neighborhood check-95111, south of capital exp, between monterey and 101 (San Jose: apartments, rent)

[xilunli]

Hi,
we are planning to buy a house in 95111 area may be near the Hellyer County Park. Could someone give us any suggestions about this neighborhood? We are a couple of 2 and planning to have a baby soon. We are renting in Sunnyvale now, did not have much chance to go to south san jose. We do not care too much about school and I know traffic will be tough to north. How about safety? Any suggestions will be appreciated.

Thanks

[sonarrat]

First off, don't buy the haunted house!

Second, while I'll say it's safe, it's not a great neighborhood. It's very block to block - on the east side of 101 is million-dollar homes and on the west side is quite run down. The housing stock is poorly built 50's ranchers and some fairly sketchy apartments on Snow Dr, and there used to be a bit of a gang element in the latter. For uses other than commuting to work, it is pretty convenient with a lot of shopping nearby.

[bobby_guz_man]

Where exactly in 95111 are you looking at? San Jose's individual zip codes cover very large areas, each zip code could be as large as Campbell, so each zip code has many different "characters" depending on which part of the zip code you're looking at.

But to give you a short answer: NO. I would not buy anywhere in that zip code, except for the homes around Skyline ridge section.

[Wintermomma]

Originally Posted by sonarrat

First off, don't buy the haunted house!

Second, while I'll say it's safe, it's not a great neighborhood. It's very block to block - on the east side of 101 is million-dollar homes and on the west side is quite run down. The housing stock is poorly built 50's ranchers and some fairly sketchy apartments on Snow Dr, and there used to be a bit of a gang element in the latter. For uses other than commuting to work, it is pretty convenient with a lot of shopping nearby.

LOL. I think the same thing everytime I see "Hellyer." OP, check the crime reports website...expand the time range as long as you can...are you comfortable with the crime level?

www.crimereports.com

[mstnghu2]

Originally Posted by xilunli

Hi,
we are planning to buy a house in 95111 area may be near the Hellyer County Park. Could someone give us any suggestions about this neighborhood? We are a couple of 2 and planning to have a baby soon. We are renting in Sunnyvale now, did not have much chance to go to south san jose. We do not care too much about school and I know traffic will be tough to north. How about safety? Any suggestions will be appreciated.

Thanks

West of Hwy 101? NO! East of Hwy 101, eh, generally not so bad. In high school, I had a friend who lived in a house on the east side of 101 and the neighborhood was pretty nice. I also had another friend who lived directly across the freeway on the west side off of Snow Dr. His neighborhood was dumpy and had a somewhat high level of crime. In general, the 95111 zip code isn't very nice. It's a SJ zip code I typically recommend for people to avoid.

[Zeya]

I owned a house in 95111 for 3 years. It was my starter home and about all I could afford (I wanted a single family, not a condo/etc). Anyway... Pretty much all of 95111 is blue collar, as they say. To me, it was reasonable while I was single (I'm male). But once my fiancee/wife came into the picture and we started talking kids, we decided to move. I'm going to talk in general terms here. The zip code is sizable, so there may be some different pockets here and there... But in general you've got ranch style single family homes built in the mid 50s. My house's foundation was cement slab, which always worried me. You can tell it used to be nice back in the 50s/60s, but it's gone a bit downhill since. About 1/2 of the homes are hispanic, maybe 20% asian. Most homes have probably too many people living there for the house size. Curb parking was always an issue with people parking in front of my house (sometimes for days). Noise and general rowdyness. Neighbors don't like to talk to each other, I practically had to chase down my direct neighbors just to say hello and introduce myself. As I lived there, I would notice suspicious shenanigans. People loitering on corners, cars careening in a hurry, couch/trash dumping and the like. It started to wear on us after a while. But it all depends on what you can tolerate.

Some good things... Hellyer park nearby is nice with a cool bike/walking trail running way north and south. I loved this big purple ice cream truck that would come by every day. Oh and Halloween was off the chain! I counted one year and we had 700 kids come by before we finally had to throw in the towel! Yes, seven hundred. (New neighborhood, we had only 40). Capitol drive-in is nearby. I also had quick access to highway 101. I also did enjoy some of the vibrancy of the neighborhood for a while, although as I said it can wear on you.

Feel free to PM me if you want more details or clarification. Maybe send me the house address or street and I can offer any knowledge I have. Good luck.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

That hood has always been a fish out of water versus geographical location. It fits in more with "Eastside" (and I'm not talking Evergreen). But like other have noted, it's not as intense as core Eastside.

[earsly]

I have lived in 95111 for 25+ years. It really depends on the area. I live off of 101/blossom hill exit. In my area at least, it's a great neighborhood. Very little if any crime. Shady Oaks Park is right there and so is a trail to Hellyer Park. It's also very quick to get to 101 for morning commute. Getting the right area of 95111 is key.

[W2buy]

Originally Posted by xilunli

Hi,
we are planning to buy a house in 95111 area may be near the Hellyer County Park. Could someone give us any suggestions about this neighborhood? We are a couple of 2 and planning to have a baby soon. We are renting in Sunnyvale now, did not have much chance to go to south san jose. We do not care too much about school and I know traffic will be tough to north. How about safety? Any suggestions will be appreciated.

Thanks

I lived in a townhouse closed to the Riverview Drive for more than 5 years and moved out about 2 years ago. I still own it and rent it out. I would say the area close to Riverview and Skyway Drive is pretty safe. When my parents came, they walked a lot everyday in the neighborhood including Hellyer Park, Senter Foods (market), Valley Christian School, Edenvale branch library, Edenvale community center, Great Oaks park, Coyote creek trail. Even my parents don't speak English, they found out the neighbors are nice and friendly, so did I.

[Zeya]

Originally Posted by W2buy

I lived in a townhouse closed to the Riverview Drive for more than 5 years and moved out about 2 years ago. I still own it and rent it out. I would say the area close to Riverview and Skyway Drive is pretty safe. When my parents came, they walked a lot everyday in the neighborhood including Hellyer Park, Senter Foods (market), Valley Christian School, Edenvale branch library, Edenvale community center, Great Oaks park, Coyote creek trail. Even my parents don't speak English, they found out the neighbors are nice and friendly, so did I.

Up on top of the hill is nicer, fairly decent. Probably the homes command a higher price because of the vista. I used to walk my dog and would always tend to go up the hill. I miss walking to the school up there and seeing the view of blossom hill valley area at sunset.