Why do people persist in calling this area "Old Palo Alto"? Some realtor must have coined it, and it's inaccurate and terribly pretentious. It was never called that --it's the Seale Addition. It's not the old part of town. It's tres nouveau Palo Alto to use the term OPA, and new people can be excused their ignorance but why the Weekly is complicit in this is beyond me. Why not name your group after what it is -- the Seale Addition, and stop perpetuating this nonsense. Be proud of Palo Alto's history.

People call the area "Old Palo Alto" because that is what everyone (almost everyone) knows it as. Right or wrong, no one is going to start calling it the Seale addition. I've lived here for 15 years, so I'm really not a "new person" and I've never heard the phrase before. If there intention is to gather a group of neighbors from a common area, they should use the most commonly used name to refer to the neighborhood...

I have lived her for 30 years. Agree that the name is here to stay. Announcing "celebrity visitors" is a bit pretentious, but then again, fitting for the people who move to Old Palo Alto. Those celebrities are modest people who can afford large homes and would most likely prefer no such announcement.

I don't understand why this is even being published as news. Many neighborhoods have run their associations for years. Check here, under "Who We Are": Web Link

Cudos to Nadia, I wish we had an activist like her in Midtown too. Palo Alto lost the sense of community long time ago, just like many other towns in Bay Area. There is still some of it left in Los Gatos, Willow Glen and Los Altos. I suggest we start small, perhaps with "Meet your neihbors" street barbecues or similar events. The events in Japan highlighted the need to know your neighbors, that could come especially useful in case of emergencies.

We moved to that area in 1961 and I never heard it called "Old Palo Alto" until I read it on Palo Alto Online. It never really had a name that I was aware of. "Old Palo Alto" seems better suited to downtown or Professorville. We also knew the Sutorius family when they lived at 195 Santa Rita and Emerson; I went to school with Scott's sister Pam.

I moved here in 1971, and the term "Old Palo Alto" was used then and ever since. I remember thinking it was odd, since we lived in Crescent Park and I thought the homes there had been purchased first. I never heard the term "Seale Addition".

Even the Weekly's "select your neighborhood" drop down list has Old Palo Alto - so it is really commonly used.

It's great that they're trying to foster a greater sense of community.

Criticizing the name chosen by volunteers to help bring people together is lame.

Kudos to them for taking the initiative and doing something helpful for the neighborhood. Who cares what the name is - I'm just happy they're doing it.

I think it's ironic that Nadia gives credit to Southgate for her first exposure to a "Neighborhood" meeting, when, as far as I know, Southgate doesn't have a Neighborhood Association. I heard that someone tried to start one a decade ago, but got so much opposition that s/he gave up. Maybe HSR has gotten some Southgate neighbors motivated; maybe they'll finally form a neighborhood association.

I moved to "Old Palo Alto" 46 years ago. The only place you will find the "Seale Addition" is on your deed. We have bigger neighborhood issues facing us than what to call it. Save your energy for saving the neighborhood from having the High Speed Rail roaring through it. Nadia Naik deserves all your support for her contribution to our community, not nitpicking.

When we signed the deed for our house on Seale Avenue in 1961, we learned from that deed that we would be living in the Seale Addition, and that if we were going to construct a home anywhere in the addition, it had to be worth at least $6,000. :-) At that time, the area was known in the community as Old Palo Alto. Hey, I'm used to it. It works for me. But every now and again I think of Henry Seale, who, from what I learned in a book about Juana Briones by Jeanne McDonnell, was a dedicated horseman and perhaps a bit of a gambler. He bought his ranch, the Robles-Seale Ranch, which was contiguous to Briones' ranch. I'm not sure Seale Avenue is actually a part of that former ranch, but the street was surely named for the Seale family.

Midtown Mom. Paste www.paneighborhoods.org into your browser to the Palo Alto Neighborhood (PAN) web site. It gives detailed information on neighborhood associations - including the Midtown one - as well as links to Emergency Preparation, etc.

PS Note there is only one "n" in the link.

@Bill, Midtown Mom and Odd:

Here's the list of neighborhood associations. Midtown and Southgate do have leaders: Web Link Go to the Who We Are section after pressing the web link.

re "The Old Palo Alto Neighborhood Association, with the mellifluous acronym OPANA..."
Hey, it rhymes with Ohana - "family" in Hawaiian.
That's an excellent name.

way to go----thank you for your effort

Southgate has a "contact person" listed on the PANeighborhoods website. I'm pretty certain that that person does not represent a neighborhood association. It is someone in Southgate who is willing to be contacted about Southgate issues.

Where does PAN - Palo Alto Neighboorhoods fit in?
Isn't the area this new organization wants to cover, already covered under a subset of PAN?

I'm in!
Thank you Nadia and Camelia for taking the initiative.

Best of success to Nadia in her endeavor.

I notice that my neighborhood, the Boyce Addition, is not listed in the Neighborhood or School Community dropdown.

But I suppose Crescent Park sounds most upscale...

It would be nice if we had an association for downtown area. The only association we have is the business association and that one has nothing to address the needs and concerns of the residents.

Ann Marie: there IS a downtown association. Check here under "Who We Are": Web Link

Don't you people read the comments before you post?!

I lived in Midtown for about 20 years before we all had computers in our homes. It is nice to hear how the communities in PA are coming together. I now live in Sharon Heights which has an inactive neighborhood association which is sad. If you want to be anonymouos, move to Sharon Heights. Unless you have children, you will not be noticed. Ladera is a true community. How does a person get an association going? I am not sure this 65 year old woman is up to taking charge!

WoW! What an ageist comment! Most 65 year olds can run rings around me, in my 40s. 60s, 70s, 80s- Palo Alto is full of vital people who contribute to our community. I laugh when the Weekly identifies someone in a story as 'elderly' and they are 65. Hurray to my parents' generation- and my parents, who do live in Old Palo Alto, which has ALWAYS been called Old Palo Alto, although I too questioned that- for being some of the most active volunteers in our community. I am sure Nadia can handle this beautifully!

Nadia IS not 65.... and I am still sure she will do an excellent job!

I wonder what is the percentage of Palo Altans that really know the issues regarding High Speed Rail, so they have an informed reason why to oppose it.

I would believe that mostly all the naysayers are the ones living near the rail tracks. Their rethoric is on par with the conservatives and Teabaggers that have prevented another states from implementing HSR.

This is California and HSR is going to be built, and the decision to allow a station in Palo ALto does not rest in the few crybabies but with the Federal and State Agencies involved, and they never hesitate to use Eminent Domain, when they see is needed.

To the East coast transplant(5 years)that wants to be involved in community activism; here is a better idea for you to get your feet wet: make the city fix the streets, then I can see that you are not trying to capitalize on a wedge issue.

PA Native, I found the website from the Downtown Association, but apparently there is nothing happening there. The last agenda meeting was from 2003. Does anyone know if this association is still running? Here is their website: Web Link

About Nadia, she is a fine woman, and she is not 65. But even if she was 65, she would be just fine running the association or doing anything else.

Over 175 people showed up for the inaugural meeting! Wow!

Our indoor cat, an eleven year old Tonkinese got out Saturday morning, April 19. He is off-white with blue eyes and dark points like a Siamese. You can see his picture here:

Web Link

If anyone reading this knows of his whereabouts, we are offering a $100 reward for his return.

Re: Missing Tonkinese Cat---

I was so excited at finding a neighborhood mailing list that I forgot to give any contact information.

Herbert Kanner
211 Washington Ave.
326-8204
kanner@acm.org