San Mateo-Foster City Real Estate News

Tonight is the 13th Annual Wine Walk in downtown San Mateo with over 15 wineries and many local restaurants teaming up to pair wine and food.  Tickets are $30 for a wine glass and as much tasting as you can hold. Come downtown and enjoy music, food and wine and spend the evening with friends and neighbors.  if you haven't bought your ticket in advance they can be purchased at the several locations around town.

Tickets are available at:

• Downtown San Mateo Association - 385 First Avenue
•   - 445 South B Street
• Borel Private Bank & Trust - 160 Bovet
• Trag's Market - 303 Baldwin
• San Mateo Pubic Library - 55 W. Third Ave.

Come and stroll down Third Avenue, it's going to be closed to traffic, and stop at the two stages for continuous musical entertainment from 5:30 - 9:30 PM.  One stage will be at Third and Ellsworth and the other at Third and San Mateo Drive. Both Ellsworth and San Mateo Drive will be closed to traffic, as well.  The Wine Walk is the main fundraising event for the Downtown San Mateo  Business Association.  You can stop into many of the shops on both Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue to sample wines, shop and enjoy yourself.

You must show proof of age when buying your ticket, but you can bring your family along to enjoy the music and festivities.  Wine glasses are going to be sold and or picked up with pre-event tickets at Third and Ellsworth all day long.  All wine tasting must take place within the closed area of the event.

Since I like to write about happenings between Millbrae and San Carlos, summer means free concerts and each of our towns has some for you to pick from.  Make a picnic and grab your blankets to sit on and/or to possibly bundle up.  Bring the family and enjoy the music.  Free is good. When you're leaving the concert be sure to thank the local Park & Recreation people for providing the music.  Belmont kicks off the summer season tomorrow afternoon.

Belmont

Let's start with Belmont. Their concerts are always on Sunday afternoons from 1-4PM at Twin Pines Park on Cottage Lane. They begin in June and run through July.

June 15 - Stompy Jones - Jumpin' Jazz and Swing

June 22 - Refugees - Tom Petty tribute

June 29 - Tom Rigney and Flambeau - Cajun Fiddling

July 6  - McCarty and Company - Pure Country Western

July 13 - Groovy Judy - Flower Power Funk Rock

July 20 - Blue-Rock and Roll Rhythm and Blues

July 27 - D-5 - Rockin' the Par

San Mateo

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Bravo Hillsdale High School!  San Mateo's gem of a school has been featured in Newsweek talking about a fabulous program that rolled out several years ago and has seen amazing results for the students and teachers.  When I am asked about the high schools in San Mateo, locals generally roll their eyes at the thought of buying a house within the Hillsdale district, at least that was then, but not any longer.  This high school, who serves students from the southern part of San Mateo and from Foster City, has made such progress in test scores that the entire country is watching and learning about a terrific teaching strategy.

When a Freshman starts high school it is generally with trepidation at the thought of getting lost in a big high school.  Most of us felt this and is was scary.  Hillsdale doesn't let this happen because they have totally redesigned how the school works and it isn't in the usual way with 30+ kids in a class and the kids taking 7 classes per day.

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Last year, here, I wrote about the possibility of FEMA updating their flood maps for San Mateo and Foster City and including Foster City into a flood zone.  The maps came out last month and FEMA released preliminary drafts of revised Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM) for the entire County of San Mateo. 

FEMA Has New Methodology

They have determined that a section of levee within the City of San Mateo does not meet FEMA's requirements for adequate flood protection.  Because of these changes in their methodology being used to generate flood plain data, the revised maps show all of Foster City to be in a Special Flood Hazard Zone, or Zone A.

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The southern half of San Mateo is where the 94403 zip code sits.  That means highway 92 is the line dividing 94402 from 94403 and it runs south to the Belmont border and east across 101 to the bay and west up through Laurelwood.  This area has many older single family homes, Bay Meadows - where a huge housing project will take place in the next few years and Hillsdale Shopping Center plus great views up in the hills.

The median price for homes last week was $799,000 for a 3 bedroom, 2 bath house around 1400 square feet sitting on the standard 5000 foot lot.  Prices have been flat for a while yet the price per square foot has gone up.  Go figure.

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