The Burbank neighborhood is conveniently situated in the Central San Jose district, close to Valley Fair, Santana Row, and downtown San Jose, as well as lots of medical care and two nearby hospitals. Great shopping and dining is close at hand.
It’s also very close to highways 880 and 280, making commuting in Silicon Valley more convenient, especially to downtown San Jose, Santa Clara University, Valley Medical Center, O’Connor Hospital, or anywhere along the 880 or 280 corridors.
Quick facts:
- Homes in the Burbank neighborhood tend to be more affordable than most of San Jose and it’s more convenient than most places – those two are the major draws.
- The area is mixed with both residential and commercial properties and a good number of multi family homes as well as single family homes.
- The boundaries of the Burbank neighborhood vary from one source to the next and do not line up with those of the Luther Burbank Elementary School District. (A little sliver of that school district is part of the Buena Vista neighborhood and has the 195126 zip code).
- The Burbank neighborhood’s zip code is 95128
- Burbank San Jose is distinct from the City of Burbank in Southern California (a fun and interesting place to visit!).
Where is San Jose’s Burbank neighborhood?
The Burbank neighborhood is located north of Highway 280, mostly south west San Carlos (a little north of there), east of Highway 880 and west of Leigh Avenue (approximately). Different maps may show the borders a little differently.
The best known landmarks are the Burbank Theater and the Luther Burbank Elementary School (which is the only school in the Luther Burbank Elementary School District).
Nearby neighborhoods
Nearby neighborhoods include Buena Vista, Shasta Hanchett, Rose Garden, Cory, and Rose Glen, among others.
What is the neighborhood like?
It began as an unincorporated area, or a “county pocket”, but some of it has been annexed into the city of San Jose. The whole area has a San Jose mailing address, though. (The mailing addresses are sometimes not what the actual municipality is in our county.)
This is mixed residential and commercial neighborhood, with the advantage of being an easy jaunt to shops and restaurants.
What are homes like in Burbank?
Burbank is an older neighborhood, and it features some older home charm. Like many county pockets, it can be a mixed bag with some charming homes and streets and others feeling crowded and run down with too many cars on the street or too many homes not being kept up. Some streets are wide, many are narrow and only permit parking on one side of the street (and that side tends to be filled with parked cars).
Some homes date to the late 1800s or 1900, and a handful constructed in the 20s or 30s, but many of the houses are ranch style houses built beginning in the 1940s. There are some beautiful Spanish eclectic bungalows and Craftsman, Victorian, or other home styles to be found, but the vast majority will be ranch style houses.
Many of them began as small bungalows with 2 or 3 bedrooms and one bathroom with a one car garage. Today many have been enlarged or rebuilt – it is a mix.
As with other older neighborhoods, on many streets you will find the power lines in front of the house (on younger homes the lines are usually at the back property line or there are underground utilities).
The lots are generally on the smaller side. You won’t find many pools in this area.
Burbank neighborhood subdivisions
People were living in this part of the valley before 1900, but not many, as it was primarily orchards, with apricots, prunes, cherries, apple, peach, pear, etc. The Burbank Community Association has more info on the area’s interesting history.
Much of the agricultural land turned to housing as the valley urbanized and transportation improved. The subdivision activity really kicked in after the San Jose-Los Gatos Interurban railroad (a light rail system) went in along what is now Stevens Creek Boulevard and West San Carlos Street.
There are several subdivisions which make up large chunks of the Burbank neighborhood:
- Bradley Manor is a large subdivision encompassing the far Western end of the Burbank neighborhood (between West San Carlos, Hwy 880, Hwy 280, and Bascom Avenue) and it includes more than 400 homes.
- East of Bascom – Rose Lawn includes about 380 homes with varying ages.
- East of Bascom – Orchard Park has about 110 single family homes with older houses, the most venerable was completed in 1899.
- East of Bascom – Other subdivisions are Beverly Place with 320 houses (borders are Parkmoor, Bascom, Scott, Menker), developed mostly from 1936s – 1950.
- East of Bascom – Shafters (a smaller subdivison with 47 homes) and several other smaller developments
- North of San Carlos – the largest subdivision, with 246 houses, is aptly named Interurban Park. Some of these homes extend into the Rose Garden area. About half of them were constructed before 1925.
Burbank neighborhood public Schools
The public schools serving the Burbank area are all under the Campbell Union High School District, and the school of attendance is Del Mar High.
Part of the Burbank neighborhood in in the Campbell Union Elementary School District and another section is in the Luther Burbank Elementary School District.
In the CUESD, the schools are Lynhaven Elementary and Monroe Middle School.
In the LBESD, all students attend Luther Burbank Elementary School (K – 8). In the map below, note the odd school district boundaries! I did not add the zip code or neighborhood boundary to this map as it would have just made viewing it more chaotic, but part of the Luther Burbank elementary school attendance area is in 95126 (both the contiguous area and the island which is surrounded by San Jose Unified!).
Any area concerns?
Every community has pros and cons, and we always recommend that our home buyers check the crime stats online – here included.
The main negatives are the close proximity of the two freeways plus busy roads as these create air which is unhealthy to breathe and have higher levels of noise pollution, too. (You can check noise scores on HowLoud.com.)
Homes for sale or recently sold in the Burbank area
Here are recent listings, pending sales, and closed sales in the Burbank area (approximately).
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Looking to sell or buy in Burbank, Buena Vista, or anywhere in Santa Clara County? We sell homes throughout Silicon Valley – please reach out to us with an email to mary@popehandy.com. Thank you!
