BURLINGAME, CA

Burlingame is a city in San Mateo County, California. It is located on the San Francisco Peninsula and has a significant shoreline on San Francisco Bay. The city is named after diplomat Anson Burlingame and is known for its numerous eucalyptus groves, high quality of life, walkable downtown area, and public school system. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 31,386.

History

Burlingame is situated on land previously owned by San Francisco-based merchant William Davis Merry Howard. Howard planted many eucalyptus trees on his property and retired to live on the land. Howard died in 1856 and the land was sold to William C. Ralston, a prominent banker. In 1868, Ralston named the land after his friend Anson Burlingame, the United States Ambassador to China. After the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, hundreds of lots in Burlingame were sold to people looking to establish new homes, and the town of Burlingame was incorporated in 1908. In 1910, the neighboring town of Easton was annexed and this area is now known as the Easton Addition neighborhood of Burlingame.

Burlingame refers to itself as the City of Trees due to its over 18,000 public trees within the city. In 1908, the Burlingame board of trustees passed an ordinance "prohibiting cutting, injuring, or destroying trees". The city also has many parks and eucalyptus groves.

In 2018, upon the 150th anniversary of the 1868 landmark Burlingame Treaty between the U.S. and China, a new bust of diplomat Anson Burlingame, sculpted by Zhou Limin from China, was unveiled at an international ceremony at the Burlingame Public Library.

Transportation

Highways

Three highways pass through Burlingame. Highway 101 runs from San Jose to San Francisco along San Francisco Bay. Highway 82, also known as El Camino Real, runs parallel to Highway 101 and acts as the main corridor for local traffic going up and down the peninsula. A small section of Highway 35 (Skyline Boulevard) also lies with city limits. It connects with Interstate 280, which runs along the side of Burlingame opposite Highway 101.

Caltrain

Caltrain has served Burlingame station since 1985 when it bought out Southern Pacific. It uses the same depot that was used in the early 20th century.

BART

Bay Area Rapid Transit has its final stop in Millbrae, just north of Burlingame. BART's tracks are within Burlingame city limits.

Bus

Burlingame is served by SamTrans bus lines 292, 398, 46 and the ECR as well as Commute.org and Caltrain shuttles. The City of Burlingame and local businesses sponsor the Burlingame Trolley, a two-route shuttle.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of . of it is land, and of it (27.25%) is water.

Several creeks drain across Burlingame from the peninsula hills to the San Francisco Bay.

Climate

Burlingame experiences warm and dry summers, with no average monthly temperatures above . According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Burlingame has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate.

Demographics

reported that Burlingame had a population of 28,806. The population density was 6,537.9 people per square mile (2,524.4/km²). Details regarding the demographic profile are shown below.

|}

The population was spread out, with 6,256 people (21.7%) under the age of 18, 1,496 people (5.2%) aged 18 to 24, 8,872 people (30.8%) aged 25 to 44, 8,136 people (28.2%) aged 45 to 64, and 4,046 people (14.0%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40.5 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.2 males.

There were 13,027 housing units at an average density of 2,956.7 per square mile (1,141.6/km²). There were 12,361 households with average household size of 2.29. There were 7,183 families (58.1% of all households); the average family size was 3.02.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS), median household income was $122,999 and per capita income was $70,519, in 2018 dollars.

Neighborhoods

Government

In the California State Legislature, Burlingame is in , and in .

In the United States House of Representatives, Burlingame is in .

According to the California Secretary of State, as of February 10, 2019, Burlingame has 17,750 registered voters. Of those, 8,439 (47.5%) are registered Democrats, 3,048 (17.2%) are registered Republicans, and 5,551 (31.3%) have declined to state a political party.

Economy

In the 1920s, Burlingame became a popular location for automobile retailers which became known as "Auto Row".

In the 1960s, various airline support service businesses opened in Burlingame due to its proximity to San Francisco International Airport. , LSG/Sky Chefs, Inc. and China Airlines are all located in Burlingame. The airport location has also attracted the headquarters of medium-sized multi-site companies such as Meri Meri and Proterra, Inc.

Historically, Burlingame has been home to many candy and chocolate companies, including the It's-It ice cream factory and store, Guittard Chocolate, the See's Candies lollipop factory, and family-owned candy stores, including Powell's, Preston's, Aida Opera Candies, and Nuts for Candy.

Since 2010, Burlingame's economy has diversified substantially and it has become an attractive location for biotechnology companies given its proximity to South San Francisco. Biotechnology companies with offices in Burlingame include Annai Systems, Breathometer, Cala Health, Cleave Biosciences, Collaborative Drug Discovery, Confidence Clinical Research, Corvus Pharmaceuticals, Igenica Biotherapeutics, Kindred Biosciences, Omnitura, Phoenix Pharmaceuticals, Pulse Biosciences, Respira Therapeutics, and Vector Labs.

Additionally, multiple high-technology firms have established offices in Burlingame due to its location between the booming technology centers of Silicon Valley to the south and San Francisco to the north. Tech companies with Burlingame offices include: Zecco.com, Natsume, Color Genomics, CarWoo, Jobvite, DataStax, Sprint's M2M Collaboration Center, YouWeb, OpenFeint, CrowdStar, BitGravity, Veebeam, and TellApart.

As of March 2022, the median single home value in Burlingame was $2.8 million.

Education

Primary and secondary schools

;Public schools

San Mateo Union High School District operates local high schools while the Burlingame School District operates elementary and middle schools.

Burlingame High School is the city's sole public high school. Burlingame Intermediate School is Burlingame's sole public middle school. There are six public elementary schools serving Burlingame. They are Franklin Elementary, Lincoln Elementary, McKinley Elementary, Roosevelt Elementary, Washington Elementary, and Hoover Elementary. According to the 2009 Base Academic Performance Index (API) Scores from the California Department of Education, the Burlingame School District ranks among the best in the state, with 4 out of their 6 public elementary schools (Roosevelt Elementary, Washington Elementary, Franklin Elementary, and Lincoln Elementary) scoring well between 880 and 925, and with ratings of 9 or 10. Burlingame school district enrollment has continually been increasing as young families move to the city. The city has passed two bond measures to add new facilities and modernize existing facilities to provide state-of-the-art classrooms. The city recently extensively renovated and modernized the Hoover School, which was built in 1931 and reopened in 2016.

;Private schools

Mercy High School is a private Catholic all-girls high school in Burlingame. It was founded in 1931 by the Sisters of Mercy. The school is located in the Kohl Mansion which is a Historic Landmark. Our Lady of Angels School and St. Catherine of Siena School are located in Burlingame.

Public libraries

Burlingame Library is located in Burlingame. It was established by city ordinance October 11, 1909. Following the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989, the City approved a bond issue to reconstruct the library. The architecture has won awards and earned a cover story in the 1998 American Libraries journal. A second branch, located on Easton Drive, is substantially smaller than the main branch. Both are operated by the Peninsula Library System, the library authority for the county.

Points of interest

Notable people

Actors

Artists and designers

Businesspeople and entrepreneurs

Writers

Sports

Others

In popular culture