| The Palo Alto History Project |
| The $88,000 Traffic Circle Addison Street at Bryant Street |
| The $88,000 Traffic Circle Redwood City once had a billboard proclaiming its city as "Palo Alto, without the attitude." There is no doubt that when thinking of the attitude of Palo Alto, thoughts begin to drift toward Professorville, that historic neighborhood named for the many Stanford professors who made their homes here in the 1890's. In 1995, when a traffic circle was proposed for the intersection at Addison and Bryant, no one was particularly bothered. But when the Historic Resources Board, Architectural Review Board and the neighborhood's more aesthetic-minded homeowners got involved, plans for a common traffic circle slowly began to take on the characteristics of high art. Surely the custom-designed, handmade brick & ivy circle would have been attractive, but when the price tag came in at a staggering $88,000, even the North Palo Alto-dominated council could read the writing on the wall. The council has long been criticized for favoring all things north of Oregon Expressway and it was hard for anyone to imagine the city building an $88,000 work-of-art street ornament down in Barron Park. In the end, Professorville got the same generic circle that other Palo Alto neighborhoods got. Do Professorville residents sniff down their noses at it, when riding past? -Matt Bowling |
| What they ended up with in the end---far simpler |
| The map below shows the Professorville Area |
| A Professorville plaque |
| A look down Addison at peaceful Professorville |
| Bryant at Addison |
| Palo Alto: Then & Now |
| 2007 |
| circa 1910 |
| This photograph was taken in the side yard of 301 Addison Street, the home of the W.F. Hyde family. A horse and buggy approaches a large tree that sits defiant of Bryant Street. |
| Today's view from the same side yard. The traffic circle mentioned above now sits in the intersection of Bryant and Addison. Although most of the trees in Bryant Street have been removed, you can still spot a few with white painted trunks just off the sidewalk. |
| Sources: Palo Alto Weekly, Palo Alto Historical Association |