Foster City

Known as the City of Blue Lagoons, Foster City’s lagoons were built to resolve an engineering problem when the city was first being developed.  Foster City is located on land originally known as Brewer’s Island, which was originally marshland that had dried out after dikes and levees were constructed near the turn of the 19th
Century.  It was then a large diary farm for several decades.

In 1958, developer T. Jack Foster purchased the land with the idea of creating a planned community, a popular idea at the time.  However, there was one big problem because the silty clay mud that made up much of the land sat at sea level.  The Army Corps of Engineers estimated it would take 45 million cubic yards of fill to raise the land to raise it up to the eight to twelve feet needed to build on.  But a local engineering firm came up with a novel solution – raise the land four or five feet and create a central drainage basin to impound the water before it was pumped back into the bay. The concept worked and Foster City now has, as its centerpiece, a 218 acre lagoon that winds its way through the city.  The drainage basin still works perfectly even with severe storms battering the area some winters.

The city is home to 30,567 residents according to the 2010 US Census.  Foster City was the first planned community in the western United States.  There are single family houses, townhouses, condominiums, and apartments running in various 
areas of the city and many sit along side the water.

The city sits half way between San Francisco and San Jose making it a great place to live if one commutes.  The San Mateo Bridge is at the eastern part of the city and when the bridge first opened the 12-miles span was the longest bridge in the world.

The schools belong to the San Mateo-Foster City Elementary District and the three elementary and one middle school test very high.  There is no high school in the city so students have their choice of any of the San Mateo Union High School schools nearby.

There are parks everywhere and several with beaches allowing for water play.  Boating on the lagoons
 is only done with electric power, sail boats or paddle boats.  The Bay Trail wanders along the shoreline of 
the bay and is well used all year long by runners, bikers, and people walking.

Foster City is a great place for families with much to do outdoors.  The center piece of the city is Leo Ryan Park where the largest body of water sits.  Along side the water is finds the Recreation Department with water views from most parts of the building.  There’s a Teen Center and many tennis courts, plus the park has a huge band shell that features summer evening concerts.  Attendees come by foot and by boat enjoying the music.  Every 4th of July the city swells by many thousands of people who come to watch the fireworks shows that take place from the lake.