Number Sixty-Three, And Proud of It

The deeper the blue, the safer the neighborhood

Only two Bay Area cities were in the list of the top 100 safest cities in the United States.

Los Altos was #98 and Foster City was #63.

Our middle-class Peninsula city has a prosperous light-industry and commercial sector--Gilead Sciences (GILD) and Visa International (V) are both headquartered here--and healthy tax receipts assure a fully-funded police force.

Perhaps of greater importance is that there are only three exit roads, which the police can block quickly. (Friends' experience with 911 calls shows the average response time to be between 5+ minutes. EMTs, fire, and police arrive nearly simultaneously.) Criminals look for easier pickings.

There were several times over the past 30 years that we thought about trading up to tonier zip codes. With the price appreciation that Bay Area real estate has experienced, our balance sheet would have looked better today. However, being able to sleep peacefully has value, too.