East Palo Alto

East Palo Alto is a separate city, not a neighborhood of Palo Alto. It has about 30,000 residents in roughly 2.6 square miles, which makes it one of the more densely populated places on the Peninsula. It has its own city government, its own schools and a strong sense of identity built over decades of organizing. Its story is bound up with Palo Alto's, including some of the region's hardest history around race and housing.

For visitors, East Palo Alto offers some of the best access to the bay anywhere near Palo Alto, at Cooley Landing and the Ravenswood marshes along the Bay Trail. It is also home to University Circle, the Four Seasons hotel and the IKEA by Highway 101. This guide covers the city's history, community, places to visit and practical details, written with the aim of describing the city as its residents would recognize it.

Where East Palo Alto is

Despite the name, East Palo Alto lies mostly north and northeast of Palo Alto. San Francisquito Creek forms the border between the two cities and also the line between San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. Menlo Park borders it to the west and north and the bay lies to the east. Highway 101 crosses the southern part of the city. Most of East Palo Alto is on the bay side of the freeway. A small triangle on the Palo Alto side, between the freeway and the creek, holds University Circle.

From downtown Palo Alto, University Avenue runs straight northeast across the creek and over Highway 101 into East Palo Alto. City Hall and the East Palo Alto Library share a building at 2415 University Avenue, about two miles from the Palo Alto Caltrain station.

History

Ohlone land and Ravenswood

Ohlone people lived along the bay and creeks here for thousands of years. Archaeologists excavated a burial and camp site in 1951 during construction of a subdivision near today's Costaño School. In 1849 Isaiah Churchill Woods tried to turn the shoreline into a major shipping town and named it Ravenswood. The city's 1999 General Plan calls Ravenswood the first regularly platted town in what became San Mateo County. Woods' plans failed. In 1868 Lester Cooley bought the wharf and land around it. The point has been known as Cooley Landing ever since. A brickworks operated there for a time before the land returned to ranching.

Runnymede and a farming community

In 1916 Charles Weeks founded a cooperative poultry colony called Runnymede. Its 600 acres were divided into one and five acre plots for families raising chickens and growing food. The colony lasted into the 1930s. By the 1920s the growing community used the name East Palo Alto. Many Japanese American families farmed here in the years before World War II. Like Japanese Americans across the West Coast, they were forced from their homes into incarceration camps during the war. Many never returned.

Housing discrimination and a Black community

After the war, Black families came to the Peninsula for jobs and found most neighborhoods closed to them by racial covenants, redlining and real estate practices. East Palo Alto, then unincorporated county land, was one of the few places where they could buy homes. In the 1950s real estate agents used blockbusting, stoking fears among white homeowners to buy cheaply and resell to Black families at a profit. The neighborhood changed quickly. Our history of Palo Alto covers how those same practices shaped the city next door.

The 1950s also brought the widening of Highway 101, which cut through the community and displaced dozens of businesses. Neighboring cities annexed parts of the area. By the 1960s East Palo Alto was the center of the Black community on the Midpeninsula and a hub of civil rights organizing, independent schools and cultural pride. In 1968 some residents proposed renaming the town Nairobi. The change did not pass.

Becoming a city

Without a city government, East Palo Alto depended on San Mateo County for services and had little control over land use. Residents tried to incorporate several times. In 1983 voters approved incorporation by about a dozen votes and the city became official on July 1, 1983. Barbara A. Mouton served as the first mayor. A lawsuit challenged the vote, but the California Supreme Court upheld the incorporation in 1986.

Change since the 1980s

The years after incorporation were difficult. The city had a small tax base and, like many cities at the time, went through a period of high violence in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Residents, churches, community groups and the police worked for years to turn that around. Violent crime has dropped sharply since. Published reports note that the city recorded no homicides in 2023 for the first time in its history.

The population also changed. Latino families, many from Mexico and Central America, became the largest group. A Pacific Islander community, especially Tongan and Samoan families, grew alongside long-established Black families. Since the late 1990s, new retail and housing development has reshaped parts of the city. Supporters pointed to new jobs and tax revenue. Critics worried about displacement of longtime residents. The city runs a rent stabilization program with its own board. Housing affordability remains a central local issue.

University Circle and the Highway 101 corridor

For decades the small triangle of East Palo Alto on the Palo Alto side of the freeway was known as Whiskey Gulch. Stanford's long ban on alcohol sales near campus pushed liquor stores, bars and music clubs to this strip just outside the limit. The city redeveloped it around 2000 into University Circle, an office complex whose tenants have included law firms and investment firms.

