Moldaw Residences — Local services in Palo Alto

Written by: Gary Blackburn Moldaw, a Great Place to Spend your Final Chapter in Life By Gary Blackburn

Moldaw and the JCC are primarily Jewish but by first-hand experience we know that all are welcome. My wife is Jewish while I was raised as a Christion. After 63 years we continue to have a good marriage together. The majority of residents are Jewish happily mixing with those of other faiths and ethnicities and all are either friendly or friends. Culturally and socially we probably could not have found a better place to live out our senior lives. There are more than just the people here to make us content. Moldaw has a lending library, an exercise room with equipment, a ceramics studio and more. Lectures, a variety of exercise classes and off-campus trips for errands, shopping and many bus excursion as suggested by one of our resident committees. If that leaves you time for something else, Moldaw residents automatically have full membership to the JCC. The JCC also has more to offer than you can do. All of the above are included with your residency. As mostly but not exclusively active seniors we have a variety of resident committees that work cooperatively with our management and each other. Safety is important to me. Periodically the news provides reports of many or all residents being displaced by a fire that started in one apartment unit that subsequently destroys much or all of the building. That won’t happen here. All rooms have heat-activated fire-suppression sprinklers. Migration of fire is further impeded as each apartment and all of the community rooms have strong fire-suppression doors. There are also automatic fire doors that close if a fire alarm is set in that zone or area. I asked a Palo Alto city employee what he thought of our earthquake resiliency. As I have learned, all the buildings from bottom to top are of extra thick concrete construction. There is no visible concrete on the interior or exterior decor. He said that we probably have the strongest, most earthquake resistant buildings in Palo Alto. That is important. We are fairly close to the San Francisco Bay. A few miles to the west the potentially destructive San Andreas earthquake fault runs from Mexico to Canada. Across the bay to the east there is the Hayward and ancillary faults that are potentially even more dangerous but we are safe. Moldaw staff will fasten furniture more than waist high to walls. If we ever have an earthquake all the buildings, although separate structures, are contiguous with barely visible seismic joints so that buildings can move independently without damage. People seeking a suitable place for retirement have the good fortune of multiple retirement communities here in the Silicon Valley and elsewhere in California. After surveying others, chances are you will return here, not just for good food from the ever-changing menu in our newly rebuilt dining room that should reopen well before the end of 2025 but to become acquainted with a highly diverse community of college educated residents plus more free activities to choose from than one can select. After 13 years at Moldow, are we glad to have made this our...

I got a car emergency issue on 9/20 and had to park in front of the building. The service guy who takes care of parking in 30's-40''s was very impolitely and asked me to drive my car away in 20 minutes. I told him there is smoke out of the hood while driving and there is heavy burning smell. I am afraid of the risk of fire or explode if I turn the car on again. I've called AAA roadside service and a technician is coming to help, but I don't know how long it will take. He did not care how dangerous the situation is, just insist on getting my car out of the way, whatever the problem is solved or not, though my car did not block the traffic. It seems that he does not care people's life and safety. What he cares is only his job. I called the Moldaw residences custom service for a solution, But no one answered. I understand that a private property may not allow random cars parking. But do you have a heart to consider an emergency situation? It's super mean to force people to drive a dangerous car with...

I have lived at Moldaw for almost 5 years and love it. I don't know how we would have survived the Covid epidemic alone in our large home. We had wonderful meals delivered everyday, Zoom meetings, Zoom exercises ; and virtual trips to foreign countries. Pre-Covid and now we have many activities in person, including trips, exercise classes, parties and lectures.

The JCC on the same campus has a world-class gym plus a walking-running track which kept us sane during Covid. The JCC has numerous programs including concerts and lectures.

My husband goes biking with his "buddies" and I walk a couple of miles a day. It is a short walk over the new bridge to Shoreline Park.

We looked at all the local retirement homes. and felt this was...