2 (book 16), about 235 lots on Sunnyslope Avenue, Fifth and Sixth avenues, Molitor Road, Harbor Boulevard and Broadway. Their houses run from 1927 into the 1950s, with a median of 1951, and Sixth Avenue and Sunnyslope Avenue hold 43 of the 60 houses dated to the 1920s and 1930s.
The hill on the southwest side filled in after the war. Brookhaven (book 16, page 22) covers Sunnyslope, Paloma and O'Neill; Prospect Terrace (book 37, page 19) was built out in 1953 to 1955; Montebello (book 47, page 22) put houses on Vine Street, Courtland Road, Arden Lane, Paloma Avenue and Spring Lane around 1959; and Talbryn Estates (book 56, page 4) added the Talbryn Drive lots into the 1960s. Later infill is small: The Cottages, five houses on O'Neill Avenue from 1991 and 1992, and the 15-unit Belmont Village Walk condominiums on Fifth Avenue and Broadway, dated 2024.
Downtown is also Belmont's civic center. City Hall is at One Twin Pines Lane, beside Twin Pines Park, and Belmont Creek runs through the park and along O'Neill Avenue toward the bay. The city's land-use map draws a Belmont Village Specific Plan area of about 83 acres around the El Camino Real and Ralston Avenue crossroads and the station that takes in much of Downtown's commercial frontage.
streets and homes
The streets and the houses
There are two Downtowns. The east side is a flat grid of numbered and lettered streets (Fifth and Sixth avenues, E and F streets, Broadway, Waltermire, Emmett and O'Neill) with Sunnyslope Avenue, Molitor Road, Paloma Avenue and Harbor Boulevard climbing west from it. Those houses are zoned R1C, a 5,000 sq ft minimum, and the median lot is about 5,750 sq ft. The southwest side is hillier: Vine Street, Talbryn Drive, Courtland Road, Arden Lane, Spring Lane, Buckland Avenue, Rose Lane, English Court and Aron Court are zoned R1A (9,600 sq ft minimum), with a median lot of about 12,200 sq ft and a median year built of 1959. The city's slope map shows parts of some lots on Vine, Paloma, Courtland, Talbryn and Buckland steeper than 30 percent. Talbryn Lane, Rose Lane and Oak Tree Court are private streets in the city's street records.
Expect variety on a single block. The assessor roll lists 327 one-story and 90 two-story houses, with a median of about 1,630 sq ft. Sixth Avenue and Sunnyslope Avenue mix 1920s and 1930s cottages with 1950s ranch houses, while the R1A streets are mostly late-1950s and 1960s houses set into the slope.
Closer to El Camino Real the zoning changes. Village Core zoning covers lots on El Camino Real, Fifth and Sixth avenues, Ralston Avenue, Waltermire Street and Broadway; Village Corridor Mixed Use runs along Old County Road; and Corridor Mixed Use continues down El Camino toward San Carlos. In between are small apartment buildings from about 1949 to 1962 on Sixth and Fifth avenues and E and F streets (zoned R3), plus the new condominiums. If you want a house and a short walk to the train, this is the part of Belmont where the two overlap.
streets in downtown belmont
- Sixth Avenue
- Fifth Avenue
- Sunnyslope Avenue
- Molitor Road
- Harbor Boulevard
- Paloma Avenue
- Broadway
- Waltermire Street
- Emmett Street
- O'Neill Avenue
- E Street
- F Street
- King Street
- Lane Street
- Prospect Street
- Vine Street
- Talbryn Drive
- Courtland Road
- Arden Lane
- Spring Lane
- Buckland Avenue
- Twin Pines Lane
- El Camino Real
- Old County Road
- Ralston Avenue (south side)
parks and places
Parks, shops and landmarks near Downtown Belmont
- park
Twin Pines Park
The city's central park, on a public parcel of about 17 acres along the south side of Ralston Avenue. Belmont Creek runs through it; the city's trail data shows paved and dirt paths and a footbridge, and public maps mark picnic areas and playgrounds.
- landmark
Twin Pines Lane civic center
City Hall (One Twin Pines Lane), the police department, the Twin Pines Senior and Community Center (20 Twin Pines Lane) and the Parks and Recreation office (30 Twin Pines Lane) sit together at the east end of the park, per the city's facilities layer.
- shopping
El Camino Real and Ralston Avenue
Shops and restaurants line El Camino Real and Ralston Avenue in the Village Core district, and more retail continues south along El Camino toward the San Carlos line.
- landmark
Belmont Caltrain station
At 995 El Camino Real, just north of Ralston Avenue, with bike racks and on-demand bike lockers (Caltrain). SamTrans routes ECR, 260 and 397 stop there.
schools and commute
School districts and getting around
School districts
Census school-district maps put all of Downtown in the Belmont-Redwood Shores School District for elementary and middle school and the Sequoia Union High School District for high school. There is no public school inside the neighborhood. The district's Nesbit School at 500 Biddulph Way is about 0.65 mile straight-line from the middle of Downtown and Central Elementary School at 525 Middle Road about 0.75 mile; Carlmont High School at 1400 Alameda de las Pulgas is about a mile west. Attendance boundaries change, so check the exact address with each district.
