In some parts of Silicon Valley, by crossing a particular road or driving a few feet, the whole look, feel and pricing of an area can change.

Bel Estos Drive near Rosswood Drive in San Jose

This is true for Rosswood Drive at Union Avenue in Cambrian Park.  On both sides of the intersection, there are many homes of 1200 to 1400 square feet (some larger too) all built around the same time.  Both are San Jose 95124 addresses.  Both are good areas – but the 2000 and 2100 blocks are  nicer than the 1800 & 1900 blocks of Rosswood and those homes sell for more. Why? What makes one area sell for more than another?

In the case of Rosswood Drive, part of it has to do with the beautiful canopy of trees that line the two thousand block of Rosswood and the adjoining streets (Bel Escou, Bel Canto, Bel Estos, Esther, etc.). Part of it is just that the homes are a little better maintained.  Historically, Union used to divide the schools too, and that used to be part of the higher prices – but that’s not really the case now.  (A similar jump happens along Los Gatos-Almaden Road by Harwood too – same builder, Leep, but prices nudge up just a little for homes closer to Blossom Hill Road.)

How can you tell, from looking at a neighborhood, how it compares with nearby streets in the same part of town generally?  Sometimes you cannot know from looking alone (for example a flood plain, earthquake fault or school boundary won’t show), but I’ll give you some cues as to what makes areas more or less desireabile visually.

These are some things I teach my San Jose area buyers to watch out for (lower values) in terms of appearance and sounds:
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The Santa Cruz, CA, Lighthouse

Santa Cruz is just 30-60 minutes “over the hill” but in many ways is an entirely different world than Silicon Valley.  I spent a lot of time there while growing up in Santa Clara and Saratoga, mostly because my grandparents lived in Pasatiempo (a lovely neighborhood centered on a golf course) in Santa Cruz and later in retirement communities nearby.  Jim and I lived in Santa Cruz ourselves for three years when we were newly married.  [I taught first at Marello Prep in Santa Cruz (now closed) and later at Notre Dame High School in Salinas while living at the coast, in life before real estate.]

We have a lot of wonderful memories & experience with the Santa Cruz – Capitola – Aptos – Soquel area.  Today I wanted to share a few general tips and food tips for those who may be new to this part of California and spending some time by the coast.

Some general tips

1. Weather: always, always have layers available as the shore is unpredictible.  It might be 100 in Willow Glen but cold and windy with the fog rolling in at the wharf.   The coastal communities have varying degrees of fog, sun and wind: microclimates are the norm.  If it’s sunny and toasty at the lighthouse, it may not be that way at Seacliff Beach. Don’t rely on webcams!
   
2. Restrooms: know where the restrooms are before you visit.  The city of Santa Cruz has a list of public restrooms and a map online. It’s pretty awful if you spend a lot of time shopping on Pacific Avenue (downtown Santa Cruz), only to find no bathroom when you need one.  Your visit will be happier if you plan ahead!
3. There’s more to do than just the beach: the coastal communities near Santa Cruz have loads going on with festivals, shows, musical productions and more.  Check out the online roster of events near the Monterey Bay.
4. The Boardwalk has no admission fee and is a great place to people-watch and get tasty junk food, even if the rides don’t appeal to you.  In summer there are free music concerts on Friday nights (check the website for info) and on Monday & Tuesday evenings after 5pm they celelebrate 1907 nights: rides and hot dogs, cotton candy and most fountain drinks are just $1 each.   This is a bargain!
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Every area has its linguistic quirks, and the San Jose – Silicon Valley – Santa Clara County region is no exception. Some of it is in the words we use, some of it’s the way we pronounce things, and some of it is just the way we think.

Places:

The Hill – refers to the Santa Cruz Mountains. Going “over the hill” means going to Scotts Valley, Santa Cruz, or somewhere along the coast.

The City – means San Francisco, even though it’s smaller in population than San Jose.

South County – areas such as Gilroy, Morgan Hill, San Martin and Coyote Valley (and outlying areas)

The Bay – is the San Francisco Bay, not the Monterey Bay.

The Airplane Park – this is Oak Meadow Park in the Town of Los Gatos

Paul Masson Winery – is now known as the Mountain Winery in Saratoga, but long time locals and natives may call it by its old name

Northern California or NorCal – starts somewhere around this area and goes north from here

Central California or Central Coast – Santa Cruz is really part of the Central Coast, but we tend to think of it as NorCal territory

LA – is Los Angeles, not our own Los Altos

The Mountains – normally this means the Santa Cruz Mountains, the coastal range (unless you’re discussing skiing)
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Last weekend my family and I took a visiting relative to see some sights in the area, including to Filoli in Woodside.  If you have never visited this grand & gracious estate on the peninsula, it’s something to put on your “must see” list.

