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Bounded by Broadway, Central Avenue, Sherman Street and the Alameda/Oakland canal, Central Alameda is, for all intents an purposes, the essence of Alameda. While the neighborhood affords a few condominiums and apartment homes, the neighborhood is mostly saturated with single family homes. You’ll also see plenty of small, cozy homes, narrow properties and an overall traditional aesthetic. For those who live here, the area is largely mixed race, but white residents make up the majority.

Central Alameda offers a wide variety of housing options. The neighborhood is split pretty evenly between one and two story homes. Most of these homes are of the old Victorian style and were probably built around the 1930’s or 1940’s. They are small, stubby-looking, and don’t afford much lot room. In fact, they are situated on narrow properties, tightly packed along residential streets and offer those little walkways and small staircase that leads up to front porches. Properties are mildly tidy, with groomed lawns, but that’s about it. Driveways are also narrow, but feed deep into properties, making room for two to three cars to park in the spaces. Unfortunately, they are the kind where you have to park one car at a time. As a result, many residents have to park along the road, making street parking rather hard to come by during peak hours. For numbers sake, median household income, according to a 2009 city data census, is around $70,000/year. also, house values tend to circle around $650,000.

While Central Alameda stretches along the Oakland Inner Harbor, it offers plenty of transportation options. For one, the neighborhood provides quick access into Oakland with the 29th Avenue feeding right into Oakland’s Jack London Square area. Also, the Oakland Jack London Square Amtrak station itself (along with Highway 880) is a quick hop step and jump over into the closest Oakland community.

Bounded by MeCartney Avenue, Island Drive and Sea View Parkway, Harbor Bay is an upper middle-class, family-oriented suburb with lush green community aesthetics. And it boasts a good two or three miles of bayside residential terrain on top of that. The area itself spans about 1.1 square miles of exclusive residential terrain. Demographically speaking, the community is pretty dense, totaling about 8,000 residents split evenly between white and asians.

Situated on the western end of Alameda, Harbor Bay is one of the nicest residential communities in Alameda. Most homes are fairly new (in Alameda standards), built within the 1980’s and colored in a sort of beige tint, eliciting a sense of community (or anonymity depending on how you look at it). But houses tend to have a nice upkeep about them, with modern house fronts and large, manicured front yards. This gives plenty of space for children to play in the front yards (which is rare for Alameda). For prospective residents, house values are around $900,000, but can spike up to $1.3 million. Also, most households tend to rake in about $130,000/year, on average, which is twice as much as the typical Alameda community.

If you’re looking for something cheaper, condominiums scatter the neighborhood. They are usually pretty large, two stories in size and have a two-car garage (which usually takes up most of the ground floor space). Rents can still be a bit expensive though, circling around $2,700/month.

For recreation, the Alameda Municipal Golf Course skirts the eastern side of the neighborhood. And for transportation, the Alameda Fairy, that docks around Adelphian Way, transports people from Alameda to San Francisco in a nice thirty minute boat ride.

Framed by Central Avenue, Broadway, Fernside Boulevard and the Oakland/Alameda waterway, Fernside is a traditional, well-kept, middle-class community. It can be a bit boring, considering there is not many entertainment options or dining within close proximity, but it serves as a quaint, family friendly atmosphere. In fact, the district is lush with green foliage plotted on every property and tree lined streets. The area itself is also residentially dense (largely white community), totaling 4,000 resident in a span of 0.5 square miles. Its biggest attribute is that both High Street and Tilden Way feed into the city of Oakland, providing instant access for commuters getting to Highway 880.

Fernside’s residential terrain has a large inventory of housing options. Homes, for the most part, are rather old and Victorian-styled, but they are a bit bigger here than anywhere else in Alameda. They afford about two to three bedrooms of living space and are often two stories in size. They have a small walkway that leads up to a small staircase. There, you’ll find that most house fronts have a bit of an old aesthetic to them, but have been well kept over the years. However, most homes don’t afford a garage (because of their age),and have just narrow driveways that runs deep into the side yards. Others residents just park along the road, which can make for some tough street parking.

For numbers sake, median household income is around $95,000/year, while houses can cost you upwards of $715,000, on average. If you head towards the northeastern end, you’ll hit a strip of beautiful residential real-estate, a bit more upscale than the neighborhood’s usual aesthetic. For something cheaper, there are a few condominium and apartment complex options. Rents can cost you around $1,400/month.

West End is a close-knit, middle to lower middle-class Alameda terrain. There is really nothing aesthetically pleasing about this neighborhood. It is a pretty dense residential community encompassing around 15,000 residents, living within 2.3 square miles of each other. Also, the residential demographic is a melting pot of white, asian, black and hispanic residents.

While a large body of land, West End is split between two distinct housing developments. One of them is located closer to the College of Alameda, and offers an intricate arrangement of close-knit, neo-Mission Revival housing. these homes (or condominiums) are fairly new, two-stories in size and tightly packed into streets. The area is accommodating to young families because of its family-friendly ambiance and its strong sense of community. However, it can be a bit noisy, with residents sharing walls, lawn space and backyards.

Houses outside of this community are rather drab and unappealing. Most of them are old, dating back from WWII and are plotted on small, narrow properties. They are mostly just one-story (although there are a few two-story homes) in size and exceptionally small. In fact, they don’t even have garages nor much driveway and lawn space to appeal to young families. As a result, many residents have to park along the roads, which can make for difficult street parking during peak hours. For prospective residents, the median household income is around $55,000/year, a little less than the typical Alameda community. moreover, house values tend to cost around $500,000, but can rise to as much as $750,000.

This terrain is also, as you might expect, pretty boring. West End only has a few complimenting accommodations for residents. For one, the area lies adjacent to the Jack London Square tourist trap, offering plenty of dining amenities and entertainment. also, it encompasses the College of Alameda, a two-year community college for locals looking to gain access to the UC system that is so heavily praised in California.

Bounded by the Oakland Inner Harbor, Alameda Avenue and Constitution Way, Marina Village is a heavy commercial zone. The neighborhood itself, spans about 0.4 square miles is very sparsely populated. In fact, less than 1,000 residents call Marina Village home. That is due, in large, part to the district’s abundant commercial presence and open road terrain. The area is also located adjacent to the College of Alameda, a two-year community college for locals.

Marina Village’s residential quarters are only concentrated within a two to four block radius around Independence drive. Here, you have your selection of modest, two-story condominiums with nice communal landscaping for everyone. They offer one to two bedrooms of living space and are fairly new built (probably within the 1980‘s). Most people just come here because of the Encinal Yacht Club, or the hundreds of boats floating out on the Alameda harbor.

Marina Village’s commercial quarters overwhelm the community. Its staple is number of nicely remodeled business parks, which tend to be surrounded by lush green landscaping and a plethora of employee parking. If you’re driving through the community, you’ll be led into these commercial quarters by quaint, tree-lined streets. Its largest commercial business is that the of Telecare Corporation, which is situated along the Alameda/Oakland waterway. For numbers sake, the median household income, according to the 2010 US Census, is around $105,000, almost double the city’s median average, while rents are upwards of $2,000/month.

While highly commercialized, Marina Village doesn’t offer much for the resident, but a couple things for the local employee. For one, it is very commuter friendly. The neighborhood is adjacent to the Jack London Square Amtrak station, which feeds all through California and a few cross country tours to the east coast. To get there, you head through the convenient underground tunnel to the north that connects residents into Oakland and to Highway 880. There is also a pretty sizable commercial plaza situated along the Marina Village Parkway. The shopping area serves as the local business clientele, providing visitors with a plethora of lunch spots (chain restaurants, small eateries and even a few department stores) so they don’t have to travel too far to get a quick bite to eat.

Framed by the San Leandro Bay, Central Avenue, Park Street and Otis Drive, East End is a flat, modest and traditional-looking Alameda community. The neighborhood is almost exclusively residential and is firmly gripped in old, middle-class suburbia. It spans about 0.7 square miles of rather dense residential terrain. In fact, the total population is around 7,000 residents, most of whom come from a white and/or asian background.

While one of the largest Alameda neighborhood’s in the city, East End’s residential terrain offers a variety of housing options. Homes are rather old (1940‘s), boxy in shape and mixed between one and two stories in size. They are tightly packed into neat little rows along residential streets, leaving little room for each lot. As a result, most homes don’t afford a garage, just a narrow driveway that runs deep into the sides of properties and a small front lawn. Also, most homes have a small little walkway that leads up to a small staircase and to an elevated first floor. There are a number of eyesore houses with decrepit front lawns, but also a plethora of remodeled homes towards the southeastern end of the neighborhood. You just got to look for them.

For numbers sake, most house values tend to be within the range of $500,000 to $750,000, while median household incomes (according to the 2009 city data census) is around $70,000/year. Somewhat expensive for a traditional look, but with its 5-7 rooms of living space coupled with the neighborhood’s family-friendly appeal make it a rather decent deal. Also, rents can be a bit better if you’re looking to stretch a dollar, circling around 1,300/month.

Bounded by Central Avenue, Park Street, Otis Drive and Union Street, Bronze Coast is a pedestrian-friendly, middle-class Alameda community. It is a pretty dense residential community, totaling 7,500 residents in a span of about 0.7 square miles. Of that, the racial makeup is predominately white, with a somewhat sizable asian minority. As for the community itself, it boasts some orderly streets, family-friendly atmosphere and is within walking distance to the San Francisco Bay.

Bronze Coast residential terrain is a flat, almost exclusively residential community and offers a wide variety of housing inventory. The community is evenly split between condominiums and single family houses. Of the latter, the neighborhood is saturated with old one and two-story Victorian homes (built around the 1940’s), but have, for the most part, been well-kept over the years. Most homes, however, are tightly packed along each residential block affording just a narrow driveway (no garages) that runs into the side of the property. The landscaping on each lot gives off a sense of traditional values, with its sculpted bushes and neat lawn space. For the prospective resident, median household incomes are around $62,000/year. If you’re looking for something cheaper, there is plenty of affordable renting options that will only run you about $1,200/month. These accommodations offer a few two-story apartment facilities nestled between the many homes of the community. However, they can be a bit more bland than their housing counterparts.

While the neighborhood can be a bit boring, there are a couple amenities that residents can take advantage of. For one, the area is centrally located in Alameda and encompasses the Alameda Hospital. There is also a small shopping plaza that is located just to the south end of the neighborhood. It offers a Trader Joe’s, a 24 Hour Fitness, a Applebee’s, a Sushi House and a Ross department store. If you continue along the road, you’ll hit Park Street, which hosts a variety of restaurants, bars, coffee shops and some eclectic entertainment options (i.e. new movie theater, etc.).

Framed by Highway 880, Fruitvale Avenue, International Boulevard and High Street (aptly named), Fruitvale Station is just that, the Fruitvale Bart Station. It is one of the most crime ridden areas within Oakland and, as such, bleeds of lower-class condemnation. The area is blemished with eyesore streets, abandoned commercial buildings and poverty stricken homes. Demographically speaking, the district has a total population of around 1,500, of which is largely hispanic.

Fruitvale’s small commercial terrain, which spans less than 0.2 square miles, is nothing close to a livable environment. Houses are small, old and weathered, usually plotted on cement patches of land with only room for one car in the garage-less driveway. Homes are usually protected by metal gates and barred windows. There are a few two-story homes, but their dingy outer aesthetic doesn’t change. For parking, most residents have to park their grimy cars (with missing hubcaps) on the gritty streets of Fruitvale. As a result, this can make street parking relatively difficult. If you’re looking to move in here, median household incomes, according to the 2010 US Census, are around $40,000/year, while median rents circle around $800/month.

While most residents here have less than a high school education, it dramatically contributes to its high crime rate and poverty in the community. You can really see it in the plethora of abandoned depots, meager looking auto body shops, small food markets, Mexican restaurants and other quick stop eateries, most of which have bars on the windows (especially on International Boulevard). There is a Home Depot situated on the other side of the neighborhood, but that is largely due to the construction jobs in this area. Its main contribution to the city is the Fruitvale Bart station, which serves thousands of locals every day.

Located between Highway 880 and the Oakland International Airport, Arrowhead Marshland is a commercial strip leading up to the airport. While most people know it has the prominent hotel strip that houses long distance travelers through the Oakland International Airport, its second identity is to serve as the tertiary parking lot to the adjacent Oakland Coliseum, which is the home of the Raiders, Athletics and Golden State Warriors.

While only encompassing about a half dozen streets, Arrowhead Marshland is almost exclusively used for commercial industries. If you’re driving through the area, you’ll come across the mid-sized Countryard Merriot (along with a couple more lodging accommodations), a couple convenience stores, gas stations, a Toyota dealership and a few gritty businesses closer towards the Oakland International Airport. There are also a couple moderately attractive business parks lining Edgewater Drive. This real-estate is usually accented by modestly groomed landscaping surrounding the commercial buildings and the adjacent parking lots.

Visitors in the area tend to know its location because it serves as the primary off ramp to the Oakland International Airport. Others know it because the Alameda Municipal Golf Course and the San Leandro Bay are located just a minutes drive from the neighborhood’s bounds. Otherwise, it is simply the piece of land situated adjacent to the busy Oakland Coliseum and the Golden State Warriors basketball facility. For transportation, many visitors choose to use the Oakland Coliseum Bart station, which is located just on the opposite side of the stadium.