Belmont-Redwood Shores guide · Sequoia Union guide · Silicon Valley school districts
Getting around
- Belmont Caltrain station (995 El Camino Real) sits at the neighborhood's north edge, about 0.4 mile straight-line from the middle of Downtown; San Carlos station is about 1.1 miles.
- SamTrans route ECR runs on El Camino Real between Daly City BART and the Palo Alto Transit Center; routes 260 (San Carlos Caltrain to Carlmont Village) and 397 (San Francisco to Palo Alto) also stop at the station.
- El Camino Real is State Route 82; US 101 at the Ralston Avenue interchange is about 0.75 mile straight-line east of the middle.
- The city's bike network includes the Ralston Avenue and Old County Road routes, and the Twin Pines Park paths connect the civic center to the Ralston frontage.
- Walking: every house in Downtown is within about 0.75 mile straight-line of the station, about half are within half a mile, and nine in ten are within half a mile of City Hall (county parcel positions).
nerd notes
Buying or selling in Downtown Belmont: what we check
Buying here
- Know the zoning on and around your block. Village Core, Village Corridor Mixed Use and Corridor Mixed Use districts sit within a block or two of many houses here, so ask Belmont planning what the Belmont Village Specific Plan allows nearby and whether any projects are in review.
- Pre-1940 houses on Sixth Avenue, Sunnyslope Avenue and Waltermire Street need an older-house inspection: foundation type and bolting, original wiring, galvanized plumbing and the sewer lateral.
- Flood and soils: a few lots along Belmont Creek near O'Neill Avenue and Sixth Avenue are in FEMA Zone A, and the flat blocks by El Camino Real and Old County Road are in the shaded Zone X (0.2 percent annual chance) area with moderate liquefaction mapping. Check the parcel, not the street.
- Hillside lots on Vine, Talbryn, Courtland and Buckland can include slopes steeper than 30 percent. Before planning an addition, ask what geotechnical and hillside design review the city requires. On private Talbryn Lane, Rose Lane and Oak Tree Court, ask for the road maintenance agreement.
- For the condominiums and small buildings near El Camino Real, read the HOA documents and reserve study and check current dues. If a home is close to the rail line or El Camino Real, visit at commute hours to hear trains and traffic for yourself.
Selling here
- Put the distance to the train and to Twin Pines Park in the listing as approximate straight-line figures; about half of Downtown's houses are within half a mile of the station.
- For older houses, gather records of foundation, electrical, plumbing and sewer lateral work before listing. Buyers of 1920s and 1930s houses ask for them first.
- On R1A hillside lots, have the lot size, any survey and any geotechnical reports ready; the extra land and the slope both affect value.
- State the zoning plainly (R1C, R1A or a Village district). Buyers comparing a house near El Camino Real with one up the hill want to know what can be built next door.
nerd noteCommissions are always negotiable, and we offer bundled services, so ask us what's included.
faq
Downtown Belmont questions, answered
How close is the Caltrain station?
Belmont station, at 995 El Camino Real, is just across Ralston Avenue at the north edge of the neighborhood, about 0.4 mile straight-line from the middle. It is in fare zone 2 and has 375 parking spaces.
What is the Belmont Village Specific Plan?
It is the city's plan for the area around the El Camino Real and Ralston Avenue crossroads and the station. The city's land-use map marks about 83 acres in Village districts (Village Core, Station Core, Village Corridor Mixed Use and Village High Density Residential). Check the current plan with the city for height and density rules on a given lot.
What kinds of homes are here?
Mostly single-family houses: 1920s and 1930s cottages and 1950s ranch houses on the flat grid, late-1950s and 1960s hillside houses on the southwest streets, plus condominiums and small apartment buildings near El Camino Real.
Is any of Downtown unincorporated?
No. Every parcel inside the city's Downtown polygon is in the City of Belmont. The Harbor Industrial Area just east, along Harbor Boulevard and Old County Road south of O'Neill Avenue, is unincorporated San Mateo County, with county planning and permits.
Is Downtown in a flood zone?
Mostly no. A few lots along Belmont Creek near O'Neill Avenue are in FEMA Zone A, and the flat blocks near El Camino Real and Old County Road are in the shaded Zone X area. Check the FEMA map for the exact parcel.
talk to a property nerd
Thinking about Downtown Belmont? Let's run your numbers.
Eric, Janelle and the Boyenga Team have sold more than 2,520 Silicon Valley homes, $2.6+ billion in all, since 1996. Get a value, a plan, or a straight answer about a street.
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