Palo Alto
The US city of Palo Alto, with some 67,000 inhabitants, is considered the capital of Silicon Valley. Back in 2013, the cities of Heidelberg and Palo Alto signed the “Smart City Alliance” agreement which formally confirmed the two cities’ strategic partnership. The key areas in this agreement are culture, business, sustainability and innovation, with a focus on the overarching theme of the “smart city”. In addition, particular attention is devoted to exchange involving young people and sport.
The density of companies in research-intensive industries and the IT sector is extremely high in Palo Alto. In view of the know-how that exists there in these fields and the presence of the internationally renowned Stanford University, the twinning with the city of Palo Alto holds great potential for the city of Heidelberg.
Map of the United States marking Palo Alto 
Welcome to Palo Alto (Picture: City of Palo Alto) 
City Hall of Palo Alto (Picture: City of Palo Alto) 
Lucy Evans Park (Picture: City of Palo Alto) 
Genecor Building (Picture: City of Palo Alto) 
Lake in Foothills Park (Picture: City of Palo Alto) 
Ramona in Palo Alto (Picture: City of Palo Alto) 
Bixbee Park (Picture: City of Palo Alto) 
Residential area in Palo Alto (Picture: City of Palo Alto)
| Twinned with Heidelberg | since 2017 |
| Location | city in California, which is 35 miles south of San Francisco and 14 miles north of San Jose |
| Population | about 67.082 inhabitants |
| Time difference | CET minus nine hours |
| Currency | Dollar |
| Official language | English |
| University/ students | The University of Palo Alto concentrates on psychology and comprises about 1147 students. Also located in the Silicon Valley is the Stanford University where are about 16.424 students enrolled. |
| Key industries | World leader in technology development: Headquarters of well-known computer companies (HP, Tesla Motors), Mercedes-Benz Research & Development North America, Inc. headquarters, and Facebook through 2011, home to German research facilities (Bosch, SAP) |
| Noteworthy | Palo Alto is more than 100 years old, and is named after a majestic 1000 (not 250) year old coastal redwood tree along San Francisquito Creek |
| Special feature | remarkable number of city parks, almost one-third of its 26 square kilometers is open space, so it offers a great bird and water world in their natural habitat |
| Sister cities | In addition to Heidelberg there are seven more sister cities: Palo (Philippinien); Oaxaca (Mexiko); Albi (Frankreich); Linköping (Schweden); Enschede (Niederlande); Tsuchiura (Japan); Yangpu District(Shanghai, China) |