The house is 36,000 square feet (thirty six thousand sq. ft.!), ten times larger than a “big” home. The house sits upon approximatey 650 acres, most of it in its natural state but more than a dozen acres beautifully landscaped with lawns, flowers, roses, bushes, trees, ponds and a pool. 

Please enjoy some photos of our time at Filoli last weekend.  Some of these were taken by me, but most were shot by my daughter, Clair Handy (used by permission, of course!).

The Filoli Center is located at 86 Cañada Road Woodside, CA 94062

Filoli is open Tuesday through Sunday for self-guided tours (docent led tours are Tues through Saturday).  All donations, admissions, membership etc. go to preserving Filoli Center. For more information, please visit the Filoli website: http://www.filoli.org/

Often I get emails from people asking if I can help them with finding a rental property. For the most part, my practice revolves around listing and selling real estate in San Jose, Los Gatos, and Silicon Valley generally, so my best information is on what’s for sale, not what’s for rent.  Once in awhile I work on rental housing, but not normally, as rental condos or houses through an agent (if they are listed on the MLS) will usually cost you more than homes you find to rent elsewhere.

The best resources I have found for locating rental properties in Santa Clara County are these (I cannot guarantee or waranty your results, but these are starting points for you):

• Craigslist (link is to the South Bay area)
• Bay Rentals (they do charge a small fee)
• ForRent.com (search by city name or zip code)
• Once you’ve located an area you like – drive around

The last bullet point might seem silly, but some of the best apartments, townhomes etc. never get listed anywhere other than a sign in the yard.  So if you love Los Gatos, Campbell, Santa Clara or anywhere else, drive it and watch for signs!

Perhaps you want to be in a hotel or inn for awhile before deciding where to rent or buy, or while on temporary assignment at a local business or university. You don’t need me to tell you where to stay in a hotel, but if you are moving here with a pet you might want assistance finding a place which will welcome your cat or dog.  Here’s a great resource for finding pet-friendly hotels, motels and inns here: DogFriendly.com’s San Jose (and nearby) City Guide, which includes accomodations, parks, outdoor restaurants etc.

How do you choose where you’d like to live in Silicon Valley?  Especially if you’re relocating here from out of the area, this can be a huge question.  Most Santa Clara County home buyers have strong preferences for low crime, good schools, and pleasant looking & quiet neighborhoods.

My clients often ask me to compare for them areas which are somewhat similar, such as Los Gatos & Los Altos.  Off the top of my head, I can give general answers, such as these:   Compared to Los Gatos, Los Altos is a  more expensive (perhaps 20 or 25% more?), has a very slightly smaller population, is a little more spread out,  has slightly milder weather and is overall “quieter” in terms of the downtown night life.  Los Altos is more convenient if you want to go to Palo Alto or San Francisco.  Los Gatos is more convenient if you like to visit Santa Cruz, Monterey and the coast.  Los Gatos is more mixed in terms of housing types (it still has many beautiful historic districts with nicely renovated Victorian homes, but also newer construction). Both are “nice looking” but Los Gatos has more varied terrain as it is nestled into the Santa Cruz Mountains. Both enjoy pleasant neighborhoods, good schools, lower than normal crime and community involvement.

That’s the kind of “ballpark” info I can tell people about various areas of the Santa Clara Valley, whether it’s comparing one part of San Jose to another (Cambrian Park vs Almaden Valley vs Willow Glen) or one city to another (Cupertino vs Saratoga).  I can give general info on schools.

What I can’t do (and most agents can’t) is recite from memory school API scores, median household income, housing density, crime statistics, etc.  For that we have the web!  Here are some very helpful links which can assist you in your search to find the part of Santa Clara County that’s the best fit for you, your wants, needs, and budget:

Want to compare areas in and near San Jose?  A great tool for some basic and broad information by zip code is a website called Zip Skinny.  Input a zip code and get fairly detailed info on it.  One of the best features of this site is you can compare one zip code to other, similar areas to check out the differences in density, education of residents, household income, and more.
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Yesterday I was on the real estate agent & broker’s tour, viewing homes for sale in Saratoga and Los Gatos, when I noticed a pedestrian path that fed into the cul-de-sac at Carnelian Glen Court in Saratoga.  Although I lived in Saratoga for many years (graduating from Saratoga High School), I didn’t remember this trail so went online to see if I could find a map.  Google maps was no help, but thankfully, the well organized city of Saratoga was very helpful. I discovered several new hiking or walking trails that I hadn’t been aware of previously.

The city’s website includes a page with links to ALL available Saratoga trail maps which are all pdf files (so be prepared for loading). It offers both a map with all of the trails (shown above), a map of Saratoga Village displaying public restrooms & parking as well as streets, and maps to specific trails.  The big map of all the trails takes a little while to load but is really fantastic.