Palo Alto

Palo Alto is one of the world��s great centers for technology and innovation. Whether it’s computers, telecommunications, social networking, biotech, or venture capital, Palo Alto is the engine that turns ideas into reality. Located halfway between San Francisco and San Jose, Palo is the place in Silicon Valley where everything seems to happen. Unlike their more suburban neighbors, Palo Alto residents enjoy the opportunity to stay connected to the pulse, while still maintaining a sense of seclusion and privacy.

While most famous cities are founded near natural resources, Palo Alto was founded upon something even more precious: human progress. This integral elevation of ingenuity and the human spirit runs through the city like a vibrant current of energy. In Palo Alto’s vibrant community, knowledge and business ideas are an integral part of daily life. While similarly affluent cities may isolate neighbors with tall hedges and vast properties, Palo Alto’s layout connects people.

As a hub of innovation, Palo Alto has a gravity that naturally draws influential people and ideas to its center. Even those who live outside the city’s borders are drawn to its 800 bars and restaurants as meeting places for business and socializing. With Palo Alto’s low-key, accessible attitude, you never know whom you might run into or what connections you will make here.

In keeping with its foundation as a center for learning and innovation, the city is home to Stanford University as well as some of the most highly regarded public schools in the country. Many Palo Alto children attend their neighborhood public school rather than a private one, a rarity in most affluent areas. This neighborhood-centric education system, where kids can walk or bike to school, gives Palo Alto a strong "small town" flavor.

Before Stanford University was built here in 1887, the land was home to the Ohlone people and tall redwood trees. In fact, the name El Palo Alto means "tall pine". The redwoods’ legendary height and longevity are reflected in the perseverance and entrepreneurial spirit ever present in the community since its founding.

At the turn of the century, Palo Alto was already a hotbed of ideas, with the early Stanford faculty, many relocating from Cornell University, forging a progressive community that embraced change and opportunity. By 1906, this environment had spawned amateur radio enthusiasts as well as other technology-focused pioneers. By 1938, Bill Hewlett and David Packard were tinkering in a humble garage on Addison Avenue. In the years since Hewlett-Packard was founded, the area has seen the development of everything from the first X-ray machine to the first computer mouse. It has nurtured the incubation first of Intel, Genentech, and Apple, followed by Google, Facebook, and Oracle, as well as countless other world-changing organization. The area is a rich ecosystem of top talent, well-connected funding sources, low electricity costs (from the city-owned utility), and a fiber-optic infrastructure that provides ultra-fast Internet access. Business simply flourishes here.