Is Hillsborough, CA better than Burlingame, CA? The two cities (to be more precise, Burlingame is a City and Hillsborough is a Town), are situated next to each other and share the same zip code – 94010. Hillsborough is known as a town of beautiful and expensive homes. Burlingame has become third most desirable place to live in Northern California (after San Francisco and Palo Alto). According to a local hearsay – Burlingame was conceived as a “service city” for Hillsborough. However, the truth (according to the Hillsborough town website) is that Hillsborough was created as some of the early Burlingame inhabitants were not willing to pay taxes to build sidewalks and light streets. So, they decided to secede and incorporated Hillsborough. And this is how it stayed until today as Hillsborough is the town with very few sidewalks and lights.
As I mentioned before, today both cities are very desirable, but at the same time very different. Both are expensive, but Hillsborough is by far more expensive. The recent data cited by San Mateo California Association of Realtors (SAMCAR) put the average Sold Price in Hillsborough around $3.3 M and the median List Price over $5 M. That’s most definitely dwarfs Burlingame with it $1.5 M median List Price. Here is a modest example (to see more, click here):
Hillsborough is a city of expensive homes. But what else is there? Why (disregarding the price) some people choose Burlingame over Hillsborough? According to the Town website “the Town has continually worked to preserve the ‘nature of Hillsborough’. One of the main attractions Hillsborough has for home buyers is its charm. Hillsborough still offers its escape from the pressures of the city. In addition to its generally quiet atmosphere, Hillsborough has excellent, award-winning public schools, police and fire protection and public works service. These are the qualities that have formed the character of the Town and have remained stable for over 100 years.” There are no shops and restaurants in Hillsborough.
If privacy and seclusion are not things you really want, beautiful homes at Hillsborough might not be for you.
So which City is more desirable, Hillsborough or Burlingame? It really depends on what you like and what your needs are. To find more about Burlingame go to:
Directory of posts on Burlingame, CA by Cimpler Real Estate
Decision is yours.
;)
;)
;)
People want to live in Hillsborough because it's more expensive sounding, it's the "brand" recognition. Like people will spend $300 on sweatpants from juicy instead of speanding $30 at wal-mart. People want to sound rich, also people who live in Hillsborough are obviously much wealthier. Also homes are much larger and much more privates, many are gated. Crime rates are lower than Burlingame. It's also a little more exclusive. One of the reasons why there are still no street lights is because only people who live in Hillsborough know their way around. It's very complicated and easy to get lost in Hillsborough. There are also not much interactions amongest neighbors in Hillsborough, which is a shame in my opinion. You can still buy homes under a million in Burlingame but all the Hillsborough homes start at least at 1.5 million. 12 years ago when I moved to Burlingame I can still see homes under 1 mil, now it's impossible to find one! Hillsborough homes are still selling relatively quickly, because inventory is rare and people want to buy the land. If I have a Hillsborough home I would never sell it, you will never be able to buy it back!
Cheers,
Cindy