Situated along Highway 880, Columbia Gardens is a largely unappealing, lower middle-class Oakland community. It is fairly small, flat and triangular in shape, spanning about 0.3 square miles (or about a dozen neighborhood blocks). The area is exclusively residential, but has next to nothing of comfortable living environment. In fact, it has a roughened look with gritty streets, unbearable homes and ugly, blemished cars lining the street. Demographically speaking, the racial makeup of the community is predominately black with a rather sizable hispanic minority (of about 1,500 residents).

Columbia Gardens sounds a little more prestigious than it really is. Homes are of the old, decrepit, single-story, California ranch type with weathered and meager looking
house fronts. Each home offers little interior living space--about 5-7 rooms. These homes are also, for the most part, situated on small, unkempt lots with a little area for a front lawn. These properties are usually protected by small, chain-linked fences, due in large part to the high crime rate within the area. They provide driveways that usually run deep into side lots, if they don’t already have a one-car garage (which many do not). For prospective residents, median house values are a measly $215,000, while the typical income circles around $45,000/year. If you’re looking to rent, you’ll be expected to pay around $950/month.

While most residents have just a high school education or lower, according to the city data taken in 2009, the crime rate makes it a pretty dangerous area. It shares that same seedy Oakland ambiance that many places do. Its only perk is its convenience to the highway, which might not even be that big of a perk considering the noise you get from it.

Loosely bounded by Telegraph Avenue, MLK Way, 55th Street and Woolsey Street, Bushrod is a crime-ridden, unfavorable Oakland community. It spans about 0.6 square miles of dense lower middle to middle-class terrain. The area is primarily residential, but you can find some commercial real-estate lining both MLK Way and Telegraph Avenue. Demographically speaking, the neighborhood is predominately black with a large white minority. It also does house a number of Berkeley students, mostly because of its affordable rent compared to areas closer to campus.

Bushrod’s residential terrain is nothing special. Homes are rather old, built before the 1930’s and, as such, have a weathered, outdated feel to them. It is mixed between Victorian style and Bungalows. There are a few gritty looking homes, which adds to the overall blemished look of the neighborhood. They tend to be ordered in tight little rows, leaving little room for properties (which are only moderately maintained, at best). If you’re looking to own, house values tend to circle around $400,000. For cheaper accommodations, there are a couple handfuls of condos and apartment facilities, each offering about 5 to 6 rooms of living space. While they don’t look too appealing, they are cheaply priced at $1000/month. Also, the median household income is around $50,000, in case you’re interested.

For your commercial needs, Telegraph Avenue and MLK Street are your main sources of amenities. While both strips have a bit of a gritty look to it, they offer a number of different restaurants, gas stations, convenient stores, delis, pawn shops and mixed used commercial buildings. Also, if you travel down Telegraph Avenue (towards Berkeley), you’ll hit a number of eclectic shops of which Berkeley is known for.

For commuters, the neighborhood provides convenient access to US Route 24. Others who chose to take public transportation have both the Ashy Bart station and Rockridge Bart station available just a couple blocks outside the neighborhood’s limits. The area is also within a quick 5-10 minute drive of the vast San Francisco Bay. Elsewhere, you can find the Oakland Children’s Hospital, one of the great hospitals for children in the state of California. It is nestled within the eastern end of the neighborhood right next to the freeway.

Fremont is an unpleasant and unprosperous neighborhood within the straggly streets of Oakland, California. It spans about 0.4 square miles of very dense, lower-class urban life. As a result, crime is one of the community’s major concerns and, as such, has left behind a devastating and dangerous neighborhood. For your living arrangements, you only have the numerous depressing looking boxes and shacks that overrun the area. Demographically speaking, the district is predominately hispanic with a large black minority. And of these residents, most do not have a high school education, according to the 2010 US Census.

For the prospective resident, houses come cheap, but its at a steep risk. Houses are of the bungalow or Victorian style and have an old (1940’s), weathered aesthetic about them. But I warn you, many of them are just shacks and shacks alone. They are usually plotted on miserably unkempt lots and/or cement patches of narrow space with no room for a garage. They only afford a small, skinny slice of cement/dead grass for you to park your car on. These lots yield room to gritty, cracked streets and ugly communal spaces. There are also a couple boxy, 1950’s apartment complexes that sprinkle the neighborhood, but the aesthetic doesn’t change. For numbers sake, rents can cost you about $900/month, while median house values are around $230,000.

There are really no luxuries in this area, nor amenities that are worth noting. I guess you can count the Fruitvale Bart station, which is within walking distance of the neighborhood. Its commercial real-estate lies within the busier blocks, but still, they look like dilapidated shacks with barred windows and graffiti painted over the coverings when they close up shop. There are also a lot of old, grimy looking cars parked along these streets, many of them with missing hubcaps from the rims and paint chipping off the sides.

For young families (who I assume are desperate for a home), parents usually send their kids to Fremont high School, which has surprisingly undergone a recent transformation despite the poor quality of accreditations they have received in the past. To get here, many locals travel along both highway 880 and 980, which makes for convenient neighborhood access.

Simply put, Acorn Industrial is a lowly, industrialized community with port businesses relating to the transaction of manufactured goods. It spans about 0.8 square miles of terrain, which equates to about six to seven blocks of commercial real-estate. For locals, the area is really just known for its plethora of abandoned buildings, shipyards, warehouses and industrial depots. You really can’t tell from the outside because there are no windows or signs that broadcast their businesses. Demographically speaking, the neighborhood has a total population of around 1,500, of which are mostly african american residents with a small asian minority.

Acorn is highly industrial, just not with anything glamorous. Like I said before, the area is loaded with gritty depots, storage supply centers, unglamorous businesses parks (which are usually protected by chain-linked fencing), loading docks for the transportation of goods and machinery and a few abandoned buildings with bars on the windows and business-based trucks parked outside. There’s really no reason for the general public to visit the area.

Acorn Industrial is a lowly, almost unlivable environment. Of the apartments I see (which tend to be hidden underneath the gritty, blemished landscape), they are bland apartment complexes riddled with crime. Most of these apartments offer about five rooms of living space and are rented out to the lower-class types. You can also find a fair share of old, 1950’s homes that are boxy in shape and plotted on shabby, desperate-for-attention properties.

If you do choose to visit here, most people take the West Oakland Bart station which skirts the western end of the neighborhood and provides quick transportation out of the district, as well. For entertainment, there are only a few neighborhood watering holes and back alley-type restaurants that make you feel sketchy just dining in the area.

A skinny sliver of land that is fitted between Highway 880 and the waterway that separates Alameda from Oakland, South Kennedy Tract is a bottom-of-the-barrel, lower-class Oakland community. It spans about 0.5 square miles of sparse residential terrain (about 1,000 residents). Of them, the neighborhood is predominately hispanic, with a rather large white minority. Aesthetically speaking, the community is overrun with eyesore buildings, repulsive housing accommodations and rundown communal spaces. It is, for the most part, a dump.

South Kennedy Tract’s terrain is a somewhat desolate area. It mostly a large industrial zone with old, decrepit houses mixed into its real-estate. Of the latter, homes are rather old, mixed between one and two stories and are constructed pre-WWII. As such, they don’t really amount to anything remotely livable. If you’re looking to rent, I’ll save you some time and tell you its overly priced at $1,300/month while houses are listed at around $215,000 (median listing). Also, the median household income is around $55,000/year.

While crime runs rampant, the community is, by no means, a family-friendly environment. It is cluttered with ragtag blocks, miserably unkempt front yards (usually having patches of dead grass, beaten down foliage and protected by ugly chain-linked fencing), anonymous depots and grungy-looking warehouses that store old machinery and wood.

For commuters, the Fruitvale Bart station is just two blocks north of the neighborhood’s bounds. There is a Home Depot that anchors the southern end of the neighborhood as well as a couple auto repair shops and anonymous commercial buildings that, I don’t see why you would ever go there.

Framed by Grand Avenue, Harrison Street and MacArthur Freeway, Adams Point is a hilly, apartment home haven close to all things Oakland. There’s nothing very glamorous about this neighborhood. It spans about 0.4 square miles of strictly residential terrain fit for the lower middle to middle-class. As such, crime is a bit of a concern for most locals, as like most of the city. The neighborhood also has a rather dense population of almost 10,000 residents. Demographically speaking, the district is split between white and black residents. And to give you a better insight on its population, the median household income is around $50,000/year, right on par with the city.

Adams Point’s residential terrain offers a wide variety of housing options. Its housing inventory is mixed between flavorless, two to three-story apartment buildings and boxy, shack-like homes. For the former, there are some gritty, mid-rise and vastly underwhelming one and two-bedroom apartment facilities. I guess they could appeal to the younger, not-so-well-off community, but I wouldn’t dare. Elsewhere, you can find a number of old, pre-1940‘s, quasi-Mediterranean style homes that fit on these rather petite sized lots. Many of these properties hardly have room for a driveway, just a dirt path that runs alongside the house. You can, however, find a few 1950’s, Victorian style housing that offer two-stories of living space. These tend to be a bit nicer and elicit a sense of coziness and comfortability that’s hard to find in the area. For numbers sake, median rent is around $1,100/month.

Located at the northern shore of Lake Merritt, Adams Point has a variety of amenities to choose from. In fact, it is centered between two downtown plazas, downtown Lakeshore and Uptown Oakland. Each location features a plethora of shopping and dining options fir for any taste and budget. You can also find numerous ground floor retail businesses clustered along Grand Avenue, which is walking distance to the neighborhood. For young families, Lakeside Park encompasses the Children’s Fairyland and a large grass area for residents to exercise and walk along the lakeside path. The neighborhood is also within walking distance to the 19th Street Oakland Bart Station which connects residents to the greater Bay Area.

Old City, also known as the Produce and Water district, is a commercial melting pot of sorts comprising of industrial businesses, anonymous depots and cluttered warehouses. It is also small, spanning about 0.5 square miles of murky commercial terrain. Its largest drawback is the district’s increasing crime rate, which continues to disrupt the neighborhood’s growth. Demographically speaking, the neighborhood is very diverse (of its 2,000 residents), encompassing a large asian majority with a rather sizable hispanic and black minority.

Old City’s commercial quarters are not too exciting. Its mostly comprised of struggling businesses trying to survive the economic downturn. And it shows with its gritty business parks, unpolished construction depots and other such industrialized zones usually saturating every block. If you head towards the northern end of the neighborhood (closest to downtown Oakland), you’ll find a plethora of glossy, towering businesses that will hopefully carry over into its own quarters soon (but probably not).

As for its residential space, it is heavily tied to the few newly constructed condominiums and apartment homes. If you’re driving through the area, you’ll notice the few polished, mid-rise apartment buildings and condominium complexes that scatter the area. They usually only offer about 2-4 rooms of living space, at least according to city data that was made available in 2009. Also, the data shows that most of the community has less than a high school education while median household income is around $25,000, way below the city’s average.

The single biggest influence on Oakland is its vibrant (and I use this term loosely) African American community, which has managed to hold its ground in the face of the continual churning of the Oakland economy. The neighborhood’s biggest assets are the Jack London Square Amtrak Station, which anchors the southeastern end of the district, and the 12th Street Oakland City Center Bart Station, which skirts the eastern side. Both are main contributions to the district’s buoyed economic development. Commuters also have convenient access to both Highway 880 and 980.

Situated along the eastern side of Highway 580, Chabot Park is split between a modest urban development and affluent countryside properties fitted within the outskirts of Oakland. It is a large neighborhood spanning about 2.7 square miles of which most is uninhabited hillside terrain. Demographically speaking, the district is somewhat sparse (3,000 total population), but vary diverse. Its racial makeup is mostly black (75%), with a relatively small white minority.

Chabot Park is a pleasant, almost exclusive residential neighborhood. Its easterly limits consist of long, 1950‘s California ranch homes and two-story moderns that cling to the steep hillside, many of which are tucked away into the environment. As an example, many of these well-groomed homes are hidden by the majestic evergreen trees towering over the neighborhood or behind the rolling savannah hills (grassland) that the district inhabits. As a result, the district can be very isolated from downtown from the many winding country roads it takes to get there. But it does have its luxuries. Many homes are perched on the tops of hills, affording spectacular views of the countryside and providing plenty of property space for front gardens, driveways and lawns. As such, it exudes a sense of seclusion that’s hard to find in Oakland.

If you’re looking for cheaper residences, head towards the freeway where you’ll find a more suburban feel. Homes here are a bit dated, and don’t offer anything special in comparison. They are your typical California ranch homes with a modest amount of lot space and traditional aesthetic that doesn’t garner too much high praise. For prospective residents, house prices seem to vary, but tend to circle around $600,000, while median household incomes are around $95,000, according to the 2010 US Census. If you’re looking to rent, you can find affordable accommodations for around $1,300/month.

For recreation, the district is surrounded by the vast Chabot Regional Park, a grassland that encompasses more than 5,000 acres of hiking trails, horseback riding and cycling along with a couple camp ground sites. Chabot Park is also located close to the Lake Chabot Golf Course, an 18-hole course that garners a positive reputation among locals.

