Los Altos ( ) is a city at the southern end of the San Francisco Peninsula, in the San Francisco Bay Area. The city is in Santa Clara County, California, United States. The population was 27,693 according to the 2000 census.

Most of the city's growth occurred between 1950 and 1980. Originally an agricultural town with many summer cottages, Los Altos is now an affluent bedroom community. Los Altos has several unique features. Commercial zones are strictly limited to the downtown area with small shopping and office parks lining Foothill Expressway and El Camino Real. Los Altos' low crime rate, excellent schools and proximity to coastal foothills make it one of the area's premier cities.

Geography

Los Altos is located at (37.36819, -122.097511) .

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 6.3 square miles (16.4 km²). All of it is land.

Demographics

in downtown Los Altos]]

As of the census of 2000, there were 27,693 people, 10,462 households, and 8,024 families residing in the city. The population density was 4,360.7 people per square mile (1,683.8/km²). There were 10,727 housing units at an average density of 1,689.1/sq mi (652.2/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 80.35% White, 0.47% African American, 0.17% Native American, 15.42% Asian, 0.16% Pacific Islander, 0.66% from other races, and 2.44% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.76% of the population.

Of 10,462 households, 33.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 69.4% were married couples living together, 5.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.3% were non-families. 18.7% were made up of individuals and 9.8% were singles 65 or older. The average household size was 2.61 and the average family size was 2.98.

Demographically, the median age was 44 years. 23.7% were under 18, 3.5% from 18 to 24, 24.5% from 25 to 44, 29.1% from 45 to 64, and 19.3% were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 93.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.0 males.

The median household income was $126,740, and the median income for a family was $148,201. Males had a median income of $100,000 versus $67,332 for females. The per capita income for the city was $66,776. About 1.1% of families and 2.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.2% of those under age 18 and 1.5% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

In the state legislature Los Altos is located in the 11th Senate District, represented by Democrat Joe Simitian, and in the 21st Assembly District, represented by Democrat Ira Ruskin. Nationally, Los Altos is located in California's 14th congressional district, which has a Cook PVI of D +18 and is represented by Democrat Anna Eshoo.

Education

Public education

Los Altos is served by a K-8 school district, the Los Altos School District, and two separate 9-12 high school districts, including the Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District. Students in parts of Los Altos attend schools in the Cupertino Union School District, a K-8 district including Montclaire Elementary School and Cupertino Middle School. Los Altos also hosts a K-6 charter school, Bullis Charter School. High-school students residing in the southern area of Los Altos attend Homestead High School.

All districts are highly regarded, and most graduates of Los Altos area high schools continue their education at well-known universities.

Private education

Los Altos is also served by highly regarded private and religious schools, some of which, such as St. Francis High School (Mountain View) and the Kings Academy (Sunnyvale) are in neighboring communities. St. Nicholas School, St. Simon School, and the Lower and Middle Campuses (K-6th) of Pinewood School, are located within the city limits.

Library

Los Altos Library in the downtown civic center serves the entire city. Woodland Library, a small branch library, is located in the southern part of the city near the Cupertino border. Both libraries are part of the Santa Clara County Library System.

Design and planning

Los Altos, by design, strives to maintain a semi-rural atmosphere. Los Altos has few sidewalks except around commercial zones and along arterial roads like San Antonio Road. Most roads have broad dirt shoulders and little or no street lighting. The civic center sits in the middle of an orchard, a tiny remnant of the farms that once covered the entire area. The downtown is a triangle with arterials on all sides that allow most thru-traffic to bypass Main Street. In contrast, several nearby cities have downtowns that lack adequate bypasses (notably, Palo Alto and Menlo Park). Many Los Altos homes are now valued at $2 million and higher, putting it at #20 on the Most Expensive Zip Codes in America list in 2005.

From the mid-1990s onward, downtown Los Altos has experienced mild economic difficulties due to competition from shopping centers and chain stores in nearby Mountain View and Palo Alto, as well as its lack of a hotel or movie theater. Revitalizing downtown continues to be a major issue in city politics. .

Los Altos may have a legitimate claim to having the first scientifically designed sound baffle in the year 1970. Santa Clara County undertook a seminal study to calculate the effects of alternate soundwall designs along Foothill Expressway. The resulting design was built and successfully predicted reduction of seven to ten decibels in Noise pollution levels for adjacent homes.

