San Mateo
City
Top: aerial view of San Mateo; middle: downtown (left) and Draper University (right); bottom: downtown (left) and Bay Meadows (right).
Seal
Location in San Mateo County and the state of California
Coordinates: 37°33′15″N 122°18′47″W / 37.55417°N 122.31306°W / 37.55417; -122.31306
Country	United States
State	California
County	San Mateo
Incorporated	September 4, 1894[1]
Named for	St. Matthew
Government
• Mayor	Lisa Diaz Nash[2]
• City manager	Alex Khojikian[3]
Area [4]
• Total	15.85 sq mi (41.04 km2)
• Land	12.13 sq mi (31.42 km2)
• Water	3.71 sq mi (9.62 km2)  23.63%
Elevation [5]	46 ft (14 m)
Population  (2020)[6]
• Total	105,661
• Rank	68th in California 298th in the United States
• Density	8,711/sq mi (3,363/km2)
Time zone	UTC−8 (Pacific)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−7 (PDT)
ZIP Codes[7]	94401–94404, 94497
Area code	650
FIPS code	06-68252
GNIS feature IDs	1659584, 2411800
Website	www.cityofsanmateo.org

San Mateo (Spanish for 'Saint Matthew') (/ˌsæn məˈteɪoʊ/ ^ⓘ SAN mə-TAY-oh) is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States, on the San Francisco Peninsula. About 20 miles (32 km) south of San Francisco, the city borders Burlingame to the north, Hillsborough to the west, San Francisco Bay and Foster City to the east and Belmont to the south. The population was 105,661 at the 2020 census.^[6]

San Mateo has a Mediterranean climate and is known for its rich history at the center of the San Francisco Bay Area. Some of the biggest economic drivers for the city include technology, health care and education.^[9]

History

The earliest known settlers of the Bay Area were the Ramaytush people, since at least 10000 BC.^[10]

Spanish era

In 1789, the Spanish missionaries had named a Native American village along Laurel Creek as Los Laureles or the Laurels (Mission Dolores, 1789). At the time of Mexican Independence, 30 native Californians were at San Mateo, most likely from the Salson tribelet.^[11]

Mexican era

Captain Frederick William Beechey in 1827 traveling with the hills on their right, known in that part as the Sierra del Sur, began to approach the road, which passing over a small eminence, opened out upon "a wide country of meadow land, with clusters of fine oak free from underwood... It strongly resembled a nobleman's park: herds of cattle and horses were grazing upon the rich pasture, and numerous fallow‑deer, startled at the approach of strangers, bounded off to seek protection among the hills... This spot is named San Matheo, and belongs to the mission of San Francisco."^[11]

The city of San Mateo was documented by Spanish colonists as part of the Rancho de las Pulgas (literally "Ranch of the Fleas") and the Rancho San Mateo; the earliest history is held in the archives of Mission Dolores. Rancho San Mateo was granted in May 1846 from Pío Pico to his secretary, Cayetano Arenas; this tract included approximately half of present-day San Mateo, all of Burlingame and Hillsborough, and the Spring Valley lakes (now Crystal Springs Reservoir and San Andreas Lake).^[12]: 32 William Davis Merry Howard purchased Rancho San Mateo from Arenas^[13]: 93 in 1846 for US$25,000 (equivalent to $848,000 in 2023) and spent an equal sum erecting a fence around the property.^[12]: 44

Post-Conquest era

In the 1850s, following the American Conquest of California, many San Franciscans began building summer homes in the mid-Peninsula, because of the milder climate.^[14] The area that is now the city of San Mateo was owned by a few large landowners, including Howard, whose Rancho San Mateo occupied 6,438 acres (2,605 ha) in 1853^{[13]: 93 [15]} north of San Mateo Creek,^[16]: 92 pushing most of this early settlement into adjacent Hillsborough, Burlingame, and Belmont; other significant landowners in the area included John Parrott, who purchased 500 acres (200 ha) in 1860^[12]: 51 south of the creek and southwest of El Camino Real and Alvinza Hayward, who owned the land south of the creek and east of El Camino.^{[16]: 92–93} Much of the remaining land south of these areas was used for agriculture until the early 1900s; the owners included John Whipple, who had a large horse farm south of Parrott's land, Lemuel Murray, J.S. Colegrove, and David McClellan.^{[16]: 93–94}