Situated between Holy Names University and highway 580, Upper Laurel is a middle to lower-class neighborhood with very little to offer. The area only affords small, single-story shack houses that aren’t worth your time (or mine). For prospective residents, it spans about 0.5 square miles of unsafe, unglamorous terrain. Its racial makeup is a dense melting pot of ethnic residents with asian, black, white and hispanic sharing a sizable portion of the demographic. While some may call the area multicultural with affordable living, I can assure you that they are grossly misleading you.

Upper Laurel’s residential terrain is nothing special at all. It is, for the most part, stocked with California Bungalow style homes, probably built within the mid-20th Century (sometimes having bars on the windows). These homes are small and situated on thin (yet deep) properties with only provide room for a very thin driveway that usually skirts the side of the house. Many of these properties are unattended to and, as a result, gritty and unkempt. Lots are a bit blemished, with cracked cement driveways (sometimes taking up the entire front yard). Most of its mildly attractive residents are concentrated towards the northern tip of the neighborhood, but don’t get your hopes up. As a whole, house values are around $400,000.

There are also a number of apartment complexes that pepper the district. They are aesthetically no different than the homes that they surround. You will see them popping up as gritty, bland, two-story apartment homes (that concentrate towards the center of the neighborhood, especially around Maybelle Avenue). These residences only afford about four to five rooms of living space, and that’s about it. They are, as you might expect, pretty cheap, costing around $1,200 a month. Also, median household incomes are around $60,000/year.

For young families, students usually attend Laurel Elementary, American Indian Public Charter School or St. Lawrence O’Toole’s, all of which are within the neighborhood. The first two schools produce middle-of-the-road reputations with its local community, but O’Toole garners somewhat porous reviews. For their shopping, MacArthur Boulevard acts as the district’s main commercial strip, but doesn’t offer anything than your typical liquor store and varied blemished store fronts.

Situated between Holy Names University and highway 580, Upper Laurel is a middle to lower-class neighborhood with very little to offer. It spans about 0.5 square miles of unsafe, unglamorous terrain. The area only affords small, single-story shack houses that aren’t worth your time (or mine). For prospective residents, its racial makeup is a dense melting pot of ethnic residents with asian, black, white and hispanic sharing a sizable portion of the demographic. While some may call the area a multicultural neighborhood (which it is) with affordable living, I can assure you that they are grossly misleading you.

Upper Laurel’s residential terrain is nothing special at all. It is, for the most part, stocked with California Bungalow style homes, probably built within the mid-20th Century (sometimes having bars on the windows). These homes are small and situated on thin (yet deep) properties with only room for a very thin driveway that usually skirts the side of the house. Many of these properties are unattended to and, as a result, gritty and unkempt. Lots are a bit blemished, with cracked cement driveways (sometimes taking up the entire front yard). Most of its mildly attractive residents are concentrated towards the northern tip of the neighborhood, but don’t get your hopes up. As a whole, house values are around $400,000.

There are also a number of apartment complexes that pepper the district. They are aesthetically no different than the homes that they surround. You will see them popping up as gritty, bland, two-story apartment homes (that concentrate towards the center of the neighborhood, especially around Maybelle Avenue). These residences only afford about four to five rooms of living space, and that’s about it. They are, as you might expect, pretty cheap costing around $1,200 a month. Also, median household incomes are around $60,000/year.

For young families, students usually attend Laurel Elementary, American Indian Public Charter School or St. Lawrence O’Toole’s, all of which are within the neighborhood. The first two schools produce middle-of-the-road reputations with its local community, but O’Toole garners somewhat porous reviews. For their shopping, MacArthur Boulevard acts as the district’s main commercial strip, but doesn’t offer anything than your typical liquor store and varied blemished store fronts.

Cornered into North Whisman Road, the Central Expressway and US Route 237, Whisman Station is the essence of community living. It is a close-knit community and provides everything from a number of different transportation options to its overall pedestrian-friendly ambiance. And while a large portion of the neighborhood was converted into an industrial parkland for Verizon, the other half is a blissful sneak peak into the future of condominium and single-family living. As a result, it is an attractive experience for those invested in their futures in the Silicon Valley area.

Whisman Stations’ residential terrain is a glimpse into modern day living. The neighborhood is saturated with newly built condominium complexes clustered together in what shapes up to be its own intimate community. Each condominium complex offers a quaint architectural style reminiscent of an old, 1950’s design and is tinted in a variety of beige that keeps a sort of homogeneous feel to the community. Each residence also offers two stories of living space with a clean-cut look to it. They are accented with tree-lined streets and small, polished front yards. However, it only yields room for narrow roads with little street parking available for visitors. But the community provides polished landscaping quarters throughout the district and a communal pool to take a dip in. For the price, condominium listings are around $400,000 to $700,000. There are also a few homes that seem to blend into the condominium-heavy neighborhood. These homes tend to be the bulky version of the condos that they lay adjacent to.

For young families, parents send their children to Landels Elementary, Crittenden Middle School and Mountain View High School. Also, there are a number of different transportation options. This list includes the light rail system in Whisman Station, which connects local residents to Silicon Valley. Elsewhere, the Mountain View Caltrain station is just up the road from the Central Expressway and is the primary line for commuters traveling up the San Francisco peninsula. If driving is your main means of transportation, the area provides quick access to nearby Highway 237 and the Central Expressway. For recreation, Chetwood Park lies within the heart of the community, giving residents a place to enjoy the outdoors, play with their family or walk your dog.

Bordered by Grant Road, Sleeper Avenue, US Route 85 and Bryant Avenue, Beverly Park is the embodiment of the 1950‘s era family-accommodating Mountain View community. The district is primarily residential with a plethora of traditional and historic homes. They are actually architecturally specific to dividend houses and the Ditz-Crane style. While some are renovated with minor tweaks, others are completely remodeled to minor remodeled to fit a more modern appeal. As a whole, the district is a fairly expensive, but you’re paying for the Mountain View location.

Waverly Park’s residential terrain is split into two very separate and distinct suburban accommodations. On one side, there are plenty of ranch homes, all of different variations. Many are of those long, one-story homes, but have significantly larger lots than what Mountain View is used to. Many lots are, indeed, accented with white picket fences or those short, thick bushes that you see on older, 1960’s properties. Also, its communal spaces are neat and orderly with trees usually lining every street (but it’s nothing too fancy).

If you head towards the southern end of the neighborhood (especially Milton Court and Waltham Street), you’ll notice a large batch of beautiful, enormous homes with elegant, traditional house fronts. While likely renovated or completely torn down and built back up again, homes are trying to slowly update its architecture and neighborhood ambiance to fit current trends in the market. As such, they have improved each lot with two-car garages, spacious driveways and two bulky stories of living space. Each home has also been treated with well-manicured properties to develop an overarching theme of family-friendliness. And like each house style, house values vary drastically in price. Some of the long, old, California ranch variety circle around $800,000, while the newer developments can run you up a good $1.5 million.

If you have a young family, the school system within the neighborhood has garnered mixed reviews. Students usually attend the Mountain View-Whisman School District, which oversees Huff Elementary, Graham Middle School and either Mountain View or Los Altos High School. To get there, people can hitch a ride on the bus routes that run through Grant Road every so often. Or if you’re from out-of-town, US Route 85 is a convenient option, connecting locals with the various surrounding highways.

For your shopping needs, El Camino Real features the only close commercial strip. The area is filled with a variety of dining options for every taste and budget, along with a couple eclectic shops and suburban businesses. For recreation, Cuesta Park skirts the northwestern corner. The lush green environment is outfitted with a couple community tennis courts, a youth baseball field and space for a couple soccer fields.

Located within Santa Clara County, the Crossing is its little own community split between residential terrain and a sizable commercial plaza. It spans less than 0.1 square miles, of which there are about a half a dozen short suburban roads. It is known primarily for encompassing the San Antonio Caltrain station, the major commuting stream for thousands of locals. But it also has a substantial community making waves with its updated housing layout and remarkably polished condominiums.

To put it bluntly, the Crossing’s residential terrain gives you a bit of a modern living experience. The living quarters, for the most part, is saturated with these elegantly designed, two to three-story condominiums tightly packed in neat little rows along short suburban streets. These condominiums are constructed in the same manner with only subtle architectural tweaks and paint jobs (shades of pink, cream and orange) for a charming communal ambiance.

Each home, however, doesn’t offer too much room for a front yard and a driveway (which typically only fits one car). Foreclosures have also ridden the area of a distinct Silicon Valley population, but have dropped median house values to a substantially affordable price. They tend to circle around $300,000 to $500,000 for the prospective resident. Also, roads around the neighborhood are pretty narrow, leaving little room for street parking. But the Crossings is very walkable, considering its proximity to the many commercial amenities.

While not too large, its shopping terrain still offers a variety of commercial options within the the neighborhood’s western limits. The area encompasses a sizable Safeway for your grocery shopping along with a couple suburban ethnic eateries. Across the street, you can find a 24-hour Fitness, a Ross, a Trader Joe’s, a Walmart and a few family-oriented restaurants that scatter the commercial plaza. While keeping its commercial availability in mind, the Crossings’s public transportation is its prime amenity. The San Antonio Caltrain offers quick transit to dozens of stops up and down the San Francisco peninsula.

For young families, the Los Altos School District serves the neighborhood. The schools include Santa rita Elementary and Egan Junior High. While the schools are closely tied to the neighborhood, both only garner moderate reviews from the local community.

Framed by US Route 85, US Route 82, Acalanes Drive and the South Bay Freeway, Sylvan Park is a step above Mountain View’s typical neighborhoods. It is a community of single-story dwellings, attractive tree-lined streets, flat residential terrain and steep sloped two-story homes. It is, however, not uncommon to see single-story homes perched next to renovated, two-story homes. Demographically speaking, the racial makeup of the district is largely diverse with an eclectic mix of ethnic families.

Sylvan Park has a wide range of housing inventory. The neighborhood is saturated with everything from ranch homes and condominiums to apartment complexes and even a couple trailer parks. Of the California ranch homes, they tend to scatter the western end. They are also of the more traditional accommodations in the area, built within the 1950’s and 1960‘s. You also have a selection of contemporary homes popping up in recent years. East Dana Street offers some of the most glamorous of the kind. They afford neatly trimmed lawns, beautiful architectural design and an overall grand aesthetic. These homes can run you as steep as $1 million (median house value is around $800,000 in the district).

If that’s above your price range, there are some bland, two-story houses concentrated towards the outskirts of the neighborhood (and eastern end specifically). Also, a few mobile home parks are exponentially cheaper, costing around $150,000, but add a sense of low brow residential ambiance to the district’s otherwise middle-class roots.

For recreation, the district actually encompasses the Sylvan Park, which lies at the heart of the community. The park includes a play area for children, a horseshoe rink, tennis courts and a picnic space for families. Also, the Sunnyvale Golf course is just a hop, skip and jump north of the neighborhood. If you’re looking into the school system, Sylvan Park is served by Mountain View-Whisman School District and Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School. Schools within the network include Slater Elementary, Crittenden Middle School and Mountain View High. All of which garner average reviews across school websites.

While freeway noise can be a bit noisy, Sylvan Park is a highly accessible neighborhood with highways located in almost every directions (and a convenient US Route 82/82 on-ramp), connecting residents up and down the San Francisco peninsula. For your commercial needs, El Camino Real offers the only sense of commercial real-estate within the area. The strip provides an assortment of suburban restaurants (with many ethnic eateries and fast food locations).

A triangularly shaped neighborhood bounded by El Monte Avenue, Mountain View Avenue and Vista Grande Avenue, St. Francis Acres is a mixed middle-class community. The area is dominated by an early wave of traditional housing, but since then, many updated and renovated homes have been popping up on the market. The community’s demographic is mostly made up of families and empty-nesters with an assortment of ethnic residents. And while it offers a pretty attractive residential terrain, the area is also within close proximity to downtown Mountain View and downtown Los Altos.

St. Francis Acres residential terrain is a mixed bag of sorts. In its communal spaces, trees serve as shaded canopies that cover the street from the sun. Almond, apricot and prune orchards saturate the area in a charming arrangement, eliciting a nice, comfortable appeal. As for its living environment, the area is largely overrun by old, long, 1950’s ranch homes and California bungalows, typical of the city. There are some charming, updated house fronts that pepper the area while others still hold that traditional, albeit outdated, feel. Lots are pretty sizable with two-car garages and deeper front yards than the city is used to. They tend to be within the price range of $800,000 to $1 million. If you’re looking to rent, there are only a number of boxy, unattractive apartment buildings tightly packed along the suburban streets.

For your commercial needs, there is a commercial strip that lines the northern end of the neighborhood. Here, you can find a couple hotels, including a Comfort Inn and a Super 8. While it does have its shopping, little traffic flows through here, except during rush hour when parents pick up their children from the local schools. Speaking of which, the community is served by the Los Altos School District and oversees Almond Elementary, Egan Junior High and Los Altos High School. The quality of schools here are, however, pretty underwhelming. They post moderately low test scores set against the California average (pretty average for Mountain View’s standards).

Bounded by Central expressway, South Shoreline Boulevard, West El Camino Real and Escuela Avenue, Shoreline West is a mixed middle-class neighborhood with a much needed facelift. It spans about 0.8 square miles of flat and affordable residential real-estate, that is, for Mountain View standards. This is due, in part, to Shoreline West’s fair share of foreclosures, something that Mountain View community is accustomed to with the recent economic downturn. But, for the most part, residences are bland and uninteresting. Its most debilitating aspect is that the neighborhood is not your typical safe, family-friendly community with crime being of relative concern.

