Edenvale

Fitted between US Route 101 and Monterey Road, Edenvale is a dull and dreary San Jose community with little to offer. Residences are rather plain, and sometimes hard to look at. Community spaces are much of the same, with little foliage and trimmed landscaping. Geographically speaking, the neighborhood spans about one square mile of densely urbanized residential terrain. The racial makeup of the 8,000 residents is predominately hispanic (over 50%), while white and asian residences make up about 20% each.

Edenvale is an almost exclusively residential neighborhood. It is also extremely blue-collar with median household incomes circling around $44,000/year. As a result, the district is somewhat unsafe, with crime being of great concern within the area. For those intending on living here, I’d think twice. Homes are rather small, boxy cottages (California ranch homes) and usually built in the 1960’s and 1970’s. They are usually plotted on small lots with sometimes unkempt lawns, and squeezed together in tight little rows. Edenvale’s nicest residences are situated around Whirlayway Drive and Kayak Drive. But for the most part, residences usually afford one or two-car garages, but I wouldn’t be surprised if old, raggedy cars are still parked out on the street. There is also not much communal greenery except for a tree and bush here and there. For the typical price, median house values (five to six room house) are estimated at around a meager $450,000, while condominiums and other such housing units will run you a more affordable $200,000. But in either case, you get what you pay for...and its not much.

For students, Edenvale encompasses Valley Christian High School, Davis Junior High School, Andrew Hill High School, Sylvandale Middle School and a handful of elementary schools. The public schools are managed by Oak Grove School District, which hasn’t performed as well as other San Jose school districts. If you’re looking for recreation, there are a handful of neighborhood parks within the area. The biggest includes Hellyer County Park which has a long bike trail, great scenery and a children’s playground with a BBQ station.

The southeast neighborhood of Edenvale—just a hop, skip and jump from Morgan Hill—is actually better thought of as a grouping of about a dozen suburban residential neighborhoods: Century-Pebbletree, Coyote-Fontanelle, Great Oaks, Riverview, Serenade, Melody, Hellyer, Sylvandale, Locke, Ramblewood, Donna Rocks, San Ramon and Edenvale proper. Of these, Great Oaks, Hellyer and Edenvale could definitely have their own posts.

Here is a quick rundown of the highlights of these neighborhoods:

Edenvale proper (where Monterey Road and 101 practically meet at Blossom Hill Rd.—Edenvale proper has a relatively nice trailer park on its southern end where income levels drop though overall it is a middle to slightly upper-middle class neighborhood. The mobile homes in the park run around $60 K while the homes in regular homes in Edenvale run around $350K—mostly 60’s era Ranch homes. Edenvale Elementary, the neighborhood school is solid but not spectacular.

Century (Pebbletree)—To the east of 101 and Edenvale proper is the wealthy neighborhood of Century-Pebbletree withs it 1970’s era homes and wide lanes—lots of new style Ranch homes here and homes averaging around $450K. (Most homes for sale here are foreclosures—few homeowners with the means want to enter the market right at the moment.)

Coyote-Fontanelle—Just to the north of Century-Pebbletree on the east of 101 and along the hills, is Coyote-Fontanelle, the 80’s version of Century-Pabbletree. Basically, the same kind of neighborhood in virtually every respect except for the slightly newer early 80’s style homes. Unfortunately, Stipe Elementary located here is just average in terms of ratings.

Great Oaks—Great Oaks is basically the northern twin of Edenvale in the same way Coyote-Fontanelle is the northern twin of Century-Pebbletree. You will basically find a mix of middle-class homes here (virtually all on the market due to foreclosure). The average home here runs around $350K.

Riverview—Basically an upper-middle class neighborhood with a variety of homes from as far back as the 1960’s and as recent as the 2000’s. Basically this is a hodgepodge of residential architectural styles. There is even a townhouse section with red-tiled roofs.

Serenade and Melody—Just to the north of Riverview are the solidly middle class neighborhoods of Serenade and Melody. Lot’s or 60s and 70’s Ranch homes—both neighborhoods are slightly rundown. $375K homes probably. (This also happens to be the location of the Saint Gabriel Ethiopian Church, though this is a majority Hispanic neighborhood, not Ethiopian. So I am not sure what to do with that.) Both neighborhoods straddle Hellyer Park on its western end. Unfortunately, the neighborhood school—Christopher Elementary, is not a very good school.

Hellyer—Just to the north of Melody and Serenade, Hellyer is a touch nicer than those two neighborhoods, but not by much. Homes are slightly newer, but a ton of foreclosures bring prices down to the levels just to the south. Hellyer Elementary is probably the second strongest school in Edenvale, if you go strictly by test scores.

Sylvandale (East and West) are just to the northwest of Hellyer. They are firmly middle class and are home to Sylvandale Middle
School—which is somewhat below average, in terms of test scores.

Ramblewood—on the far northeastern end of the Edenvale area and one of my favorites. This upper middle class neighborhood has these homes (more red-tiled roofs) with a really nice look to them—kind of class upperclass 1980’s look to it that I find rather comforting. Ramblewood Elementary is also the strongest elementary school in Edenvale—above average test scores, good school atmosphere as far as I can tell.

Locke and Los Arboles on the northwestern end of the Edenvale—Another middle class neighborhood, pretty dingy and definitely my least favorite section of these neighborhoods. It is also home to Andrew Hill High School, whose below average test scores are one of the major drawbacks of the area. Los Arboles and Seven Trees Elementary actually have even lower scores—dismally low. Definitely an argument for sending your kids to private school if you are going to live here.

San Ramon and Donna Rocks—On the far western end, these upper middle class neighborhoods by the Christian School are some of the best values in the area.

Overall an okay place to live.