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San Mateo County at a Glance

© McCormack's Guides

 

Bordered by the Pacific on the west and the bay on the east, San Mateo is a county of 733,496 residents, the great majority of whom owe their livelihoods to the county's neighbors. www.mccormacks.com

On the northern border sits San Francisco, owner of the most valuable piece of real estate in San Mateo County: San Francisco International Airport.

San Francisco stores its water supply in San Mateo and to assure its purity has placed thousands of acres in watershed.

On the southern border sits Santa Clara County, home of Stanford University and the original Silicon Valley. Short of space, Silicon Valley has spread into San Mateo County and opened giant office and research complexes. Among the biggest, Sun and Oracle.

In the lexicon of the locals, San Mateo makes up much of what is called “The Peninsula.”

Hills and mountains run down the spine of San Mateo County, with the happy result that thousands of residents enjoy vistas of waters and rising and setting suns. Some of the tallest waves in the world crash against its 55 miles of Pacific coast. www.mccormacks.com

The county's cities and neighborhoods, with few exceptions, are low in crime. Many of its schools score among the highest in the state but some are struggling.

San Mateo County encompasses 440 square miles, about one-third the size of Santa Clara County, and about nine times the size of San Francisco. From north to south, the county runs about 40 miles, and from east to west, at the widest point, about 15 miles. The highest point, elevation about 2,600 feet, is a place called Long Ridge, on the south side of the county, in the coastal mountains. Running up the center of the county is the San Andreas Fault. Yes, this is earthquake country. The whole Bay Area is earthquake country.

The 1989 earthquake gave the county a rousing jolt. Windows broke, chimneys toppled, water and gas lines ruptured and thousands, possibly millions, of glasses and jars fell and broke. No one was killed in the county.

Should you worry about the Next One? Some do. Many don’t. But you should read the literature on earthquakes and get prepared. The beginning of your telephone book is a good place to start.

In its informal 2007 tally, the state numbered the county's residential units at 267,102 of which 153,284 were single homes, 22,922 single attached, 87,304 apartments or hotel rooms and 3,592 mobile homes. Single homes make up 66 percent of the housing stock and apartments-hotel rooms 33 percent. To comfort and shelter travelers, hotels have sprung up in the cities around the airport. www.mccormacks.com

In the 1990s, the county built about 10,000 housing units, about half single homes. Between 2000 and 2007, the county and its cities issued about 6,500 building permits.

Median age of San Mateo County residents is 37. Children and teens under 18 make up 23 percent of the county. People over age 55 years, 21 percent (census 2000). Demographically, this translates into a mature county, not that many children, many gray heads, many empty nesters.

For decades, the county had one phone area code (415). In 1998, it was switched to 650. Part of Brisbane and about half of Daly City retain 415. If you are calling either Daly City or Brisbane and bomb with 415, try 650.

Because of its location and beauty, San Mateo County is considered one of the most desirable addresses in the state. Many homes, even the plain three-bedroom tract jobs, 50 years old, sell for over $700,000.

This suggests a region of great wealth but the reality is more complex. Many San Mateo residents, especially those who have been here a while, are “wealthy” on paper — the equity in their homes. The great majority of these people, however, work in ordinary, middle to upper-middle jobs: office workers, baggage handlers, trucking and delivery, aircraft mechanics, computer technicians, teachers, and so on. www.mccormacks.com

A fair number of people are poor or have low incomes. The county, since its inception, has served as home to immigrants and first-generation Americans. This tradition continues, the latest arrivals including Hispanics, Asians and Filipinos.

For a long time, the three counties — San Mateo, Santa Clara and San Francisco — provided housing that met the needs or desires of the rich, the poor and the middle class. Nowadays, all three find it increasingly difficult to house the low-income and many of the middle class. In some cities, a newspaper reported, cops are commuting over 50 miles each way to their San Mateo jobs. Many cities are talking about building “affordable” housing but in reality few of these units are built.

Weather

For most towns, the average rainfall is less than 20 inches. But it can reach 50 inches in the mountains. Temperatures rarely fall below freezing, rarely rise above 90. Humidity rarely bothers anyone. Rarely does thunder rumble or lightning strike.