Shoreline West’s residential terrain is a model of transparency. The neighborhood, as a whole, has an eclectic mix of residents with different incomes and ages groups. Its environment consists mostly of tawdry, mid-century California bungalows and long-standing townhouses. Most homes are of those small, boxy and single-story kind with flat topped roofs. They afford very narrow driveways and unremarkable, eyesore properties. For numbers sake, median house values circle around $700,000.

You also have a selection of ugly, two-story apartment buildings. If you head towards the northern end of the neighborhood, they have a 1980‘s, Mediterranean architectural style (somewhat unique to the community) usually of the two-bedroom assortment. Yet, they are still not becoming of the neighborhood. These tend to sell for around $450,000.

The neighborhood’s biggest luxury is its proximity to Old Mountain View’s nightlife and a plethora of assorted restaurants for every taste and budget. There is also a small commercial strip that lines El Camino Real. Within it, lies a couple hotels (Super 8, Comfort Inn, etc.), an Enterprise Rent-A-Car station and other un-notable commercial real-estate.

Demographically speaking, the neighborhood is largely diverse with plenty of immigrant families living within its borders. They tend to send their children to, in order, the Castro Elementary School, Graham Middle School and Los Altos High School. However, schools are not really recommended in the area, typically posting low scores against the California average. Furthermore, public transportation is pretty limited, and walking to school is almost out of the question.

Roughly bounded by the Central Expressway, Farley Street, West Middlefield Road and North Shoreline Boulevard, Rex Manor is a traditional and somewhat middling Mountain View community. It is almost exclusively residential, spanning about 0.6 square miles of ordinary, middle-class ambiance. The area does hold an original charm that can make Rex Manor desirable for some, but thats not the case for the younger generations soon to fill up homes within Mountain View’s rising businesses.

Rex Manor’s residential ambiance is underwhelming, at best. The area is dominated by boxy, single-story homes, most of which were built within the mid 1900‘s (and are somehow still standing). They tend to be situated on small and flat, 50’ by 115’ lots, and are usually not consistently maintained. For instance, while some are accented by white picket fences, others are blemished by chain-linked ones. Also, most of these homes afford modest community amenities including two-car garages, tree-lined streets and those thick (but trimmed) bushes you might see when you’re visiting an elder.

There are, however, a couple newly developed homes sprinkling the neighborhood, but they are far too few to make a lasting impact on the overall impression of the neighborhood. For numbers sake, house values are in the range of $500,000 to $800,000. You also have your selection of a few moderately attractive, two-story apartment buildings within pockets of the community. While they only provide minimal landscaping, they are listed at a reasonable $500,000.

Young families tend to send their children to the middle-of-the-road such as Theurkauf Elementary. Other schools within the district include Crittenden Middle School and Los Altos High School, none of which garner an above average reputation. For your shopping needs, there is a small commercial block located along Shoreline Boulevard that provides a Safeway along with some chain restaurants and fast food spots.

Nestled along US Route 85 and the Central Expressway, Old Mountain View is a lower middle to middle-class suburban area with a commercial strip and a close-knit community. It tends to have a evoke a modest living environment with its flat quarters and single-family houses. For prospective residents, homes share the same boxy looking, single-story house that doesn’t seem to escape the Mountain View community. But its main draw is Old Mountain View downtown, which offers a variety of interesting shops and dining options.

Old Mountain View’s residential terrain is nothing too exceptional. It provides a certain mid-1900’s aesthetic that only a central California community can. Many assume that it has retained its old character, while others just scoff at its outdated character. Houses tend to vary from boxy, Victorian farmhouses to a few pseudo-modern-looking, two-story homes. Each residence is issued a small patch of property, allotting room for only an even smaller grass yard (>20’ x 20’) with a narrow driveway. They afford one or two-car garages, or at times, just a thin, long driveway space. As a result, lots are usually tightly packed, and uncomfortably so, along residential streets. One thing to note is that nicer residences concentrate towards the eastern side of the district. As a whole, house values range from $600,000 to $1 million.

If you’re looking for cheaper accommodations, there are some elegant two-story condominiums that line View Street. Each has its own modern feel to it, with lots usually well-maintained and property managers acting quickly to keep communal spaces clean and neat. The median condominium price is listed around $650,000.

While not necessarily known for its residential ambiance, Old Mountain View’s nightlife and bars is the hotspot of the area. Its downtown quarters, located along the West El Camino Real commercial strip, maintain a somewhat historic ambiance with stores and restaurants for every budget and taste. You can also find a couple strip malls on the outskirts of the neighborhood (mostly along Castro Street), but it harbors the usually random suburban amenities with the exception of the Holiday Inn.

For commuters, the Mountain View Caltrain is located on the northern fringe of the neighborhood and conveniently connects residents up and down the San Francisco peninsula. Shoppers usually head to the Grant Park Plaza Shopping Center which provides a market, a Walgreens, a Rite Aid and a couple family-oriented restaurants. And let’s not forget about Mountain View’s Center for the Performing Arts, which showcasing live theatre and entertainment.

Framed by US Route 101, 85, East Middlefield Road and North Whisman Road, North Whismman is a flat and boring Mountain View community. It is almost exclusively residential, with an eclectic mix of housing inventory. For prospective residents, the area is, for the most part, an apartment home haven. You have your choice of dozens of apartment homes and complexes that you won’t know which one to pick. North Whisman is also, if you might have guessed, a blue-collar neighborhood with a diverse community of immigrant families.

North Whisman’s residential quarters are hard to define, mostly because they vary drastically in style and size. There is everything from starter homes, to sprawling, modern apartment complexes (and condominiums) to old-fashioned, single-family homes. The area is mostly dominated by old, two-story apartment homes that offer little aesthetic appeal (although some are much more polished than others). In a few complexes, you have the luxury of parking on the ground level while stairs skirt the side of the building into second floor living accommodations. Yet, the landscaping around the communal spaces for most are only a bit mildly attractive, at best.

There are a few standouts from what I have seen, specifically along Evandale Avenue. These apartment buildings offer a better outer aesthetic with some attractive architectural designs and modern appeal. They are also a bit narrow but can provide three-stories of living space. If you’re looking to own, I’d live here. But that’s if you can afford the median price of the condo/apartment home which circles around $450,000.

Of the single-family homes, they are rather old, built within the 1950’s. But some have gone under a recent transformation in the last decade to keep up with a more modern aesthetic. These homes are priced around $600,000 to $900,000, according to recent house listings.

Its only amenity is the Whisman Park, which offers a children’s playground, soccer fields, youth softball fields, an outdoor basketball court and a few tennis courts. It can be a bit noisy though, with traffic coming and going from the US Route 101 and 85 junction.

Bordered by San Antonio Road, West Middlefield Road, North Rengstorff Avenue and the Central Expressway, Monta Loma is an all-too-ordinary Mountain View community. For one, it gives off an ugly suburban ambiance that only a traditional, an old-style, anonymous suburban can. It is dominated by those uninteresting, Eichler homes that you can’t seem to get away from in the city. As a result, I couldn’t see any young families moving here, or, at least, enjoying themselves here.

Monta Loma’s flat residential terrain is underwhelming at best. Houses are usually old, boxy, constructed within the mid 20th century and are one-story in size. They are coined “California modern,” which gained popularity in the 1940‘s and 1950‘s because of their open floor design, among other things. But it has, since, lost its appeal. Properties are homogeneously square and offer the same bland, lower middle-class amenities: old-fashioned two-car garages, small front lawns and narrow and shallow driveways. And you won’t seen any luxury cars parked out front, just mostly old, raggedy cars and suburban minivans. Lots, as you might expect, are very condensed along the residential streets. Its one, of I guess, few perks are its street parking, which is easy to come by considering the roads afford plenty of width.

For the prospective resident, house values tend to be between $700,000 to $900,000. If you’re looking to rent, you have your selection of condominiums that circle around $750,000. You can find the more newly-built and refined condominiums towards the northern end of the neighborhood. They offer a Mediterranean-style unique to the district.

For your commercial needs, locals travel just down the block to the San Antonio Shopping Center, an average strip mall that hosts a Kohl’s a 24-Hour Fitness, a Walmart, a Safeway, a Target and a Trader Joe’s, a couple chain restaurants, among other things. Elsewhere, you can find the San Antonio Caltrain for those looking for public transit options. The station skirts the southern end of the neighborhood. Monta Loma students attend, in order, Monta Loma Elementary, Crittenden Middle School and Los Altos High School, all of which garner middle-of-the-road online reviews (greatschools.org).

Cornered into US Route 85 and Grand Road, Martenes / Carmelita really doesn’t have an identity. It is rather small, only encompassing about a dozen blocks of middle to upper middle-class homes. For prospective residents, there is a mix of adobe cottages with red-tilted roofs to contemporary, updated homes with a refined and polished aesthetic. There is also a mobile home park, which damages the up-and-coming reputation Martenes is trying to create. For your shopping needs, Mountain View Center and Grant Park Plaza serve as the only commercial locations with the usual strip mall amenities.

Martenes / Carmelita’s housing inventory is extremely diverse. If you drive through the community, you’ll notice the blend of old, one-story homes (although you can find a fair share of large, boxy, old homes within pockets of the community) and beautifully groomed two-story houses that are pretty well-defined in their separate locations. These newer, more elegantly designed two-story homes dominate stretches of the neighborhood, including Martens Avenue and Woodleaf Court. Properties are relatively deep here and, may I say, beautifully groomed. Some even have enough space for a three-car garage. For the price, house listings vary from $900,000 to a pricey $2 million. For cheaper accommodations, there are plenty of condominiums in the area. They tend to be listed around $800,000.

For students, families usually send their children through the Mountain View-Whisman School District and/or the Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District. While Huff Elementary School lies within the neighborhood, Graham Middle School and Mountain View High School are within close proximity. However, their scores are a bit subpar. For recreation, the Cuesta Park skirts the southwestern corner of the neighborhood. The latter of which comes complete with a children’s playground, community tennis courts, picnic areas, a youth soccer field, a volleyball court, restrooms and a peaceful path for dog walkers and strollers.

Framed by the Central Expressway, Castro Street, Jackson Street and Shoreline Boulevard, Jackson Park is a mixed bag of suburban terrain. While exclusively residential (covering just about four square blocks) the neighborhood is split between newly built and polished homes and ugly, one-story boxes, but nonetheless serve as affordable housing options. Demographically speaking, the racial makeup of the community is internationally diverse and includes such immigrant families of Spanish, Japanese and Portuguese descent.

Jackson Park’s residential quarters are a blend of the polar middle-class. As a whole, the neighborhood offers some lush green community aesthetics. But that’s about all it shares in the two extreme sides of the neighborhood. Towards the northern end, Jackson Park definitely offers the best accommodations. Here, you can find a lot of nice, pristine and two-story house fronts along Fountain Park Lane, Jackson Street and at the end of Elmwood Street. It is this part of the neighborhood that the district is primed for a face-lift as long as the other, lessor homes towards the southern side follow suit. But to me more desrcript, these southernly placed homes tend to be rather old (probably from the mid-1900’s) and are drastically substandard. Aesthetically speaking, they are small, boxy and cramped into little segments of concrete space. For the asking price, house listings within the whole area are within the range of $400,000 to $700,000.

Jackson Park is a nice central location within Mountain View. For commuters, the district is convenient to US Route 85 and Highway 101. Also, the Mountain View Caltrain skirts the southern end of the neighborhood for easy public transit. For entertainment, Jackson Park is just a short drive to the Shoreline Amphitheater, which host some of the most popular bands in the world. Residents are also within walking distance of the Old Mountain View’s abundance of restaurants and chic stores, a nice location for your commercial needs.

Young families send their children to the Mountain View-Whisman School District which covers Monta Loma Elementary, Theurkauf Elementary, Crittenden Middle School and Mountain View High School. However, this is the worst part of town to raise children, as test scores within the vicinity are extremely poor. But you do feel safe with the Mountain View Police Department adjacent to the neighborhood’s quarters.

Bordered by West El Camino Real, El Monte Avenue, Jardin Drive and Karen Way, Gemello is a peaceful, but all-too-ordinary community within the many suburbs of Mountain View. It is exclusively residential and small, only encompassing about a dozen residential streets. The neighborhood is also conveniently located near shopping and dining options, specifically downtown Mountain View and Los Altos. But unfortunately there is little else to do without going outside the district, let alone the city. But still both young professionals and families with children like to call Gemello home.

Like most of Mountain View, Gemello is flat and roughly middle-class. It affords lush, green community foliage that usually line every block. Most residential landscaping is also crisp and neatly groomed, eliciting a rather aesthetically pleasing place to live. For prospective residents, there is a mix between original homes that were built within the 1950’s and slightly larger, newer developments that approach 2,000 square feet of interior living space. Of the older homes, they are typically one-story in size and are of the California-style tract home variety that just so happens to be prevalent in almost every Mountain View neighborhood. Front lots are not shallow, but they’re not deep either. They afford a small patch of grass, a good sized driveway and a two-car garage. All-in-all, they have that dignified, traditional look that many older residents like but tends to repel younger buyers. If you’re looking to own, median house prices circle around a hefty $1 million. For renters, there is Gemello Village apartment complex (along with others) that offer clean, spacious units and pristine landscaping. Rents here are listed around $1,000 per bedroom.

