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Los Altos Real Estate

Tree lined streets and a small village atmosphere characterize Los Altos which is located in the heart of world famous Silicon Valley. Just 40 miles south of San Francisco, Los Altos is a residential community served by seven small retail areas. The seven square mile city is developed with small businesses, schools, libraries and churches.

Incorporated in 1952, Los Altos is a general law city with five elected council members who serve four-year terms. City Council meetings are held the second and fourth Tuesday of every month. Appointed commissions and committees assist the council in an advisory capacity. The Council appointed city manager is responsible for financial and operational management of the city's 150 employees.

Los Altos has international sister cities ties with Bendigo, Australia; Skytyvkar, Russia; and Shih Lin Taiwan.

Over 200 volunteers a year assist in providing city government services to the community.

In 1982, Los Altos became a leader in recycling programs when it began curbside residential collection of bottles, cans and newspaper. Since then motor oil and yard waste and mixed paper have been added.

City Council and Planning Commission meetings are televised live on the city's cable television government access channel 18. In addition, this channel carries a 24-hour video bulletin board on city services, activities and events.
 

HISTORY OF TWO CITIES

One of the first visitors to the area was the famous Spanish explorer, Juan Bautista de Anza, who led an expedition in 1776, through what is now Los Altos and Los Altos Hills on his way to explore the Bay of San Francisco.

Further exploration continued as the construction of California's missions by the Franciscans began under the leadership of Father Junipero Serra in the early 1700s. The closest mission to Los Altos, Mission Santa Clara, was dedicated in 1777. By 1833, the colonization of the missions came to a close in California with the Act of Secularization, which gave land to the Indians for homes while the church remained at the center of each pueblo community.

After winning independence from Spain in 1821, Mexico encouraged the settlement of California by offering land grants to any Catholic native or naturalized citizen of Mexico. The area which is now Los altos was part of Rancho San Antonio, a land grant given in 1843 to Juan Prado Mesa, a soldier. Portions of present day Los Altos Hills were also included in Mesa's grant of one square league (4,438 acres).

The greater part of the land where Los Altos Hills is situated was part of Rancho la Purissima Concepcion granted in 1840 to Jose Gorgonio and his son, Jose Ramon, Indians from Mission Santa Clara.

American interest in California began with expeditions by John C. Fremont. After the War with Mexico, California was ceded to the United States under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo signed on February 2, 1848. California was admitted to the Union on September 9, 1850.

In 1854, Juana Briones de Miranda purchased Rancho la Purissima Concepcion. Part of her adobe home still stands on Old Trace Road. Gradually, the ranchos were divided and sold as smaller ranches for cattle grazing, orchards, and vineyards. Wealthy San Franciscans also bought properties for summer and weekend retreats.

The initial development of Los Altos is credited to Paul Shoup, an executive of the Southern Pacific railroad, who wanted to link the cities of Palo Alto and Los Gatos by making Los Altos a commuter town on a proposed new rail line.

Attracted by the natural beauty of the land and its proximity to the county seat of San Jose and the cultural attraction of nearby Stanford University, Shoup joined with colleagues to form the Los Altos Land company in 1906. Advertising Los Altos as "the loveliest place on the peninsula", San Franciscans were offered free railroad excursions for a day in the country, along with complimentary picnics alongside the tracks in Los Altos.

By 1911 there were 50 homes in Los Altos and a few office buildings and stores on Main Street. Twelve steam trains a day stopped at the two-boxcar railway station. Eschenbreucher's Hardware Store, now 316 Main Street, was the first business in town and also housed the post office. Los Altos Water Company, Los Altos Building and Loan, Union Land Company and the railroad company all occupied offices in downtown Los Altos. In 1909, the two-story Shoup Building at Main and Second streets, housed a grocery store downstairs while upstairs one teacher taught all eight grades of the first public school classes in Los Altos.

As Paul Shoup envisioned, Los Altos grew and prospered. The business community thrived and orchards gave way to beautiful tree-lined residential streets. Following World War II, Los Altos experienced a boom in home construction and new schools were built in rapid succession to accommodate the expanding student population.

The town leaders in Los Altos, fearing annexation by neighboring cities, realized that incorporation was one way to control zoning and development. After a bitter campaign and an incorporation election, Los Altos became Santa Clara County's 11th city on December 1, 1952. The first mayor of the new city was A. Watson Conner. Minimum residential lot size was established at one-quarter acre.

