foster city · san mateo county
Foster City Real Estate & Neighborhood Guide
Foster City is a planned town on Brewer Island, a stretch of diked marsh, salt ponds and dairy land on the bay side of San Mateo. Developer T. Jack Foster's 1961 master plan laid out nine residential neighborhoods around an internal lagoon, with a town center, shopping centers and an industrial area. The salt ponds were drained in the early 1960s and about 18 million tons of fill raised the ground about four feet. The first homes were occupied by 1964, the lagoon and neighborhoods grew in step through the 1970s, and the city incorporated in April 1971. The 2020 census counted 13,558 housing units; the city's 2016 land use element put the mix at 37% single-family detached homes, 33% townhouses and condominiums and 30% apartments.
population, 2020 census
land area
zip codes
incorporated
neighborhoods
Foster City neighborhoods
Foster City numbers its neighborhoods rather than naming them. Nine residential neighborhoods, 1 to 9, sit south and east of East Hillsdale Boulevard, and the office and mixed-use areas to the north carry labels such as Town Center, Pilgrim-Triton, Chess/Hatch, Lincoln Centre and Vintage Park. These guides pair the city's numbers with the names listing records use: Treasure Isle (1, with Pilgrim-Triton), Bay Vista (2), Carmel Village (3), Marina Point & Harbor Side (4 and 6), The Islands (5), Sea Colony & Port Royal (7 and 8), and Isle Cove, Edgewater & Metro Center (9 and Town Center). The north and east neighborhoods filled in first, around the 1964 lagoon segment and the 1963 to 1968 Eichler homes; the center and south followed in the 1970s and 1980s, and Town Center, the civic center site and Pilgrim-Triton added condominiums and townhomes later. Single-family lot medians run about 5,500 to 6,150 square feet by neighborhood, Neighborhood 5 has no detached houses at all, and there are no unincorporated pockets: county records flag every Foster City parcel as incorporated.
Treasure Isle
Foster City's Neighborhood 1, inside the curve of the lagoon: ship-named streets, Eichler homes from 1963, the Comet Drive duplexes, and City Hall, the library and Leo J. Ryan Park.
Bay Vista
Foster City's Neighborhood 2, between the lagoon and the bay levee: bird-named streets of 1960s and 1970s houses, some Eichlers, Audubon Elementary, Gull Park's sand beach and the levee trail.
Carmel Village
Foster City's Neighborhood 3 on the east shore: fish-named streets of 1960s and 1970s houses between the lagoon and the bay levee, Bowditch Middle School, Marlin Park's beach and two lagoon isles.
Marina Point & Harbor Side
Foster City's Neighborhoods 4 and 6 south of Foster City Boulevard: sailing-term streets, an all-Eichler stretch of Mainsail Court, Marina Point condos, Harbor Side townhouses and naval-named lanes.
The Islands
Foster City's Neighborhood 5, ringed by the lagoon: 1970s townhouse and condominium groups on explorer-named lanes, with no detached houses at all, plus Beach Park Elementary on the old Charter Square site.
Sea Colony & Port Royal
Foster City's south end, the city's Neighborhoods 7 and 8: island-named lanes east of Edgewater Boulevard and harbor-named streets around Port Royal Avenue, between Marina Lagoon and Belmont Slough.
Isle Cove, Edgewater & Metro Center
West Foster City along Marina Lagoon: Neighborhood 9's star-named streets, condo complexes and townhouse lanes around Edgewater Park, plus the Town Center townhomes next to Metro Center and SR-92.
schools
Foster City public schools
Elementary and middle
- San Mateo-Foster City School District. Serves all of Foster City for elementary and middle grades (Census district maps). Public schools in town: Brewer Island Elementary (1151 Polynesia Dr., Neighborhood 1), Audubon Elementary (841 Gull Ave., Neighborhood 2), Bowditch Middle School (1450 Tarpon St., Neighborhood 3), Beach Park Elementary (1058 Shell Blvd., Neighborhood 5, opened 2021 on the former Charter Square site) and Foster City Elementary (461 Beach Park Blvd., Neighborhood 9). The district office is at 1170 Chess Drive.
High school
- San Mateo Union High School District. There is no high school in Foster City; the city's general plan says the majority of its students attend San Mateo or Hillsdale High in San Mateo. Census maps show a Belmont-Redwood Shores and Sequoia Union strip along the southeast levee and marsh, with no homes in it.
property nerd note
District lines and attendance areas are separate questions. Use the San Mateo-Foster City district's online School Locator for elementary and middle school, the San Mateo Union High School District's address lookup for high school, and the county office of education's district locator to confirm the district itself; boundaries and capacity change, so check before you write an offer. Start with our Silicon Valley schools guide.
zip codes
Foster City ZIP codes
All of Foster City: Census ZIP areas put every residential parcel in the city in 94404. The same ZIP also covers City of San Mateo blocks east of US-101, including Mariner's Island, Edgewater Isle and Bridgepointe, so check the city name on every 94404 listing.
getting around
Getting around Foster City
Caltrain and BART
The nearest Caltrain stop is Hillsdale station at 50 E. 28th Ave. in San Mateo, about 1.5 to 3 miles straight-line from the neighborhoods; the city's general plan names Millbrae as the closest BART station.
