palo alto neighborhood guide · property nerds® at compass
Midtown, Palo Alto Homes for sale, recent sales and a Property Nerd’s guide
Palo Alto's postwar middle, from Alma Street to US 101 between Oregon Expressway and Loma Verde Avenue: about 2,550 houses, Eichler-style circles and the 1956 Midtown Shopping Center.
Midtown by the numbers
midtown by the numbers · live from the mls
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Calculated in your browser from MLS data for Midtown: Oregon Expwy to Loma Verde Ave, Alma St to US 101 (approximate). Sales are single-family homes, townhomes and condos.
homes in midtown · live from the mls
Homes for sale, for rent and recently sold in Midtown
Every active listing, rental and closed sale in Midtown 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 (Midtown: Oregon Expwy to Loma Verde Ave, Alma St to US 101 (approximate)); it may not match every local definition.
the story
How Midtown came to be
Midtown is named for being roughly in the middle of Palo Alto, as Palo Alto Online puts it, and until the late 1940s it was mostly farmland. Palo Alto Historical Association photos show Middlefield Road at Oregon Expressway as farmland in 1935 and Middlefield at Colorado Avenue largely undeveloped in 1940. After World War II the city's population doubled in the 1950s, and Midtown filled with tract houses: city parcel records date about 1,700 of its 2,550 houses to the 1940s and 1950s.
Shopping followed the houses. Midtown Shopping Center, along Middlefield Road at Colorado Avenue, welcomed its first store, Midtown Pharmacy, in 1956. Residents formed the Midtown Residents Association in the mid-1990s to keep the center neighborhood-focused, and in 2023 it still had roughly 50 retailers and service providers. Farther south, the shopping plaza at Middlefield Road and Loma Verde Avenue (3175 Middlefield) was gutted by a fire on February 1, 2023; it was demolished in August 2025 and the property was listed for sale.
Midtown is also where Palo Alto's single-story overlays took hold. The Eichler-style subdivision around Van Auken Circle won the city's R-1(S) zoning in 2002 and Allen Court in 2004. In late 2015 the City Council approved Greer Park North, the other half of the Van Auken subdivision, after 72 percent of its 72 property owners signed on. Greer Park itself started in 1965 as five-acre Amarillo Park and has grown to 22 acres.
streets and homes
The streets and the houses
West of Middlefield Road, Midtown continues Palo Alto's grid: Waverley, Cowper, Bryant, Emerson and Ramona streets run toward Loma Verde, crossed by Colorado Avenue, with shorter streets such as Kipling Street, Bryson Avenue, Wellsbury Way and South Court. About 975 houses here date mostly from the 1940s and 1950s, and about 180 have been rebuilt since 2000. Apartments and condos line parts of Alma Street and Middlefield.
East of Middlefield the streets turn into postwar tracts strung off Ross, Louis and Greer roads. City parcel records date most of Coastland Drive to 1947, Maddux and Morris drives to 1952, Clara Drive to 1953, Celia Drive to 1954 and Stelling Drive to 1955, with Sycamore Drive, Marshall Drive and Moreno Avenue spread across 1946 to 1958. Van Auken, Metro and Moffett circles date from 1951 and Allen Court from 1953, all under the single-story overlay along with parts of Greer Road and Amarillo Avenue. Apartment complexes line West Bayshore Road and parts of Loma Verde Avenue.
Newer housing sits on land zoned for research and office use near US 101: about 96 homes from 2008 to 2012 on Berryessa Street and the lanes off it, and 48 three-story townhomes finished in 2025 at 2850 West Bayshore Road, next to Greer Park, where an office building stood. Across Midtown the median lot is about 6,700 square feet. Outside the overlay areas, a new two-story house goes through the city's Individual Review; inside them, houses are limited to one story and 17 feet.
streets in midtown
- Middlefield Road
- Colorado Avenue
- Loma Verde Avenue
- Oregon Expressway
- Alma Street
- Waverley Street
- Cowper Street
- Bryant Street
- Emerson Street
- Ramona Street
- South Court
- Ross Road
- Louis Road
- Greer Road
- Amarillo Avenue
- Van Auken Circle
- Metro Circle
- Moffett Circle
- Allen Court
- Maddux Drive
- Moreno Avenue
- Clara Drive
- Stelling Drive
- West Bayshore Road
parks and places
Parks, shops and landmarks near Midtown
- park
Greer Park
22 acres at 1098 Amarillo Avenue with baseball and soccer fields, basketball courts, playgrounds and a 1991 tri-bowl skate park the city calls the first public facility of its kind on the Peninsula. It opened as Amarillo Park in 1965 and was renamed for Captain John Lucas Greer in 1967.
- park
Hoover Park
A 4.2-acre park at 2901 Cowper Street along Matadero Creek, with tennis and basketball courts, a ball field and playgrounds. It became parkland in the mid-1950s.
