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MORE KIDS ... Palo Alto's population of kids is inching upward. Last year, 23.4 percent of Palo Alto residents were under 18 years old; in 2000, the percentage was 21.2. The racial make-up of that growing population is also skewing. Within the Asian population, 26.8 percent are under 18 — up from 24 percent a decade earlier — compared with only 19.3 percent of the white population.

MOST DIVERSE ... Census tract 5107 can claim the title of being Palo Alto's most diverse area. The tract, a thin rectangle, stretches from Oregon Expressway past Charleston Road and is bounded by Alma Street and El Camino Real. The 0.56-square-mile tract includes both the Ventura and Charleston Meadows neighborhoods, the latter of which contains the new Arbor Real and Redwood Gate developments. The tract's population is 50.3 percent white; 37.4 percent Asian; 3.7 percent black; 0.4 percent Hawaiian/Pacific Islander; 0.2 percent American Indian/Alaskan; and 5.2 percent "other." About 10 percent also identified themselves as ethnically Hispanic or Latino.

MOST REPRESENTATIVE ... To find the census tract with a population most similar to Palo Alto's overall racial profile, look no further than the middle of the city. In Midtown, tract 5109 — bounded by Oregon Expressway, Middlefield Road, Alma Street and Barron Creek — is 61.8 percent white; 28.8 percent Asian; 1.7 percent black; 0.3 percent American Indian/Alaskan; 0.2 percent Hawaiian/Pacific Islander; and 2.2 percent "other." About 7 percent identified themselves as ethnically Hispanic or Latino.