Gemello’s residential amenities are substantially run-of-the-mill. For youngsters, the city is served by Bubb Elementary School, Graham Middle School and Los Altos High School. All schools report above average test scores against the California average. For commuters, the district is a great location for those traveling into Silicon Valley’s hot spots. And to run errands, most residents drive to the local strip malls of Longs Shopping Center or Gemello Village, commercial real-estate you’d still see in the 1980’s.

Framed by Grant Road, Cuesta Drive, Castro Street and East El Camino Real, Cuesta Park is a quiet, middle-of-the-road Mountain View community. It has a flat, mildly attractive outer appearance and tends to be dominated by single family homes. For your commercial needs, Grant Park Plaza and Blossom Valley Shopping are the two closest shopping areas in the district. They combine to offer a Rite Aid, a Pizza Shop and a Walgreens while across the street you can find a couple mixed restaurants. If you head towards the southern tip of the district, you’ll come across a handful of medical based facilities and anonymous, one-story commercial buildings.

Cuesta Park’s residential terrain is fixed within middle-class suburbia. While there are a wide range of home styles, most houses afford the usual middle-class amenities: a two-car garage, a modest amount of interior living space and a decent sized front yard. These parts are pretty unglamorous. While residences are shaped as small, boxy, single-story homes, they carry little to no appeal for younger generations. In fact, many of the smaller homes do not have garages, just long, narrow driveways that feed into the sides of properties. But homes tend to be a bit nicer the further south you go. Maybe that’s why median house listings are within the $1 million range. If you’re looking to rent, there are a handful of condominiums dotting the neighborhood. They tend to look a bit more modern (or at least updated) than the selection of homes. You can find them concentrated towards Boranda Avenue. The asking price for these residences sell for around $400,000 on average.

There is nothing really too substantial about this neighborhood. For recreation, you have the one luxury of having a large, 25-acre community park which offers a lot. To name a few, it provides locals with a children’s playground, community tennis courts, picnic areas, a youth soccer field, a volleyball court, restrooms and a peaceful path for dog walkers and strollers. For young families, the neighborhood is served by the Mountain View-Whisman School District which overseas Bubb Elementary School and Graham Middle School while older students attend Mountain View High School. All schools rank above average in test scores set against the city and, as a result, garner a solid reputation amongst the local community.

Bounded by US Route 85, South Knickerbocker Drive and West El Camino Real, Cuernavaca is an apartment home haven nestled deep within the suburbs of Mountain View. The neighborhood itself is relatively small, encompassing less than a dozen residential blocks. It is also almost exclusively residential and largely dominated by single-family homes. In recent years, there have been plenty of foreclosures within the area, which afford cheaper housing options, but can add to the dwindling state of the district. And as a result, the community levies in a pretty diverse crowd, consisting of everything from the retired couples to Silicon Valley professionals to young families.

While convenient to Silicon Valley and its many amenities, Cuernavaca is not really known for anything except its numerous apartment facilities and apartment homes. In fact, the community is made up of six apartment facilities, all having their own sense of style and ambiance. They differ from light brown, two-story homes covered by the trees and thick foliage to bright, multi-colored stucco three-story apartment homes. There are some nicer apartment homes situated along Cuernavaca Circulo that evoke a quaint, Spanish-style theme and afford both more livingn space and a two-story garage. Other homes consist of a more Mediterranean-style with the standard home having three to four-bedrooms and 1,500 to 2,500 sq. ft. of living space. What’s unfortunate about these residences are the number of walls you share with your neighborho (one and sometimes two walls). This, in turn, gives you little privacy. If you’re looking to own, housing units tend to range from $900,000 to $1.2 million.

There are a few amenities that Cuernavaca maintains within the neighborhood. While the community is lush with green residential aesthetic and sharp communal quarters, it is also somewhat pedestrian-friendly. Many students choose to walk to school from the neighborhood, considering Huff Elementary, Graham Middle School and Mountain View High School are all less than a mile away. For commuters, residents also have easy access to US Route 85, which just so happens to skirt the northern corner of the district. And for those visiting, you can stay at the handful of large, mid-rise hotels, which include the glamorous Hilton Garden Inn. Most of these accommodations fit along West El Camino Real.

One of the smallest neighborhoods within Mountain View, Castro City is an unattractive community with a lower middle-class appeal. Or its just easier to say that its the armpit of the city. As a result, the area only affords ugly, substandard homes and dilapidated community spaces. Its one draw is the enormous Rengstorff Park adjacent to the neighborhood. It offers lush, green aesthetics, a couple tennis courts, a youth baseball field and a fully equipped aquatics community center. Demographically speaking, there is a large hispanic and mixed race population within the district.

While only encompasses about a half dozen flat, suburban streets, Castro City’s residential terrain is a mixed bag of ugly. While the neighborhood is dotted with trees (planted on every other property), the community has its fair share of community spaces that are very seldom attended to. The area is also overrun with small, single-story cottages blemished with age. These homes usually don’t have garages, just long, narrow driveways that skirt the sides of houses. As you might expect, lots are also pretty petite and rarely well-maintained. For the prospective resident, medium home prices are around a cheap $450,000, but you get what you pay for.

For your shopping needs, there is a large commercial plaza located along West El Camino Real and north San Antonio Road. The area provides a Kohl’s retail store, a Chili’s, a Target, a 24-Hour Fitness and a Trader Joe’s, among other stores. There is also an ethnic market on the corner that adds a little spice to an otherwise dull and dreary commercial area. If you’re looking for public transportation, you can find the San Antonio Caltrain located just a couple blocks northwest of the district’s limits. The rail connects residents to other parts of Silicon Valley as well as the busy job hub of San Francisco.

Loosely bounded by South Spring Road, Covington Road, Miramonte Avenue and Marilyn Drive, Blossom Valley is a pleasant, but all-too-ordinary Mountain View community. It is almost exclusively residential and built/organized in a flat, grid-like arrangement, where streets run parallel and perpendicular to each other. For the prospective resident, there are a mixture of one and two-story homes while your shopping options are left to the Blossom Valley Shopping Center and Rancho Shopping Center, both of which are within walking distance.

There is a good sense of traditional, middle-class community within Blossom Valley. If you’re driving through the neighborhood, you’ll notice the wide, orderly streets good for street parking and the lush, green suburban foliage that lines almost every block. The area is overrun by 1950’s ranch homes and tract style developments. While some of these homes have been added onto or remodeled in one way or another, the vast majority of homes still have that outdated look that annoys younger home shoppers. For those who live here, they are afforded the typical middle-class amenities: two-car garages, moderate lot space for a small front yards and good sized driveways. House listings for the majority of these homes tend to be in the range of $900,000 to $1.2 million.

Blossom Valley is a very family-friendly neighborhood. Most families send their children to either one of the two overlapping school districts, Los Altos School District and CA-Whisman School District. The earlier consists of Springer Elementary School and Blach Middle School, which are somewhat both more respected than the Mountain View-Whisman schools of Bubb Elementary School and Graham Middle School (which skirts the northeastern corner). Older students attend Los Altos or Mountain View High School.

Bounded by Highway 880, Montague Expressway, South Main Street and the Great Mall Parkway, Pines is a small, boring community in Milpitas. It is almost exclusively residential with a blend of one and two-story, middle-class homes. Though there are some unglamorous stretches of residential real-estate, homes are mostly a bit nicer than the typical Milpitas residence. For your shopping needs, the area is just down the street from the Great Mall, an enormous shopping mall still stuck in the 1980’s. But then again, it has every commercial amenity you could want.

Pines’ residential terrain carries a traditional--albeit outdated--1980’s suburban ambiance. Homes are a bit more expensive than Milpitas’s average, circling around $600,000. Of these homes, they have been remodeled, or added onto to give a more trendier, updated feel. In fact, each residence comes with the typical middle-class amenities, including mediocre interior living quarters, two-car garages and small front lawns with trimmed bushes. Though upkeep on these houses can be a bit drastic, considering the age and weathered outdoor look. If you’re driving through the neighborhood, you’ll notice the wide roads which yield an abundance of street parking for those old, gritty cars to park along.

Pines is a very boring, uninterested neighborhood. For recreation, Pinewood Park is your only option. It lays at the heart of the community and only offers a large kids play area and a small, grassy field. Elsewhere, you can find Pearl Zanker Elementary School, which lies adjacent to the neighborhood’s quarters. And finally, the only semblance of commercial activity is situated along South Main Street. There, you can find a bike shop, an auto care center, a rent-a-car center and other such random businesses.

Situated between Highway 680 and North Milpitas Boulevard, Sunnyhills is an unpleasant, and vastly under served community within Milpitas. It is firmly gripped in the lower middle-class and has no possible redeeming quality. Its most dreadful quality is the stench from the nearby landfill that can turn off many prospective home buyers. For the prospective resident, the district is mostly overrun by ugly, one-story homes, rusty cars parked in the driveway and an overall gritty suburban complexion. In the past decade, the area has been hit hard by numerous foreclosures and has yet to rebound from it.

Sunnyhills is an almost exclusively residential, blue-collar terrain. Homes are small, boxy and one-story in size. They are situated on small, squarish properties that tend to have a raw aesthetic about them (for example, some weeds sprout up through the cracks in the cement on driveways and along the sidewalk). These properties also don’t have a lot of space. In fact, residences are packed into tight little rows along residential streets. If you’re still interested, home listings are in the range of $300,000 to $500,000, very cheap considering the vast foreclosures in the current market. But if you’re looking to rent, the neighborhood does offer a mix of attractive, colorful apartment buildings and a couple bland, beige, unattractive two-story apartment homes that both line Sunnyhills Drive.

There’s nothing at all appealing about this neighborhood. Even the small Sunnyhills Shopping Plaza (located at the corner of North Milpitas Boulevard and Dixon Landing Road) looks like an old, 1980’s strip mall that has yet to be updated. It includes the usual neighborhood essentials: a couple ethnic eateries, a Walgreens, a Dollar Store (go figure) and a market. Elsewhere, you can find a few non denominational churches dotting the area. In fact, there are two churches situated along Dixon Road--the Greater Love Church-God in Christ and St. Joseph’s Episcopal Church. Also, the Living Water Baptist Church is located on Autrey Street. For young ones, they usually attend, in order, Joseph Weller Elementary and Thomas Russell Middle School (which skirts the southern end of the neighborhood). Both have poor reputations and an ugly aesthetic about them. But its all the neighborhood can afford.

Located along Highway 680, Parktown is a traditional, uninteresting Milpitas neighborhood. It is almost exclusively residential (except for the small Northwood Shopping Plaza) and acts as a good fit for Silicon Valley commuters. And it still does have a family-friendly appeal about it, but the neighborhood incapable of climbing the ranks of lower middle-class suburbia, due, in part, to the numerous foreclosures throughout the area. But while foreclosures still remain a problem, homes sell significantly under their market value. Most households who take advantage of the low prices tend to make $90,000 in annual income.

Parktown’s residential terrain bleeds of bland, monotonous real-estate. Homes are a mixed bag of old, single-story Mediterranean architectural or long, California ranch-style, both of which are so prevalent throughout the city. Most residents are usually plotted on small, squarish properties. Each lot is given a small front yard (which is really too small to call average-looking), a two-car garage and little room for a side yard. For prospective residents, homes are usually priced around $500,000. But if you’re looking to rent, there are a number of rented homes within the district as well as a few condominiums. For the latter, they tend to be listed in the range of $200,000-$300,000, but again, they still fit the poor aesthetic of the neighborhood.

Like most of Milpitas, the stench of the local dump can be a bit of a deal breaker. And its commercial appeal is also less than great. While you have the Great Mall (a 1980‘s megamall) just on the other side of Highway 680, the Northwood Plaza is all you get. It consists of a couple eccentric shops, a few family-oriented restaurants (ethnic eateries and a Round Table Pizza), a Target and a Walgreens. Next door, you have the unexceptional strip mall of Parktown Plaza. This area affords more mixed stores, a supermarket, a Rite Aid and a fitness center. There’s also a rundown Bowling Alley along South Park Victoria Drive, while a public storage space is adjacent to that.

For young families, Mornil Middle School and Robert Randall Elementary School are just blocks off the community’s limits while both Rancho Milpitas Middle School and John Sinnott Elementary School are within the neighborhood. All four schools earn lousy test scores against other cities within the San Jose area. Elsewhere, there are a couple non denomination churches within the district. These include St. Elizabeth Church and Christ Community Church.

Nestled within the foothills of milpitas, Summitpointe is really just a golf course. The Summitpointe Golf course is a public, well-maintained 18-hole course with a hilly, challenging terrain. If you’re walking the course, you’ll notice the beautiful, panoramic view of the South Bay. It also has a short driving range (apparently you can only use your irons on the range). The area is pretty isolated, burrowed deep into the vast countryside. To get there, you have to travel along the long, windy road of Country Club Drive.

Situated just off Highway 280, California Landings is a new, fairly unique development that offers a very modern living appeal. It is small, rectangularly shaped and encompassing about a dozen short, exclusively residential neighborhood streets. While still firmly gripped in the middle-class, the neighborhood has suffered a number of foreclosures within the area. Homes are stitched closely along residential blocks, as if built on top of each other (like a condominium/townhouse city), leaving no room for side yards. These residences are also almost identical to each other in architecture, color and layout.

