Downtown North, Palo Alto

There's something for everyone at Johnson Park. Children zip down a wide concrete slide on cardboard sleds; their grown-up counterparts across the grass match wits in basketball and volleyball. A University of California-run garden in the corner attracts families strolling by.

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Such is a typical afternoon at this 2.5-acre block of greenery nestled between Waverley and Kipling avenues on Everett Street. For Sally Ann Rudd, this is what Downtown North -- her home since 1994 -- is all about: people of different ages, nationalities and interests. Different stripes, in short. "It's like the United Nations," she said of the park, which is nearly in the center of Downtown North's boundaries of Alma Street and Middlefield Road, and San Francisquito Creek and University Avenue.

Over the years, Downtown North has come to represent that diversity better than many other Palo Alto neighborhoods. In addition to the range of age groups that make up the community -- you're just as likely to run into toddlers as schoolchildren and seniors -- Downtown North offers socioeconomic variety that's hard to find in other parts of town. In a part of the city made up of cozy lots dating back to Palo Alto's early days, Silicon Valley tech moguls blend in with regular folks.

Facts: CHILDCARE AND PRESCHOOLS (AND NEARBY): Discovery Children's Garden, 437 Webster St.; Downtown Children's Center, 555 Waverley St.; First School, 625 Hamilton Ave. FIRE STATION: No. 1, 301 Alma St. LIBRARY: Downtown branch, 270 Forest Ave. NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION: Dan Lorimer, 650-322-5566 PARKS: Cogswell Plaza, Lytton Avenue between Ramona and Bryant streets; El Camino Park, 100 El Camino Real; El Palo Alto Park, Alma Street at El Camino Real; Hopkins Creekside Park, Palo Alto Avenue from El Camino Real to Middlefield Road; Johnson Park, Everett Avenue and Waverley Street POST OFFICE: Hamilton, 380 Hamilton Ave. PUBLIC SCHOOLS: Addison Elementary School, Jordan Middle School, Palo Alto High School SHOPPING: University Avenue, Stanford Shopping Center MEDIAN 2007 HOME PRICE: $1,621,500 ($1,000,000-$3,325,000) # HOMES SOLD: 18 MEDIAN 2007 CONDO PRICE: $796,000 ($539,000-$1,965,000) # CONDOS SOLD: 19

For Susan Tachna, a resident since 1993, Johnson Park is a perfect example of this diversity. She said that it serves as a gathering place for all kinds of people: families, seniors, single working folks, and so on. While some are long-term residents of Downtown North, others are renting and passing through. She describes her neighbors as "an interesting, eclectic group," adding that the neighborhood's age diversity make it easy for her 6- and 9-year old children to find playmates.

But this friendly atmosphere was briefly marred by discontent in early 2004 when the city set up seven traffic barriers to discourage shortcuts through the neighborhood. Residents were bitterly divided over the use of the barriers, some arguing that they compromised safety, others countering that the barriers merely channeled the traffic to neighboring streets. Finally, the city agreed to replace the barriers -- on a one-year trial basis -- with other traffic-slowing measures such as traffic circles and no-turn signs.

Has the fracas died down? Residents agree, for the most part, that the issue is behind them. Joe Durand, who opposed some of the barriers, said that those passions have turned into the satisfaction of compromise: "Our side's pretty happy, their side's pretty happy."

For Dan Lorimer, president of the Downtown North Neighborhood Association, the traffic barriers issue was to be expected. As someone who has lived in the neighborhood since around 1980, Lorimer witnessed firsthand the rapid and widespread changes that came to the Peninsula and introduced new issues to his city.

"Palo Alto's a different place than it was in 1980," he said. The birth of Silicon Valley brought hordes of cars, he said, and they ushered in the "traditional issues" Downtown North has faced ever since: traffic and parking. The traffic barrier controversy occurred because the gap between Sand Hill and Willow Roads has always funneled traffic through the neighborhood, he said. University Avenue's emergence as a shopping center has also made parking a sticky subject. Residents complain that restaurant and store employees' cars pack Downtown North's streets, especially closer to University.

Changes like these concern some residents who value the neighborhood's pedestrian-friendly feel. Kathy Aburomia and her husband Momtaz chose to move to Palo Alto in 1978 rather than San Jose for this very reason -- because when they leave the house, she said, "we just walk wherever we go." But with so many cars coming through Downtown North these days, she said, walking is risky business because many drivers ignore the traffic-calming measures.

Not all residents are dissatisfied with the traffic situation, however. Tachna said the barriers have made the neighborhood more kid-friendly and safe for pedestrians. She and her family feel comfortable, she said, taking short walks around the neighborhood -- especially at night, when the noise has died down somewhat. And Downtown North's access to public transit -- a bus depot and train station lie just up University Avenue at Alma -- encourages residents to leave their cars at home, she said.

Many residents agree that this proximity to downtown is one of Downtown North's best features. Tachna is one of many residents who regularly complete their errands on foot at the nearby drugstores and banks, and others appreciate being able to walk to nearby theaters and parks.

The park becomes even more attractive in the summer, when residents enjoy weekly midday concerts at Cogswell Plaza and one or two of Palo Alto's concerts in the park featuring jazz or blues music.

One enduring feature of Downtown North is its historical flavor. According to Palo Alto historical librarian Steve Staiger, Downtown North dates back to the founding of the original Palo Alto in the 1890s. Back then, Staiger said, University Avenue divided north from south -- and blue-collar from wealthier residents. North and south would occasionally clash in friendly competition for such prizes as a box of cigars, he said. The small lots and older homes, some of which were built between 1910 and 1925, are monuments to a neighborhood that has seen Palo Alto through the 20th century.

But while residents are overwhelmingly attracted by the hundred-year-old homes and access to University Avenue shopping, some older residents express mild disappointment at what they see as the ongoing commercialization of the downtown area. Aburomia said the activity is a welcome contrast to the small-town feel of 20 years ago, when downtown shops would close at five in the afternoon. But as recently as 1994, Durand said, downtown had a much more "hometown" atmosphere, with more mom-and-pop businesses and independent bookstores. For all of its heritage, he said, Downtown North did not survive the dot-com boom untouched: Housing costs have soared, and local businesses are "a little bit more generic."

Nevertheless, Durand said, the neighborhood's access to the lively downtown atmosphere remains a prime reason not just to visit, but to stay. "It's so integrated into the downtown community that anything that happens there sort of happens here."

-- Saqib Rahim