
One of the few sculptures in Palo Alto, celebrating the silicon technology that props up the local economy.
Palo Alto was the epicentre of the .com boom, currently providing jobs for nearly 100,000 code workers. During its time it has been home to Photobucket, Facebook, Logitech, Google, Paypal and Danger Inc and many more. As the technological wave spills over, companies move to larger sites and Stanford finds itself with buildings named after Hewlett, Packard and Bill Gates, among others. Many of the local haunts have free wifi, and there's coverage all over Stanford and SLAC. The local Apple Store and Fry's Electronics are both well stocked, as is the Stanford Shop. Stanford is home to research for alternative energies (eg the solar car) and is home to a world class medical center. The economy is totally reliant on the high technology industries and the research that takes place here. It's Mecca for geeks and technophiles.

The jewel in University Avenue's crown is the Stanford Theatre. The only other business that rivals the Theatre for cultural delights is the Borders shop down the road.
Downtown Palo Alto is dominated by University Avenue, which predictably leads to Stanford. For some reason there are an unusually large number of rug shops in the area, as if, for whatever reason, the residents of Palo Alto have more floorspace than most other residents in the country. (This clearly isn't the case, as the property prices in the area are ludicrous. Perhaps it's a status thing.) There are quite a few homeless people in the area, and a lot of them push around shopping carts full of very organised bags and blankets. They drink Starbucks coffee and have been seen reading Voltaire. One the people who looks homeless actually isn't. He pushes a wheelchair round with a tape player on it, and he fought in a war. There are only four bars (that I know of), and the rest of the area consists of mainly restaurants, coffee shops. This makes Palo Alto a rather boring place to spend an evening, especially since the pool tables were recently removed from Blue Chalk (one of the bars.) The gem in University Avenue's crown is the Stanford Theater, which specialises in old films, and where you can see a man play his organ before each movie. It's a nice bit of escapism. Luckily there's a large Borders nearby to prevent chronic boredom.
One of the most surreal aspects of living in Palo Alto is the diversity of the local area.
Tens of metres from Palo Alto, across a freeway is East Palo Alto. The area is infamous for violent crime, with high rates of homicide dominated by gangs. While they beat and rob each other they tend to leave the ridiculously affluent Palo Altons next door alone. People are advised not to visit East Palo Alto, unless they want to go to Ikea.
The only thing better than a multi-million dollar house is a multi-million dollar house that needs to be rebuilt every few years. The houses in Atherton are among the most expensive in all of America, and yet they are built on hills experiencing frequent mudslides. Everytime the winter rains come another house slides down a few feet, causing hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage.
There's not a great deal I know about Sunnyvale, except to say that I cam across a band once called the Sunnyvale Noise Subelement. Apparently the term means antisocial noise. Sunnyvale is even more paranoid than Palo Alto.
El Camino goes from San Francisco to San Diego (and is therefore the way to San Jose.) Driving up and down El Camino you'll find just about anything you could want. Superstores, restaurants, cinemas, bowling, hospitals and even (for a few blocks around Redwood City) porn shops. It's like a commercially powered artery that keeps the area alive. And it's as wide as a British motorway.
After a gig in Palo Alto Thom Yorke wrote a song about the town. It was originally named OK Computer, but wasn't deemed good enough to deserve a place in their new album, so the (now world famous and critically acclaimed) album inherited the name and the song, now named Palo Alto, was relegated to a B-side of Airbag/How's my driving.
In a city of the future
It is difficult to concentrate
Meet the boss, meet the wife
Everybody's happy
Everyone is made for life
In a city of the future
It is difficult to find a space
I'm too busy to see you
You're too busy to wait
But I'm okay, how are you?
Thanks for asking, thanks for asking
But I'm okay, how are you?
I hope you're okay too
Everyone one of those days
When the sky's California blue
With a beautiful bombshell
I throw myself into my work
I'm too lazy, I've been kidding myself for so long
I'm okay, how are you?
Thanks for asking, thanks for asking
But I'm okay, how are you?
I hope you're okay too

Hopefully very little crime takes place around here...
The residents of Palo Alto are notoriously paranoid (although they're not as bad as those in Atherton.) Violent crime is very rare here, but minor violations seem rife, and the Palo Alto Daily News jumps on the smallest incident. Every now and then a serious incident is placed alongside the rest of the inane incidents, throwing the tedious and petty pursuit into sharp contrast. Unfortunately it's not online, so here are some of the funnier (and scarier) snippets.