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palo alto neighborhood guide · property nerds® at compass
Downtown North, Palo Alto Homes for sale, recent sales and a Property Nerd’s guide
The blocks between Lytton Avenue and San Francisquito Creek, from the Caltrain tracks to Middlefield Road: early-1900s cottages, 1960s apartments and condos, Johnson Park and El Palo Alto, the city's namesake redwood.
Downtown North by the numbers
downtown north by the numbers · live from the mls
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Calculated in your browser from MLS data for Downtown North: Lytton Ave to San Francisquito Creek, the tracks to Middlefield Rd (city neighborhood outline). Sales are single-family homes, townhomes and condos.
homes in downtown north · live from the mls
Homes for sale, for rent and recently sold in Downtown North
Every active listing, rental and closed sale in Downtown North 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 North: Lytton Ave to San Francisquito Creek, the tracks to Middlefield Rd (city neighborhood outline)); it may not match every local definition.
the story
How Downtown North came to be
Downtown North is where Palo Alto got its name. El Palo Alto, the coast redwood at the neighborhood's creek corner, is more than a thousand years old and 110.8 feet tall; the Portola expedition camped beside it in 1769, and in the 1800s it served as a survey point for the road that became El Camino Real. It is California Historical Landmark No. 2. The blocks behind it were part of Timothy Hopkins's 1889 University Park subdivision, and they filled in with houses in the early 1900s, a short walk from the train and the University Avenue shops.
Some early buildings remain on the city's Historic Inventory, among them the 1896 building at Lytton Avenue and Cowper Street that the inventory calls Palo Alto's first hospital, and a 1915 building at 212 High Street listed as the old trolley building. Dr. Edith Johnson, who practiced medicine in town from 1907 into the 1960s and delivered more than 3,500 babies, lived and worked at 375 Hawthorne Avenue. In 1968 the city bought the whole block between Waverley, Kipling, Everett and Hawthorne to give the neighborhood open space; it opened as Downtown Park North and was renamed Johnson Park in her honor in 1986.
After World War II, apartment buildings went up across the neighborhood; city parcel records date 164 of today's multifamily and condo parcels to the 1960s alone. Traffic became the other long-running story: the city approved barriers in 2001 to stop commuters cutting through the neighborhood's 33 blocks, installed seven of them on a trial in 2003, and in March 2004 the council voted to take down all but one and use speed bumps and traffic circles instead.
streets and homes
The streets and the houses
The grid here is downtown's, tilted about 45 degrees. Alma, High, Emerson, Ramona, Bryant, Waverley, Kipling, Cowper, Tasso, Webster and Byron streets run toward the creek, and Lytton, Hawthorne and Everett avenues cross them, with Palo Alto Avenue following the creek bank. Short Poe Street, Ruthven Avenue, Bryant Court and Everett Court fill in. By parcel count Alma Street (111) and Everett Avenue (109) lead because of their condo buildings.
The neighborhood splits by zoning. Single-family houses, about 260 parcels, cluster on the creek and Middlefield sides: Palo Alto Avenue (39), Webster Street (32), Byron Street (31), Cowper Street (28), Poe Street and Ruthven Avenue. Lots are small, with a median of about 5,600 square feet and only 10 at 10,000 or more. Apartments and condos, about 490 parcels, line Alma Street, Everett and Hawthorne avenues and the Emerson, Bryant and Waverley blocks nearest downtown, zoned RM-20 and RM-30; the 99-unit building at 101 Alma Street sits on its own planned-community zone. R-2 covers 114 parcels, mostly on Cowper, Webster, Hawthorne and Everett; RMD (NP) covers 48 on Kipling, Waverley and Everett; and the Lytton Avenue frontage carries downtown commercial zoning.
The houses are old, with a median recorded year built of 1926 and only 31 recording 2000 or later; 34 parcels carry a Category 1 to 4 historic listing. Two things vary block by block. The east side toward Middlefield Road sits in FEMA AH flood zones in the city's parcel data, including almost all of Byron Street, most of Webster and the Middlefield frontage, about half of all single-family parcels in all; the blocks toward Alma are mostly Zone X. And about 160 parcels along Alma Street and Palo Alto Avenue are flagged as near the creek, which can bring Valley Water review of outdoor work. The city's 2020 tree-canopy figure here is 34 percent.
streets in downtown north
- Palo Alto Avenue
- Everett Avenue
- Hawthorne Avenue
- Lytton Avenue
- Alma Street
- High Street
- Emerson Street
- Ramona Street
- Bryant Street
- Waverley Street
- Kipling Street
- Cowper Street
- Tasso Street
- Webster Street
- Byron Street
- Middlefield Road
- Poe Street
- Ruthven Avenue
- Bryant Court
- Everett Court
parks and places
Parks, shops and landmarks near Downtown North
- landmark
El Palo Alto Park, Palo Alto Avenue
Just east of El Camino Real and the railroad tracks, a half-acre park around the city's namesake redwood, with interpretive plaques about the San Francisquito Creek watershed and a lighted walking and bike path along the creek to Menlo Park.
