What makes Atherton so special? (San Francisco, Oakland: movers, hotel, house)

[HurricaneParty2022]

A ping just came in from Twitter telling me Atherton is most desirable city in the US to live. What is it that makes this place so special? Why is it where everyone wants to be?

[MechAndy]

Atherton is nice, so are a bunch of other places in America.
I don’t think Atherton is even in the top 10 in California
Sounds like some numb nut spammed you with an opinion piece.

[Valley Boy]

Atherton isn't just rich. It's home to some serious movers and shakers of this world. It's where folks who can afford the finest things and life are clustered. Great schools, great weather, and a beautiful setting.

[NORTY FLATZ]

Median house price?

$ 7 million+

So, yeah, losers won't be applying for food stamps there.

[JGC97]

It's been a while since I was over that way but iirc, isn't Atherton by Woodside? I like Woodside. I think if I had the money, that's where I'd live. It's beauuuuutiful ♥ All I can say about Atherton or any place near it, you better have mega bucks to set roots down there.

[18Montclair]

Outwardly nothing much imo. Atherton is quiet and treelined, and most homes have huge hedges so you can't really see much from the street, but one thing separates it from other places in the area: From the beginning way back, Atherton required and requires every property to be at least 1-acre, and the town is flat, so an entire acre of flat land in the middle of the 2nd most densely populated urban area in the country(San Francisco-Oakland) is a massive luxury, and then you throw in the fact that Atherton is next to Palo Alto and Menlo Park, which are basically the Wall Street of global tech investment, then it's no wonder that people with a lot of money buy homes there.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by 18Montclair

Outwardly nothing much imo. Atherton is quiet and treelined, and most homes have huge hedges so you can't really see much from the street, but one thing separates it from other places in the area: From the beginning way back, Atherton required and requires every property to be at least 1-acre, and the town is flat, so an entire acre of flat land in the middle of the 2nd most densely populated urban area in the country(San Francisco-Oakland) is a massive luxury, and then you throw in the fact that Atherton is next to Palo Alto and Menlo Park, which are basically the Wall Street of global tech investment, then it's no wonder that people with a lot of money buy homes there.

That's a good point, though some other Peninsula towns are similar (see: Hillsborough). And I was surprised at how common that is in some E Coast suburbs, too: areas with nothing but 1-2-acre lots. (Parts of Maryland, where people commute to DC, for example. Also: parts of Pennsylvania, and, I'm guessing, Virginia also in the DC commuter corridor).

[RMESMH]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

That's a good point, though some other Peninsula towns are similar (see: Hillsborough). And I was surprised at how common that is in some E Coast suburbs, too: areas with nothing but 1-2-acre lots. (Parts of Maryland, where people commute to DC, for example. Also: parts of Pennsylvania, and, I'm guessing, Virginia also in the DC commuter corridor).

The second to last time I was in Charleston, SC (late 2020) I stayed in a suites hotel in the West Ashley area. There is a neighborhood in West Ashley known as The Crescent (and Cresent..without the second c is adjacent). It sort of reminds me of Atherton. The Crescent is within walking distance of The Porter-Gaud School (a prep school....Stephen Colbert is an alum. He didn't grow up in The Crescent. He grew up across Elliot Creek on James Island).

[fengxg]

The only thing special about Atherton is that its residents are rich. Wealthy people wants to live with wealthy people, and the price is not an issue. The price drives people not wealthy enough out of the area and what's left are wealthy people. When a lot of wealthy people live in an area, it will have good everything.

[Nasudesu]

I do not think there is off street parking.