I was thinking about Redwood City today, and “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” came to mind. Some cities are too hard, and some are too soft — but to my mind, Redwood City is just right. Last night I attended the inaugural event of the Innovate RWC Speaker Series: a quarterly series of talks highlighting innovation in Redwood City. I probably would have gone anyway, but last night’s speaker was from a Redwood City company I was already very curious about. That speaker was Paul Lambert, the co-founder and CEO of Quilt, “a Redwood City-based company that builds all-electric home climate systems combining high-efficiency heat pump technology with smart controls to deliver comfortable, lower-carbon heating and cooling.” I’ll have more about the talk in a later post, but he made it a point to say that Redwood City was the perfect location for their small company, being so close to such a large pool of employees with relevant work experience. The company has already drawn from such big names as Google, Nest, Apple and Tesla, just to name a few. And that close proximity means that employees who switch from other Bay Area companies don’t necessarily have to move to a new home in order to come work in Redwood City. That certainly resonated with me: I began my tech career with a job in Dallas, TX, but relocated to the Bay Area as soon as I could because I figured that, in the event I wanted or needed to find a new job, living here would not only make interviewing at a wide variety of companies convenient, but once hired I likely wouldn’t have to move from wherever I was living. And that proved true when I ended up changing employers a handful of times, all while continuing to live in my Redwood City home.

Paul Lambert thinks that Redwood City is just right for his company (Quilt is located at the corner of Broadway and Maple Street, if you are curious), and indeed a number of other companies and institutions, large and small, seem to agree. One that I’ve been reporting on pretty regularly lately is Stanford Health Care; their ever-expanding presence on Stanford’s properties in Redwood City’s Friendly Acres neighborhood indicates to me that they, too, like what they see in Redwood City. Although their proposed Cancer Center is still a long way off from actually becoming a reality (assuming it ever does; there are a lot of hoops yet to jump through), their nine-story medical office building is certainly making great progress:

Behind the above building, Stanford is constructing a new multi-level parking garage, with one level below ground and three levels above. So far, all of the work on the parking garage — which will stand between this new building and Highway 101, and will be accessible to vehicles from driveways off Broadway and at the end of Douglas Avenue — is being done below ground level. Thus, there is really nothing to see from my closest vantage point, which is where Douglas Avenue ends and a private drive on the Stanford property begins:

Eventually the garage will begin to emerge from below ground; I’ll bring along my long lens at that point and try to get some images of it then. In any case, the area between the existing medical center and this new building, which had previously been nicely landscaped and which included the main driveway to the existing parking garage behind the white-and-glass building in the distant center of the above photo, is temporarily no more: everything between the two was recently torn out so that the new driveway, roundabout, and green space can be installed. For the moment, there is just dirt behind the construction fencing lining Broadway on that part of Stanford’s property:

Nearby, it seems that electric vehicle maker Rivian, too, has decided that Redwood City is “just right,” at least in a small way. While they aren’t moving the company here or anything, it seems that they are soon to be opening some sort of service center (likely a base for mobile service, where they come to you) or just possibly even a small dealership: it’s a bit hard to tell. In any case, as I was walking back from checking out the Stanford in Redwood City campus, I noticed that the building at 860 Charter St. (basically, at the corner of Charter Street and Bay Road) was undergoing a serious remodel:

When I checked the permits, I learned that two “Rivian” signs are soon to be affixed to the building. And further searches on the Internet revealed that Rivian currently has 76 job openings for its new Redwood City location. One is for a Field Service Manager, and some others are for Field Service Technicians (giving credence to this being a base for a mobile repair operation). In any case, I expect we’ll find out soon.

Some time ago I think I said something along the lines of “we’ve probably seen all of the public art that ELCO Yards is going to offer,” but I was happy to learn this week that there was to be at least one more. On Tuesday I happened to walk by just as the installation of this new, somewhat wacky piece of art, was installed:

Called “Step,” here is what the accompanying plaque has to say about ELCO Yards’ newest sculpture:

STEP
Erwin Wurm
2025
Austrian artist Erwin Wurm is renowned for his large-scale public art projects that reimagine familiar objects by distorting their shape and proportion; inviting viewers to reconsider the everyday in new ways. Step playfully embodies the dynamic spirit of ELCO Yards, bridging the themes of business, entertainment, leisure, and community. With its whimsical and absurdist form, Step captures the lively energy of a bustling city and its diverse community.

“…lively energy of a bustling city and its diverse community”: I like that.

While walking through ELCO Yards, I noted that Lathrop Street is now fully open, even between the two currently empty parcels where the two large apartment buildings are soon to be built:

And, at long last, the gazebo that is the centerpiece of the Jardin de Niños park expansion project has finally received a couple of roofing pieces:

I don’t know what the delay was — no one was around to ask, but that cupola was added late last September, and nothing has happened since — but hopefully things will now speed up, the gazebo will be finished, and this very long-awaited park expansion project will be opened to the public.

Finally, while driving our regular Meals on Wheels route earlier today, my wife and I had to stop on Broadway across from the Broadway Village development to wait for a long truck with a very wide load coming the other way (it was coming from downtown, heading towards Woodside Road):

The parade of highway patrol vehicles running in front of this truck — and stopping traffic such as ours — and behind it was pretty impressive. I have no idea where this thing originated from, why it seemingly came through (or near) downtown Redwood City, where it was going, or even what it was, but it looked new, and not like something that was just pulled out of an underground vault or extricated from a downtown building. Any ideas? Here’s a closer look at the payload:

And to think that I saw it on Mulberry Street Broadway…

On Saturday, April 25, from 7-10 p.m., the Redwood City Library Foundation will be hosting “Night at the Library: Spirits & More Spirits!”. Participants will join other library patrons to solve a literary mystery, after hours in the library. From the description:

Enjoy food, cocktails, puzzles, meet literary spirits, solve a mystery, prizes and more while raising funds for the library. Admission includes one puzzle hint and a complimentary themed cocktail.

In case the word “cocktail” isn’t enough of a hint, you must be 21 or older to attend. And you’ll need to RSVP by April 20th. For more information and a link to the registration form, click here.

The Biocom Institute is hosting a Life Science Career Expo on May 13 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. From the announcement:

This event connects job ready talent with hiring life science companies through targeted networking and career focused programming. Meet employers actively recruiting, explore open roles, and engage directly with industry professionals. Whether you are early in your career or seeking your next opportunity, this curated hiring experience is designed to help you take the next step with confidence.

If this is something that appeals to you, check it out.