Monroe Park Monroe Park (February 27, 2004)

An 'oasis in the midst of semi-urbania'

by Carol Blitzer

T ucked behind the bowling alley on El Camino Real, across Adobe Creek from the rest of Palo Alto, lies Palo Alto's southernmost neighborhood, Monroe Park. Despite having the cachet of a Palo Alto address, these residents lack access to Palo Alto's school district. Instead, they send their children to schools in Los Altos.

Maria Franke and her husband Douglas grew up in Palo Alto and wanted to raise their children there as well. "I was looking for affordable housing all over. This house was listed at an incredible price," she said. The family moved in 1986.

It wasn't until she went to enroll her son in Young Fives, run by the Palo Alto Unified School District, that she realized Monroe Park was in the Los Altos School District. Eventually, both her sons learned to cross El Camino Real to get to Santa Rita School, about a mile away in Los Altos. Franke acknowledged that it's actually closer than any Palo Alto elementary schools.

She's less concerned about the school address than the traffic that zooms down her street en route to the San Antonio Shopping Center. Her neighbor Linnea Wickstrom recently asked the city to evaluate the speed of traffic, and is awaiting the city's response.

"We have stop lights for hotels, but not for us," Wickstrom said, estimating that there are close to 250 homes in the area.

Among those homes, about a dozen are owned by Portuguese families, many from the island of Pico in the Azores. Deolinda Avila and her husband, John, have lived in the neighborhood since their marriage in 1968, in a home they purchased from John's father.

Within just a few blocks, Avila said, there were aunts, uncles and cousins; many worked at Peers Dairy in Palo Alto, others in construction or at local hotels.

"We're a close community," Avila said, noting that most are members of one of the two Portuguese societies in Mountain View.

Just a few blocks away, on a quiet cul de sac, George Callas lives with his daughter Eleni. He and his late wife Mary Lou bought their home in the Garden Park Terrace tract in 1961, choosing an area halfway between NASA Ames and the United States Geological Survey (USGS) where they each worked. Attracted by the low prices, they were sold by a neighbor's friendly welcome. When their three children came along, they chose to add on rather than leave the neighborhood.

Callas noted that many of his neighbors were tradesmen skilled in carpentry and stucco. "Every time I had a building problem, someone came over to help," he said.

That sense of neighborliness continues on the cul de sac, with annual 4th of July block parties.

When Callas moved to Monroe Park, the area was under the jurisdiction of Santa Clara County. Margaret and Richard Herzing were among the neighbors who successfully petitioned to annex to Palo Alto in 1961. Richard worked to establish Monroe Park, where his grandchildren played king of the mountain. He also lobbied for a footbridge, rather than a road, over Adobe Creek. Herzing calls her late husband "an unsung hero" for his civic-minded efforts.

Some of the residents feel they're double-taxed, paying Palo Alto's utility tax that supports schools their kids cannot attend, as well as the Los Altos parcel tax. Herzing said she opposed the storm-sewer tax in Palo Alto because they don't have storm drains.

"We're like the tail of the dog," she said, but added that the area actually gets double coverage from police and fire, with mutual aid coming from surrounding communities.

Today there's a lot of building going on in Monroe Park, with new residents taking advantage of the lower prices to purchase quarter-acre lots -- an anomaly in Palo Alto. Million-dollar-plus homes sit side by side with '50s tract houses, sometimes with apartment buildings directly behind.

What's drawing the new residents is what brought Sue Diederichsen and her family to Monroe Park in 1973. "I wanted a big yard, hardwood floors and a fireplace. We looked in Barron Park, probably would have preferred it," she said.

Although it was price that drew her, it was convenience and community that kept her there. "I can walk to everything that I need. There's even a mortuary nearby. There are buses, grocery stores, everything in good walking or bus distance. I'm very happy with it," she said.

"It's so quiet. Most people don't even know we're here," Herzing said. Assistant editor Carol Blitzer can be reached at cblitzer@paweekly.com.
Monroe Park facts Fire station: 600 Arastradero Road Library: Mitchell Park branch, 3800 Middlefield Road Parks: Monroe Mini Park, 4305 Miller Ave. Post office: Main Post Office, 2085 E. Bayshore Road Public Schools: Santa Rita School, Egan Junior High School, Los Altos or Mountain View High School

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