Neighboring cities

• Cupertino, CA
• Sunnyvale, CA
• Los Altos Hills, CA
• Palo Alto, CA
• Mountain View, CA

Los Altos History Museum

Located in one of Santa Clara Valley's few remaining apricot orchards, the Los Altos History Museum explores the rich history of local people and how the use of the land over time has transformed the agricultural paradise once known as the "Valley of Heart's Delight" into the technology hub that is today's Silicon Valley.

Opened in spring of 2001 adjacent to the Los Altos Library, the Los Altos History Museum occupies an 8,200-square-foot building – built entirely with private donations; ownership was transferred to the town in 2002. The Museum features a changing exhibits gallery as well as the permanent exhibit, "Crown of the Peninsula".

With the mission to "collect, preserve and interpret the history of the Los Altos area," the Museum includes interactive exhibits and hands-on activities ton encourage children and adults to learn about the community . Other programs include third and fourth grade tours and curricula for local school children, oral history collections, a traveling Ohlone kit, and much more.

There's more history just across the lushly landscaped courtyard in the landmark J. Gilbert Smith House. Built in 1905, the home is nestled under majestic heritage oaks and has been refurbished to replicate a farmhouse of the 1930s. Visitors are welcome to enjoy the gardens and picnic tables even when the House and Museum are closed.

Natural Disasters

Earthquakes

Los Altos is near the San Andreas Fault and subject to earthquakes.

• 1906 San Francisco Earthquake - Although Los Altos was hit extremely hard (VIII on the intensity level), the main local effort was to help rebuild nearby Santa Cruz, which was nearly destroyed.

• 1989 — On October 17, Los Altos experienced the Loma Prieta earthquake, the most recent major earthquake to hit the area, but avoided major damage. Los Altos and its churches combined efforts to clean up hard hit areas such as Watsonville and Santa Cruz.

Parades/activities

• Los Altos [http://www.losaltoskiwanis.org Kiwanis Club]
• Pet Parade
• Halloween Festival
• Main Street Parade
• Los Altos [http://www.losaltosrotary.org Rotary Club] Fine Art Show
• Downtown Los Altos Arts & Wine Festival, [http://www.losaltos-downtown.org/ Los Altos Village Association]
• Los Altos Fall Festival, [http://www.losaltoschamber.org/events.html Los Altos Chamber of Commerce]
• California Country Annual Fall Antique Americana Show & Sale, June & October, [http://www.losaltoshistory.org/ Los Altos History Museum]
• [http://www.losaltosparade.org Festival of Lights Parade] (held the Sunday night of Thanksgiving weekend)
• Los Altos High School Homecoming Parade (every year on the Friday of LAHS's homecoming week.)

Famous residents

Current well-known residents of Los Altos include:

• Charles Geschke (co-founder of Adobe Systems)
• John Warnock (co-founder of Adobe Systems)
• Paul Mockapetris (inventor or co-inventor of the Domain Name System)
• Brian Salazar (noteworthy poet)
• Jerry Yang (co-founder of Yahoo!)
• Gaurav Dhillon (founder of Jaman and co-founder of Informatica)
• Michael Koch (noted Swiss actor)
• Jen-Hsun Huang (co-founder, president, and CEO of Nvidia)

Others who are from/have inhabited Los Altos and have achieved fame include:

• Jim Morrison (lead singer and lyricist of The Doors)
• John Lee Hooker (famous blues musician)
• Alan Cranston (former U.S. senator)
• Juli Inkster (renowned LPGA golfer)
• George Seifert (former head coach of NFL team San Francisco 49ers)
• Steve Young (former quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers and current Hall-of-Famer)
• Lee Woodall (former NFL linebacker for the San Francisco 49ers, Carolina Panthers, and Denver Broncos)
• Lauren McFall (member of bronze-winning 2004 Olympic synchronized swimming team)
• Steve Jobs (CEO of Apple Computer)
• Alison Waite (model, Playboy Playmate)
• Scott McNealy (co-founder of Sun Microsystems)
• Lorrie Fair (member of 1999 Women's World Cup Champion US National Soccer Team)

Sister cities

Los Altos has four sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International:

• Bendigo, Australia
• Syktyvkar, Russia
• Shilin, Taiwan
• Rustington, UK

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