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The quiet coast side community of Montara sits on two sides of highway #1. Its scenic hillsides provide awesome ocean views, lush coastal valleys and a variety of home styles from modest cottages to large estates and farms. It is also the closest community to the famous/infamous Devil's Slide and the scene of the often heated battle over this tenuous section of highway 1 the scene of many serious accidents and road closures over the years due to landslides. It was evident that a new route away from the sliding hillside was necessary to link San Francisco and Pacifica to the growing mid-peninsula coastal communities. The question was whether to construct a bypass around the mountain or tunnel through it. Opponents of the bypass solution fought tenaciously for more than 30 years until 1996, when Measure T (the Tunnel Initiative) was approved by 76 percent of the San Mateo County voters, throwing the bypass away and demanding that a tunnel be built instead. Construction of the tunnel began in the May 2005, with completion estimated in 2011.
Historic, Point Montara Lighthouse, established 1875 along with its Victorian, light keepers cottage is now a hostel operated by American Youth Hostels. Beautiful, Montara State Beach is a popular destination for tide pool exploration and surf fishing. Montara Mountain (also called McNee Ranch) is part of Montara State Beach. There are restaurants and small grocery stores, but the nearest major shopping area is located on the other side of the mountain over Devil's Slide highway in Pacifica.
2,950 residents live within the 3.9-square-miles of the unincorporated community of Montara, earning a median household income of $95,326 yearly. 32 single family homes sold last year ranging in price from a 740 square foot, fixer cottage on an average-sized lot at $539,000 to a 4-year-old, and 2,500+ square foot home on over 2.5 acres with panoramic ocean views for $2,200,000. The median sales price was $953,397. Most of the homes in Montara are located in the foothills across highway 1 from the beach. The area has its own post office and elementary school, but no sidewalks or other city services. Farrallone View Elementary School (K-5) with an enrollment of 460 students is a California Distinguished School with an API score of 753 and ranked #6 in the state. Montara middle and high school aged children attend schools in the larger community of Half Moon Bay several miles south.
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