Morgan Hill sits at the northern part of South County in the Santa Clara Valley. This city has so much to offer, and it includes a huge variety of neighborhoods and pockets from urban to truly rural – and everything in between.

Morgan Hill Living & homes

There’s a lovely downtown area with a good diversity of restaurants, coffee shops, stores, and businesses. If your ideal home is steps away from all the activity, you’ll feel right at home here. Also not too far away is the public library.

Big bonus: the Cal Train station is also downtown, as is a shuttle or bus stop for Apple.

Further out is an assortment of older suburban neighborhoods (homes on good sized lots) and also new construction, especially on the north end of town. The lots tend to be smaller with new construction – at least in most young subdivisions.

The west side of Morgan Hill is more verdant – it is close to the Santa Cruz Mountains and there are more creeks and rainfall there as compared to the east side of the valley. If you have a chance, check out the Llagas Creek and Paradise Valley areas, as they are gorgeous.

If valley views ore reservoir views are what you prefer, head up to Jackson Oaks and Holiday Lake Estates near Anderson Reservoir. You could enjoy a view of all of South County from your back porch or living room. Most of the houses in these areas are older ranch style homes. It should be noted that some homes on the lake may not always have great views with droughts and repair work on the dam. Also buyers in those areas need to do their research on the unstable soils or landslide zones.

The north part of town provides a lot of young housing (perhaps too much as there was a building boom happening not too many years ago). The properties range from small to large, basic to luxurious. To me the biggest advantage of this part of the city is a shorter freeway commute toward San Jose or beyond.

Overall, home prices are a little less in Morgan Hill thank in San Jose or places north of there. Check out the Morgan Hill real estate market to learn more about the cost of housing in this South County area.

Agriculture

Agriculture is never far away in Morgan Hill, and that can be a mixed blessing.

Vineyards and wineries are scenic and appealing.  Wineries may have events that bring traffic and noise.

Sometimes vineyards,  produce fields, orchards or other farms may need crop dusting, ground spraying, fertilizing, or other chemical treatments. The smells can be offensive.  There could be health risks associated with these, too.

Horses and farm animals can be cute to look at, but they may come with horseflies and some stenches. “Clean country air” may apply out in the wilderness, but not so much near farms and ranches. (Even the cleanest horse ranches seem to have an abundance of flies.)

Finally, beware living downhill from mushroom farms – research it, come back at various times, as the shift in a wind can make a big difference. Morgan Hill has several of them.

Commuting

For Silicon Valley commuters, this city is far easier than Gilroy or other points further south, especially if it’s possible to exit Highway 101 at Cochrane Road. At about that point the traffic always seems to thicken. It can be a slow slog from there to Gilroy in rush hour traffic.

The Cal Train stop can make commuting far easier, and the same is true of the Apple bus for that company’s employees. I don’t know if Google or any other tech titans have bus stops at the Cal Train station, but it would not surprise me if they did.

Recreation in Morgan Hill

Recreational opportunities abound in South County, including golf, hiking, boating, tennis, hunting, fishing, camping, and a myriad of things to learn and do through the community center. This city is a destination for RV shoppers (the RV outlet mall is hard to miss when traveling along Highway 101). A tremendous number of wineries offer tasting in Morgan Hill, San Martin, and Gilroy, many with expansive patios with live music at times.

Other considerations

Two other points to slip in before wrapping this up:

First, there is no hospital in Morgan Hill. The closest is either Kaiser in the Santa Teresa area of San Jose or St. Louise Regional Medical Center in Gilroy.

Second, there are microclimates, but most of Morgan Hill seems to get windy every afternoon.  Not a little breezy, but downright windy. Before moving there, be sure to make multiple visits and talk with people about the wind, its direction, and if it carries any agricultural odors (aka mushroom farm or garlic processing smells).

Related Reading:

• Morgan Hill
  • Morgan Hill real estate market
  • Guglielmo Winery in Morgan Hill
  • Andy’s Orchard (fruit picking and tasting)
  • Terra Mia at Mission Ranch (neighborhood of younger homes)
  • Article on Morgan Hill on another of our sites, popehandy.com
  • City of Morgan Hill website
• San Martin (general info)
• Gilroy the garlic capital of the world (general info)
  • Gilroy and the South County’s fruit stands and farmlands
  • Gilroy Garlic Festival (discontinued, sadly)

Homes for sale in Morgan Hill

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Townhouses

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Condominiums

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