San Mateo claims to have the mildest climate in the Bay Region. The coastal hills and mountains shelter the Bay cities, where most people reside, from the cold fogs and winds of the Pacific. Yet enough cooling breezes come down the Bay or over hills to take the edge off the summer heat.

Commuting-Travel

Two freeways traverse the county north and south. Two bridges connect San Mateo with the East Bay. BART (commute rail) runs trains to Daly City and Colma and now South San Francisco, San Bruno, Millbrae and SFO.

Caltrain runs commuter trains from Gilroy in Santa Clara County through San Mateo up to San Francisco. In 2004, Caltrain introduced bullet service, cutting travel time to San Francisco for many commuters by up to 45 minutes. See chapter on Commuting. www.mccormacks.com

SamTrans buses carry passengers to downtown San Francisco and throughout the neighborhoods of San Mateo County.

No urban county in California enjoys an easy commute. In the Bay Area, San Mateo does it better than almost all.

City and County

There are two San Mateos, a point of confusion. San Mateo, the city, is the second-most populous city in San Mateo, the county.

The county government legislates generally for all who reside outside a legal city. County supervisors represent districts but they are elected countywide.

In some instances, the county government performs services that in other states are provided by cities. The county provides medical care for the poor, even if they live in a city. www.mccormacks.com

Nine out every ten residents reside in 20 cities. Besides the City of San Mateo, they are: Atherton, Belmont, Brisbane, Burlingame, Colma, Daly City, East Palo Alto, Foster City, Half Moon Bay, Hillsborough, Menlo Park, Millbrae, Pacifica, Portola Valley, Redwood City, San Bruno, San Carlos, South San Francisco and Woodside.

In the 1990s, the county increased its population by about 58,000. Most of the new comers settled in the City of San Mateo, Daly City, Redwood City and East Palo Alto. Between 2000 and 2007, the county added another 26,000.

City councils, directly elected by local residents, run the city governments. All use city managers. The council sets policy; the manager executes it. Often the reality is that the managers and other administrators, being trained in the business, exert a great deal of influence on policy.

Many cities now are turning inward, trying to “redevelop” (a legal term dealing with tax structuring and building incentives) their old neighborhoods, especially the downtowns.

Of the remaining government entities, school boards, which are directly elected and not tied to municipal governments, are probably the most important. Some are confined to one city, some cover several cities. The boards hire and fire superintendents and help set policy for schools. www.mccormacks.com

The Past — The Indians

The Indians arrived maybe 20,000 years ago. They spoke the Costanoan dialect and gathered in small tribes that went by such names as Iamsin, Salson, Puyson, Shiwam. Stocky and copper-skinned with beards and mustaches — so the Spanish described them.

The Indians lived on a gruel made of local edibles and gathered buckeye nuts, acorns, blackberries and huckleberries. Fish were netted, oysters and clams scooped up. Snares, spears and bows and arrows were used to trap or kill deer, rabbits, squirrels, pheasants, quail and other small game.

The Indians lived by streams, had no written language, kept pretty much to themselves and were utterly unprepared for what followed.

The Spanish

Although they had claimed California since the 1500s, the Spanish rarely ventured north from Mexico, instead concentrating their energies on exploiting the Philippines. When they did sail into California waters, fogs and fear of rocks kept them away from shore. It took them over 200 years to find the Golden Gate.

Not until 1769 did Gaspar de Portola lead the first expedition to explore what is now San Mateo County and to discover San Francisco Bay. In 1776, Colonel Juan Bautista de Anza, on his way to San Francisco with the first settlers, camped about mid-peninsula near a stream he named after Saint Matthew, “San Mateo.” www.mccormacks.com

Spanish policy was to take the Indians to the San Francisco mission and indoctrinate them in the tenets of the church. Unfortunately, the padres could not know that the Indians had no immunity to European diseases.

Many died. Some fled. Some rebelled. A few turned outlaw. Pomponio was the most famous. He raided settlements, killed other Indians and at least one soldier before he was betrayed by a woman. He escaped, was caught again and went to the wall. A creek and later a state beach were named in his memory.