- park
Johnson Park, 268 Waverley Street
A 2.5-acre neighborhood park on the block the city bought in 1968, with playgrounds, basketball courts, picnic tables and walking paths.
- park
Hopkins Creekside Park
A narrow, mostly natural strip along the Palo Alto bank of the creek on Palo Alto Avenue, about 1.5 miles long, deeded to the city by Timothy Hopkins and his wife in 1907.
- shopping
University Avenue, downtown
One block south of Lytton Avenue: downtown's restaurants, shops and offices start at the neighborhood's edge.
schools and commute
School districts and getting around
School districts
Downtown North is served by the Palo Alto Unified School District. No public school sits in or right next to the neighborhood; Addison Elementary (650 Addison Avenue) and Walter Hays Elementary (1525 Middlefield Road) are the closest elementary campuses to the south, and Palo Alto High School is at 50 Embarcadero Road. PAUSD assigns schools by address and attendance boundaries change, so check the exact address with the district.
Getting around
- Palo Alto Caltrain (95 University Avenue) is just across Alma Street from the neighborhood's southwest corner, about 0.1 to 0.7 mile from any block (straight line). The Palo Alto Transit Center beside it is served by VTA Route 21 and SamTrans Route 281, among others.
- The Bryant Street bike boulevard begins at Palo Alto Avenue here and runs south across the city to East Meadow Drive.
- A lighted path along the creek at El Palo Alto Park links to Menlo Park for walking and biking.
- El Camino Real is just west of the tracks; US-101 is roughly 2 miles east by University Avenue or Embarcadero Road (approximate).
- Palo Alto Avenue crosses the Caltrain tracks at street level. The city's current grade separation work covers Churchill Avenue, Meadow Drive and Charleston Road; Palo Alto Avenue was set aside in 2022 for a future downtown plan, and the city has also studied limiting routine train horns at that crossing.
nerd notes
Buying or selling in Downtown North: what we check
Buying here
- Check the flood zone parcel by parcel. In the city's data about half the single-family houses, mostly on the Middlefield side, are in FEMA AH zones, where lenders usually require flood insurance. Ask for the elevation certificate, the premium and whether a Letter of Map Amendment exists.
- Know the zoning next door as well as your own. R-1, R-2, RMD (NP), RM-20 and RM-30 sit within a block of each other here, so a neighboring lot may be able to add units.
- For 1950s and 1960s condo and apartment buildings, read the HOA budget, reserve study and any seismic or structural reports, and confirm parking and storage assignments.
- If you are near Alma Street or Palo Alto Avenue, listen for trains at the Palo Alto Avenue crossing at different hours, and keep an eye on the city's downtown plan and train-horn studies.
- Blocks near downtown may be in the Downtown residential parking permit district: cars without a permit get 2 hours, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays, and each home can buy up to six annual permits. Check the map for your block.
Selling here
- Lead with measured distances: the Caltrain station, University Avenue, Johnson Park and El Palo Alto are all within a few minutes' walk of most blocks.
- Have flood documents ready (elevation certificate, insurance history, any LOMA), especially on the Middlefield side.
- For condos, order the HOA resale package early and summarize reserves, recent assessments and any retrofit work.
- On R-2 and RMD lots, state the zoning clearly; buyers will ask about second units.
nerd noteCommissions are always negotiable, and we offer bundled services, so ask us what's included.
faq
Downtown North questions, answered
Where is Downtown North?
Between Lytton Avenue and San Francisquito Creek, from Alma Street and the Caltrain tracks to Middlefield Road. University Avenue's shops are one block south.
Why does Downtown North have traffic circles and speed bumps?
To keep commuter traffic off its residential streets. The city tried seven barriers in 2003, then in March 2004 voted to remove all but one and use speed bumps and traffic circles instead.
Is Downtown North in a flood zone?
Partly. In the city's parcel data, the blocks toward Middlefield Road are mostly in FEMA AH zones, while most blocks toward Alma Street are Zone X. Check the FEMA map and any LOMA for the exact address.
What is El Palo Alto?
The coast redwood beside the railroad tracks on Palo Alto Avenue that gave the city its name: more than 1,000 years old, 110.8 feet tall, and California Historical Landmark No. 2.
Which school district serves Downtown North?
The Palo Alto Unified School District. Schools are assigned by address and boundaries change, so confirm any address with PAUSD.
next door
More Palo Alto neighborhood guides
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