Welcome to Burlingame
Often referred to as the “City of Trees”, Burlingame is a prototypical Bay Area city with a deep history of economic growth and cultural importance. This history of course involves constant progress and evolution. With an extended shoreline on the eastern edge of the San Francisco Bay, the city has slowly become a center for tourism in the Bay Area, boasting dozens of coastal hotels, each featuring a diverse array of amenities and services. However, despite growth and change the core community values of the town have not changed, making it a regional residential destination as well.
Lay of the Land
Located in San Mateo County, Burlingame is positioned just south of San Francisco on the eastern edge of the peninsula. In addition to the Bay, the city shares a border with San Bruno, Hillsborough, and San Mateo. While city offers numerous amazing views of the Bay, the dominating natural feature of the town is the over 18,000 total public trees that provide the town with its unofficial name. This astounding natural growth is the result of an ordinance passed by the city in 1908 prohibiting the removal of publicly owned trees.
Burlingame is an average sized town with a respectable population of 29,892 on a total area of 6 square miles. However, the city has benefited greatly from years of economic growth and development. While the median household income is a respectable $87,856 the median home value is well over a million dollars.
Transportation
Burlingame resides at the intersection of several major highways and roadways. These include State Highway 101, State Highway 82, and State Highway 35 which connects to interstate 280. These combine to provide direct access from Burlingame to many of the larger cities or metropolitan complexes within the Bay Area and Silicon Valley. While Burlingame has limited public transportation stations within the official city limits, the peninsula itself is dotted with a variety of stations. These include CalTrain commuter train services, Bay Area Rapid Transit rail services, and SamTran bus services.
Local Highlights
Burlingame was originally an economic power in the region, serving as a convenient location for overflow growth and development originating in San Francisco. It also served as a residential destination for affluent members of the San Francisco business community looking for a more relaxed ambiance and rustic atmosphere. However, modern Burlingame has leveraged the natural beauty of its coastline and tree lined roadways to become a tourist destination, replete with hotels and commercial districts.
Downtown Burlingame Avenue is a strip of the city with the most active stretch of pedestrian traffic and walk-in commercial attractions. This includes numerous restaurants, local boutiques, and retail locations. The Avenue boasts the most diverse array of commercial locations in the city, with numerous national retail locations operating side-by-side with locally owned specialty shops. This is in sharp contrast to Broadway, which offers a more relaxed atmosphere and focuses on a more traditional downtown district vibe with the majority of the locations being single-owner local establishments.
The easternmost border between the city and the San Francisco Bay is home to an area known as “hotel row”. “Hotel row” houses dozens of separate lodging locations as well as numerous restaurants. These include nationally owned chain hotels and restaurants as well as exclusive luxury resorts and one-of-a-kind dining locations offering top-of-the-line culinary experiences.
Finally, despite all of its commercial and economic success, Burlingame is a city that has maintained a strong sense of community and a tight focus on quality of life for its residents. The city council is extremely active and focused on enrichment programs benefiting large portions of the community. This had led to the creation of several committees, including the Beautification Commission, the Library Board of Trustees, Park and Rec Commission, and a Planning Commission.