When the Spanish arrived, historians estimate that about 1,500 Indians lived in or near the county.

Within 100 years, after many Indians were taken from interior villages and brought to San Mateo, only eight Indians were reported living on the Peninsula.

The Yankee Invasion

In the 1770s, the United States won its independence from England and looked to the west to expand. In 1803, Thomas Jefferson purchased the Midwest from Napoleon and dispatched Lewis and Clark to explore the region and beyond. Other Americans followed, notably John Fremont. www.mccormacks.com

Clearly, the U.S. had designs on the West. And so did the Russians, who opened a trading post in what is now Sonoma County, and the English, who were pushing into the Northwest.

Meanwhile, hostile Indians along the Mexican border closed the overland route to the Bay Region. Few settlers followed the Hispanic pioneers called the Californios — and the Napoleonic Wars sapped the energy of Spain and all but halted its colonizing efforts. This left California sparsely populated — less than 7,000 Hispanics in the whole state on the eve of the Mexican-American War.

Lacking workers, the Hispanic pioneers fell into the only economy that could support them: cattle ranching. Great herds roamed California.

Until 1821, Mexico remained a colony of Spain, which emerged greatly weakened from the Napoleonic wars. The Californios, ignored for decades, were in effect governing themselves. When Mexico declared her independence, she tried to secure the affection of the Californios by awarding large grants of land to the descendents of the original settlers.

Hardly had the ink dried on the grants when the Yankee invasion came, and in the war of 1848, California went to the U.S. American courts were obliged to uphold the grants but enforcement was slow, few grants were properly surveyed and lawyers charged high fees. One lawyer took over 5,000 acres, including a good deal of Belmont. www.mccormacks.com

Within a few decades the rancheros had been replaced by Yankees who turned to farming and subdividing.

San Mateo became a county in 1856. In 1863, the last spike was driven for a rail line between San Jose and San Francisco, which should have opened San Mateo to rapid development. But local service was sacrificed to express runs. Millionaires, meanwhile, tired of the fog of San Francisco, built estates up and down the peninsula and took land off of the market.

The county finished the century with 12,000 residents. Retrospectively, San Mateo County was going to be settled sooner or later. What was needed was good transportation and enough people to spur housing demand.

The 20th Century

The 20th century provided both, in the form of the streetcar, roads, the automobile and four wars that brought millions to the West Coast. Gradually, towns and industries spread down the Bay shore. Some highlights:

• The great earthquake of 1906. It did little damage to San Mateo County, destroyed San Francisco and persuaded many that perhaps San Mateo County was safer. Within four years the county’s population doubled. www.mccormacks.com

• Hetch Hetchy. To secure its water supply, San Francisco between 1910 and 1934 dammed the Hetch Hetchy Valley in the Sierra and channeled the flow into Crystal Springs Reservoir in San Mateo.

Good for the City, good for San Mateo County. Almost all San Mateo communities now tap into the delicious Sierra water. San Francisco owns the system, sells the water and uses the money. The aging system is replacing and upgrading its pipes and facilities.

Hetch Hetchy was beautiful, the rival of Yosemite and even today someone is always saying, let’s blow up the dam and turn Hetch Hetchy back to nature. Don’t hold your breath. To protect Crystal Springs, San Francisco purchased 23,000 acres in the hills and mountains surrounding the reservoir. Central San Mateo looks like one big forest — great for hiking (some areas are off limits).

• The airport. San Francisco had thought about building its big one where Treasure Island stands but rational minds won out and in 1926 the City took an option on a couple of hundred acres of marsh off San Bruno.

As with many new ventures, the airport had its bad days. When Lindbergh, piloting a plane with 32 passengers, got stuck in the mud in 1929, some said let’s give up the site. By 1940, however, the airport was handling 18,000 flights and 130,000 passengers a year. During World War II, the military took over and expanded the facility. www.mccormacks.com

After the war, SFO just kept growing and serving more people and creating more business along the shore. Today, the airport, which recently built an international terminal, is the mainstay of the county’s economy and recently has been handling about 28 million passengers annually.

The airport has added flight paths and irritated many residents up and down the Peninsula. If buying or renting, take the time to listen for plane noise.