California Landing’s residential terrain is dominated by thin, beige, two-story starter homes with narrow front yards. Second floor windows peek over the two-car garage out front, while your interior living space stretches deep into properties. With such tight quarters, your bound to run into your neighbors every day. There are also a small community of condominiums/apartment homes set within the northern limits of the neighborhood. These residences are also packed on top of each other and rise three stories high. As a whole, residences have neat landscaping and yield nicely paved streets with lush green residential aesthetic. Its one drawback is that the community affords little space for visitor parking.

Its biggest draw is its proximity to Dixon Landing Park. The parkland hosts everything you need out of a park: a nice outdoor basketball court, a couple communal tennis courts and three youth baseball fields. Also, the community is situated close to Highway 280, which makes commuting a reasonable evil.

Cornered into Highway 280 and US Route 87, Willow Glen is its own little moderately upscale community in San Jose. It is a warm and welcoming, which is sometimes hard to come by in the city. The area hosts a somewhat pedestrian-friendly downtown community with a variety of restaurants, retain shops and chain stores. If that isn’t enough, residents are only three miles west of Downtown San Jose, the melting pot of Silicon Valley and all of its pleasures. As for its living quarters, Willow Glen hosts a rather lucrative population, but it can still drop down to lower middle-class in some less attractive areas.

Willow Glen’s residential ambiance is an ideal setting for new families. There are a number of unique and beautiful homes to choose from for the prospective resident. Many homes are of the Victorian and Spanish-style and usually built in the 1920’s and 1930’s. They are a blend of one and two stories, with some quaint and modern looking house fronts. Properties are a bit larger than the average San Jose community. Lots tend to yield lush, green tree-lined streets. If you check the housing listings, they tend to vary drastically in price from small $400,000 townhouses to large, modern style homes circling around $1.5 million. For cheaper living, there are a couple nice looking condominiums and apartment complexes situated along Fruitdale Avenue. Some are nestled behind trees with nice landscaping while others are a bit too dull and drab looking for my taste.

For your shopping needs, Downtown Willow Glen is situated on Lincoln Avenue between Willow Street and Minnesota Avenue. Here, you have your selection of sidewalk cafes, delis, boutiques, vintage shops and kids stores with strollers parked out front. And what’s great about the area is most stores and retail businesses are locally owned.

The community of Willow Glen is a fun place to live. In fact, during the holidays it is known for its yearly Christmas Tree Lights decoration tradition. Many residents participate by decorating christmas trees in their front yards, decorating them in multicolored lights which, when done completely, can be a fun place to drive through. There are also other annual street festivals and farmers markets which draw hundreds if not thousands to the neighborhoods streets. For students, many locals attend the San Jose City College, which just so happens to skirt the northern end of the neighborhood. Many students use this two-year college as a stepping stone into the University of California school system.

Bounded by Santa Clara to the north, West San Jose is a large, underwhelming neighborhood concentrated between Highway 280 and US Route 85. Although this district doesn’t wow you in any way, shape or form, it does offer some moderately priced middle-class housing. Like most San Jose neighborhoods, West San Jose is made up of a number of different micro-neighborhoods, which can make it hard to define in a single breath. There are also a large selection of markets, theaters, restaurants within at least a 5-10 minute drive.

West San Jose’s flat residential terrain is highly suburbanized. Homes are usually small, one-story in size and tightly bounded to their petite properties. They are usually of the California ranch home variety, which just so happens to be San Jose’s staple. Amenities include small grassy front yards and two-car garages (with maybe a family van parked in the driveway). Most of these housing developments were built around the 1950‘s and still maintain its traditional charm. Its largest residences, which were probably remodeled or simply added onto, are situated within the community of Rainbow. These homes typically offer two stories of living space and larger lots for families to play. For the typical asking price, homes are usually priced around $750,000 on average, but some can run you a steep $1 million plus.

While providing an adequate living atmosphere, West San Jose provides the usual modest middle-class residential amenities. For your shopping needs, there are nearby commercial/retail establishments that include Westgate Mall and El Paseo de Saratoga. The mall has a couple chain department stores, furniture outlets and large retail stores with a handful of smaller stores (Sporting goods stores, shoe sources, etc.). But that’s about it.

Silver Creek Valley is a small, but affluent, country club-type neighborhood that stretches along US Route 101. In fact, it is fairly new and is considered one of the nicest areas in San Jose. As a result, the district is firmly gripped in the upper middle-class. To get there, most locals travel through Silver Creek Valley Road, which is a long, uninhabited country road (long stretches of dead grassland and rolling hills). It nicely separates residents from the busy hustle and tussle of downtown San Jose. For prospective residents, there are some beautiful, luxury homes with decorative landscaping, but only for those who can afford it. Its most attractive luxury is the Silver Creek Valley Country Club.

Silver Creek’s residential terrain is separated into two parts, the area for luxury and the area for the simple. If you head towards the southern end of the neighborhood, homes are almost perfect , each with enormous interior living space. In fact, they span more than 4,000-5,000 square feet with 9+ rooms. The architecture is also pretty polished and reminds you of a new, revamped mediterranean style with its tilted red roofs. These properties are magnificently charming, with sculpted foliage, trimmed bushes and well-manicured front lawns. Other, more northern residences, are not as nice. These homes tend to be of San Jose’s norm. They are, however, more affordable and tend to be of the single-story California ranch variety. They offer your basic middle-class amenities with two-car garages, shallow properties and mildly attractive community spaces. If you’re looking to live within either area, house values circle around $1 million, but can go as steep as $2 million around the southern limits.

One of the best attractions of Silver Creek Valley is its prestigious Country Club--aptly named the Silver Creek Valley Country Club. It is a magnificent setting for a golf course, offering scattered lakes and breathtaking views. The course was even picked Golf Digests’ Best New Upscale Golf Course for two consecutive years and is rated 4 1/2 stars out of five on yelp.com. The club also has plenty of other amenities including a complete locker room, three different pools, a handful of lighted tennis courts and a fitness center. You can even take a load off and enjoy some fine dining in their large ball room, to which hosts its fair share of weddings, office meetings and other special events. But it is no wonder why members try to spend all of their free time here.

Located in the southern portion of San Jose, Santa Teresa is a somewhat laid back community with a very family-friendly atmosphere. It is a relatively large land area made up of a handful of micro-neighborhoods which include Martinvale, Rancho Santa Teresa, La Colina, Silver Leaf and California Maison. While split into sections, the area is primarily made up of single-family homes, which tend to fall into the affordable middle-class range. There are also a couple industrial research laboratories and office parks located along the norther fringe of the neighborhood. And while being a part of the third-largest city in California, the district employs thousands of Silicon Valley workers.

Santa Teresa’s flat suburban terrain is moderately attractive, at best. For prospective residents, the area offers a variety of one and two-story townhouses. These homes usually provide attractive house fronts, polished yards, two-car garages and enough space for two or more cars to sit in the driveway. Properties are still aligned in rows along orderly residential streets with nice little sidewalks. But people have a little bit more space on their lots than most San Jose residents. For numbers sake, median house listings are pretty affordable and run around$500,000. The community also harbors a type of elementary school zone feel, to which traffic runs pretty slowly. There are also patches of uninhabited, grassy terrain and open spaces throughout the neighborhood where mid-rise office parks might pepper the area. Residents also tend be happy about their commuting options because the US Route 85 and 101 junction connects towards the northeastern limits of the neighborhood.

While there is nothing too glamorous about the neighborhood, Santa Teresa does offer some amenities. If you like to hike, the Santa Teresa County Park skits the southern edge of the community and is populated by a wide range of wildlife. It is, however, just acres of dead grassland and scattered bushes with little aesthetic appeal. Also, the Santa Teresa Golf Course lies adjacent to the parkland. For young families, Santa Teresa hosts a handful of schools. These include Santa Teresa Elementary, Bernal Intermediate High School, which are all part of the Oak Grove School District. Students can also attend either Ann Sobrato High School or Live Oak High, depending on the their micro-neighborhood.

Rose Garden got its name from simply beautiful San Jose Municipal Rose Garden and half acre lot of romantic rose bushes. But the district has expanded in all directions since its annex into San Jose. It is now home to significant commercial real-estate along major cross streets and preserved historic residential architecture. As a whole, the district stretches about 1 square mile of mixed residential terrain. It hosts a diverse population of about 5,000 residents, of which 65% is white, 25% asian and 10% hispanic.

Bounded by Northwinchester Boulevard, Newhall Street, The Alameda and the Neglee Avenue, Rose Garden has a flat, middle-of-the-road ambiance to it. There is nothing too glamorous about its single-story homes with neat lawns but shallow front yards. Most homes are old and built during or before the 1950’s. More specifically, these homes were preserved from 1920’s and 1930’s architecture with bits of English Cotswold Cottage, Norman and Tudor design. Lots are usually pretty tiny and packed into tight little rows (with thick, bushy trees dotting each block). However, its nicer residences are situated towards the heart of the neighborhood. In fact, if you head towards the eastern side of Highway 880 around Emory Street, you’ll find some larger, two-story homes with deeper front lots and charming house fronts. For prospective residents, there are a wide range of house listings from $500,000 to $1 million (median price is $875,000). Also, median household incomes are around $75,000.

As for your commercial needs, there is an enormous shopping mall situated along Northwinchester Boulevard. Its handful of chain department stores (Nordstroms, Macy’s, etc.), fast food chains, ethnic restaurants and shops of all varieties make for convenient all-you-can-think-of-to-buy options. Shoppers have the convenience of two large parking garages situated on both ends of the mall. Winchester Shopping Plaza is situated adjacent to the mall for your small market items and drug store essentials. For young families, the San Jose Unified School District serves the neighborhood. Schools in the area include Trace Elementary, Burbank Elementary Hoover Middle School, Lincoln High School and St. Martin de Tours Catholic School. There is nothing about these schools that wow the community, but their mediocre scholastic rankings make for okay options.

Bounded by Highway 680, Highway 880, US Route 101 and Montague Expressway, North Valley is a bustling San Jose neighborhood. The district also hosts a number of differing neighborhoods, industrial zones and office parks. Although not recognized as a central commercial hub, the area employs thousands of people, pumping blood into the veins of Silicon Valley. Its big drawback is its residential life. The area consists of dozens of foreclosures, due in large park to Silicon’s direct correlation with the IT bubble burst and accompanying economic decline. As a result, many homes are sold at affordable prices, which can make North Valley a steal if you look in the right places.

While consisting of a variety of neighborhoods, North Valley is hard to define in one single breath. For prospective residents, the district is loosely middle class. You can find anything from a couple groupings of mobile homes to average-looking apartment complexes that don’t tend to tip the scale in how nice or crummy they look. Homeowners tend to live these boxy, 1950-1970 California-ranch style homes that can be a bit rundown looking. Some have these -adobe walls and red-tilted roofs that can turn homebuyers on, but small yards and stumpy driveways don’t tend to thrill. There are some well-ordereed town houses along Notting Hill, which quite frankly, might be your best bet. As for each residential asking price, apartment complexes and condominiums are priced around $400,000, give or take a $100,000, while medium house values circle around $500,000 (but can vary drastically from neighborhood to neighborhood). Of the 74,000 residents who call North Valley home, the average household tends to rake in about $83,000/year.

North Valley’s commercial real-estate is the district’s main draw. There are a few dozen office parks within the district’s bounds. However, they tend to be a bit anonymous to the local community. Most people just merely pass them by as if they’re dust on the road. Other commercial activity consists of the Great Mall (just up the road a block) and random businesses including medical equipment shops, financial advisers, auto body shops, etc. But the district as a whole looks a little drab with its handful of mediocre motels, ugly trailer parks and boxy storage facilities that pepper the community

Since the neighborhood’s large land area, North Valley ‘s academia varies by location. Most locals aren’t that thrilled with the mediocre rankings (for San Jose’s standards) it tends to get on various scholastic websites. Schools like Independence High School has not faired well. It received a 3-out-of-5 stars on greatschools.org. For entertainment, -he San Jose Municipal Golf Course lies within the district’s bounds, but it is not really well-maintained and its pretty run-of-the-mill.

Bounded by US Route 87, US Route 101 and Highway 280 and West Capitol Expressway, Fairgrounds is both a major retain haven and an extremely underwhelming residential space. As a whole, there is nothing too polished about this neighborhood. Residences are mixed bag of lower to middle-class terrain, with an emphasis on lower-class. As you might expect, the area is very diverse and is dominated by hispanic residents and immigrant families. The total population is around 43,000 with median household incomes circling around $60,000/year.

I wouldn’t really call Fairgrounds a suburb. Many deem it as a quasi-ghetto area with its tarnished reputation and gritty physical environment. But to be blunt, the district is mostly overrun with ugly residential terrain. Houses are typically small, boxy in shape and are of the 1950’s ranch home (tract home, bungalow) variety. Some properties are well-kept while others have lost their quaint appeal. They are usually tightly bounded to their lots and squeezed together in narrow rows. For numbers sake, houses tend to range from $300,000 to $600,000. If that’s too steep, there are some modest looking, two-story apartment facilities and condos located along some residential street corners. They tend to be a bit nicer, but that’s not saying much. These living facilities usually go for around $400,000.

