| Menlo Park in the Peninsula area of the
San Francisco Bay Area is located just north of Palo Alto and East Palo
Alto. Menlo Park is known mostly for abundant high-tech employers. It
encompasses portions of the Stanford University campus, including the
Stanford Linear Accelerator (SLAC). Sand Hill Road is home to dozens of
venture capital firms, who manage tens of billions of dollars for financing
Silicon Valley technology companies that have become the economic backbone
of the region. Menlo Park was, during the 1970's, a very bohemian town.
The town's main bookstore, Kepler's Bookstore, used to be located in a
run-down Victorian house on the city's main strip. It had the largest
collection of Mad Magazine publications this side of New York. Keplers is
famous for allowing people to sit on one of their many old chairs and sofas
to read without buying. Going from one section to another meant traversing a
creaky, dilapidated wood floor. It had a cool poster section, with many drug
culture references. Throughout time, it moved to various locations, and now
has ended up on one of the most expensive pieces of real estate in Menlo
Park (El Camino and Menlo Ave). Formerly catering to a mostly student
audience, it now serves up non-discounted books to the wealthy elite of
Menlo Park. Just outside of Kepler's doors is a coffee house (surprise!)
that caters a variety of influential and not-so-influential types: Barrone's
is the only place in Menlo Park offering a $10 mediocre breakfast.
The prices of real estate in Menlo Park have increased anywhere from 10
to 20 fold over the past 30 years, depending on the area. Formerly a nice
retirement community with affordable real estate for middle class families,
Menlo Park is now only affordable to the "option laden" wealthy. Don't even
call a realtor unless you are able to spend a million; several million would
be better. SUV's are a common sight, with soccer mommies preferring the
Escalade to the Voyager mini-van. Mercedes Benz dealers love this area...
it's the official car of Menlo Park (joke).
Walking downtown used to be a pleasant experience. One could experience
the pleasures of an ordinary sleepy college town, while shopping a variety
of stores. They included a hometown bakery, a coffee shop where the locals
gathered, hair salons, furniture stores, health food shops, and more. Now
you can only buy baked goods at Le Boulangerie; Coffee isn't so bad - you
have a choice of two dozen different coffee shops. Taking a stroll downtown
takes you past one of the many eateries with outdoor seating.
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Get in
By train
Take the Caltrain to Menlo Park Station, located conveniently
behind Keplers.
By bus
VTA Route 22 terminates at the Menlo Park Caltrain station. You can take
this bus (mostly down El Camino Real) as far as San Jose.
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