8.3 out of 10

Fairmeadow

37.4193688305342 -122.116902391172
Great for
  • Schools
  • Neighborly Spirit
  • Safe & Sound
  • Clean & Green
  • Eating Out
Not great for
  • Nightlife
  • Parking
  • Cost of Living
  •  
  •  
Who lives here?
  • Retirees
  • Professionals
  • Families with kids
  • Singles
  • Students

Reviews

5/5 rating details
  • Neighborly Spirit 5/5
  • Safe & Sound 5/5
  • Clean & Green 4/5
  • Pest Free 5/5
  • Peace & Quiet 4/5
  • Eating Out 5/5
  • Nightlife 1/5
  • Parks & Recreation 5/5
  • Shopping Options 4/5
  • Gym & Fitness 4/5
  • Internet Access 5/5
  • Lack of Traffic 3/5
  • Parking 5/5
  • Cost of Living 3/5
  • Resale or Rental Value 5/5
  • Public Transport 5/5
  • Medical Facilities 1/5
  • Schools 5/5
  • Childcare 5/5
2yrs+

"Best place to live on earth"

This is definitely a place for middle class Palo Alto people. Everyday we see people jog or walk around the blocks which makes this place safe from crime. Most houses are Eichlers and people meant to keep it this way. Block parties in the summers are quite common. Because 3 best schools in the block, this neighborhood became young home buyers favorite. The houses price tripled since we bought our own.(in 12 years) Charleston plaza is right across the street which is very convenient for grocery shopping, dining, coffee, dry cleaning and pets stuff. Right on Alma there's grocery outlet which is also good place to shop. YMCA is like two blocks away. Free Palo Alto shuttle circles through the neighborhood. Mitchell park adjacent to JLS middle school is beautiful for everything - soccer, tennis, BBQ, water park etc. Newly finished Mitchell park library attracted many people from Bay Area. And the Magic Bridge Playground became the place for every kid even teenagers favorite place to have play date or hang out. Compare to the other areas of the city, this is probably least expensive area. Just love love this neighborhood!!
Pros
  • Great Parks & Recreation
  • Free shuttle circling around
  • Wonderful New Library
  • Cool Street Plan
  • Great Schools
  • Cool Eichlers
Cons
  • Heavy traffic on Charleston
  • Not For Nightlife
  • Probably Expensive
Recommended for
  • Professionals
  • Singles
  • Families with kids
  • Retirees
  • Tourists
  • Trendy & Stylish
3/5 rating details
  • Neighborly Spirit 4/5
  • Safe & Sound 4/5
  • Clean & Green 4/5
  • Peace & Quiet 4/5
  • Eating Out 2/5
  • Nightlife 1/5
  • Shopping Options 2/5
  • Lack of Traffic 3/5
  • Cost of Living 3/5
  • Schools 4/5
2yrs+

"Stuck in the 1950's"

Situated between Alma Street and Middlefield Road, Fairmeadow is a less than glamorous middle to lower middle-class Palo Alto community. It spans about 0.25 square miles of a densely populated neighborhood (population: 1,000). As a whole, the district has an old, traditional appeal to it, which can be off putting to some young professionals and families, but still maintains that sort of mid-century charm. Demographically speaking, the racial makeup is largely white (almost 75%), with a rather sizable asian minority.

Fairmeadow’s residential quarters are blended between owner-occupied residences and rental friendly condos and apartment buildings. Its overarching theme seems to be imbedded in the high-design of the 1950’s suburban development model of California ranch homes and Eichlers. But unlike most old neighborhoods, Fairmeadow residences have undergone a lack of redevelopment, eliciting an aged and decaying sense of style. Moreover, most of these homes are situated on ignored and unkempt properties. As for its communal spaces, the neighborhood’s roads are designed in concentric circles with lush, green bushes lining each block. In turn, this provides a quiet and safe area for children to play outdoors.

