Burlingame

Highways
There are four highways passing through Burlingame. Highway 101 runs near the San Francisco Bay, running from San Jose to San Francisco. Highway 82, also known as El Camino Real, follows a parallel course. Highway 35 (Skyline Boulevard) connects with Interstate 280.

Caltrain
Caltrain has served Burlingame since 1985 when it bought out Southern Pacific. It uses the same depot that was used in the early 20th century.

BART
Bay Area Rapid Transit has its final stop in Millbrae, just north of Burlingame. BART’s tracks are within Burlingame city limits.

Bus
Burlingame is served by SamTrans buses and Commute.org and Caltrain shuttles. The City of Burlingame and local businesses sponsor the Burlingame Trolley, a two-route shuttle.

• Burlingame Gardens
• Burlingame Gate
• Burlingame Park
• Burlingame Terrace
• Burlingame Village
• Country Club Manor
• Downtown
• Easton Addition
• Lyon Hoag
• Burlingame Estates
• Burlingame Hills
• Oak Grove
• Ray Park

In the 1920s Burlingame became a popular location for automobile retailers which became known as “Auto Row”. In the 1960s, various airline support service businesses opened in Burlingame due to its proximity to San Francisco International Airport. As of 2018, LSG/Sky Chefs, Inc., Virgin America, and China Airlines are all located in Burlingame. Historically, Burlingame has also been home to many candy and chocolate companies, including the Burlingame Museum of Pez Memorabilia, Guittard Chocolate, the See’s Candies lollipop factory, and family owned candy stores Powell’s, Preston’s, Aida Opera Candies, and Nuts for Candy.

Since 2010, Burlingame’s economy has diversified substantially and it has become an attractive location for biotechnology companies owing to its proximity to South San Francisco, the birthplace of the biotechnology industry. Biotechnology companies with offices in Burlingame include: Annai Systems, Breathometer, Cala Health, Cleave Biosciences, Collaborative Drug Discovery, Confidence Clinical Research, Corvus Pharmaceuticals, Igenica Biotherapeutics, Kindred Biosciences, Omnitura, Phoenix Pharmaceuticals, Pulse Biosciences, and Vector Labs.

Additionally, multiple high technology firms have established offices in Burlingame due to its location between the booming technology centers of Silicon Valley to the south and San Francisco to the north. Tech companies with Burlingame offices include: Zecco.com, Natsume, Color Genomics, CarWoo, Jobvite, DataStax, Sprint’s M2M Collaboration Center, YouWeb, OpenFeint, CrowdStar, BitGravity, Veebeam, and TellApart.

Public schools
San Mateo Union High School District operates local high schools while the Burlingame School District operates elementary and middle schools.

Burlingame High School is the city’s sole public high school. Burlingame Intermediate School is Burlingame’s sole public middle school. There are six public elementary schools serving Burlingame. They are Franklin Elementary, Lincoln Elementary, McKinley Elementary, Roosevelt Elementary, Washington Elementary, and Hoover Elementary. According to the 2009 Base Academic Performance Index (API) Scores from the California Department of Education, the Burlingame School District ranks among the best in the state, with 4 out of their 6 public elementary schools (Roosevelt Elementary, Washington Elementary, Franklin Elementary, and Lincoln Elementary) scoring well between 880 and 925, and with ratings of 9 or 10. Burlingame school district enrollment has continually been increasing as young families move to the city. The city has passed two bond measures to add new facilities and modernize existing facilities to provide state-of-the-art classrooms. The city recently extensively renovated and modernized the Hoover School, which was built in 1931 and reopened in 2016.

Private schools
Mercy High School is the only private Catholic all-girls high school in Burlingame. It was founded in 1931 by the Sisters of Mercy. The school itself is located in the prestigious Kohl Mansion which is a Historic Landmark. Also Our Lady of Angels School and St. Catherine of Siena School are located in Burlingame. In 1921, the silent version of the film Little Lord Fauntleroy, with Mary Pickford, was filmed in the Kohl Mansion.

Burlingame Library is located in Burlingame. It was established by city ordinance October 11, 1909. Following the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989, the City approved a bond issue to reconstruct the library. The architecture has won awards and was featured in Library Journal as well as earning a cover story in American Libraries. A second branch, located on Easton Drive, is substantially smaller than the main branch. Both are operated by the Peninsula Library System, the library authority for the county.

Burlingame Avenue and Broadway, two streets running parallel to each other about one mile apart, are two of the city’s main retail districts.

Kohl Mansion, a 63-room brick Tudor mansion on 40 acres of land originally built by Bessie and Frederick Kohl, with architects Howard and White and completed in 1914. The estate includes tennis courts, green houses, a rose garden, a large carriage house, and a 150,000 gallon reservoir. The mansion, sold to the Sisters of Mercy in 1924, was a convent from 1924–1931, and has been the home of Mercy High School since 1931.

Burlingame Station, a Caltrain station in Burlingame, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.