Meanwhile in unincorporated Los Altos Hills, residents were becoming concerned by the zoning decisions of county planning commissioners and supervisors that threatened their treasured rural atmosphere and one acre minimum residential zoning.

Homeowner associations banded together to fight for incorporation and the Town of Los Altos Hills became official on January 27, 1956.

Arthur E. Fowle, automatically designated mayor as the highest vote getter among the city council candidates had to step down from the council because of ill health. His son, John M. Fowle, was appointed to fill his seat and Sidney Treat was then chosen as the first mayor of Los Altos Hills. the council voted to retain the minimum one acre lot size.

 

COMMUNITY PROFILE

Demographics

Number of Households 11,350
Total Number of Businesses 1,552
Number of Retail Businesses 312
School Enrollment (K-8) 4,000
School Enrollment (9-12) 2,938
Mean Household Income $173,975
Persons per Household 2.6
Median Age Total Population 43.9 years
Population aged 55+ 31%
Employed Residents 15,300
Jobs 10,160
New Dwelling Units (1999) 54
Median Single Family Home $1,300,000

Sources: City of Los Altos, Santa Clara County, Los Altos School District, Mountain View/Los Altos Union High School District, Silicon Valley Assoc. of Realtors

The Los Altos Chamber of Commerce makes no representation that this "Profile" is absolutely accurate or complete. Errors and omissions, typographical, clerical and otherwise, sometimes occur. Compiled October, 2000.

Location
Los Altos, incorporated as a general law city in December of 1952, is located 37 miles south of San Francisco. Los Altos covers 7 square miles and is bordered by Palo Alto, Mountain View, Sunnyvale, Cupertino and Los Altos Hills.
Climate
Prevailing winds: N/W
Mean hour speed: 6 mph
Elevation: 200 feet
Average mean temperature:
January High 56
Low 37.5
July High 83.9
Low 53.1
Mean average
yearly rainfall: 17.47 inches
Transportation
Freeways -- US 101 (Bayshore Freeway) and Interstate 280 (Junipero Serra Freeway) provide access to San Francisco to the north and San Jose to the south. El Camino Real (Highway 82) is the main thoroughfare between peninsula cities. San Francisco International Airport, one of the world's major air terminals is just 27 miles north via Bayshore Freeway. San Jose International Airport, also a terminal for major flights, is just 20 miles to the south. Public transportation within the city is provided by Santa Clara County Transit Authority, which also connects the Los Altos area with other cities in the Santa Clara Valley, as well as with BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit).

 

TOTAL POPULATION 27,693 100.0%
In households 27,174 98.5%
In group quarters 419 1.5%

RACE
White 22,250 80.3%
Black or African American 130 0.5%
American Indian and Alaska Native 48 0.2%
Asian 4,271 15.4%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 45 0.2%
Some other race 183 0.7%
Two or more races 766 2.8%

HISPANIC OR LATINO AND RACE
Hispanic or Latino (of any race) 822 3.0%
Not Hispanic or Latino 26,871 97.0%
White 21,656 78.2%
Black or African American 127 0.5%
American Indian and Alaska Native 40 0.1%
Asian 4,252 15.4%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 45 0.2%
Some other race 55 0.2%
Two or more races 696 2.5%

GENDER
Male 13,352 48.2%
Female 14,341 51.8%

AGE
Under 5 years 1,629 5.9%
5 to 17 years 4,932 17.8%
18 to 64 years 15,786 57.0%
65 years and over 5,346 19.3%
Median age (years) 44.2 (X)

HOUSEHOLDS
Total households 10,462 100.0%
Family households 8,026 76.7%
Families with children under 18 3,517 33.6%
Average household size 2.61 (X)
Average family size 2.98 (X)

HOUSING OCCUPANCY
Total housing units 10,727 100.0%
Occupied housing units 10,462 97.5%
Owner-occupied housing units 8,954 85.6%
Renter-occupied housing units 1,508 14.4%
Vacant housing units 265 2.5%
For rent 100 37.7%
For sale 29 10.9%

Source: U.S. Census, PL94-171 (March 2001), DP-1 (May 2001) and SF1
 

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