Redwood Shores is an affluent waterfront neighborhood located in San Mateo County on the San Francisco Peninsula in California. It is located on the eastern edge of Belmont, but is actually part of incorporated Redwood City.
Redwood Shores is populated with million-dollar homes and waterfront marinas, and many of the houses and condominiums surround the lagoon and have access to water through private boating docks. According to Forbes magazine, Redwood Shores is placed on top of "America's Top Selling Luxury Neighborhoods in 2009".[1]
Major technology companies maintain headquarters in Redwood Shores, among them Oracle Corporation and Electronic Arts. Redwood Shores is the setting for college rowing races, including competitions among Pacific 10 Conference universities. To the south it is bordered by the San Carlos Airport.
It was the home of the Marine World/Africa U.S.A., California park from the 1960s to 1986, when the park moved to Vallejo, California (eventually becoming Six Flags Discovery Kingdom), and the land was occupied by the headquarters of Oracle Corporation.[2]
Redwood Shores is also the home to the Pacific Athletic Club, a private sports club with tennis, squash, pool, yoga, gym and clubhouse facilities, hotel Sofitel Bay Area, Sandpiper Elementary School and a branch of the Redwood City Library. Redwood Shores elementary school opened in the fall of 2010.
Redwood Shores was built up from reclaimed land[3] in the marshes of the San Francisco Bay in the 1960s, much like its neighbor to the north Foster City, but the development almost never came to be. The owner of the land, the Leslie Salt Company, filled in soft ground known as "bay mud" formerly used for salt-evaporation ponds, but a significant controversy developed over fears of its susceptibility to serious earthquake damage because the area is between and close to the San Andreas and Hayward faults. The ensuing battle between various government agencies and business interests eventually put Leslie Salt out of business. As a result, Bank of America became the owner of the development in 1972.[4]