In 1858, Sun Water Station, a stage station of the Butterfield Overland Mail route, was established in San Mateo. It was 9 miles (14 km) from both Clarks Station (to the north) in what is now San Bruno and the next station south at Redwood City.^[17]

Several historically important mansions and buildings were constructed in San Mateo around this time.^{[13]: 95, 100} A.P. Giannini, founder of the Bank of Italy (which later became the Bank of America), lived here most of his life. His mansion, Seven Oaks, is listed in the National Register of Historic Places (No. 99001181).^[18] Located at 20 El Cerrito Avenue, it has been deteriorating as it has not been preserved or occupied for years.^[19]

The Howard Estate was built in 1859 on the hill accessed by Crystal Springs Road; the building, named El Cerrito, eventually was moved to Hillsborough and served as its Town Hall starting from in 1910, but it has since been demolished.^{[13]: 93 [12]: 44} The Parrott Estate was erected in 1860 in the same area,^[13]: 106 giving rise to two conflicting names for the hill, Howard Hill and Parrot Hill. After use of the automobile changed traffic patterns, neither historic name was commonly applied to that hill. Once San Mateo was incorporated on September 4, 1894,^[12]: 28 its first mayor was Captain A.H. Payson, a son-in-law of Parrott.^[13]: 106

When the San Francisco and San Jose Railroad was under construction during the 1860s, one of its corporate directors, Charles Polhemus, purchased the land south of the creek, now the site of downtown San Mateo, and began laying out the town;^[16]: 92 the first town plat was laid out in 1862.^[13]: 100 Polhemus settled on the land which is now Central Park and one of the succeeding owners, William Kohl, built the iron and stone fence which still encloses the park.^[13]: 106

The Borel Estate was developed near Borel Creek in 1874 by Antoine Borel. It has been redeveloped since the late 20th century for use as modern offices and shops.^[20] The property is managed and owned by Borel Place Associates and the Borel Estate Company.^{[citation needed]}

Hayward Park, the 1880 American Queen Anne-style residence of Alvinza Hayward (often said to be "California's first millionaire" from his silver and banking fortunes), was built on an 800-acre (3.2 km²) estate in San Mateo which included a deer park and racetrack, roughly bounded by present-day El Camino Real (on the west), 9th Avenue (on the north), B Street (on the east) and 16th Avenue (on the south).^[21] A smaller portion of the property and the mansion, was converted into The Peninsula Hotel in 1908, following Hayward's death in 1904. The hotel burned down in a spectacular fire on June 25, 1920.^[22]

William H. Howard, eldest son of W.D.M. Howard, is credited with the first subdivisions in the region, resulting in what is now the Western Addition of San Mateo in 1888; he followed up by creating the first subdivision of Burlingame and Highland Park in San Mateo.^[12]: 53

20th century

In 1893, Pedro Evencio had been called the last of the Ramaytush Native American of San Mateo.^{[citation needed]} Although Joseph (José) Evencio (the younger) was reported to be his descendant living at Coyote Point until World War II, "Indian Joe", (Joe Mestes) was the American Indian who was actually hired by the Howard family to oversee their land holding at Coyote Point. He is reported to have had a tribal affiliation in Montana. His final whereabouts were reported to be a care facility in Oakland after he had been removed from Coyote Point when a Merchant Marine Academy was established there.^[23][24]

In the early 20th century, Japanese immigrants came to San Mateo to work in the salt ponds and flower industry. Although Japanese-Americans only account for 2.2% of the population today, they continue to be a major cultural influence and a draw for the rest of the region.^[25] The Eugene J. De Sabla Japanese Teahouse and Garden was established in 1894 at 70 De Sabla Road, designed by Makoto Hagiwara, designer of the Japanese garden in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. He arranged for Japanese artisans to be brought to the United States primarily for its teahouse construction.

