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Millbrae City Description

Just 15 miles south of San Francisco, Millbrae sits at the gateway to the San Francisco International Airport, yet retains its "small town" feel. Its boutique central downtown district and adjacent quaint older neighborhoods is reminiscent of neighboring, Burlingame. Like much of California, the land that is now Millbrae was originally part of a Spanish ranch. The Sanchez family who owned the ranch sold it to Darius Ogden Mills, the founder of the Bank of California in the 1860's for his country estate which was called Mills' "Brae" from his native Scottish for rolling hills. Mills and his partner A.F Green established a dairy on El Camino Real. When the City of San Francisco decided they needed an airport in 1926, it was built east of Millbrae and called Mills Field. On January 14, 1948 Millbrae was incorporated as a city. Since the 1950's Millbrae's residents have been interested in preserving the history and character of their community. Their unsuccessful efforts in the 1970's to save the original Sixteen Mile House, an El Camino landmark built in 1872 by members of the Sanchez family as a rest stop and since rebuilt as a replica on Broadway, led to the birth of the Millbrae Historical Society. Subsequent efforts by the Historical Society to preserve the Millbrae train station and the historic building that now houses the Millbrae Historical Museum were successful.

Millbrae's charm is not limited to its downtown and history. The homes that grace its hillsides boast some of the most beautiful bay and airport views on the peninsula. The city also has 12 parks and the Green Hills Country Club. A year round Farmer's Market is held every Saturday from 8am-1pm in the City Parking Lot downtown on Broadway and one of the Bay Area's Best Art & Wine Festival's takes place every year on Labor Day weekend complete with artists, craftspeople, food vendors, entertainers, and musicians. A favorite Millbrae tourist attraction is the underwater swimming pool window in the cocktail lounge at The Best Western El Rancho Inn & Suites. Built in 1949, during the heyday of the motor court, the recently remodeled El Rancho with its 7 acres of landscaped grounds and pool is still a popular destination for San Francisco tourists.

Millbrae's 20,718 residents live within the city's 3.2-square-miles, earning a median household income of $102,600 yearly. There were 169 sales of single family homes in 2005 with a median sales price of $1,029,000. The city is served by three major freeways, #280, 101 and 380 which connects the two larger freeways and culminates at the San Francisco International Airport. It is also currently the most southern connection of the peninsula to the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) system which links San Francisco to the East Bay.  The Millbrae Station opened in 2003 to make the commute to the San Francisco International Airport more convenient for passengers from San Francisco and the East Bay.  The station is unique in that it connects not only the airport but also the mid-peninsula, south & east bay areas with three forms of public transportation, BART, CalTrain and the Sam Trans bus system.  Millbrae's attractive neighborhoods and downtown make it the perfect "bedroom community" for San Francisco, however in addition to an active retail business sector; Millbrae's list of employers includes Mills Peninsula Hospital and Health Care Center, BART and one of the largest area employers, The San Francisco International Airport.   Millbrae School District operates five schools including four K-5 elementary schools and one 6-8 middle school. The schools have API scores in the 800's with the exception or Lomita Park Elementary which scored just under 800.  Millbrae's Mills High School with an API score of 793, is the highest scoring of all six high schools in the San Mateo Unified High School district. The city also has several private schools including three Montessori schools.

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Last Updated: 11/21/2009 6:59:56 PM