Menlo Park now offers a suburban enclave with many urban amenities: from a bustling downtown and strong public school district, to plenty of parks and recreation facilities.

The privacy gained by lots of at least one acre, winding streets with mature trees, gracious mansions set well back from the curbless streets — this is Atherton today.

The town of Portola Valley was incorporated in 1964 with the goals of preserving the beauty of the valley, fostering low-density housing, and limiting services to those necessary for local residents.

For more than 100 years, beginning in the 1830s, the area now called Woodside was gradually developed, first as sawmills that supplied redwood to build San Francisco, later as farms, small cattle ranches and vineyards.

Named for an ancient redwood tree that was a living landmark for late-1700s Spanish explorers, Palo Alto today is a diverse community, a mixture of high-tech and locally-owned companies and more than 26,000 homes.

Redwood City combines residential, commercial and service industries It’s waterfront provides a yacht harbor and the only deep water port in the south bay.

Los Altos encompasses seven square miles, stretching from Palo Alto to Sunnyvale and Cupertino, sandwiched between Mountain View and Los Altos Hills. Los Altos supports seven commercial areas serving its close to 30,000 residents.

Hillsborough has excellent, award-winning public schools, police and fire protection and public works service. These are the qualities that have formed the character of the Town and have remained stable for over 100 years.

It is known for its high residential quality of life and is often referred to as the City of Trees. Industrial growth was spurred in the 1960s and 1970s by proximity to the San Francisco International Airport.