Redwood Shores, California
Redwood Shores is an affluent waterfront peninsula located in San Mateo County on the San Francisco Peninsula in California. It is located on the eastern edge of Belmont and San Carlos, but is actually part of incorporated Redwood City.
The boundaries of Redwood City include an uninhabited marshy island (Bair Island) to the southeast of Redwood Shores which technically connects Redwood Shores to Redwood City, but there are no bridges to the island. As a result, there is no way to drive from Redwood City to Redwood Shores (and vice versa) without exiting Redwood City and passing through San Carlos or Belmont (via unincorporated San Mateo County).
Redwood Shores is populated with apartment complexes, codominiums and million-dollar homes. Many of the houses and condominiums surround the lagoons and have access to inner waterways through private boating docks. According to Forbes magazine, Redwood Shores is placed on top of "America's Top Selling Luxury Neighborhoods in 2009".[1]
Major technology companies maintain headquarters in Redwood Shores, among them Oracle Corporation and Electronic Arts. Redwood Shores is the setting for college rowing races, including competitions among Pacific 10 Conference universities. To the south it is bordered by the San Carlos Airport.
It was the home of the Marine World/Africa U.S.A., California park from the 1960s to 1986, when the park moved to Vallejo, California (eventually becoming Six Flags Discovery Kingdom), and the land was occupied by the headquarters of Oracle Corporation.[2]
Redwood Shores is also the home to the Pacific Sports Resort (formerly known as Pacific Athletic Club--a private sports club with 2 indoor/7 outdoor tennis courts, squash, pools, yoga, gym, waterpark and clubhouse facilities), hotel Sofitel Bay Area, a branch of Ernst & Young, Sandpiper Elementary School and Redwood Shores Elementary School, and a branch of the Redwood City Library.
Redwood Shores was built up from reclaimed land[3] in the marshes of the San Francisco Bay in the 1960s, much like its neighbor to the north Foster City, but the development almost never came to be. The owner of the land, the Leslie Salt Company, filled in soft ground known as "bay mud" formerly used for salt-evaporation ponds, but a significant controversy developed over fears of its susceptibility to serious earthquake damage because the area is between and close to the San Andreas and Hayward faults. The ensuing battle between various government agencies and business interests eventually put Leslie Salt out of business. As a result, Bank of America became the owner of the development in 1972.[4]
Pacific Harbor Seals have occasionally been spotted in the lagoons around Redwood Shores. The areas in and around Redwood Shores are home to a variety of wildlife including raccoons, skunks, egrets, great blue herons, clapper rails, harvest field mice, sting rays, and many other species.
Redwood Shores lies almost directly in the final approach path for San Francisco International Airport. A Lufthansa Airbus 380 flies overhead every day around 12:30 pm on its final approach from Frankfurt.
References
- ^ America's Top-Selling Luxury Neighborhoods
- ^ RCPL: Redwood Shores: A Short History
- ^ Jeanne Thivierge. The Development of Redwood Shores. Redwood City a Hometown History, 2007, p. 384. ISBN 978-0-89863-297-2
- ^ John J. Fried. Life Along the San Andreas Fault. Saturday Review Press, 1973, pp.124-138. ISBN 0-8415-0233-1
External links
37°31′55″N 122°14′53″W / 37.53194°N 122.24806°W
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