Gilroy

Gilroy is kind of in the middle of nowhere. Its home to a plethora of premium outlets, factory stores and a varied degree of middle-class suburbs. The city itself is located at the southernmost tip of Santa Clara County and is separated from San Jose by about 15 miles of desolate farmland and wooded, rolling hills. However, Gilroy is a rather large metropolitan area in itself. According to the 2010 US Census, the population is approaching 50,000 residents and spans over 16 square miles of terrain. Demographically speaking, the ethnic makeup of this city is about 55% hispanic and 33% white, while the minority is split between asian and black residents.

There’s nothing really that separates this community from your average run-of-the-mill middle-class suburb amongst acres of farmland. Its a rather flat neighborhood with tree-lined streets and a relatively modest aesthetic appeal. Homes are somewhat stumpy, one-story in size and sit on shallow properties. But if you drive into the city’s northern third, you’ll approach a better class of neighborhood. Here you’ll find the nice, newer starter homes and older family estates with elegant house fronts and manicured lawns. However, its most blemishing quality is its below average crime rate. For perspective homebuyers, median house values are priced just below $600,000, while renters typically pay around $1,200/month. Moreover, household incomes are estimated around $63,000/year.

Looking for events? Gilroy is well-known for its eccentric, but oddly entertaining Gilroy Garlic Festival. It takes place annually and is one of the largest food festivals in the United States. In fact, the city is coined the “Garlic Capitol of the World” for how prominent a role it plays in the community. The city’s commercial quarters are centered around US Route 101. They include a handful of chain restaurants, a Safeway and a drug store (all of your household necessities can be found here). The area also likes to maintain its longtime historic feel by preserving some of the older buildings. Within them are a handful of boutique wine production establishments and eccentric clothing shops.

For public transit options, many residents take the Caltrain. It provides weekday rush-hour commuter transportation and reaches the many popular cities along the San Francisco peninsula (including downtown San Francisco). And major highways that connects its residents to the greater Santa Clara County area include US Route 101 and State Route 152. For younger families, the Gilroy public school system overlooks 7 elementary schools, 3 middle schools and two high schools. Its most accomplished and well-known amongst the community is Gilroy High School.

Vampires might be in right now, but you won’t be seeing a series set in Gilroy any time soon. If you know anything about Gilroy you know about the garlic festival for which they are famous, a celebration that has been taking place every summer in Gilroy for over 3 decades now. This celebration of all things garlic has put Gilroy on the map for everything having to do with this stinking rose.

Gilroy is basically a small city/town surrounded by farmland. 50,000 people live in Gilroy. It is one of the last major stops along Highway 101, so you get a lot of people traveling up from LA stopping off here for dinner at the end of the trip or San Franciscans just getting going at the beginning of their trips to Southern California.

So what is like living in Gilroy? Do you live in houses made out of garlic and eat garlic morning, noon and night?

So it is not just about garlic here. You have restaurants and a shopping center area with commercial stores like Target and a Ross. There are also restaurants. You have at least 3 sushi places and lots of Mexican food places. You even have a handful of bars including at least 1 sports bar, 1 tapas place and 1 place that claims to be a dive bar.

There is a movie theater in town too and supermarkets. Basically, you have all that you need in a small city and are close enough to San Jose for the things you may not be able to get in Gilroy—like a thriving theater scene.

Homes are relatively inexpensive in Gilroy, with the median home price hovering around $450K. Less than 10% of homes rise above the $1 mil here and most of these are on the outskirts. Gilroy has increasingly become a popular bedroom community for those who work in Silicon Valley. People come here attracted by the home prices and the newer construction. Most homes here were built after 1970, with almost a third dating from 2000.

The economic downturn has also made this a good spot for finding office/warehouse space.

There are some drawbacks to the area, however. One of which is the crime rate, which is about even with the national average. This doesn’t sound bad, but given how small the town is you might expect this to be lower. Don’t get me wrong, this is hardly Oakland, but still is something worth considering.

The other factor to consider are schools which are only about average here, which I suppose means that it depends whether you are a glass half-full or a glass half empty sort of person.

In a nutshell, I would say that if you can handle the commute, Gilroy is a good option for those looking for a relatively low cost alternative to the high Peninsula prices that make it difficult to live near Silicon Valley.