The parcel was purchased in 1988 by San Francisco businessman Achille Paladini and wife Joan, who have restored it. The garden features hundreds of varieties of plants and several rare trees. A large koi pond surrounds an island. The property was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.^[26]

In December 1967, Sgt. Joe Artavia, then serving in Vietnam with Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division wrote to his sister, Linda Giese, who was a resident of San Carlos working in San Mateo,^[27] asking if San Mateo or San Francisco could adopt the company, saying that it would bring "the morale of the guys up as high as the clouds".^[28] San Mateo passed a resolution on March 4, 1968, officially adopting Alpha Company and letters and gifts began arriving from the citizens of San Mateo.^[27][29] Joe would be killed in action on March 24, 1968, less than three weeks after the resolution.^[30] Linda would travel to Vietnam to meet with the men of Alpha Company for Christmas in 1968 and deliver personalized medallions from the City of San Mateo.^[27][31] In 1972, San Mateo requested and received permission to have Alpha Company visit the city when they left Vietnam, later holding a parade in January 1972, believed to be the only parade honoring the military during the Vietnam War.^[27] In 1988, Joseph Brazan wrote a screenplay entitled A Dove Among Eagles chronicling the adoption of Alpha Company by San Mateo and the real-life romance between Linda and Artavia's commander, Lt. Stephen Patterson.^[32] The city expanded its support to the entire 1st Battalion in 1991, when they were deployed to Kuwait under Operation Desert Storm.^[27]

Bay Meadows horse-racing track was torn down in 2008.

21st century

In the November 2022 election, Councilmember Diane Papan was elected to the California State Assembly, creating a vacancy on the 5-person city council. At the December 5, 2022, council reorganization meeting, two of the remaining four councilmembers chose not to follow the standard precedent of selecting a new mayor, which normally rotates to the councilmember who has been in office the longest. With the vote split at 2-2, the city went a week without a mayor. After a second meeting that also ended without a decision, Amourence Lee was selected as the mayor at the third meeting on December 12.^{[33] [2]}

Geography

San Mateo is located at 37°33′15″N 122°18′47″W / 37.55417°N 122.31306°W / 37.55417; -122.31306 (37.554286, −122.313044).^[34] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 15.9 square miles (41 km²), of which 12.1 square miles (31 km²) are land and 3.8 square miles (9.8 km²), comprising 23.63%, are covered by water.

The best-known natural area is Coyote Point Park, a rock outcropped peninsula that juts out into the San Francisco Bay. The early Spanish navigators named it la punta de San Mateo.^[35] Crews of American cargo ships carrying grain in the bay renamed it Big Coyote.^[36] Sailors had a penchant for naming promontories at the edge of San Francisco Bay after the coyote; across the bay in Fremont are the Coyote Hills, part of Coyote Hills Regional Park. By the 1890s, the shore area was developed as a popular beach called San Mateo Beach. In 1842, the Spanish had named it playa de San Mateo. Today, Coyote Point is home to CuriOdyssey, formerly known as the Coyote Point Museum, a major natural history museum and wildlife center in the state. The animal care facility for the Peninsula Humane Society is also situated at Coyote Point, where the adoption facility is located in Burlingame, CA.

The variety of natural habitats includes mixed oak woodland, riparian zones, and bayland marshes. One endangered species, the California clapper rail, was sighted feeding on mudflats by the Third Avenue bridge in San Mateo.^[37] The marsh areas are also likely habitat for the endangered salt marsh harvest mouse, which inhabits the middle and high zones of salt and brackish marshes, as well as for the endangered marsh plant, Point Reyes bird's beak.

Sugarloaf Mountain, whose name has been documented in 1870, is a prominent landform between the forks of Laurel Creek.^[38] In the late 20th century, this mixed oak woodland and chaparral habitat was a site of controversy related to proposals to develop a portion of the mountain for residential use. It has been preserved for use as park and open space area, and is home to the endangered mission blue butterfly.

Sawyer Camp Trail, located on the western edge of San Mateo along the Crystal Springs Reservoir, is another popular destination for joggers, pedestrians, and bikers. This roughly 6-mile (9.7 km) trail begins in San Mateo and stretches north toward Hillsborough and San Bruno, parallel to the 280 freeway.

Neighborhoods

In general, San Mateo's downtown core and the neighborhoods east of El Camino Real are more populous and have a greater density than the neighborhoods to the west of El Camino Real, where there is a lower population density.