The airport or government agencies have put up money to “sound proof” thousands of homes. In 2000, the airport elevated the approach heights of some planes, from 4,000 feet to 5,000 feet. Information about flight paths can be obtained from local city halls or the airport.

• Bridges. The car and the new roads led naturally to bridges across the Bay. The Dumbarton, 1.2 miles, was built in 1927, the first Bay crossing and has since been rebuilt. San Mateo Bridge came next, 1929. For a while it was billed as the longest bridge in the world, 8 miles. In 2003, a second bridge, built along side the first, opened, to the delight of of motorists.

• Prohibition. It raised hell with law enforcement but is recalled as one of the most colorful eras in San Mateo history. The county’s coast, often shrouded in fog, made it a favorite for smugglers. The forested interior hid stills. The law was full of loopholes, police departments were understaffed, politicians willing to wink at violations. But some escapades did raise eyebrows. www.mccormacks.com

Bootleggers one night seized the lighthouse at Pigeon Point and used the light to guide their ships.

In Pescadero, the locals dug up a $20,000 cache of liquor buried on the beach. Incensed, the bootleggers invaded Pescadero, applied some muscle and got their booze back.

Gambling flourished. One gambler founded Daly City’s first newspaper and led the fight for incorporation. Reforms came slowly, then accelerated after World War II when the county began its suburban phase.

World War II and the Years After

• World War II. County turned into a military camp. Installations were built at many points, including Half Moon Bay and Coyote Point. Cow Palace, built in Thirties, was turned into a motor pool and barracks. To the later shame of the county, residents of Japanese ancestry were rounded up and taken to internment camps.

Cheap housing was built along the shore. Many workers migrated in for the jobs. They stayed after the war. Many soldiers, sailors came back. www.mccormacks.com

• The great boom. The figures just about tell the story. On the eve of World War II, San Mateo County had 111,782 residents. By 1950, it had 235,000; ten years later, 445,000; and by 1970, about 556,000.

This was the era when homes seemed to march over the countryside, so strong was the demand. Daly City and South San Francisco provide the best examples of the immediate postwar boom.

You can trace the prosperity of the nation and the county through the housing. The Forties boxes gave way to expanded homes with two-car garages in the Fifties and Sixties. The Seventies and Eighties saw the rise of the townhouse and condo and the estate home on small lots.

Also, the ascendancy of the hotel. Tourism, thanks to the airport, is one of the county's major industries. In the 1970s, land became scarce and cities more selective in their housing. The 1980 census counted 587,329 residents, the 1990 census 649,628, the 2000 census, 707,161.

The Association of Bay Area Governments predicts that by the year 2010, San Mateo County will have 772,300 residents — a distinct possibility but anti- or slow-growth movements are popular in many cities. www.mccormacks.com

• The new immigration. Changes in immigration law opened the door in the late 1970s and 1980s to many immigrants from Mexico and Central America, and from the Philippines and Asian and Southeast Asian countries. In the last decade, almost all these groups doubled their numbers in the county. How is everyone getting along? No doubt there is friction and instances where cultures clash. There is the problem of educating children who speak one language and teachers who, for the most part, speak another.

But the county has a tradition of absorbing immigrants — Irish, Italians, Japanese, Portuguese. San Mateo County is part of the real world and has real-world problems. But compared to many other counties, the county does remarkably well in pursuing peace, tranquility and happiness.

The 2000 census counted 353,355 Caucasians, 154,708 people of Hispanic descent, 141,684 of Asian or Pacific Islander heritage, 24,840 African-Americans, 3,140 American Indians and 9,403 Native Hawaiians or other Pacific Islanders.

• San Mateo economy is heavily dependent on San Francisco International Airport. Following Sept. 11, 2001 airlines cut their staffs and operations. The hotels and restaurants and many high-tech firms also suffered.

In 2006, the airport and tourism made a comeback — more visitors and more airlines (Aer Lingus, Virgin) to transport the visitors.

• The hot, relatively new sector: bio-tech. Genentech and other bio-tech firms are headquartered in South San Francisco. www.mccormacks.com