Burlingame is one of the most desirable
locations in Northern California. It is #3 to be exact, right after San
Francisco (SF) and Palo Alto (PA). The city was named after Anson Burlingame,
a former minister to China (Burlingame in Kansas was also named after
Anson Burlingame). While SF and PA are quite obvious (SF is probably one
of the most desirable cities in the US and PA – a host city to the
Stanford University and numerous tech companies), popularity of
Burlingame requires some explanation.
Before
I do it, let me clarify that the Burlingame zip code – 94010. There is a
city and town with the same zip code, Burlingame and Hillsborough,
respectively. There is more than zip code that connects these two
cities, however.
According to a local hearsay
– Burlingame was conceived as a “service city” for Hillsborough.
However, the truth (according to the Hillsborough town website) is that Hillsborough was
created as some of early Burlingame inhabitants were not willing to pay
taxes to build sidewalks and light streets. So, they decided to secede
and incorporated Hillsborough. And this is how it stayed until today as
Hillsborough is the town with very few services, a “services-less” City.
Hillsborough is a city of beautiful and expensive homes with no shops,
no high school, no sidewalks and its streets are not lighted at night
(for the most part).
Burlingame
has a little bit of everything, beautiful homes priced from $800k-$900k
for a 2 bedrooms, 1 bath to, $2.4M (median price is approx. $1.4 - $1.5
M at the moment), 2 nice downtown centers, one around Burlingame Ave. –
Primrose Ave.) and another around Broadway - with an abundance of
wonderful shops, great restaurants (yes – this city is alive in the
evening) and a few clubs providing entertainment - for some too much and
for some not enough till late at night - and very good schools, both
public and private (several elementary schools, Burlingame Intermediate,
Burlingame High School and Mercy High School to mention some of them).
You can find more about Burlingame schools by clicking on the following link.
Another
important secret to Burlingame popularity is its location at the
Northern San Francisco Peninsula, 5 min away from the San Francisco
Airport and 20 min from San Francisco. The traffic, for the most of the
time, is not an obstacle on the way to San Francisco. You don’t have to
drive to get to the City, you can take either Caltrain or BART trains
(the latter from the neighboring city – Millbrae). To San Jose is only
30 min drive, but this is quite often not the case as Expressway 101 is
quite notorious for its traffic. The 280 provides a more scenic, but
longer commute alternative.
Here are a few views of Burlingame, its typical homes, points of interests, and of course it’s Kohl Mansion. If you are visiting – there is a plenty of hotels to choose from. Click on the directory of the Burlingame Chamber of Commerce to find out one which suits you.
If
you are interested in homes currently on the market, there are 30
houses in Burlingame in the price range from $849k to $2.395 M as of
December 29, and 32 houses in Hillsborough in the price range from
$1.650 M to $28.5 M (even if you don’t want to buy the latter one, you
might want to see it! It is a new listing - of December 11). To search
for Burlingame and Hillsborough listings click HERE and then on Home Search (at the menu on the left side of the page).
To look at Burlingame statistics click HERE.
Check also the following sites:
Contact me if you have any questions.