There are a few single family cottages that still remain from the days before the area was rezoned and developers bought out homeowners and created the several story apartment and condominium complexes that stand today. Most of the buildings are 30-40 years old, though there are a couple buildings built in the last 10 years with beautiful luxury condos that can sell for as much as $2 million. There’s also a couple newer buildings along the El Camino Corridor, where it’s possible to get an approximately 2 bedroom condo for somewhere between $1 and $1.5 million.

To view a detailed google map of the Downtown Burlingame neighborhood, click here. The MLS area is 461.

Favorable

• The location is impeccable - walking distance from Burlingame Avenue's shopping, restaurants, and Caltrain

• A relatively affordable price point that comes with excellent Burlingame schools

Adverse

• Most of the buildings are a little older than other condo buildings on the peninsula, but the value is in the location

Schools

The elementary school for the neighborhood is Washington Elementary School, which is about 3 minute drive from Downtown Burlingame.

There is one public middle school, Burlingame Intermediate School, which is located in the Ray Park neighborhood. It’s about a 6 minute drive from Downtown Burlingame.

There is one public high school, Burlingame High, which is about 5 minute drive down Caroline Avenue.

History

“Living downtown” has always been an option for Burlingame residents. The city was borne of its downtown, which opened for business in 1901, seven years after the completion of its still-standing (and now historic) Mission-style railroad station. Burlingame Avenue first appears on W.H. Howard’s “subdivision of The Town of Burlingame” in 1896 and downtown’s street names echo the handles of early pioneers like Fred Lorton and W.H. Howard himself.

As the city grew westward (and annexed Ansel Easton’s namesake town to the north), downtown’s popularity as a residential neighborhood waned. Recent developments in city government, however, point to its resurgence, especially for entry-level and empty-nest homebuyers. The Downtown Specific Plan, adopted in 2010, seeks in part to “encourage a mix of uses in areas currently dominated by one use.” The plan hopes to introduce mixed-use development to Howard Avenue and California Drive.

Most Bay Area residents already know that Burlingame’s downtown is one of the Peninsula’s most attractive, pedestrian-friendly and utile. Not as many know that it also offers great living opportunities for buyers at the entry-level, homeowners looking to downsize and simplify and those who appreciate a “walker’s paradise” way of life.