Ladera, California
Encyclopedia
Ladera is a census-designated place
(CDP) located in southern San Mateo County, California
adjacent to Portola Valley
. Primarily a residential community, it comprises approximately 520 homes. The ZIP Code
is 94028 and the community is inside area code 650
. The population was 1,426 at the 2010 census.
. It is bordered on the west by the Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve
operated by Stanford University
, on the east by Alpine Road, and on the north by Webb Ranch.
According to the United States Census Bureau
, the CDP covers an area of 0.4 square miles (1.1 km²), all of it land.
Ohlones peoples
prior to the settlement of California
by the Spanish
. Ladera is located on the Rancho Corte de Madera
Mexican land grant
.
The land was used for grazing and timber through 1927 when it was joined to the Ormondale Ranch, owned by the Macdonough family. The Macdonoughs raised cattle and sheep, and bred racehorses; their most famous horse, Ormonde, raced primarily in England
and never lost a race. In the 1930s, the majority of the Ormondale Ranch land was developed and incorporated into Portola Valley.
In 1944, the Peninsula Housing Association (PHA) was formed with the goal of purchasing a tract land and developing a housing cooperative
. Several prominent members of the Stanford and Palo Alto
communities joined to develop the fledgling PHA co-op. It began subscribing members in 1945 and its 150 members purchased the remaining 260 acres (1.1 km²) of the former Ormondale ranch for $155,000 on July 31, 1946. The co-op selected noted landscape architect Garrett Eckbo
to lay out the design for the new community.
The members chose the name Ladera (over alternatives Lark Hills and New Rochdale
) to reflect the Spanish history of the land — ladera is Spanish for hillside. Streets are Spanish phrases or botanical names. Early members of the cooperative included author Wallace Stegner
and Klystron tube inventor Sigurd Varian of Varian Associates
. (Varian had grown up in Halcyon
, another intentional community
in southern California.)
Due to financial difficulties caused in part by refusal to place restrictive covenant
s on the title deeds, the PHA failed after only a few houses had been constructed. The land was sold to Hare, Brewer, and Kelley, who completed the development.
was 3,221.9 people per square mile (1,244.0/km²). The racial makeup of Ladera was 1,269 (89.0%) White, 3 (0.2%) African American, 1 (0.1%) Native American, 98 (6.9%) Asian, 0 (0.0%) Pacific Islander, 5 (0.4%) from other races
, and 50 (3.5%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 33 persons (2.3%).
The Census reported that 1,426 people (100% of the population) lived in households, 0 (0%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 (0%) were institutionalized.
There were 525 households, out of which 207 (39.4%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 392 (74.7%) were opposite-sex married couples
living together, 24 (4.6%) had a female householder with no husband present, 6 (1.1%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 10 (1.9%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships
, and 7 (1.3%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 86 households (16.4%) were made up of individuals and 53 (10.1%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.72. There were 422 families
(80.4% of all households); the average family size was 3.05.
The population was spread out with 405 people (28.4%) under the age of 18, 43 people (3.0%) aged 18 to 24, 243 people (17.0%) aged 25 to 44, 443 people (31.1%) aged 45 to 64, and 292 people (20.5%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 46.0 years. For every 100 females there were 94.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.1 males.
There were 539 housing units at an average density of 1,217.8 per square mile (470.2/km²), of which 481 (91.6%) were owner-occupied, and 44 (8.4%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.2%; the rental vacancy rate was 2.2%. 1,312 people (92.0% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 114 people (8.0%) lived in rental housing units.
of Portola Valley
. It draws its police services from the County of San Mateo
and is a part of Woodside
Fire District.
School districts that serve Ladera include the Las Lomitas Elementary School District
for elementary and middle school and the Sequoia Union High School District
for high school. The local school in the community is leased to the private Woodland School.
Along Alpine Road are two small commercial developments: a small shopping center to the north of La Mesa and an office complex south of La Mesa.
Census-designated place
A census-designated place is a concentration of population identified by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes. CDPs are delineated for each decennial census as the statistical counterparts of incorporated places such as cities, towns and villages...
(CDP) located in southern San Mateo County, California
San Mateo County, California
San Mateo County is a county located in the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. It covers most of the San Francisco Peninsula just south of San Francisco, and north of Santa Clara County. San Francisco International Airport is located at the northern end of the county, and...
adjacent to Portola Valley
Portola Valley, California
Portola Valley is an incorporated town in San Mateo County, California, United States. The population was 4,353 at the 2010 census. It was named for Spanish explorer Gaspar de Portola, who led the first party of Europeans to explore the San Francisco Peninsula, in 1769.Portola Valley is one of the...