- park
Seale Park
4.3 acres at 3100 Stockton Place between houses and Matadero Creek, with a large open meadow, soccer fields, basketball and a playground. It is named for Henry W. Seale, who sold 697 acres to Timothy Hopkins in 1887 for the town that became Palo Alto.
- shopping
Midtown Shopping Center
Middlefield Road at Colorado Avenue: neighborhood shops, cafes, services and a grocery store, with the first store dating to 1956. A 2023 city-commissioned study recommended better signage and fewer driveways along Middlefield.
- landmark
Matadero Creek
The creek runs through Midtown; Hoover Park borders it and Seale Park sits between houses and the creek.
schools and commute
School districts and getting around
School districts
Midtown is served by the Palo Alto Unified School District. Ohlone Elementary School is inside the neighborhood at 950 Amarillo Avenue, near Greer Park, and El Carmelo Elementary School is at 3024 Bryant Street at the south edge near Loma Verde Avenue. Attendance boundaries change, so check the exact address with PAUSD's school locator before you rely on any assignment.
Getting around
- California Avenue Caltrain station is just across Alma Street from Midtown's northwest corner at Oregon Expressway, about 0.9 mile from the middle of the neighborhood (straight line). Palo Alto (University Avenue) station is about 2.2 miles northwest.
- VTA Route 21 runs along Middlefield Road through Midtown, with timepoints north at Embarcadero and south at Charleston.
- US 101 has an interchange at Oregon Expressway at Midtown's northeast corner; Oregon Expressway also runs west to Alma Street and El Camino Real.
- The Bryant Street bike boulevard runs north-south through west Midtown. The city is studying a bike and pedestrian tunnel under the Caltrain tracks south of Oregon Expressway; the council favored El Dorado Avenue in December 2025, but the Planning and Transportation Commission raised objections to both El Dorado designs on September 30, 2026.
nerd notes
Buying or selling in Midtown: what we check
Buying here
- Check the flood map first if the house is east of Middlefield. City parcel records put about 1,400 parcels there in FEMA zone AE with a base flood elevation of 10.5 feet; west of Middlefield almost everything is zone X. Get the zone, any elevation certificate and an insurance quote; Palo Alto zoning bars basements in special flood hazard areas.
- Confirm whether the lot is in a single-story overlay (Van Auken, Metro and Moffett circles, Allen Court, and parts of Greer Road and Amarillo Avenue). There, houses are limited to one story and 17 feet; elsewhere a second story needs Individual Review.
- City records flag about 59 Midtown lots as substandard and 38 as flag lots, which can change height and setback rules. Read the parcel report before planning a rebuild.
- For condos and townhomes, read the HOA budget, reserve study and minutes; buildings range from older apartment-era complexes to 2025 construction.
- Near Alma Street, follow the rail crossing and El Dorado tunnel plans; near Middlefield and Loma Verde, watch what replaces the demolished 3175 Middlefield Road shopping site.
Selling here
- Lead with location: Midtown Shopping Center, Greer, Hoover and Seale parks, and California Avenue Caltrain from the west side, with numbers in minutes.
- East of Middlefield, have the flood zone, any elevation certificate and current insurance cost ready.
- If the house is in an overlay area or is Eichler-style, say so and explain what it means; buyers ask about second-story rules early.
- Pull permit history for additions and rebuilds; Midtown has many, and buyers compare against them.
nerd noteCommissions are always negotiable, and we offer bundled services, so ask us what's included.
faq
Midtown questions, answered
Where is Midtown in Palo Alto?
Between Oregon Expressway and Loma Verde Avenue, from Alma Street and the Caltrain tracks east to US 101 and West Bayshore Road. Middlefield Road runs through the middle.
Why is it called Midtown?
Palo Alto Online describes the name as coming from its location, roughly in the middle of Palo Alto. The Midtown Shopping Center, opened in 1956, carries the same name.
Are there Eichlers and single-story rules in Midtown?
Yes. The Eichler-style circles (Van Auken, Metro and Moffett) and Allen Court, plus parts of Greer Road and Amarillo Avenue, are zoned R-1(S), which limits houses to one story. Van Auken's overlay dates to 2002, Allen Court's to 2004 and Greer Park North's to 2015.
Is Midtown in a flood zone?
The east side largely is. City parcel records show about 1,400 parcels east of Middlefield Road in FEMA zone AE (base flood elevation 10.5 feet), while the west side is almost entirely zone X. Check the exact address.
What is the closest Caltrain station?
California Avenue, just across Alma Street from Midtown's northwest corner. From the east side near Greer Road it is about a mile and a half.
Which schools are in Midtown?
Ohlone Elementary on Amarillo Avenue and El Carmelo Elementary on Bryant Street, both Palo Alto Unified School District schools. Confirm assignments with the district's school locator.
next door
More Palo Alto neighborhood guides
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