Landscapes Going Wild: City stats
July 18, 2007
So where are all of these Backyard Habitats?
Apparently, it’s a bit labor intensive to get the Certified Backyard Habitat stats city-by city. Thanks to Roxanne Paul of the National Wildlife Federation for sending this partial list before dashing off on her vacation.
Campbell: 12
Cupertino: 9
Los Altos: 16
Los Altos Hills: 3
Los Gatos: 14
Menlo Park: 4
Palo Alto: 17
Saratoga: 5
San Jose: 99
Santa Clara: 9
Landscaper Sherri Osaka told me today that she had one and they’re not that hard to do.
Lines Being (re)Drawn for Los Altos Schools
July 18, 2007
Schools are a pillar of real estate value. So when a school district redraws boundaries, it’s going to raise a lot more than eyebrows.
Los Altos is in that situation. Anyone who is planning to purchase a home in this city, needs to make sure that they are up to date on the new Los Altos School District attendance boundaries that were adopted on June 18, 2007. They will go into effect during the 2008-09 school year. Families already enrolled have already received a letter from the board.
School overcrowding is frequently a problem when choosing a new home. An incoming family may turned away from the neighborhood school due to maxed out enrollment.
Since 1999, Los Altos School District has been dealing with this problem by renovating and modernizing existing buildings, replacing the ninety leased portable classrooms with new buildings, and to reopen Covington School.
My parents’ first home was an Eichler in Sunnyvale and while they complained of the draftiness, I have fond memories of the sun streaming through the large windows. These large single-pane windows, however, were not exactly energy-efficient, but then again nobody really worried about heating bills back then.
In the era of $3.50/gallon gas, energy efficiency suddenly becomes a big issue, especially for the 2700 Palo Altans who live in an Eichler. Palo Alto Weekly recently had a great article on improving energy efficiency in Eichler homes.
I think this article may be even more valuable for Eichler homeowners outside of Palo Alto, since PG&E rates are greater than those of Palo Alto’s municipal utility. There are Eichlers up and down the Peninsula from San Francisco to Santa Jose, including 20 in tony Atherton.
Is there an Eichler tract in your city? (Say “yes” if you’re in San Francisco, Burlingame, San Mateo, Foster City, Menlo Park, Los Altos, Mountain View, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, Cupertino, Saratoga, or San Jose. Wow!). By the way, Mike Ahern has mapped out many Eichler tracts in Santa Clara County. It inspired me to tour some of the Eichler neighborhoods I didn’t know about.
Palo Alto is definitely Eichler central, with 2,700 of the 11,000 built. We even have two neighborhoods (Green Meadow and Green Gables) in the National Register of Historic Places specifically because Joe Eichler built his modern suburban tracts here.
Do you have any interest in history or architecture? Check out PA Eichler tracts in other neighborhoods: Adobe Meadow/Meadow Park , Charleston Meadows, Community Center, Fairmeadow, Midtown, Palo Verde, South of Midtown, and Triple El.
