Need info on Los Gatos (San Jose, Palo Alto: 2009, affordable apartments, rent)

[CL39]

Hi, can you tell me about Los Gatos (will be moving there summer-2009), general impression, housing, social/cultural/recreational info, traffic, etc, etc. any information will be appreciated. Thank you. Have a great day.

[hsw]

Very much has "feel" of LA's inland Valley suburbs or LA's OC suburbs away from Coast...many of the negatives....hot; arid terrain; some of worst air quality in region; slow, congested local fwys; and weak local schools (public or private)

Positives...physically closer to offices deep in SiliconValley; more elegant downtown than downtown PaloAlto or Menlo; perhaps best restaurant South of SF and North of BeverlyHills (Manresa)

Would prefer living in LosAltosHills or Woodside, even if had office in deep SV....far higher overall QOL settings IMO

[humboldtrat]

Los Gatos is a nice upper middle class/upscale town. The housing in the area including Monte Sereno and Saratoga is expensive. Lake Vasona county park is nearby and you can rent paddle and little sailboats - very nice .

The traffic on Hwy 17 and 85 can get bad during the morning/afternoon commute. I don't agree with the above about the terrain being hot and arid. Much of the area is wooded and green all year long.

[sonarrat]

I VERY much disagree with hsw. Los Gatos is a great place with an old-California, small town feel. Houses are pretty close together in the flatter part near Hwy 9, far apart in the mountains (which are actually less desirable because the area is unincorporated). There are some more affordable apartments east of Hwy 17. Traffic on said Hwy 17 can be bad if there's an accident, otherwise it's tolerable. There is a nearby light-rail station on the southern tip of Campbell on Winchester Blvd.

[DMenscha]

I know they have a great Chief of Police, he was the best man at my first wedding

[Rexicana]

I love to visit Los Gatos, but I'm not sure if I would want to live there. It does get hot and dry downtown in the summer, but so do most other areas. Vasona Park and Oak Meadow are great and generally cool in the summer. The shops are neat and the restaurants are yummy.

There is also a big difference between Los Gatos Mountains, and Los Gatos proper. The mountain neighborhoods may be less full of themselves than the town ones (I say "may" because some of the mountain areas are beaucoup bucks, and others are more reasonable, but more congested).

I know is that it is really difficult to get work done on a home in Los Gatos without paying huge fees. It is just the way it goes.

I said I wouldn't want to live there because it does have that "I'm better than you" attitude . . .not as bad a Los Altos, but close. It depends how much you want to put up with it though.

I think it a beautiful place with a lot to offer though. Just not for me as a resident . . .

[t_thibaud]

Definitely not hot and arid; in fact Los Gatos is a good ten degrees cooler on average than the inland areas and borders mountain ranges that attract much more coastal moisture than any place in the Bay Area.

Other advantages are the beauty of the vistas in all directions, the many parks nearby, the elegance of downtown and its restaurants, the ability to go bicycling on trails that don't put you at risk of being flattened by an inattentive driver, proximity to beaches via beautiful drives (take Old Santa Cruz Highway, then Soquel San Jose Rd to La Selva Beach) and best of all, the absence of ugly, flat, big-box ridden nightmares like Highway 101 and the Peninsula.

For my money, Los Gatos is far more attractive than Palo Alto, and it's cheaper. If you value the outdoors, go for it.

[caleb's mom]

I agree, Los Gatos is one of the most lovely areas in the Bay. Small town feel, less suburban, and contrary to the above post, the schools are top notch.

[kdog]

Originally Posted by CL39

Hi, can you tell me about Los Gatos (will be moving there summer-2009), general impression, housing, social/cultural/recreational info, traffic, etc, etc. any information will be appreciated. Thank you. Have a great day.

You've already committed to moving to one of the most expensive and exclusive up-scale communities in the Bay Area, and you don't know the first thing about it? Yeah, right.

[Heidi60]

Hi All, For local weather info I use: wunderweather.com: The Leading Forecast Site on the Net
I agree with most of the above and do not spend much time in Los Gatos for the above mentioned reasons. But, if you have money you don't need, go for it.