Editing Palo Alto, California (section)

{{Redirect|Palo Alto}}
{{pp-move}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2024}}

{{Use American English|date=June 2024}}

{{Infobox settlement
| name               = Palo Alto, California
| settlement_type    = [[List of municipalities in California|City]]
| etymology          = {{Ety|es|palo alto|tall stick}}
| image_skyline      = {{multiple image
| border                          = infobox
| total_width                     = 300
| image_style                     = border:1;
| perrow                          = 1/2/2/1
| image1                          = Palo Alto Baylands January 2013 005 (cropped).jpg
| image2                          = Ramona Street Architectural District, 261 Hamilton St., Palo Alto, CA 5-27-2012 2-20-25 PM.JPG
| image3                          = Paly (cropped).JPG
| image4                          = Palo Alto Medical Clinic, 300 Homer Ave., Palo Alto, CA 5-27-2012 4-21-09 PM.JPG
| image5                          = Palo Alto Circle (University & Alma)-102 University Ave--Designed by Joseph Bellomo Architects 2014-05-19 16-38.jpg
}}
| image_caption      = [[Palo Alto Baylands Nature Preserve|Baylands Nature Preserve]], [[Ramona Street Architectural District]], [[Palo Alto High School]], [[Palo Alto Medical Clinic|Palo Alto History Museum]], Palo Alto Circle
| image_flag         = Flag of Palo Alto, California.svg
| flag_size          = 120px
| image_seal         = Seal of Palo Alto, California.svg
| seal_size          = 100px
| image_shield       = 
| image_blank_emblem = Logo of Palo Alto, California.svg
| blank_emblem_link  = List of U.S. county and city insignia
| blank_emblem_size  = 70px
| blank_emblem_alt   = 
| blank_emblem_type  = Logo
| motto              = 
| image_map          = Santa_Clara_County_California_Incorporated_and_Unincorporated_areas_Palo_Alto_Highlighted.svg
| mapsize            = 300px
| map_caption        = Location in [[Santa Clara County, California|Santa Clara County]] and [[California]]
| image_map1         = 
| mapsize1           = 300px
| map_caption1       = 
| pushpin_map        = San Francisco Bay Area#California#USA
| pushpin_relief     = 1
| coordinates        = {{coord|37|25|45|N|122|8|17|W|region:US-CA|display=inline,title}}
| subdivision_type   = Country
| subdivision_name   = United States
| subdivision_type1  = [[U.S. state|State]]
| subdivision_name1  = [[California]]
| subdivision_type2  = [[List of counties in California|County]]
| subdivision_name2  = [[Santa Clara County, California|Santa Clara]]
<!-- Politics ----------------->| established_title  = <!-- Founded-->
| established_date   = 
| established_title3 = [[Municipal corporation|Incorporated]]
| established_date3  = April 1894{{Citation needed|date=April 2025|reason=Conflicting dates in various sources, see talk}}
| named_for          = [[El Palo Alto]]
| government_type    = [[Council-manager government|Council-Manager]]
| leader_title       = Mayor
| leader_name        = Ed Lauing
| governing_body     = City council<br />{{Collapsible list
  | title = members:<ref name=cou>{{cite web
 | url = https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/City-Hall/City-Council
 | title = City Council & Mayor
 | publisher = City of Palo Alto
 | access-date = January 16, 2025
}}</ref>
| 1 = Mayor Ed Lauing
| 2 = Vice Mayor Vicki Veenker
| 3 = Pat Burt
| 4 = George Lu
| 5 = [[Julie Lythcott-Haims]]
| 6 = Keith Reckdahl
| 7 = Greer Stone }}
<!-- Area------------------>| unit_pref          = Imperial
| area_footnotes     = <ref name="CenPopGazetteer2019">{{cite web|title=2019 U.S. Gazetteer Files|url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2019_Gazetteer/2019_gaz_place_06.txt|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=July 1, 2020}}</ref>
| area_total_sq_mi   = 26.00
| area_total_km2     = 67.35
| area_land_sq_mi    = 24.10
| area_land_km2      = 62.41
| area_water_sq_mi   = 1.91
| area_water_km2     = 4.94
| area_water_percent = 7.38
| area_metro_km2     = 
| area_metro_sq_mi   = 
| elevation_footnotes = <ref>{{Cite GNIS|277572|Palo Alto|access-date=October 7, 2014}}</ref>
| elevation_ft       = 30
| elevation_m        = 9
<!-- Population ----------------------->| population_as_of   = [[2020 United States census|2020]]
| population_footnotes = <ref name=quif>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/paloaltocitycalifornia/PST045219|title=Palo Alto (city) QuickFacts|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=November 26, 2021}}</ref>
| population_total   = 68572
| population_density_sq_mi = 2871.52
| population_metro   = 
| population_density_metro_km2 = 
| population_density_metro_sq_mi = <!-- General information --------------->
| population_demonym = Palo Altan
| timezone           = [[Pacific Time Zone|Pacific]]
| utc_offset         = −8
| timezone_DST       = PDT
| utc_offset_DST     = −7
<!-- Area/postal codes & others -------->| postal_code_type   = [[ZIP Code]]s
| postal_code        = 94301-94306 & 94309
| area_code_type     = [[North American Numbering Plan|Area code]]
| area_code          = [[Area code 650|650]]
| blank_name         = [[Federal Information Processing Standard|FIPS code]]
| blank_info         = {{FIPS|06|55282}}
| blank1_name        = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature IDs
| blank1_info        = {{GNIS 4|277572}}, {{GNIS 4|2411362}}
| website            = {{Official URL}}
| footnotes          = 
| population_density_km2 = 1047.35
}}

