Living in Burlingame
Burlingame is home for me. I was born and raised here, my family has lived and worked on the Peninsula for generations, and I still spend my weekends on Burlingame Avenue. Here is how I describe the town to friends who are thinking about moving in.
Burlingame earned the nickname City of Trees honestly. The town has protected its canopy since a tree ordinance passed in 1908, the same year it became a city, and today more than 18,000 public trees shade its streets. Towering eucalyptus groves on the west side date back to the original ranch land.
What makes Burlingame special day to day is how much is within reach. You can walk to coffee and dinner, catch Caltrain from a historic depot, and be at SFO in minutes. Two separate shopping districts, Burlingame Avenue and Broadway, give each side of town its own main street.
Burlingame Neighborhood Map
Every neighborhood I cover in Burlingame, numbered and pinned.
Swipe sideways to explore the map.
Burlingame
- 1Downtown Burlingame
- 2Burlingame Terrace
- 3Easton Addition
- 4Ray Park
- 5Mills Estate
- 6Lyon Hoag
- 7Burlingame Park
- 8Burlingame Gardens
- 9Burlingables
- 10Burlingame Grove
- 11Burlingame Village
- 12Burlingame Hills unincorporated
Each numbered pin marks a spot inside the neighborhood. Neighborhood borders on the Peninsula are informal and vary by source, so treat edges as approximate. City limits, roads and rail are drawn from OpenStreetMap. Numbers circled with a dashed line are unincorporated county areas that share a mailing city.
Neighborhood by Neighborhood
Numbers match the pins on the map above.
Downtown Burlingame
The heart of town along Burlingame Avenue, with boutiques, restaurants and the Sunday farmers market on Park Road. The Caltrain depot opened in 1894, used old tiles from two Spanish missions on its roof, and is a California Historical Landmark.
Burlingame Terrace
Laid out in 1905 between Oak Grove Avenue, Broadway, El Camino Real and California Drive. Expect Craftsman, Spanish and Tudor Revival homes, a cluster of storybook Tudors on Willborough and Neuchatel, and McKinley Elementary on Paloma Avenue.
Easton Addition
The Easton family subdivided this land in 1905 and Burlingame annexed it in 1910. Today it is one of the most requested areas in town, known for 1920s bungalows and Craftsman homes, Roosevelt Elementary and the Easton Branch Library.
Ray Park
The first piece of the old Mills family land to be subdivided, built out in the 1940s with mostly single story ranch homes. Ray Park itself has ballfields and courts, and Burlingame Intermediate School sits close by.
Mills Estate
Hillside streets off Trousdale Drive on land once owned by banker Darius Ogden Mills. It includes a pocket of about 100 Eichler homes from the mid 1960s, Cuernavaca Park and trail access into Mills Canyon.
Lyon Hoag
One of Burlingame's earliest tracts, filed in 1906 and built up quickly after the earthquake. Craftsman, Spanish and Tudor homes surround Washington Elementary and the newly renovated Victoria Park.
Burlingame Park
Named for the 1890s development planned around the Burlingame Country Club. Shady blocks with many of the town's grand older homes, Pershing Park and Heritage Park, all a short walk from Burlingame Avenue.
Burlingame Gardens
East of the tracks between Broadway and Oak Grove Avenue, with many single story Spanish and mid century homes. Kids love the train themed playground at Alpine Park.
Burlingables
Also known as Oak Grove Manor. Homes here date mostly from the 1930s through the 1960s, close to Washington Park and Burlingame High School.
Burlingame Grove
A compact area near Laguna Park and the Broadway shopping district, with bungalows, Craftsman homes and revival style houses on tree lined streets.
Burlingame Village
A small enclave on the north end near Village Park and Mills Peninsula Medical Center, made up mostly of modest post war homes.
Burlingame Hills
About 850 hillside homes toward Interstate 280. Roughly half sit inside city limits and half are unincorporated county land, and the Burlingame Hills Improvement Association has served the area since 1959.
A Short History
Long before the railroad, Ohlone villages dotted this stretch of the Peninsula. Under Mexican rule the land was split between Rancho Buri Buri to the north and Rancho San Mateo to the south. In 1868 banker William Ralston named his holdings here for Anson Burlingame, the American diplomat to China.
The Burlingame Country Club formed in 1893 and the train depot opened a year later. The first residential subdivision followed in 1896, and after the 1906 earthquake San Franciscans arrived in large numbers. Burlingame incorporated in 1908, passed its tree protection ordinance that same year, and annexed the Town of Easton in 1910. The city has been named a Tree City USA every year since 1980.
Schools, Parks and Local Traditions
Public Schools
The Burlingame School District runs Franklin, Hoover, Lincoln, McKinley, Roosevelt and Washington elementary schools plus Burlingame Intermediate. Burlingame High School, which opened in 1923, is part of the San Mateo Union High School District.
Private Schools
Mercy High School has taught in the historic Kohl Mansion since 1931. Our Lady of Angels and St. Catherine of Siena serve kindergarten through eighth grade.
Parks
Washington Park is the town's backyard, joined by Ray Park, Village Park, Laguna Park, Cuernavaca Park, Pershing Park, Victoria Park, Bayside Park on the waterfront and the Mills Canyon trail.
Traditions
The Sunday farmers market on Park Road, summer Music in the Park concerts and Art in the Park at Washington Park, Burlingame on the Avenue, and the holiday tree lighting at City Hall.
Getting Around
Caltrain stops downtown, BART is one town over in Millbrae, and Highway 101, El Camino Real and Interstate 280 all run through the city, with SFO just minutes away.