The Four Seasons Hotel Silicon Valley at East Palo Alto opened there in January 2006 at 2050 University Avenue. The hotel's fact sheet lists 200 rooms, including 27 suites, with a spa and an outdoor pool. It is one of the closest luxury hotels to downtown Palo Alto, a walk of about a mile and a half.

On the bay side of the freeway, the Ravenswood 101 retail center lines East Bayshore Road. Its Gateway 101 buildings once held Target, which closed in September 2024. IKEA East Palo Alto is at 1700 East Bayshore Road and has a Swedish restaurant inside. Gateway 101 stands on the former site of Ravenswood High School, which served the community from 1958 until it closed in 1976.

Cooley Landing, Ravenswood and the Bay Trail

Cooley Landing

Cooley Landing Park sits at the end of Bay Road, 2100 Bay Road, on the point where the old Ravenswood wharf once stood. The city lists its hours as sunrise to sunset. Paths loop around the point with views across the water to the East Bay hills. The marsh around it is good for herons, egrets and shorebirds. The Cooley Landing Education Center, a small building with large windows on the bay, can be reserved for meetings and community events through the city.

Ravenswood Open Space Preserve

The Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District manages the 376-acre Ravenswood Open Space Preserve in the wetlands near Cooley Landing. A flat, easy-access trail runs along the levee around the marsh. The district notes that the Bay Trail section between University Avenue and Bay Road stays open from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. as a commuter route, while the preserve itself follows sunrise and sunset hours. A boardwalk segment opened in 2020 closed a long gap in the trail.

Riding or walking the Bay Trail

From East Palo Alto the Bay Trail runs north toward Bedwell Bayfront Park in Menlo Park and south across San Francisquito Creek to the Palo Alto Baylands. The trail is flat and mostly free of cars, so it is one of the most pleasant ways to reach East Palo Alto from Palo Alto on foot or by bike. Bring a jacket, since afternoon wind off the bay can be strong.

Community and culture

East Palo Alto is a city of churches, family businesses, youth programs and long-running community organizations. Many residents have deep roots here and many families are multigenerational. The city calendar includes park events, summer programs and a community Turkey Trot. The East Palo Alto Library, run by San Mateo County Libraries, is in the municipal building on University Avenue.

To learn more about local history in residents' own words, the East Palo Alto Community Archive collects photographs, newspapers and documents on themes from early townships to agriculture and civil rights.

Getting there from Palo Alto

• Car: Take University Avenue northeast from downtown Palo Alto. It crosses the creek, passes University Circle and continues over Highway 101. Bay Road leads east to Cooley Landing. Expect about 10 minutes outside rush hour, though University Avenue backs up badly at commute times.
• Bus: SamTrans serves East Palo Alto. IKEA's website lists routes 280 and 296 stopping across the street from the store.
• Bike or on foot: The Bay Trail from the Palo Alto Baylands is the scenic route. Our biking guide covers how to reach it.
• Train: East Palo Alto has no Caltrain station. The Palo Alto station is about two miles from City Hall.

Where to eat and stay

Family-run taquerias, bakeries, Pacific Islander restaurants and other small spots are scattered along University Avenue, Bay Road and in the shopping centers off East Bayshore Road. The shopping centers also have chain restaurants and grocery stores. Because small restaurants change often, look at current listings before you go.

The Four Seasons at University Circle is the main hotel in East Palo Alto and it is close enough to downtown Palo Alto to walk. More hotels are across the creek in Palo Alto and in Menlo Park. Our luxury hotels guide compares the high-end options nearby. You can compare hotels near East Palo Alto for your dates.

Living in East Palo Alto

• Schools: The Ravenswood City School District serves elementary and middle school students and has its headquarters in the city. High school students are zoned to the Sequoia Union High School District, mainly Menlo-Atherton High School. The city also has charter high schools. Our schools overview explains how the local districts fit together.
• Housing: Prices and rents are lower than in Palo Alto or Menlo Park but high by national standards. The city's rent stabilization program covers many older apartments.
• Services: The city runs its own police department. Fire service comes from the Menlo Park Fire Protection District.
• Flood risk: San Francisquito Creek overflowed in February 1998 and flooded properties in East Palo Alto, Palo Alto and Menlo Park. Check flood zone maps for any address near the creek or the bay.
• Commuting: The city sits next to Highway 101 and the Dumbarton Bridge approach. Traffic on University Avenue and Willow Road is heavy at rush hour.

Frequently asked questions