Downtown

San Mateo has one of the larger, better-developed suburban downtowns in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is located roughly between Tilton Ave. to the northwest, 9th Ave. to the southeast, Delaware St. to the northeast and El Camino Real to the southwest. The downtown core contains over 800 shops and restaurants, many located in historic buildings from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The non-profit Downtown San Mateo Association (DSMA) works on behalf of downtown businesses to promote them and improve the downtown area.^[39]

Central Park is considered to be San Mateo's signature park with a baseball field, tennis courts, sculptures, picnic areas, playground, Japanese tea garden, recreation center, miniature train, rose garden and the San Mateo Arboretum. The 16.3-acre (6.6 ha) property was purchased by the city in 1922.^[40] A historically influential area for the Japanese-American community, the downtown is home to many Japanese restaurants and shops. A large, 12-screen movie theater complex is located off the Main Street alley between 2nd and 3rd Ave. The San Mateo Caltrain station is situated downtown. The area also contains many large and small multi-story office buildings, apartments, government buildings and Mills Medical Center.

Segments of South B Street between 1st and 3rd Ave. and the southbound lane between Baldwin and 1st Ave. were temporarily closed to vehicular traffic in 2020 to allow for expanded outdoor dining.^[41] The San Mateo City Council extended the temporary closure through the end of 2021 and voted in September 2021 to create a permanent pedestrian mall between 1st and 3rd Ave.^[42] The plan requires a 12-foot (3.7 m) fire lane in the center of the street for public safety vehicles and necessary garbage or delivery services. The city aims to conduct the project in two phases: First, by installing retractable bollards and updating traffic signals and signage, then by raising the level of the street to be flush with sidewalk and reimagining its landscaping.

Bay Meadows

The Bay Meadows neighborhood is an 83-acre (34 ha) mixed-use transit-oriented development on the site of the former Bay Meadows Racetrack, a horse racing venue that closed in 2008.^[43] The area includes hundreds of new residential units, office space, retail space and parks and a town square.^[44] Ground broke in 2012 and construction on various projects continues as of 2021.^[45]

Hillsdale

Hillsdale Shopping Center is a mall in San Mateo County, featuring over 120 stores in the mall itself and surrounded by many big box stores. Tenants include anchors Nordstrom, Ethan Allen and Macy's. The construction of a new food court and the outdoor North Block Plaza expanded the mall in 2019.^[46] New entertainment additions include luxury movie theater Cinépolis and a Pinstripes bowling alley off El Camino Real. The Hillsdale Caltrain station is located across El Camino.

Climate

San Mateo has a Mediterranean climate with warm, dry summers and mild, damp winters. The city is generally shielded from the Pacific Ocean by the Montara Mountain block of the Santa Cruz Mountains, but two gaps in the mountains (the San Bruno Gap, between Montara Mountain and San Bruno Mountain; and the Crystal Springs Gap, near where State Route 92 meets State Route 35, west of the College of San Mateo) can channel ocean weather, resulting in gusty afternoon winds that bring fog toward San Mateo in the late afternoon through early morning in the summer.^[47][48]

The National Weather Service maintained a cooperative weather station in San Mateo until 1978; records for the period show that January, the coolest month, had an average maximum of 57.8 °F (14.3 °C) and an average minimum of 41.7 °F (5.4 °C), and September, the warmest month, had an average maximum of 78.0 °F (25.6 °C) and an average minimum of 54.2 °F (12.3 °C). The record maximum temperature was 109 °F (43 °C) on June 14, 1961, and the record minimum temperature was 25 °F (−4 °C) on January 5, 1949, and December 9, 1972. Annual precipitation averaged 18.77 inches (477 mm) of rainfall, falling on an average of 60 days each year. The wettest year was 29.77 inches (756 mm) in 1973 and the driest year was 11.16 inches (283 mm) of rainfall in 1953. The most precipitation in one month was 12.59 inches (320 mm) of rainfall in December 1955 and the most precipitation in 24 hours was 3.72 inches (94 mm) of rainfall on December 23, 1955.^[49] Based on comparison with the existing NWS office at San Francisco International Airport, San Mateo is generally a few degrees warmer in summer than the airport and a few degrees cooler in winter, while annual precipitation is almost the same at the airport and in San Mateo.^[50] In recent years, daily temperature reports for San Mateo from local weather observers have been published in the San Mateo Times and the San Francisco Chronicle.