For young families, Fairmeadow has a great public school system. In fact, Fairmeadow Elementary School has garnered a 5-out-of-5 stars on greatschools.org. Moreover, the neighborhood encompasses Jane Lathrop Stanford Middle School and Herbert Hoover Elementary School, both under the leadership of the praised Palo Alto Unified School District. For your commercial needs, the mid-town shopping area is within walking distance and provides a small market, a coffee shop, a couple local businesses and some smaller stores for your household essentials.
Pros
  • Cool Street Plan
  • Great Schools
Cons
  • Not For Nightlife
  • Probably Expensive
Recommended for
  • Professionals
  • Retirees
  • Students
4/5 rating details
  • Neighborly Spirit 4/5
  • Safe & Sound 4/5
  • Clean & Green 3/5
  • Pest Free 4/5
  • Peace & Quiet 4/5
  • Eating Out 3/5
  • Nightlife 1/5
  • Parks & Recreation 4/5
  • Shopping Options 2/5
  • Gym & Fitness 3/5
  • Internet Access 4/5
  • Lack of Traffic 4/5
  • Parking 5/5
  • Cost of Living 2/5
  • Resale or Rental Value 5/5
  • Public Transport 3/5
  • Medical Facilities 5/5
  • Schools 5/5
  • Childcare 4/5
2yrs+

"Cool Circles of Homes"

Like many of the neighborhoods in Palo Alto, Fairmeadow has a ton of Eichler style homes with their distinctive flat roofs. Unlike most other neighborhoods in Palo Alto, however, the Fairmeadow neighborhood has a really cool circular structure where streets wheel around in a turn-about like street plan.

But the quality of the Eichlers in this neighborhood are also fairly different. They just seem much more well-kept than Eichlers in other neighborhoods and every so often you come across one that is painted in a distinctive blue color, or with red trim roofs and front facing car ports. There is one particularly unusual looking one on Ramona Cir.—it’s a blue and yellow house that looks as if it were made from parts from an Ikea store. Definitely worth checking out if you are a residential architecture buff.

I personally find this look at once classic and distinctly modern. I definitely prefer it to the Ranch houses that make up so many of the neighborhoods in California.

On its eastern end you will also find Jane Lathrop Middle School, which Herbert Hoover and most of the schools in the area, is outstanding.

Mitchell Park is next to the middle school. It has an outstanding set of tennis courts. There are several community resources in and around this area (some just to the south of Fairmeadow) which make this a great place to live in terms of community
activities like dance groups.

Okay so what does it cost to live in Fairmeadow?

I actually have no idea. People don’t seem to sell their homes in this neighborhood. Which suggests to me that it is a really stable neighborhood with long-time residents who are satisfied living here and don’t want to move.

If one ever does come up for sale, and I were in a family way and the situation was right, I would definitely love living here.
Pros
  • Cool Eichlers
  • Great Schools
  • Cool Street Plan
Cons
  • Probably Expensive
  • Not For Nightlife
  • Definitely a Car Culture
Recommended for
  • Professionals
  • Families with kids
  • Retirees
  • Trendy & Stylish
4/5 rating details
  • Neighborly Spirit 4/5
  • Safe & Sound 4/5
  • Clean & Green 4/5
  • Pest Free 4/5
  • Peace & Quiet 4/5
  • Eating Out 4/5
  • Nightlife 4/5
  • Parks & Recreation 4/5
  • Shopping Options 4/5
  • Gym & Fitness 4/5
  • Internet Access 5/5
  • Lack of Traffic 4/5
  • Cost of Living 4/5
  • Resale or Rental Value 4/5
  • Public Transport 4/5
  • Medical Facilities 4/5
  • Schools 4/5
  • Childcare 4/5
2yrs+

"The warmness of a Palo Alto neighborhood"

A lot of the streets in Fairmeadow, Palo Alto are known for their circular structure and classic California iconic houses. There is very little traffic in the area from outside drivers, it is mainly residential and the occasional local street traffic. The area is close to Mitchell Park which is great for family get togethers and also serves as the areas local schooling system. The street Romona Circle is known for hosting extravagant block parties during the summer months which include garage sales and grilling out events. For the most part the people are exceptionally warm and usually go out of their way to get to know each other.
Recommended for
  • Professionals
  • Singles
  • Families with kids
  • Retirees

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Unranked Streets in Fairmeadow

Bryant St

3.5/5
"Crowded Downtown, Decent Everywhere Else"
37.4198097477764 -122.120577867683

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