Winchester Area - Safe? (San Jose: apartment complex, neighborhood, school district)

[sjmama]

I'm looking to move out of a bad situation (apartment manager is letting anyone move in these days!) and am trying to find affordable but decent housing for me and my 2 kids.

I looked at a few apartments in the Winchester area, mainly around Winchester and Hamilton (still within San Jose city limits). Price is right but I've been getting conflicting information about the neighborhood from friends.

What's the 411 on this area? Anyone know?

Thanks for your help!
AK

[sonarrat]

Sketchy area with lousy schools. West of San Tomas Expwy and close to Westgate Mall is Moreland school district and doesn't have the same ghetto feeling.

[ChromeHuman]

The corner of Winchester and Hamilton doesn't look so bad, but once you go down some of the nearby side streets, it's like you've dropped into another world. Some of the streets near the northwest corner of Winchester & Hamilton are particularly bad. At the end of Loma Verde Drive there's a big welfare apartment complex, and some of the apartment buildings across the street are particularly squalid. There's some gang problems around there also. As I recall, Cadillac drive is another bad street. West San Jose is generally nice, but that's one of the few bad parts of it.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

The area has long had a reputation as a drug haven.

We're talking since the late 70s / early 80s (of course it was not as run down back then).