Fairgrounds commercial quarters don’t really get that much better. Senter Road is the district’s main shopping hub, and boasts acres of commercial real-estate with all kinds of shops and retail stores. You can also find your fair share of ugly depots, abandoned warehouses, gritty auto body shops and fast food chains, nothing too pleasing to the eye. For entertainment, the Capitol 6 Drive-In Theatre is located along West Capitol Expressway, but that’s about it. Otherwise, you have to head into downtown San Jose, which is the main draw for living in this area. Its second biggest appeal is that both the Capitol Caltrain and the Tamien Caltrain are situated within the area and grant commuters easy access towards the many San Francisco peninsula stops.

Framed by the winding streets of East Capitol Expressway, Yerba Buena Road, Murillo Avenue and Tully Road, Evergreen is a mixed bag of flat residential terrain. It is one of the more comfortable neighborhoods in San Jose’s southeastern quadrant. And being a part of San Jose, the district offers a short commute to the many dining and entertainment options that the city affords. Within the neighborhood, it is considered firmly middle-class, but has been expanding in recent years with new, elegant housing developments popping up towards the eastern fringe of the neighborhood.

Evergreen’s residential ambiance is hard to define with the various micro-neighborhoods it incorporates. One and two-story homes are blended into each community. Some blocks have those nice, tree-shaded streets, while others are bare of any communal foliage. Some residents take great pride in their lots being freshly manicured, while others leave lots unattended. Homes are usually small, blocky and of the California ranch variety. Neighborhoods such as Fowler and Chaboya are the latest additions to the district adding new housing developments. These homes offer beautiful house fronts, stucco walls, wide driveways and freshly painted two-car garages. They also offer larger lots for kids to play on the front lawn. On average, homes are priced around $800,000, but newer developments can climb to over $1 million. For renters, there are some new, great-looking apartment homes and/or condominiums situated close to Abom Road. Both these quarters tend to be more family-friendly than other neighborhoods closer to US Route 101.

For youngsters, the neighborhood encompasses Evergreen Valley High School, Quimby Oak Middle School and a handful of elementary schools that dot the district. Each school has its own level of academic achievements, but most don’t go above mediocre. For your shopping needs, Eastridge Mall anchors the northwestern corner. It hosts a large variety of dining options (ethnic cuisines, pizza, fast food, etc.) and an in-house movie theater. And like most malls, there are a number of different chain restaurants and stores within the area and an enormous surrounding parking lot for convenience.

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.

Known as the East Valley or the East Side for its location, East San Jose is a diverse, intensely urbanized San Jose neighborhood. The area hosts a variety of lower-class living terrain, but is mostly filled to the brim with small homes, apartment facilities. While affordable for the modest, single-family, the district is overrun by some eyesore residences and ragtag blocks. Demographically speaking, the racial makeup of the community is predominately driven by Mexican and latino immigrants with a number of Vietnamese, Filipino and Cambodian residents.

For prospective residents, I’d seek out other locations. East San Jose isn’t really known for much except its the armpit of San Jose. But you do have a couple “micro-neighborhoods” to choose from, including King and Story, Alum Rock, East Foothills and Little Portugal. All of which offer unpleasant living quarters. Most homes are of the small, cottage variety with flat topped roofs, short driveways, small front yards and only moderately attractive yards. Some have those ugly chain-linked fences that surround their lots. For parking, residents usually have a one or two-car garage, but that doesn’t mean you won’t see a couple old, raggedy cars parked along the ragtag blocks. Its usually best to note that the closer you get to the freeways, the uglier the residences become. Medium house listings range from a meager $300,000 to $600,000, suited for young families with low incomes.

If you’re looking to shop, you do have a couple options. East San Jose provides a plethora of strip malls and outdoor shopping plazas with sizable parking lots. In fact, the Eastridge Mall is located at the corner of Tully Road and Quimby Road and offers everything from fast food to chain department stores. You can also find your fair share of ethnic restaurants and boutique stores, which suit the district’s population. Also, the district incorporates Cunningham Lake. The body of water hosts a couple running trails that follow the lake’s perimeter.

Cornered into Highway 880 and 280, Burbank is a flat, blue collar San Jose community with very little to offer. It was mostly concentrated in the Santa Clara County, but part of the neighborhood has been annexed to San Jose. While the district is largely middle-class, a couple suburban blocks are marred with ugly residences. As a result, many locals identify Burbank with the ghetto-looking part of town. For the prospective resident, it features a myriad of rundown housing options, vary little of which please the eye. Demographically speaking, the racial makeup of the community is somewhat diverse. Of the total 5,000 residents that live within the district’s bounds, over 60% white, 21% mixed race and 10% hispanic.

Burbank’s residential terrain is made up of an ugly ambiance. The northwestern corner of the neighborhood is your best bet for any redeeming family-friendly atmosphere. But for the most part, homes are usually small, single story cottages with little to no room for (unkempt) front yards. In fact, driveways are usually skinny and go deep into side properties while old, ugly cars are usually parked along the many dreary roads. House styles can vary. They are usually of the Victorian or Bungalow style, but I have seem some Deco and Craftsman peppering the area. House values for Burbank are usually affordable and estimate between $600,000 to $800,000. If these prices aren’t in your budget, you also have your selection of ugly, boxy and two-story apartment buildings dotting the community.

For young families, the district encompasses Luther Burbank School, an underwhelming K-8 school governed by the Luther Burbank School District, which has garnered three-out-of-five stars on greatschools.org. Also, San Jose City College lies adjacent to the neighborhood quarters, as does the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center. For commuters, the area grants easy access to the Highway 880/280 junction, which makes for vastly shorter commute times in any direction. But that’s about it as far as amenities go. And if you’re interested, the neighborhood’s median household income is around $70,000/year.

Framed by US Route 101, Highway 880 and Highway 280, Downtown is (as you might expect) the heart of San Jose. It is one of the most bustling metropolitan cities in the nation, encapsulating all that is new and innovative in the world of business technology. With the dozens of mid-rise commercial buildings, the area headquarters some of the most rapidly expansive businesses in the nation. This includes Adobe Systems, Cisco Systems, Hewlett-Packard and smaller, but up-and-coming tech companies. For visitors, Downtown has a myriad of fun activities from fine dining to the opera to art shows to the Children’s Discovery Museum, to the Tech Museum of Innovation and to the HP Pavilion where you can watch the San Jose Sharks play their home games.

Downtown’s residential terrain is situated within the fringe of the area and divided into smaller, micro-neighborhoods. There are a wide variety of options for the prospective resident. Many of these surrounding residential neighborhoods share an early 1900’s charm, but home styles can vary from Victorian homes, Craftsman, Mission and California Bungalow architecture. They elicit a certain modest, middle-class atmosphere, but many homes don’t sell for more than $2 million. For the renter, there are also a handful of newly constructed, high-rise condominiums and residential towers dotting the area. These can range from skinny, two-story developments nestled in the nooks and crannies of the district to towering buildings that, quite frankly, are hard to miss. If you’re looking to visit, Downtown offers plenty of lodging options including the historic De Anza Hotel and the fancy and well-known Claremont Hotel. And you’ll also be interested to know that you’ll be living amongst one of the highest educated populations in the nation.

Its easy to fall in love with San Jose’s vibrant downtown culture. The downtown quarters is host to many unique festivals, art galleries, special tech events and Farmers’ markets that fill each calendar month. As a result, visitors have a myriad of attractions to plan for. If you visit during lunch time, you’ll see the district buzzing with the business professional types heading to restaurants for every taste and budget. At around 5 o’clock, yuppies tend to gravitate towards happy hour spots (the various brew pubs and downtown bars), eliciting a lot of foot traffic. As a matter of fact, the neighborhood is very pedestrian-friendly with busy bike lanes and joggers taking up every urban route. One of the biggest perks of the neighborhood is the public, free, Wi-Fi network that spans through most of the public areas.

For the student, the district is also home to the main San Jose State campus, which enrolls 30,000 residents each semester. Many locals choose to travel by Caltrain. The rail stops just at the base of the district and connects residents to the university from various San Francisco peninsula locations.

Big enough to be its own city, Cambrian is a family-oriented, firmly middle-class San Jose community that fits more than 44,000 residents. It stretches more than four square miles of dense residential terrain, primarily hosting single family homes. However, foreclosures have pinned a stigma on the area for over a decade, hampering the district’s plans of development. Yet, the area is still reasonably safe and close to downtown San Jose, the metropolis that incorporates everything you want in a big city--fine dining, urban nightlife, towering commercial buildings and a myriad of around-the-year events.

Cambrian’s flat residential aesthetics can be a bit underwhelming. Most homes have the basic elements that encapsulate a middle-class dwelling--one-story of living space, a two-car garage (if that), a shallow front yard and a modest driveway. Home styles can vary but are typically of the California ranch variety and built between 1950-1979. They are also clumped into tight lots, except for a few residential blocks that afford more spacious properties and residences. All in all, it can be a bit boring within the neighborhood’s borders. For prospective residents, average household income circle around $100,000/year while homes range from $600,000 to $1 million, somewhat comfortable and affordable for Silicon Valley employees.

If you don’t travel into downtown, the area’s shopping options are a bit middling. Residents have just the basic essentials at their neighborhood strip malls/plazas. These usually include ethnic eatery spots, chain stores and a few markets for grocery shopping. Elsewhere, the Good Samaritan Hospital skirts the western edge of the neighborhood (close to the highway). If you’re looking into the school system, it has only taken in modest reviews. Most students attend the Union Middle School, Branham High School while others can attend Dartmouth Middle School and the two high schools within Los Gatos, the westerly neighbor of Cambrian. And finally for commuters, US Route 85 cuts through the heart of the community making for convenient transit.

Blossom Valley is a safe, family-oriented South San Jose community. It is somewhat hard to define, considering its many micro-neighborhoods that make up the district as a whole. As a result, there are a wide range of middle-class housing options, even though it seems more are more dreary than polished. The area’s biggest draw is its proximity to many large firms and tech companies such as IBM (the district’s major/largest employer).

Blossom Valley’s residential neighborhood features just middle-of-the-road community aesthetics. Though homes can be a bit reasonably priced for San Jose standards, the area has been overwhelmed by foreclosures. These homes typically consist of what’s for sale--i.e. the single-story ranch homes with properties tightly packed together along leafy suburban blocks. Most landscaping is considered neat, but a couple few have some elegantly manicured. If you stay towards the western side of the neighborhood, the area gets a bit nicer with skinny housing developments/condominiums with garage space. But on the other side of the spectrum, you have those meager looking apartment buildings that are tucked away in places you wouldn’t expect.

One of the few perks of the neighborhood is that shopping is easy to come by. There are a handful of strip malls close by (near Cambrian and Willow Glen). Also, the Westfield Mall is situated on Blossom Hill Road and offers the various department stores, chain stores, family restaurants and a fair share of boutiques/specialty shops.

For young families, there are a number of convenient parks for local hikers, fishers and swimmers. For one, the Santa Teresa County Park boasts the largest grass area in the district, offering beautiful vistas for passers-by and trails that lead into the secluded upland valleys. Elsewhere, the Blossom Valley Golf Club is situated within the confines of the community. The 18-hole Championship course has all the amenities you need including a pro shop and a clubhouse with a terrific restaurant. For commuters, both US Route 85 and 87 slice through the community and adjoin at the heart of the neighborhood.

Berryessa is a flat, highly suburbanized San Jose community stretching from Penitencia Creek Boulevard to Landess Avenue. While located along the foothills of the Diablo Range, there really is no sense of community here. For the most part, the district is imbedded in the middle-class, with stretches of boring, unpleasant blocks and underwhelming community spaces. Although on the other hand, you could say that the area provides plenty of social and economic diversity within its borders. Demographically speaking, the racial makeup of the district is largely white (over 75%), with a small hispanic minority (10%).

For the prospective resident, the neighborhood has a varied range of neighborhood residences. They provide mostly single-story homes with medium-sized lots and quasi-comfortable living space. There are a few blocks of nice, new homes that tend to be fitted along the hillside (which could be classified as the upper middle-class), while smaller tract homes are squeezed between rundown apartment buildings that are concentrated towards Highway 680. If you cross underneath the freeway, you’ll find a plethora of nicer-looking condominiums. Towards Creekside Drive (in the heart of the commuity), the neighborhood offers a couple small, but mildly attractive condos, with neat landscaping and tree-lined streets. For numbers sake, the estimated median household income is around $70,000/year, while condos and homes are an affordable $300,000. But don’t get too elated, you really don’t get much bang for your buck here

If you’re looking for shopping options, there isn’t much to brag about. Residents have their pick of a couple shabby looking strip malls with random (and hardly worth it) ethnic restaurants. There is also a Costco situated along Lundy Avenue for those wanting to buy in bulk. But most residents choose to head into downtown San Jose for nightlife and fine dining. But leave early because traffic can be a bit of a concern as well (considering the district’s proximity to highway 680). For young families, there are a few attractions that might fit your desires. The area encompasses both the Sierra Vista Open Space Preserve and the San Jose Municipal Golf Course, which tend to attract families. For students, Berryessa Union School District serves the neighborhood, but only fairly well. Or at least in comparison to other San Jose public schools within the heart of the city.

