JohnPruitt

There comes a time when a street has been around too long. This is one of those streets. Residential with a bordering park or so, Toyon is loaded with older quiet decrepit looking residents and cars in all manner of disassembly. I avoid Toyon like the plague. It just isn't a place I would want to live or even drive though with such nicer neighborhoods on all borders.

Since 1980 I've gone up Suncrest every now and then to get an eye on the entire bay. You can take some great photos up here of all the surrounding coastal mountain range. the residences up here are big and nice and range from 50 years old to a couple of years. The initial drive is a bit steep, but I've seen bikes take it on for the challenge. The view at the end of the ride is worth it.

I really like Mabury Rd. On the mountain half of it, it is all residential and quiet. As you head away from the mountains, you pass a park that in the morning, afternoon and weekends has walkers, joggers and Tai Chi practitioners at it. You also pass by Independence High School which was once the jewel of the East Side Union School District but I always though the place was too big and dirty. As you continue away from the mountains, you skip over 880 and end up heading into San Jose Central via this quiet back door. I often use it to get into and out of San Jose's night life scene.

McKee Rd. has it all. From dirty bars to some decent restaurants, shops and supermarkets. It has easy 680 Highway access and bleeds off into many residential sectors as it heads up to the hillside. Right before it dead ends into Alum Rock, it is a very ritzy and older neighborhood. Definitely something worth driving around and looking at the micro mansions.

Hostetter Rd. is neat because it is actually three streets as you head into San Jose. It becomes Murphy and then Brocaw and finally terminates at the San Jose Airport. The Hostetter area of this though is very residential and of the newer construction, some of it as new as the last five years. Due to the proximity of the light rail, with a bike, you could get anywhere in San Jose easily from this neighborhood. Quiet and clean every time I go down it.

Partially residential, most of Pennitencia Creek Rd. is bordered by parks and recreation. It goes up through the foothills and into Alum Rock Park which is great for jogging and hiking and also biking. Being next to a creek there is a few possums and raccoons to deal with, but thats not so bad. There are plenty of great schools and this is a very quiet area.

Mabury Square is a controlled street so usually only residents are using it. this keeps it quiet and reasonably street safe. At night, any cars parked on the street are towed so you either have to be in a driveway or outside of Mabury Squares control. This keeps the dead autos sitting along some San Jose streets not present here at all. A few local parks within walking distance make this a really nice neighborhood for kids and retirees

From the Milpitas Border to the center of Berryessa San Jose area, Morril Ave. has beautiful houses from 40 to 5 years old spanning it's length. Cataldi Park is dead center of the strip and is a wonderful place for weekend outings although supposedly alcohol and BBQing is forbidden on park grounds, I've seen it going on everyweek. A pleasant street with enough lights to control the traffic speed.

The Piedmont Rd. Corridor is the back way from the Fremont/Milpitas Border all the way to San Jose's Evergreen area. What does this do for the piedmont area? In the mornings at at 5PM this 35 MPH residential area becomes an expressway. Labelled as "Bike Friendly" it is anything but. Sure the bikes have a lane, but the cars are cut down to one lane in each direction with a suicide lane in the center. I've seen some of the worse driving around in this area at rush hour. It also has one high school and two elementary schools bordering it. Combined with the traffic, I just don't like it at 5PM weekdays.

This street has houses that are about 20 years old. The neighborhood is quiet at night but this isn't always the case. There have been a couple of extremely loud parties over the last couple of years with some vehicle property damange and graffitti in the aftermath. It is close to Penitencia Creek park as well as Alum Rock Recreational Park to consider them "walking distance". The local food is basic and fast but there are a couple of real take out gems that are a must for any good neighborhood.