'''Palo Alto''' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|p|æ|l|oʊ|_|ˈ|æ|l|t|oʊ}} {{respell|PAL|oh|_|AL|toh}}; [[Spanish language|Spanish]] for {{gloss|tall stick}}) is a [[charter city]] in northwestern [[Santa Clara County, California]], United States, in the [[San Francisco Bay Area]], named after a [[Sequoia sempervirens|coastal redwood tree]] known as [[El Palo Alto]].

The city of Palo Alto was incorporated in 1894 by the American industrialist [[Leland Stanford]] and his wife, [[Jane Stanford]],  when they founded [[Stanford University]] in memory of their only child, [[Leland Stanford&nbsp;Jr.]] Palo Alto later expanded and now borders [[East Palo Alto, California|East Palo Alto]], [[Mountain View, California|Mountain View]], [[Los Altos, California|Los Altos]], [[Los Altos Hills, California|Los Altos Hills]], [[Stanford, California|Stanford]], [[Portola Valley, California|Portola Valley]], and [[Menlo Park, California|Menlo Park]]. As of the [[2020 United States census]], the population was 68,572.<ref name=quif/> Palo Alto has one of the highest costs of living in the United States,<ref>{{cite news |first=Richard |last=Scheinin |url=https://www.mercurynews.com/2016/03/29/palo-alto-atherton-crack-top-10-priciest-zip-codes-in-u-s/ |title=Palo Alto, Atherton crack top 10 priciest ZIP codes in U.S. |newspaper=San Jose Mercury News |date=March 29, 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Martha C. |last=White |url=https://time.com/3650801/americas-most-outrageously-expensive-places-to-live/ |title=America's Most Outrageously Expensive Places to Live |newspaper=Time |date=January 5, 2015 }}</ref> and its residents are among the most educated in the country. However, it has a youth suicide rate four times higher than the national average, often attributed to academic pressure.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://stanforddaily.com/2016/07/21/cdc-releases-preliminary-findings-on-palo-alto-suicide-clusters/|title=CDC releases preliminary findings on Palo Alto suicide clusters|date=July 21, 2016|newspaper=[[The Stanford Daily]]|access-date=February 21, 2022}}</ref>

As one of the principal cities of [[Silicon Valley]], Palo Alto is home to the headquarters of multiple tech companies, including [[HP Inc.|HP]], [[Space Systems/Loral]], [[VMware]], and [[PARC (company)|PARC]]. Palo Alto has also served as headquarters or the founding location of several other tech companies, including [[Apple Inc.|Apple]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://s3data.computerhistory.org/brochures/apple.applei.1976.102646518.pdf |title=Apple – 1 operation manual, 1976 |website=S3data.computerhistory.org |access-date=February 21, 2022}}</ref> [[Google]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_23672621/google-buys-nearly-15-acres-palo-alto |last=Green |first=Jason |title=Google Buys Nearly 15 acres in Palo Alto |date=July 17, 2013 |work=San Jose Mercury-News |access-date= January 25, 2015 }}</ref> [[Facebook]], [[Logitech]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.logitech.com/lang/pdf/logitech_history_200703.pdf|title=Logitech History|date=March 2007|website=Logitech.com|access-date=February 21, 2022|archive-date=March 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304063344/http://www.logitech.com/lang/pdf/logitech_history_200703.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Tesla, Inc.|Tesla]],<ref name="tesla" /> [[Intuit]], [[IDEO]], [[Pinterest]], and [[PayPal]]. [[Ford Motor Company]] and [[Lockheed Martin]] each additionally maintain major research and technology facilities within Palo Alto.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ford Opens New Silicon Valley Research Center to Drive Innovation in Connectivity, Mobility, Autonomous Vehicles {{!}} Ford Media Center |url=https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/fna/us/en/news/2015/01/22/research-and-innovation-center-palo-alto.html |access-date=February 6, 2023 |website=media.ford.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=August 4, 2021 |title=Advanced Technology Center |url=https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/capabilities/space/atc.html |website=Lockheed Martin}}</ref>