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Health & Fitness

Palo Alto: In the Center of a Changing Silicon Valley

Palo Alto is uniquely situated within easy reach of both San Francisco and San Jose and is well-positioned in these changing times.

You had to hide in a cave all week if you wanted to escape the constant news about Facebook’s upcoming IPO.  Headlines everywhere have been endlessly predicting the IPO’s metrics and the implications of the event.  To me, the IPO is yet another indication of Northern California’s economic power concentrating increasingly in Silicon Valley, bringing ongoing changes to our community.

The Big Three of Silicon Valley – Apple, Google and Facebook – are hiring and are planning new campuses.  Apple's donut-shaped new building will house up to 15,000 employees.  The 2.8 million square-foot building will be located on a 175 acre property that mostly occupies the former HP site.  Google's new Mountain View campus will provide space for 2,500 to 3,000 employees as well as housing, shopping and entertainment opportunities for them.

With the booming economy comes a population shift.  Not so long ago, San Jose passed San Francisco as the 10th largest city in the United States and became the third largest city in California after Los Angeles and San Diego.  This population growth is being followed by a shift of cultural life, sports and entertainment venues down the Peninsula.

Find out what's happening in Palo Altowith free, real-time updates from Patch.

There are currently three new stadiums being planned in Santa Clara County: Athletics Baseball Stadium, 49ers Football Stadium and Earthquake Soccer Stadium.  All of them are scheduled to be completed within next the 5 years.  The Amgen Tour of California came through the Silicon Valley this week, with Stage 3 starting in San Jose.  The South Bay is emerging as a more formidable rival to San Francisco in culture and entertainment.

Perhaps as a result, Santa Clara County is getting connected to the East Bay cities by BART with stations planned in Milpitas (Great Mall), San Jose (Berryessa, Five Wounds and Downtown) and Santa Clara (near Santa Clara University).  The Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce is working with the City of San Jose on opening a ferry service between Oakland and San Francisco and the proposed port in Alviso.

Find out what's happening in Palo Altowith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Palo Alto is uniquely situated within easy reach of both San Francisco and San Jose and is well-positioned in these changing times.  The city is home to Stanford University and has a very busy downtown district.  Multiple shopping and restaurant areas add to the appeal of our town – Stanford Shopping Center, Town and Country Square and the California Avenue shopping district.

Palo Alto schools are well known statewide and even nationally, and the mix of entrepreneurs, scientists, engineers, scholars and artists makes for a uniquely vibrant community.  As the Bay Area’s economic and cultural centers change, we can safely assume that Palo Alto will continue to be a special place to live, drawing many new residents over time.

Michael Talis is co-owner of Talis Real Estate

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