Demographics

The 2010 United States Census^[53] reported that San Mateo had a population of 97,207. The population density was 8,013.8 inhabitants per square mile (3,094.1/km²). The racial makeup of San Mateo was 56,214 (46.8%) White, 2,296 (2.4%) African American, 505 (0.5%) Native American, 18,384 (18.9%) Asian (7.9% Chinese, 4.6% Filipino, 2.2% Japanese, 1.8% Indian, 0.8% Korean, 0.3% Vietnamese, 0.2% Thai), 1,998 (2.1%) Pacific Islander (1.2% Tongan, 0.3% Fijian, 0.2% Samoan, 0.1% Hawaiian), 12,264 (12.6%) from other races, and 5,546 (5.7%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 25,815 persons (26.6%); 14.4% of San Mateo is Mexican, 2.8% Guatemalan, 2.6% Salvadoran, 1.2% Peruvian, 0.9% Nicaraguan, 0.5% Puerto Rican, 0.3% Colombian, 0.3% Chilean, 0.2% Honduran, and 0.2% Cuban.

The Census reported that 95,891 people (98.6% of the population) lived in households, 975 (1.0%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 341 (0.4%) were institutionalized.

There were 38,233 households, out of which 11,464 (30.0%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 17,964 (47.0%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 3,824 (10.0%) had a female householder with no husband present, 1,656 (4.3%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 2,098 (5.5%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 343 (0.9%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 11,751 households (30.7%) were made up of individuals, and 4,391 (11.5%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.51. There were 23,444 families (61.3% of all households); the average family size was 3.14.

The population was spread out, with 20,254 people (20.8%) under the age of 18, 6,915 people (7.1%) aged 18 to 24, 30,772 people (31.7%) aged 25 to 44, 25,286 people (26.0%) aged 45 to 64, and 13,980 people (14.4%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38.9 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.8 males.

There were 40,014 housing units at an average density of 3,298.8 units per square mile (1,273.7 units/km²), of which 19,969 (52.2%) were owner-occupied, and 18,264 (47.8%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.5%; the rental vacancy rate was 3.7%. Of the population, 50,951 people (52.4%) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 44,940 people (46.2%) lived in rental housing units.

According to the 2011 American Community Survey 5-Year estimate,^[54] the median income for a household in the city was $86,772, and the median income for a family was $107,023. Males had a median income of $65,541 versus $60,491 for females. The per capita income for the city was $25,248. About 3.6% of families and 5.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.1% of those under age 18 and 5.9% of those age 65 or over.

Government

San Mateo is structured as a council–manager form of government. The city council has five members elected every two years to staggered four-year terms.^[55] In 2022, the city began the process of switching from at-large elections to district elections.^[56]

In the California State Legislature, San Mateo is in the 13th Senate District, represented by Democrat Josh Becker, and in the 21st Assembly District, represented by Democrat Diane Papan.^[57]

In the United States House of Representatives, San Mateo is in California's 15th congressional district, represented by Democrat Kevin Mullin.^[58]

According to the California Secretary of State, as of February 10, 2019, San Mateo has 54,946 registered voters. Of those, 27,502 (50.1%) are registered Democrats, 8,504 (15.5%) are registered Republicans, and 16,772 (30.5%) have declined to state a political party.^[59]

Economy

The economy of San Mateo is considered very diverse with jobs in the technology, health care, financial services, government, and retail trade fields being among the most numerous. Current and former companies based in San Mateo include Sony Interactive Entertainment, NetSuite, Franklin Templeton Investments, Fisher Investments, Solstice, Guidewire Software, Coupa, Snowflake Inc., Roblox Corporation, Marketo, SurveyMonkey, Devsisters USA, and GoPro.

Since 1990, San Mateo has had a voter-approved ordinance limiting the height of new development to 55 feet (17 m). The San Mateo housing market is one of the most expensive in the country. In February 2018, the median San Mateo home was valued at $1,463,900,^[60] and the median rent was ranked ninth in the entire nation, at $2,242 per month.^[61]

In the mid-2000s, the second stories of downtown San Mateo buildings became a hub for startup companies, including Roblox, GoPro and YouTube.^[62]

According to the city's 2022 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, the top employers in the city are:^[9]