Redwood City

“Central Park offers diversity and accessibility, making it one of Redwood City’s most popular boroughs.”

Central Park (MLS #333) is a favorite among homebuyer hopefuls. The district’s two sub-neighborhoods, Woodside Plaza and Palm Park, offer much in the way of home options with a wide berth of price points.

Palm Park presents more entry level housing options, with its considerable multi-family condominiums and apartment complexes while tree-lined Woodside Plaza offers up significantly more single-family classic ranch homes. Established Neighborhood Associations keep residents connected and socially active in both areas.

Both sub-districts are conveniently situated to Woodside Road and multiple municipal green spaces. Two shopping centers, including the original Woodside Plaza, provide residents access to grocery stores, retail outlets, business services and restaurants.

A timeless post-war suburbia, many of the homes in Central Park are traditional ranch dwellings constructed in the 1940s. With an average living space of between 1,000 and 1,500 square feet with 3 bedrooms and lots shy of 10,000 square feet, these homes line many of the streets in Central Park, offering a foothold in one of the most admired Redwood City neighborhoods.

Neighborhood Price Point

$400,000 – $1,600,000

Favorable Attributes
  • Well established borough with strong neighborhood associations
  • Multiple city parks and two shopping centers included within its borders
  • Convenient access to key commute corridors
  • One of Redwood City’s most popular boroughs
  • Wide range of home prices while offering some entry level options

History of Central Park, Redwood City

Redwood City’s Central Park borough enjoyed quite a colorful past when the “Five Points” collection of tanneries, boarding houses and saloons served those who worked in the lumber camps in Woodside. Prohibition had little to no impact on its taverns, including the Fly Trap Inn, whose clientele continued to frequent the establishment despite the small, technical issue of it being illegal. Redwood City’s ‘upstanding residents’ tended to steer well clear of this area until Five Points met its demise in the early 1960s with the start of construction on the Woodside Road overpass.

The 1960s brought about an evolution from the rowdy to the residential, with ranch homes replacing the boarding houses and apartment complexes eeking out the tanneries. Once the overpass was complete, Central Park’s Palm Park had morphed into quite the respectable residential district.

The 1960s also brought continued growth to the area of Woodside Plaza, adding to the initial businesses that cropped up in 1953 in the then-newly created Woodside Plaza Shopping Center.

Central Park also contains the historic Union Cemetery, a California Historical Landmark as well as listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Union Cemetery is where many of the city’s early settlers are buried, having been ‘relocated’ from their original resting place in High School Acres.