Historic firsts

Stanford University opens: 1891

First business opens--a real estate office. Soon joined by a restaurant and bookstore: 1891

First Palo Alto wedding: 1892

First Palo Alto school opens: 1893

Palo Alto votes for incorporation 98 to 21: 1894

Residents approve water system, the first step in creating utilities: 1896

First Palo Alto library opens: 1904

First traffic law passed. Speed limit is "a slow trot:" 1905

"Father of radio" Lee de Forest invents the vacuum tube at Channing Avenue and Emerson Street: 1906

Palo Alto incorporated as Charter city: 1909

First movie theater opens on University Avenue: 1909

May Fete Parade founded: 1922

Mayfield and College Terrace annexed: 1925

Palo Alto's yacht harbor opens: 1928

First dial phone call made in Palo Alto: 1929

Downtown post office opens: 1932

Palo Alto airport moves from Stanford land to Baylands: 1935

Bill Hewlett and David Packard begin work in Addison Avenue garage: 1938

The Children's Library, the first stand-alone public library of its kind in the United States, opens: 1940

First liquor store in city opens: 1953

Stanford Shopping Center opens: 1956

Municipal golf course opens: 1956

City purchases Foothills Park: 1958

City buys first computer: 1961

Horace Anderson first African-American elected to Palo Alto Unified School District board: 1962

First woman hired as police officer: 1971

Recycling center at landfill opens: 1971

First cocktail served downtown: 1972

Roy Clay first African-American elected to City Council: 1973

First woman firefighter hired: 1974

City Council passes first no-smoking law: 1975

Barron Park annexed: 1975

Palo Alto launches curb-side recycling: 1978

Yacht harbor closes: 1986

Cable TV service to Palo Alto begins: 1988

First Black and White Ball held: 1987

First female city manager appointed: 1993

Palo Alto becomes first U.S. city on the Internet: 1994

Palo Alto celebrates Centennial: 1994

Stanford hosts six games of the World Cup: 1994

City builds 29-mile fiber-optic ring within its borders: 1997

Palo Alto City Council approves Tree Preservation Ordinance: 1999

City kicks-off free shuttle service: 2000

Hillary Freeman first African-American woman elected to the Palo Alto City Council: 2001

Yoriko Kishimoto first Asian-American elected to the Palo Alto City Council: 2001

Hewlett-Packard Company merges with Compaq Computers: 2002

Vital signs

Population: 62,148

Parks: 32

Acres of city parks: 157

Acres of city-owned open space: 3,731

City maintained trees: 35,096

Miles of streets: 193.2

Tennis Courts: 53

Sister Cities: 5; Palo, Leyte, Philippines; Oaxaca, Mexico; Enschede, The Netherlands; Linkoping, Sweden; and Albi, France.

Climate

Hottest day in city history: Jun. 15, 1961 (107 degrees)

Coldest day in city history: Jan. 11, 1949 & Dec. 23, 1990 (20 degrees)

City facts

General fund budget (2006-2007): $127.4 million (proposed)

General fund budget (2005-2006): $120.7 million (adopted)

Police employees 167

Police patrol vehicles: 70 (including 5 motorcycles, training and parking enforcement vehicles)

Fire Stations: 7 (plus one seasonal)

Fire Department employees: 127.5

Fire Department vehicles: 23 (plus one shared with Mountain View)

Libraries: 5

Per capita circulation rate of library items: 20.8 per year

Library card holders (2004-2006): 52,001

Average monthly residential electricity bill (1998-1999): $39.02

Average monthly residential electricity bill (2006): $57.93

People

Median age (2000): 40.2

Median age (1980): 35.6

White: 75.8 percent

Asian: 17.2 percent

Hispanic: 4.6 percent

Black: 2.0 percent

Seniors (65 and older): 15.5 percent

Veterans (2000): 4,197

Education and income

Adults with college degrees (2000): 31.4 percent

Adults with graduate degrees or higher (2000): 43 percent

Adults with no college education (2000): 9.4 percent

Per capita income (2000): $56,257

Median household income (2000): $90,377

Median family income (2000): $114,574

Residents below poverty level (2000): 3.2 percent

Housing

Chart of construction activity.

Housing units: 26,048

Average year Palo Alto homes built: 1956

Median home price (through June 2006)*: $1,395,000

Median home price (through June 2005)*: $1,350,000

Median home price (1990): $457,800

Median home price (1980): $148,900

Median home price (1970): $33,900

Median condo price (through June 2006)*: $655,000

Median condo price (through June 2005)*: $667,500

Average monthly rent (2006): $2,162 (two bedroom, two bath)**

Average monthly rent (2005): $2,111 (two bedroom, two bath)**

Average monthly rent (2006): $1,754 (one bedroom, one bath)**

Average monthly rent (2005): $1,613 (one bedroom, one bath)**

Median monthly rent in 1990: $825

Median monthly rent in 1960: $162

Average number of people per housing unit in 1960: 3.1

Average number of people per housing unit in 2000: 2.3

Single-person households (1990): 7,865

Single-person households (2000): 8,209

California-born residents (1980): 42.9 percent

California-born residents (2000): 36.1 percent

(Source: Census 2000; *Silicon Valley Association of Realtors; **RealFacts)

Business

Total Assessed Valuation in (1984): $3.85 billion

Total Assessed Valuation in (2006): $16.2 billion

Palo Alto's 10 largest employers*

CPI

Hewlett-Packard Company

Lucile Packard Children's Health

Space Systems Loral

Stanford Hospital and Clinics

TIBCO Software, Inc.

Varian Medical Systems Inc.

Veteran's Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

*All have at least 800 employees.

Misc.

Number of Palo Altans who said they had no phone at home: 112

Number of Palo Altans who said they rode their bikes to work: 997

Number of homes in Palo Alto that claimed to have three vehicles or more: 4,278

Number of homes in Palo Alto fueled by solar energy: 22