Publication Date: Friday, December 23, 2005
Greater Miranda
Greater Miranda
(December 23, 2005) A pocket of tranquility
by Kenneth Seli
Situated inconspicuously between the buzz of Foothill Expressway and the meandering trickles of Adobe Creek, the Greater Miranda neighborhood is almost an island to itself away from Palo Alto's busy centers.
The entrance to the neighborhood is low-key, featuring a long, narrow drive between the rush of commuter life on the right and the still nature of the Alta Mesa Memorial Park.
The neighborhood itself is shaped like the wing of a bird with Miranda serving as the main support connected to three feather plumes that are the Arroyo Court, Miranda Green and Moana Court cul-de-sacs. Every extension of the wing is bursting with trees and other plant life that leave only noise as the evidence for a whizzing street nearby.
"[Our neighborhood] has somewhat of a rural feel to it and when you turn into the street it feels like you are away," said 12-year resident Robin Boselli-Kao, "but is quite easy to get to places."
Don Nielsen, president of the neighborhood association, has lived on Miranda Court with his wife since 1965. They built their home next to the creek for $13,000, and raised their four children there.
The neighborhood association meets every Fourth of July to celebrate the Jelly Bean Olympics, an outdoor games and potluck event that brings the residents of the 55 homes together.
He said the celebration further cements the unity neighbors in the area have with each other, which has already been established because of the neighborhood's secluded setting.
"It makes us a little more cohesive," he said. "We do not share a boundary with another neighborhood so it brings us more together."
Aside from the games, the association rarely meets unless there is a civic issue that may affect them, although they have gotten together to organize for disaster preparedness.
After a fatal automobile accident in early 2003, neighbors worked with the city to repave Miranda Avenue, adding a walkway on the east side of the road protected by a raised curb.
"Sometimes trucks come and have a little bit of hard time turning around," Nielson said about delivery trucks that must double back to get to the VA Hospital. "From the residents I've surveyed, I haven't heard a complaint about it. Everybody likes it a lot; everyone who walks now doesn't have to worry about the traffic."
With the road changes, Boselli-Kao said raising her three kids in the area is safe, especially since two of her children bike to Terman Middle School and one bikes to Juana Briones Elementary.
She has observed a shift of neighborhood demographics in recent years, with younger families moving into the area.
"When we first moved in there were not many younger kids," she said, "but in the last five years a lot of new families moved in so we have a wide range of ages."
Brian Steen moved to the area with his wife in 2003. He said close proximity to schools is one of the factors further widening the diversity of their pocket of Palo Alto.
"It's a pretty international neighborhood," said Steen who points to families of many different ethnic backgrounds that have moved into the area within recent years.
Nielson, who also serves as local amateur historian, said the Greater Miranda land was originally purchased by Dona Juana Briones de Miranda for $300 in 1850. Gradual development of the area began in the 1950s, and the area was annexed to the city in 1959.
In Greater Miranda, it is possible to live from the spring to the winter of your life, and reside in the area even past the end.
"One thing is, if you die, you don't have to leave the neighborhood," said Nielson, pointing to the cemetery next door.
@12subhead:Greater Miranda facts
@facthead:CHILDCARE AND PRESCHOOLS (NEARBY):
@fact:Whistlestop Child Development Center, 3801 Miranda Ave., No. T6B
@facthead:FIRE STATION:
@fact:No. 5, 600 Arastradero Road
@facthead:LIBRARY:
@fact:Mitchell Park branch, 3700 Middlefield Road
@facthead:NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION:
@fact: Don Nielson, (650) 941-2429
@facthead:PARKS (NEARBY):
@fact:Terman Park, 655 Arastradero Road
@facthead:POST OFFICE:
@fact:Veterans Hospital Bureau, 3801 Miranda Ave.
@facthead:PRIVATE SCHOOL:
@fact:Bowman International School, 4000 Terman Drive
@facthead:PUBLIC SCHOOLS:
@fact:Juana Briones Elementary School, Terman Middle School, Gunn High School
@facthead:SHOPPING:
@fact:El Camino Real, San Antonio Shopping Center
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