The Islands, Foster City, CA

The Islands is one of Foster City's smallest neighborhoods, just a handful of blocks tucked between Shell Boulevard and the water. There are single family waterfront homes on the western side, but the bulk of the neighborhood is condos and townhomes, which makes it one of the more accessible ways to get a Foster City address. Beach Park Elementary sits at the center of it, and the story behind that school is the neighborhood's most useful piece of local history. The campus at 1058 Shell Boulevard was built on the site of the old Charter Square Shopping Center, which the school district bought and cleared. The Islands quite literally traded its shopping center for its elementary school. That trade defines daily life here. The school is a short walk from anywhere in the neighborhood, which is exactly what a dense condo neighborhood wants. But it also means there is now no retail at all inside the boundary, and residents who used to walk to Charter Square for dinner or a haircut drive to Edgewater Place or Metro Center instead. The main outdoor draw is Catamaran Park on the waterfront, and it is a good one. A large soccer field, a genuinely nice playground, sports courts, and beach volleyball, all with the lagoon right there. If you are comparing Foster City neighborhoods on price per square foot, The Islands is where the math starts to look interesting. Just go in knowing that Shell Boulevard at 8am and 3pm belongs to the school, not to you.