Central San Mateo

I’ve moved out of my normal home as it undergoes construction.

This means that I’m month-to-month, in a furnished apartment nearby downtown San Mateo, in a neighborhood named “Central”.

I often work from home, and I have frequently been using a kickscooter to jet around the neighborhood and explore the sights & sounds.

It’s been a nice alternative to walking or biking as it roughly doubles my walking speed while allowing sidewalk-riding.

Of course, it doesn’t help when car owners exhibit anti-social, selfish parking behavior:

But thankfully there is a fair amount of safer bike infrastructure in the neighborhood:

The tree canopy in the neighborhood is patchy and provide poor coverage. You can see there was a tree planted that is no longer there:

Gorgeous cottage court view, although the driveway is horrendously huge, leaving the lot largely paved over:

I stopped & chatted with a neighbor who explained this is new-ish development of housing (circa 2012):

Nice that they added a bench–it’s probably the only one for a 1/2 mile! More than the existing residents provided.

There is some heavier commercial, as the neighborhood is next to a massive highway (101 Bayshore Highway).

Some other interesting/desolate alleyways:

There’s a lot of aging single family homes:

Some nice fall vibes:

Some nice, minimal cars that aren’t sold any more:

Nice lighting:

Some hokey architecture that isn’t really built any more:

Can you believe this next residence is worth $1.7 million?

With a 20% down payment (~$340k) and prevailing jumbo interest rates at ~6.5%, that is ~$9k/month mortgage:

Location is great, though!

Trees are battling with ivy pests:

Some low utilization land:

And a speeding, one-way highway arterial cuts right by (speed-reading sign is broken):

But an epic evening skyline: