Neighborhood Profile

By John Flood, Town Crier Staff Writer

photos by JOE HU/TOWN CRIER The totem pole, in front of a doctor’s office on Altos Oaks Drive, is a unique icon on this mixed-use Los Altos street.

Altos Oaks Drive near Rancho Shopping Center is a street with a split personality. At one end near Miramonte Avenue, it’s straight like a stick. On the other end, it curves and slithers along snakelike to Fremont Avenue.

Less than a mile long, the hybrid street bears two distinct elements - a long, straight block of well-kept houses that suddenly joins the winding stretch of road where doctors, dentists and physical therapists ply their trade in one-story medical office buildings.

The resdential section of the street, comprised entirely of one-story homes, was built in 1958, according to Altos Oaks homeowners. The street was established in 1956, according to the city of Los Altos Web site.

The meandering section with the medical complex came later, when Dr. Lee Shahinian, a Los Altos resident, sold plots of land to a group of young Stanford doctors in the early 1960s, according to Dr. Jeffrey Kliman, an orthopedic surgeon whose office is on Altos Oaks.

Shahinian was inspired by the zigzag shape of Lombard Street in San Francisco, which explains the circuitous shape of the medical office stretch.

Today, nearly 50 years after the first families moved in, Altos Oaks retains a tidy charm of carefully maintained gardens and lawns, where children play, retirees take early morning walks and aging boomers jog.

“When we first moved here from San Francisco, they allowed horses on the street. It felt rural,” said Liz Macchia, an Altos Oaks resident who has lived with her husband on the street since 1975.

“Originally, we liked the serenity, the quietness and the proximity to McKenzie Park,” Macchia said. “Now, with the density of doctor’s offices, there is more traffic,” she said. “But I still love my fruit trees.”

Like many of the residents on the street, the Macchias raised a family on Altos Oaks. Today she enjoys taking her grandchildren to McKenzie and Heritage Oaks parks just as she did her own children.

Tony VanKessel and his wife, Wilhelmina, moved to Altos Oaks in 1976 from Palo Alto. Today he’s a retired Stanford physiology professor who enjoys the multicultural aspects of the street.

“The street has residents from all walks of life, the Philippines, India and Taiwan,” VanKessel said, “It reflects the demographic of Los Altos.”

He also likes the proximity of McKenzie and Heritage parks. It was convenient for his three children.

“We had many a barbecue at McKenzie and enjoyed the tennis courts and the easy parking,” he said.

Today he observes a change in the neighborhood that pleases him.

“There was a time when the street had a more mature population. Today there are more young families with young children,” he said. “The atmosphere here has been very friendly all along. We keep an eye out for each other. When a neighbor is out of town, we feed the cats and water the plants.”

When Louise Chen moved to Altos Oaks from Texas with her husband, Chris, in 1991, they were drawn to the long-term nature of the residents.

“We liked this street because most of the owners had been here 20 years,” Chen said. “And it’s convenient to everywhere and accessible to activities.”

The Chens raised two children on Altos Oaks. She also notes a change in the demographics of the street. Older residents are moving out and young couples with children are moving in, she said.

The Chens have also noticed an increase in traffic.

“The traffic is a concern because of the doctor’s offices,” Louise said. “My husband and I grew up in Taipei (Taiwan). So for me, Altos Oaks is still quiet.”

Doctors like the tranquil environment, also.

Dr. John Nicholson, a resident of Los Altos Hills, has practiced plastic surgery at his office on Altos Oaks for 32 years.

“Patients are at ease coming here because the street is quiet,” Nicholson said. “It’s a comfortable place to practice and it fits the flavor of Los Altos.”

Kliman has practiced medicine on Altos Oaks for 13 years and shares a similar sentiment about the street.

“Altos Oaks is not intimidating and it is a friendly, warm environment for the patient,” he said.

Send suggestions for neighborhood profiles to editor Bruce Barton at bruceb@latc.com.