Subdivision Activity on the San Francisco Peninsula: 1860-1970

Abstract

Subdivision Activity on the San Francisco Peninsula: 1860-1970 Elizabeth K. Burns* The total variety of subdivision activity within a region at given points in time is seldom discussed in morphological studies of urban growth. Development activity is usually examined within a framework of one or more influential parameters, such as improvements in peripheral transportation, the timing of building activity, and pre-existing field boundaries and property lines.1 The impact of individual parameters may vary within any one region, however, and only affect the development decisions for specific locations within the full region. To better identify the full range of variations in regional development and their origins, the author examines subdivision activity on the San Francisco Peninsula from 1860 to 1970.2 The 110-year interval was divided into six periods so that subdivisions laid out under similar conditions of accessibility and residential demand could be compared. Types of subdivision activity were identified by means of * Dr. Burns is Assistant Professor of Geography at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City 84112. 1 Such approaches are well represented, for example, by Jerome D. FeIlmann , "Pre-Building Growth Patterns in Chicago," Annals of the Association of American Geographers, Vol. 47 (March 1957), pp. 57-82; David Ward, "The Pre-Urban Cadaster and the Urban Pattern of Leeds," Annals of the Association of American Geographers, Vol. 52 (June 1962), pp. 150-166; and Charles S. Sargent, Jr., "Toward a Dynamic Model of Urban Morphology," Economic Geography, Vol. 48 (October 1972), pp. 357-374. 2 The procedures and findings are more fully presented in Elizabeth Kates Burns, "The Process of Suburban Residential Development: The San Francisco Peninsula, 1860-1970," unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of California , Berkeley, 1974, Chapter 5 and Appendices B and C. 18ASSOCIATION OF PACIFIC COAST GEOGRAPHERS cluster analysis, which permitted the comparison of individual subdivisions in each period and their grouping into a few clusters whose common characteristics could be readily determined. The Regional Context In this study, the San Francisco Peninsula is defined as the suburbs which extend south from the San Francisco City and County line for forty miles along the historic Spanish highway, El Camino Real, and the original route of the Southern Pacific Railroad (Figure 1). The region is bounded by San Francisco Bay on the east and the Santa Cruz Mountains on the west and, although mainly in San Mateo County, includes Palo Alto and Stanford University in northern Santa Clara County. In 1970, the Peninsula had a variety of suburban residential areas whose diversity was established early in the region's development .3 A visitor in 1915 exclaimed that "the man who can not be accommodated in a satisfactory way in San Mateo County can not be accommodated anywhere on earth—manufacturer, artisan, millionaire , lover of Nature, and a modern agriculturist, as well as the artist and student."4 There were broad social contrasts between the lowerstatus northern Peninsula, including Daly City, Brisbane, South San Francisco, and Colma, and the higher-status commuter suburbs which extend south of Millbrae. The most prestigious areas were the older affluent suburbs of Hillsborough and Atherton along the railroad and the newer suburbs of Woodside and Portóla Valley to the west in the foothills. In the southern Peninsula, the low status of East Palo Alto, a Black suburb near the Bay, contrasted with affluent residential areas of Menlo Park and Palo Alto to the west near Stanford University. 3 U. S. Bureau of the Census, San Francisco-Oakland, California Urban Atlas (Washington, D.C.: Series GE-80, 1974). An informative local history is provided in Frank M. Stanger, South from San Francisco: San Mateo County, California, its History and Heritage (San Mateo County Historical Association, 1963). 4 Elbert Hubbard, A Little Journey to San Mateo County (East Aurora, New York: Roycroft Shop, 1915), p. 22. YEARBOOK · VOLUME 39 · 197719 Figure 1. The San Francisco Peninsula, showing El Camino Real, the Southern Pacific Railroad (original route), presently incorporated cities (capitalized), selected unincorporated places, and boundaries of San Mateo County (dashed lines ) . 20ASSOCIATION OF PACIFIC COAST GEOGRAPHERS The region presently contains relatively little unsubdivided land, primarily large parcels near the Bay or in the foothills and bypassed sites...