. Primarily a residential community, it comprises approximately 520 homes. The ZIP Code
ZIP Code
ZIP codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, is properly written in capital letters and was chosen to suggest that the mail travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly, when senders use the...
is 94028 and the community is inside area code 650
Area code 650
North American area code 650 is a California telephone area code which includes most of San Mateo County and the extreme northwestern portion of Santa Clara County including Palo Alto, Mountain View, and Los Altos....
. The population was 1,426 at the 2010 census.
Geography
Ladera is located at the bottom of the eastern slope of the Peninsula Range of the Santa Cruz MountainsSanta Cruz Mountains
The Santa Cruz Mountains, part of the Pacific Coast Ranges, are a mountain range in central California, United States. They form a ridge along the San Francisco Peninsula, south of San Francisco, separating the Pacific Ocean from San Francisco Bay and the Santa Clara Valley, and continuing south,...
. It is bordered on the west by the Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve
Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve
The Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve is a 1,200 acre is a nature preserve and biological field station owned by Stanford University, located at south of Sand Hill Road and west of Interstate 280 in Portola Valley, California. It is used by students, researchers, and docents to conduct biology...
operated by Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
, on the east by Alpine Road, and on the north by Webb Ranch.
According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the CDP covers an area of 0.4 square miles (1.1 km²), all of it land.
History
The community of Ladera occupies land that was originally settled by the RamaytushRamaytush
The Ramaytush are one of the linguistic subdivisions of the Ohlone Native Americans of Northern California. Historically, the Ramaytush inhabited the San Francisco Peninsula between San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean in the area which is now San Francisco and San Mateo Counties.The Ramaytush...
Ohlones peoples
Ohlone
The Ohlone people, also known as the Costanoan, are a Native American people of the central California coast. When Spanish explorers and missionaries arrived in the late 18th century, the Ohlone inhabited the area along the coast from San Francisco Bay through Monterey Bay to the lower Salinas Valley...
prior to the settlement of California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
by the Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. Ladera is located on the Rancho Corte de Madera
Rancho Corte de Madera
Rancho Corte de Madera was a Mexican land grant in present day Santa Clara County, California given in 1844 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to Máximo Martínez. The name translates as "the place where lumber is cut"...
Mexican land grant
Ranchos of California
The Spanish, and later the Méxican government encouraged settlement of territory now known as California by the establishment of large land grants called ranchos, from which the English ranch is derived. Devoted to raising cattle and sheep, the owners of the ranchos attempted to pattern themselves...
.
The land was used for grazing and timber through 1927 when it was joined to the Ormondale Ranch, owned by the Macdonough family. The Macdonoughs raised cattle and sheep, and bred racehorses; their most famous horse, Ormonde, raced primarily in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and never lost a race. In the 1930s, the majority of the Ormondale Ranch land was developed and incorporated into Portola Valley.
In 1944, the Peninsula Housing Association (PHA) was formed with the goal of purchasing a tract land and developing a housing cooperative
Housing cooperative
A housing cooperative is a legal entity—usually a corporation—that owns real estate, consisting of one or more residential buildings. Each shareholder in the legal entity is granted the right to occupy one housing unit, sometimes subject to an occupancy agreement, which is similar to a lease. ...
. Several prominent members of the Stanford and Palo Alto
Palo Alto, California
Palo Alto is a California charter city located in the northwest corner of Santa Clara County, in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, United States. The city shares its borders with East Palo Alto, Mountain View, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Stanford, Portola Valley, and Menlo Park. It is...
communities joined to develop the fledgling PHA co-op. It began subscribing members in 1945 and its 150 members purchased the remaining 260 acres (1.1 km²) of the former Ormondale ranch for $155,000 on July 31, 1946. The co-op selected noted landscape architect Garrett Eckbo
Garrett Eckbo
Garrett Eckbo was an American landscape architect notable for his seminal 1950 book Landscape for Living.-Youth:...
to lay out the design for the new community.
The members chose the name Ladera (over alternatives Lark Hills and New Rochdale
Rochdale
Rochdale is a large market town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the foothills of the Pennines on the River Roch, north-northwest of Oldham, and north-northeast of the city of Manchester. Rochdale is surrounded by several smaller settlements which together form the Metropolitan...
) to reflect the Spanish history of the land — ladera is Spanish for hillside. Streets are Spanish phrases or botanical names. Early members of the cooperative included author Wallace Stegner
Wallace Stegner
Wallace Earle Stegner was an American historian, novelist, short story writer, and environmentalist, often called "The Dean of Western Writers"...
and Klystron tube inventor Sigurd Varian of Varian Associates
Varian Medical Systems
Varian Medical Systems of Palo Alto, California, is a manufacturer of medical devices and software for treating cancer and other medical conditions with radiotherapy, radiosurgery, proton therapy, and brachytherapy. The company supplies informatics software for managing comprehensive cancer...
