Welcome to Fair Oaks!
The first thing you’ll notice about Fair Oaks when looking at a map is its unusual boundaries. Sandwiched between Redwood City and Atherton, these two places actually act as northern and southern border respectively. El Camino borders the east while Bay Road borders the west. When living in Fair Oaks, you become a part of a spirited and independent community who do their utmost to improve and sustain the elements that make their neighborhood so unique.
Fair Oaks was born when the city of Menlo Park was attempting to annex what is now Atherton. Fair Oaks resisted. It is now an unincorporated area and relies on San Mateo County for its services. It does however, have its own fire station that services the neighborhood. Residents are deeply devoted to their home and there is a strong sense of neighborhood engagement illustrated particularly through the Fair Oaks Beautification Association (FOBA). The FOBA sincerely embodies the small town, rustic feel of Fair Oaks. They have lobbied successfully for traffic calming measures, planted and maintained street trees, and even raised enough money for a local playground structure. Because Fair Oaks is unincorporated, the community itself sustains each of these amenities.
Despite personifying the quaintness of a small town, the 101 is less than a mile away giving commuters easy access. Residents have no complaints about vehicular noise and enjoy their location as it is conveniently 15 minutes from both downtown Redwood City and Palo Alto, and just 10 minutes from downtown Menlo Park.
There are two distinct areas of Fair Oaks. The first is Fair Oaks Acres, a small pocket close to the Atherton border and in fact resembles a continuation of the Atherton town itself. This region is about four blocks and consists of larger homes on more expansive lots. The other area is the Avenues, identified mainly because of the avenue street names. Homes and lot sizes tend to be smaller in the Avenues but several have been remodeled with updated exteriors and modern amenities.
The Redwood City School District serves the students of Fair Oaks from elementary to middle school. The options for elementary schools are Fair Oaks and Taft, both with API scores in the mid 700s, or Garfield with API scores in the mid 600s. John F. Kennedy is the middle school and has an API in the 700s. The Redwood City District schools do not quite live up to the Menlo City School District and this, in part, is the reason why homes are more reasonably priced in Fair Oaks than those in the Menlo City limits. Fortunately for high school, students attend Menlo-Atherton High School with a slightly higher API and an incredible program for gifted students. Parents may also choose to send their children to one of the prestigious private schools like Sacred Heart or Menlo School. Both are located in Atherton.
Nevertheless, if you are searching for a quiet haven to call home with big city conveniences, Fair Oaks might be the place for you.