SamTrans
Route 251 loops through town on Foster City, Beach Park and Edgewater Boulevards, stopping at Marlin Cove and the civic center, and runs to Bridgepointe, Hillsdale Caltrain and Hillsdale Mall about once an hour (timetable effective August 4, 2024). SamTrans also lists an FCX express to San Francisco and route 51 school trips to Hillsdale High.
Freeways and the bridge
SR-92 crosses the city with ramps at Fashion Island Boulevard, Edgewater Boulevard, Metro Center Boulevard and Chess Drive, then crosses the bay on the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge. US-101 runs along the west edge, with interchanges at East Hillsdale Boulevard and East Third Avenue.
The levee trail
A paved pedway of about 8 miles runs along the levee crest around the city and links to the regional Bay Trail. The rebuilt trail is a 12-foot asphalt path with gravel shoulders and a 15 mph limit for everyone, e-bikes included.
living here
Living in Foster City
The lagoon
About 212 acres of water, about six feet deep on average, winding roughly five miles through town. It is also the storm-drain detention basin, with tide gates at the south end and pumps at the north. The city raises it to summer level in mid-March and lowers it in mid-November, and powerboats are prohibited.
Civic center and Leo J. Ryan Park
City Hall at 610 Foster City Boulevard, the Foster City Library at 1000 East Hillsdale Boulevard (run by the San Mateo County Library joint powers authority) and the recreation center sit together beside Leo J. Ryan Park, about 20 acres of lagoon-side lawn with a gazebo, amphitheater and boat launch.
The levee and Measure P
Voters approved the Measure P levee bond in 2018. The Levee Improvements Project rebuilt the bay levee for sea level rise projections through 2050; the whole trail reopened in October 2023 and the project reached final completion in February 2024.
Parks and the refuge
The city counts over 160 acres of park and open space, with neighborhood parks on the lagoon such as Gull Park and Marlin Park, each about 3.1 acres with a sand beach. About 57 acres of wetlands along Belmont Slough became a state wildlife refuge in 1976.
Metro Center and neighborhood centers
Metro Center, a 100-acre mixed-use district north of East Hillsdale Boulevard, is the city's planned downtown. The general plan lists neighborhood centers at Marlin Cove, Beach Park Plaza, Edgewater Place and The Marketplace; the fifth, Charter Square, is now Beach Park Elementary.
Eichler homes
An Eichler history counts more than 200 Eichler homes built here from 1963 to 1968, scattered through Neighborhoods 1, 2 and 4, with an all-Eichler stretch of Mainsail Court. The Foster City Eichler homes page covers them in detail.
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faq
Foster City real estate FAQ
Is Foster City in a flood zone?
FEMA's flood data show a map revision for Foster City (case 24-09-0381P) effective September 11, 2026, with the residential neighborhoods in Zone X, an area with reduced flood risk due to the levee, after the city rebuilt its levee (final completion February 2024). The city says flood insurance stays optional for federally backed mortgages. Check the exact parcel on FEMA's map.
What about earthquakes and the fill?
The city sits on fill over soft bay mud, which the general plan estimates at 45 to 80 feet deep, and nearly every residential parcel is inside a state-mapped liquefaction zone (California Geological Survey, 2018). Read the natural hazard disclosure and have the inspector look for settlement. CAL FIRE's 2025 map classes the city as non-wildland, with no fire hazard severity zone.
Which school districts serve Foster City?
San Mateo-Foster City School District for elementary and middle grades and San Mateo Union High School District for high school. Check each address with the districts' locators, since attendance areas change.
Are many homes in HOAs?
Yes. The 2016 land use element put townhouses and condominiums at 33% of homes, and about a third of the city's residential streets are private, generally the ones named Lane, so association documents matter for many purchases here.
What design rules apply to remodels?
The city's architectural review covers public and private projects, including additions to individual houses, and looks at scale, bulk, privacy, sunlight and waterfront views; R-1 homes also follow the city's Architectural and Solar Guidelines. Owners of lagoon-front property maintain the lagoon side under city code chapter 9.52.
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more foster city neighborhood guides
Neighborhood guides in Foster City
See every guide in the Nerd Portal.