Family Friendly Neighborhoods of SJ?

[SantaTeresaHills]

Cambrian - Schools are pretty good there. Close to Los Gatos which a lot of people would like to live but can't afford it. Close to downtown Campbell which has a nice little downtown.

Morgan Hill - I looked at houses there 7 years ago. I really liked it but my wife finally decided against it. Schools are good but not great there. The city just built a swim center. Many lots in the town are bigger which means the houses are bigger.

Blossom Valley - I lived near Branham / Pearl area of Blossom Valley and then moved 7 years ago 3 miles southeast of there in the Santa Teresa area. The houses were actually better in my old neighborhood than my current neighborhood but there were very few kids on the block and we lived on a very long block. The kids that grew up there did not go to the local public school. This neighborhood was in the San Jose district and most people from downtown San Jose to Almaden valley were trying to send their kids to Almaden Valley.

We moved to the Oak Grove school district. So far my kids have really enjoyed the elementary and middle schools. We live 1/2 mile from the elementary, 3/4 from the middle school, and 1 mile from the high school. All of the schools are good but not great like the expensive areas. There are a lot more kids on the block and most of them go to the local public schools. We go to a Church not too far away and most of our friends now are from the schools or Church or in a lot of cases both. Our block has 2 block parties a year where we close the street plus a Christmas gathering.

San Jose passed a library bond years ago and so they are in the process of rebuilding most of the branch libraries. I really like the main library and the rebuilt branches in Edenvale, Vineland, and Almaden. The Santa Teresa one is being rebuilt and will be done in a few months. The one thing I like about the Santa Teresa area is that it is just north of the hill which separates us from Almaden Valley. What that means for traffic is that most through traffic takes the freeway so compared to most areas of the Bay Area, the main streets don't have that much traffic most of the time. As an example Blossom Hill Blvd has way more traffic than Santa Teresa Blvd which is one mile south.

The one thing you should think about is commuting. I work in Redwood City so commuting there by car is a real pain. With the Baby Bullet trains on Caltrain though, it is relatively quick and a lot less stressful. I drive to the train station which is 7 miles away but it is real quick along Almaden expressway. If one of our cars needs servicing, I drop the car at a shop which is pretty close to Light Rail which then take to Caltrain. The Santa Teresa area has light rail through it.

The Santa Teresa area has Oakridge Shopping center when you need to go shopping. That area is really congested on weekends but the traffic is pretty light once you head down Santa Teresa Blvd.

Finally the old IBM plant / Hitachi plant area will be rebuilt once the economy recovers. The plans for part of that area have a transit oriented village with housing, shopping, dining, and denser office environment.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by linvilla

Thank you so much for all this feedback. It's definitely very helpful.

Would any of you mind critiquing these neighborhoods for me?

-Cambrian
-Morgan Hill
-Blossom Valley

I'm not so worried about the school issue right now. It will be a few years before the kids start. I think right now we just want to find a place we can settle and be comfortable until we get to know the area well. I would like something that is in walking distance to parks and hopefully a library, if possible.

Also, I am interested in Campbell, as was suggested above. I'm not finding many listings that aren't apartments, however. Is there a better place to look than Craigslist?

Thanks again!

All 3 areas are pleasant enough in a suburbanish kind of way. I like Cambrian best of all 3 areas because it seems to have the most character. The Cambrian Branch Library is a decent size and was rebuilt a few years ago. It's at the intersection of Ross/Hillsdale (a block away from the Target).

None of the 3 areas are really all that walkable--very auto oriented. I just think Cambrian has the most character overall--although it covers a fairly large area.

Morgan Hill is somewhat newer. Housing stock generally larger, on larger lots. Personally, unless you work down that way, I wouldn't want to commute from there. Far flung suburbia is just not my thing (although there are people who commute from much further distances).

Blossom Valley is just ok. It is near Oakridge Mall. It's almost impossible to find parking at that mall on weekends, so it's not that much of a selling point to me. I work for the library system. The nearby Santa Teresa Branch Library (one of the larger branches) is supposed to open early 2010. A lot of people like Blossom Valley because it is the most affordable area that is still within reaonsable commute distance of most employers. The housing stock in this area is just really bland, though.