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Health & Fitness

5 reasons to love living in Redwood City

Redwood City is a thriving area of 76,000 residents and plenty of activities, attractions, shopping and special events to keep people busy all year long.  Individuals and families choose to make Redwood City home for a variety of reasons, and here are five of them. 

1. World’s best climate

A pre-World War I climatological survey conducted by the U.S. and German governments ranked Redwood City as tied with the Mediterranean Coast of North Africa and the Canary Islands for having the “world’s best climate.”  This is where the “Climate Best By Government Test” slogan comes from.  One hundred years later, Redwood City still has great weather, with an average high of 81.9 in July and an average low of 42.1 in January.

2. Biggest 4th of July parade

The annual Redwood City Independence Day parade is sponsored by the Peninsula Celebration Association and has run without missing a year since 1939.  The parade is widely considered to be the largest parade of its kind in California, though there is no specific evidence to support this claim.  Other claims include the largest Independence Day parade west of the Mississippi and the largest in North America.  Either way, it’s a parade you don’t want to miss. 

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3. Tech employment

For those entering the field of high-tech or moving up within its ranks, there are few places more employment-friendly than Redwood City.  Current employers include Ampex, BigBand Networks, BroadVision, Crystal Dynamics, Electronic Arts, Informatica, iPass, Jivox, Openwave, Oracle, PDI/DreamWorks (the Northern California branch of DreamWorks Animation), Saba Software, Shutterfly, Support.com, Evernote, i2c Inc, YuMe and iCracked.  Oracle is the city’s largest employer with 6,700 on staff, followed by Electronic Arts with 3,146.

4. Affordable living

Among communities within Silicon Valley, Redwood City is consistently the most affordable in terms of single-family home and condo prices.  Also, there is typically a large number of properties on the market at any give time.  The most recent figures place the median sale price for homes at $950,000, with condos at $575,000.  There are currently 63 properties for sale through the Multiple Listing Service. 

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5. Downtown revitalization

City officials in 2006 undertook a downtown revitalization effort that included building a new 20-screen theater along with the opening of various shops in prime downtown locations.  A restaurant, street-level retail spaces and an underground parking structure are part of the theater development.  Additionally, the historical courthouse on Broadway received major improvements including a courtyard bordered by water fountains that leads to the courthouse steps.

How many other things are there to love about Redwood City?  Spend a day here and you’ll find many.






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