Menlo Park has three connected, central retail districts.

• The Downtown district is on Santa Cruz Avenue and extends for about a half mile between El Camino and Fremont Park. This is the oldest city retail district and includes small shops, fine and casual restaurants, grocery stores, dozens of salons and almost 150 single professional offices. This walkable district has free, convenient public parking for all businesses.
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• A tiny Station district area is on the opposite side of El Camino Real. It has experienced a modest amount of revitalization during the past five year and includes a very small number of restaurants, coffee shops, apartments and small offices. Public parking is very limited.
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• The El Camino Real district stretches for about a mile and a half between Atherton and Palo Alto. This district has experienced a major transformation during the past decade as two long-abandoned auto dealerships were replaced by large multi-use developments with hundreds of new apartments and offices, and new restaurants Most of this new redevelopment occurred on the northeast side of El Camino.

Key Downtown Characteristics

• There are more than 100 retail businesses primarily on Santa Cruz and Chestnut Avenues. Most provide specialty services, e.g., personal care salons, interior designers, and financial services. Those that sell products are largely home furnishings stores, coffeehouses and cafes.
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• Lease rates on Santa Cruz are expensive, e.g., $4.00 to $4.50 per square foot per month. There are a dozen vacant business locations on Santa Cruz Avenue and many have remained vacant since 2020.
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• There are eight fine dining restaurants, and two new ones planned for 2025
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• Outdoor dining is the sole major attraction in Downtown. There are no traditional entertainment venues, e.g., music halls, theaters (movies or plays), public auditoriums, art museums.
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• A small public area was created on the 600 block when a street lane was closed during the pandemic. Unfortunately, it lacks a an appealing design, is poorly furnished and maintained, and marred by ugly street barriers.
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• The City rarely conducts community events in Downtown. An improved public space on the 600 block would be an ideal location for small events.
  
• The street infrastructure and public parking lots are generally outdated and in poor condition. This creates the overall visual impression of an uninviting downtown. i.e., dull, tired and neglected.
  
  

The majority of Menlo Park and Atherton residents live within a 10 to 15 minute drive of Downtown. However, Downtown businesses face tough competition from nearby businesses in Redwood City, Palo Alto and the Stanford Shopping Center.