. (Varian had grown up in Halcyon
Halcyon, California
Halcyon, California is an unincorporated community of approximately 125 acres in San Luis Obispo County, California, located just beyond the southern border of the city of Arroyo Grande...
, another intentional community
Intentional community
An intentional community is a planned residential community designed to have a much higher degree of teamwork than other communities. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, religious, or spiritual vision and often follow an alternative lifestyle. They...
in southern California.)
Due to financial difficulties caused in part by refusal to place restrictive covenant
Restrictive covenant
A restrictive covenant is a type of real covenant, a legal obligation imposed in a deed by the seller upon the buyer of real estate to do or not to do something. Such restrictions frequently "run with the land" and are enforceable on subsequent buyers of the property...
s on the title deeds, the PHA failed after only a few houses had been constructed. The land was sold to Hare, Brewer, and Kelley, who completed the development.
Demographics
The 2010 United States Census reported that Ladera had a population of 1,426. The population densityPopulation density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 3,221.9 people per square mile (1,244.0/km²). The racial makeup of Ladera was 1,269 (89.0%) White, 3 (0.2%) African American, 1 (0.1%) Native American, 98 (6.9%) Asian, 0 (0.0%) Pacific Islander, 5 (0.4%) from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 50 (3.5%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 33 persons (2.3%).
The Census reported that 1,426 people (100% of the population) lived in households, 0 (0%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 (0%) were institutionalized.
There were 525 households, out of which 207 (39.4%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 392 (74.7%) were opposite-sex married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 24 (4.6%) had a female householder with no husband present, 6 (1.1%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 10 (1.9%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships
POSSLQ
POSSLQ is an abbreviation for "Persons of Opposite Sex Sharing Living Quarters," a term coined in the late 1970s by the United States Census Bureau as part of an effort to more accurately gauge the prevalence of cohabitation in American households....
, and 7 (1.3%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 86 households (16.4%) were made up of individuals and 53 (10.1%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.72. There were 422 families
Family (U.S. Census)
A family or family household is defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes as "a householder and one or more other people related to the householder by birth, marriage, or adoption. They do not include same-sex married couples even if the marriage was performed in a state...
(80.4% of all households); the average family size was 3.05.
The population was spread out with 405 people (28.4%) under the age of 18, 43 people (3.0%) aged 18 to 24, 243 people (17.0%) aged 25 to 44, 443 people (31.1%) aged 45 to 64, and 292 people (20.5%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 46.0 years. For every 100 females there were 94.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.1 males.
There were 539 housing units at an average density of 1,217.8 per square mile (470.2/km²), of which 481 (91.6%) were owner-occupied, and 44 (8.4%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.2%; the rental vacancy rate was 2.2%. 1,312 people (92.0% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 114 people (8.0%) lived in rental housing units.
Political and Economic
As an unincorporated area, Ladera lies in the sphere of influenceSphere of influence
In the field of international relations, a sphere of influence is a spatial region or conceptual division over which a state or organization has significant cultural, economic, military or political influence....
of Portola Valley
Portola Valley, California
Portola Valley is an incorporated town in San Mateo County, California, United States. The population was 4,353 at the 2010 census. It was named for Spanish explorer Gaspar de Portola, who led the first party of Europeans to explore the San Francisco Peninsula, in 1769.Portola Valley is one of the...
. It draws its police services from the County of San Mateo
San Mateo County, California
San Mateo County is a county located in the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. It covers most of the San Francisco Peninsula just south of San Francisco, and north of Santa Clara County. San Francisco International Airport is located at the northern end of the county, and...
and is a part of Woodside
Woodside, California
Woodside is a small incorporated town in San Mateo County, California, United States, on the San Francisco Peninsula. It uses a council-manager system of government. The U.S. Census estimated the population of the town to be 5,287 in 2010....
Fire District.
School districts that serve Ladera include the Las Lomitas Elementary School District
Las Lomitas Elementary School District
The Las Lomitas Elementary School District is a public school district in the San Francisco Bay Area, primarily serving parts of the communities of Menlo Park, Atherton and Ladera. Under the current arrangement, all students in the district attend Las Lomitas Elementary School starting before...
for elementary and middle school and the Sequoia Union High School District
Sequoia Union High School District
The Sequoia Union High School District is a public school district in the San Francisco Bay Area, primarily serving the communities of Atherton, Belmont, East Palo Alto, Ladera, San Carlos, Menlo Park, Portola Valley, Redwood City, and Woodside....
for high school. The local school in the community is leased to the private Woodland School.
Along Alpine Road are two small commercial developments: a small shopping center to the north of La Mesa and an office complex south of La Mesa.