Nestled at the base of the Diablo Range foothills, Alum Rock is a modest, but comfortable residential San Jose neighborhood. It spans about 1.2 square miles of flat, middle to upper middle-class terrain stretching from Penitencia Creek Road to Story Road (north to south). Although the neighborhood is saturated with home-owners, the are has been hit hard with foreclosures in the past five years. As a result, the community has taken a step back in community aesthetics. Demographically speaking, the racial makeup is pretty diverse, and dense. Of the 15,000 residents, 42% are white, 15% are asian and 35% are of mixed race.

Alum Rock’s residential terrain is almost split into micro-neighborhoods. Towards the northern end of the district, there is a sense of polished, upper middle-class aesthetics that escape the rest of the community. Most homes are rather large, two-stories in size and have a two (sometimes three) car garage with upstair windows peaking out into the front yards. Many newer homes were built here during the Silicon Valley boom and have also aged well. There are also a couple nice, luxury cars parked out in front of every other home.

Towards the center of the neighborhood, homes are usually of the single-story ranch home style and can be rather dull and/or plain-looking. They are laid out in the same floor plan, one after another, making for a kind of suburban anonymity. These homes tend to be clustered tightly along blocks, leaving little room for spacious front lawns and other amenities. In some cases, cement driveways take up most of the front lot, which can be pretty pathetic. As a whole, typical house listings circle around $1 million, but many northern homes can go for a lot more. Estimated household incomes are around $66,000/year.

For young families, parents usually send their children to James Lick High School or Independence High School, both of which are managed under the umbrella of the East Side Union High School District. For commuters, Alum Rock is situated right next to Highway 680. Elsewhere, the San Jose County Country Club skirts the eastern border for recreation.

Located within the southern region of San Jose, Almaden Valley is an upper middle-class, open spaced neighborhood stretching from Blossom Hill Road to Harry Road. The area hosts a kind of rural and family-friendly atmosphere different than the many busy metropolitan neighborhood of San Jose. In some areas, the neighborhood offers almost perfect residential aesthetics. This is due, in part, to the many country clubs located near. As a result, Almaden Valley really gives off a sense of affluence that it might not have achieved just yet.


Situated at the base of the Santa Cruz Mountains, Almaden Valley shines as an almost exclusive residential neighborhood. Its a very large community with a total population approximating 37,000. They are usually among the various scientists, Silicon Valley executives, local professionals and athletes. For prospective residents, the area offers a comfortable living environment with lush green community aesthetics. Driving through the district you’ll find some leafy sidewalks and tree-lined streets that give off a comfortable ambiance. Houses are mixed between one and two-stories, with sizable lots, spacious driveways and two-car garages. They afford numerous new and polished homes with well-maintained front yards and trimmed landscaping. You’ll also be interested to know that the typical household rakes in around $90,000/year (due to the many singles that live in the area).


For young families, there are a variety of recreational options. Some families belong to the Almaden Country Club, which just so happens to be situated at the heart of the community, or the Almaden Quicksilver County Park, which lies adjacent to the neighborhood’s limits. If you don’t feel like forking over dues every month, there are also a number of nice-looking recreational parks for various activities (jogging, youth sports, etc.). Moreover, parents usually enroll their kids into the local Leland High School, but the institution has only garnered average reviews on greatschools.org. Many of these students also attend the nearby San Jose State University which is just so happens to be convenient trip down the road.

Nestled next to the city of Santa Clara, Airport/North San Jose is the epicenter of Silicon Valley. For the most part, the district is cut into three parts: the small San Jose Airport, which is the premiere airport within Silicon valley, the mixed residential landscape which takes up the northern end of the neighborhood and the various Silicon Valley tech companies that are headquartered within the district’s limits. Geographically speaking, the neighborhood is a skinny area of land stretching along 880 and crosses US Route 10.

North San Jose’s flat residential terrain provides a combination of suburban real-estate within the acres of commercial property. There are a large number of older homes, condos and apartment facilities, but nothing that would blow you away. Rents can be a bit on the high end, considering its prime location amongst the popular technology firms. Median listings for rents tend to be in the mid $2,000 range for a two bedroom place. The area can be convenient for commuters, with it being a highway haven and the two Caltrain stations (Santa Clara and College Park) that skirt the southern end of the neighborhood. Although residents have to deal with noise pollution from the busy highways and planes flying overhead. I’d say the district is much more suited for the single, bustling metropolitan types with heavy wallets.

North San Jose is mostly dominated by the large technology firms, large office parks and a varied drive-in workforce. The neighborhood’s largest private employer is Cisco Systems while many other smaller firms are located within its close vicinity. These smaller firms are usually housed in large, single or two-story office buildings or glamorized warehouses, each with plenty of campus space for parking and elegant landscaping. Workers are also within minutes of California’s Great America. Just one of the many perks when you live in the third-largest city in California.

Ventura is an affordable, up-and-coming Palo Alto community that is mixed between residential terrain and commercial real-estate. It is a skinny slice of land spanning about 0.4 square miles and nestled between El Camino Real and Alma Street. Most residents choose to live here either because of the district’s excellent public school system or its convenience to the shopping drag that lines El Camino Real. Demographically speaking, the area is also pretty diverse. Of the total 3,000 residents, the racial makeup is about 50% white, 20% asian and 15% hispanic.

Concentrated towards the southeastern side of the district, Ventura’s residential aesthetic combines an old-fashioned charm with a pleasant living environment. For prospective residents, there is a larger number of apartment buildings and condominiums than homes. These condominiums are often pretty attractive, usually built within the past decade or so and can sell, on average, for a reasonable $230,000. As for apartment complexes, they can be a bit dull and underwhelming but still range from a reasonable $1,400 to $1,700/month.

Houses tend to vary in age, from the 1950’s to the 1970’s. Most residences are one-story in size and were built as modest (and/or tiny) cottages, craftsman, tract or bungalow style homes with approximately 1000 square feet of living space. But many of these homes have been torn down and replaced with much larger homes, sometimes doubling in size, while others have stuck with its historic charm. For the most part, residences tend to sit on small lots with skinny driveways and little room for front lawns (some with no garages). If you’re looking for a price, house listings tend to sell for around $1 million.

Ventura, it seems, has a couple micro-neighborhoods within the district. While residences split between renters and homeowners, there is a discernible commercial hub that saturates El Camino Real. The area provides everything from fast food chains to cafes to lodging areas, but still evokes a small town feel. However, the district is within walking distance of downtown Palo Alto and Stanford University. For local commuters, a bus line traverses the street every so often, while the California Avenue Caltrain, which skirts the northern edge of the neighborhood, connects residents to neighboring San Jose.

University South is a busy, pedestrian-friendly Palo Alto neighborhood split between commercial amenities and a small town housing community. The area hosts a myriad of activities and boasts a small downtown center made up of eateries, boutique stores and mid-rise office buildings. This part of the neighborhood always seems to be buzzing with window shoppers and hungry locals looking for some fine dining. Geographically speaking, the district spans about 0.3 square miles with a dense population approaching 2,000 (predominately white).

For the prospective resident, University South has a variety of housing options. If you’re looking to own a home, a large number of residences were built during the 1930’s as well as the post-World War II era. They also tend to vary from old-style Craftsman to Queen Anne and from historical clapboard to Victorian homes. On average, house listings tend to sell for around $1.3 million. If you’re looking to rent, there are a couple more options. The area is made up of a couple beautiful mid-size and modern-looking condominiums that are hard to miss. These listings can run you up $900,000, especially along Forest Avenue. If your pockets don’t go so deep, you can choose to live in the many, more drab, two-story apartment complexes that suit the average Stanford University student. These rents typically circle around $1,500/month, but can go for a lot more.

University South’s biggest perk is its proximity to commercial real-estate. In fact, University Avenue is the district’s main shopping drag and is lined with polished local businesses, mid-rise office buildings and ground floor restaurants and boutique stores. Off of University Avenue, you can find the remnants of a small downtown shopping hub that look a little less glamorous. This also includes the old Stanford Theatre and a couple neighborhood bars and stores. Its only downside is that traffic and parking can be a bit of a hassle. But all in all, this a very desirable neighborhood for someone looking for the right balance between peace and entertainment.

Triple El is a tiny, but safe middle to upper middle-class neighborhood nestled deep into the Palo Alto suburbs. It encompasses about three blocks or 0.1 square miles of flat residential terrain, from Oregon Expressway to Embarcadero Road. For the prospective resident, the area is dominated by Eichler homes and sizable properties, which tend to be larger than the Palo Alto norm. The community also boasts a very diverse community, in which children can assimilate with other cultures at a very young age.

Although somewhat boring, Triple El’s residential ambiance evokes a comfortable living environment. If you drive through the neighborhood, you’ll notice the picturesque tree-lined streets, quiet cul-de-sacs, nicely paved roads and lush green community spaces. Newer, two-story homes (of which I would prefer) are concentrated towards the northwestern half of the community. These typically have a greater appeal and are situated on larger lots with much more room for children to roam. The other end of the neighborhood is saturated with older, mid 20th-century homes that are coined “California Modern.” These properties are lessor in size, tend to have thick bushes lining the perimeter and have those self-pull garage doors that I thought didn’t exist anymore. On average, homes sell for around an affordable $1.5 million for Palo Alto standards.

For young families, Triple El is served by the highly esteemed Palo Alto Union High School. Children attend, in order, Duveneck Elementary, Jordan Middle School and Palo Alto High School, all of which have garnered positive reviews on greatschools.org. There is also a lovely row of Chinese Elm trees situated along Elsinore Drive that adds to the diverse ambiance of this traditional neighborhood. The district is also just down the road to US Route 101, a convenient option for commuting families.

Broadly framed by Middlefield Road, Loma Verde Avenue, Alma Street and East Meadow Drive, South of Midtown is a peaceful, pedestrian-friendly Palo Alto community. It is also within minutes of the Midtown shopping district and other various Midtown conveniences and amenities. Aesthetically speaking, the district has a fairly old ambiance to it, with homes dating back to the 1930’s. Though there have been a handful of contemporary homes that have added value to the overall real-estate of South of Midtown. Also, parents send their children to local public schools that are all managed under the umbrella of the well-esteemed Palo Alto Unified School District.

South of Midtown’s residential theme is that of a pleasant, family-friendly community. It lies within the upper middle-class as a result of the neighborhood’s general wealth and ambiance. If you’re driving through the neighborhood, you’ll notice how flat and comfortable it can be. Streets are usually lined with trees, while residences sit on nice, orderly properties. Homes can range drastically in price from $1 million to $2.5 million. Most homes are single-story vintage Eichler (of the post-World War II era) described as “California Modern” Other homes have been torn down and replaced with larger, two-story starter homes with a more modern appeal for young families. The addition of these newer homes have got many concerned over the neighborhood’s historical preservation and loss of original character.

For your commercial needs, there is a shopping plaza situated along Middlefield Road which comes complete with a couple convenient stores (CVS Pharmacy and Walgreens) along with a handful of neighborhood eateries and cafes. There is also a row of churches down the street offering a number of different denominations. For young families, students typically attend El Carmelo Elementary or Fairmeadow Elementary, J.L. Stanford Middle School and Gunn High School. These schools often feed their students into the UC school system or even the prestigious, just-up-the-road Stanford University. Also, there is a child care facility that anchors the southern end of the neighborhood.

Nestled between Alma Street and El Camino Real and located on the eastern fringe of Stanford University, South Gate is a high-cost, but convenient Palo Alto community. In many ways, the neighborhood has tried to retain its old, post-World War II traditions and character. Most homes tend to identify with that mid-century ideal and aesthetic that escapes many other developing communities. Geographically speaking, the district extends about 0.1 square miles of middle to upper-middle class terrain. It is also relatively dense and boasts a diverse community. Of its 600 residents, the racial makeup of South Gate is about 60% white, 25% asian and 15% mixed race.

South Gate is an almost exclusively residential community that goes back and forth between the middle and upper middle-class. Although many homes have been added onto or remodeled in the past decade or so, most homes were built within the 1930’s and 1940’s. Some homes are relatively large (bulky two-story houses), and fitted onto tight little lots. They offer small gardens or petite front lawns that give the community a friendly appeal to visitors. These properties also yield flat, orderly roads, tasteful sidewalks and trees that pop up on every other property. For prospective residents, you’ll be interested to know that median household incomes are around $115,000/year. And for their living accommodations, homes are typically listed around $1.5 million (on par with Palo Alto’s average), while a few condominiums are priced upwards of $1.2 million.

Situated adjacent to Palo Alto High School and Stanford University, South Gate boasts many convenient amenities. For one, residents are within walking distance to the many on-campus activities of both schools. These can include sports events, theater performances and other weekly activities. Younger families also have the privilege of introducing their children to excellent education at a young age. Not only is Stanford University one of the top schools in the nation, the Palo Alto school system has garnered high academic achievement in its recent past. These amenities are the direct result of the area’s high-cost of living. Also, residents are within walking distance to the California Avenue Caltrain and a couple neighborhood eateries just down the block.

Aptly named, Professorville was once settled by Stanford University professors during the college’s first few years of existence. As years followed, new homes were being built by incoming professors, becoming a much more densely populated area as Stanford University began to expand and redevelop. Now, the district is a flourishing Palo Alto community dominated by that same traditional aesthetic, but with a variety of new homeowners. Geographically speaking, the neighborhood is very small, spanning about ten square blocks or 0.1 square miles of exclusive residential terrain. Its total population barely exceeds 600, of which is mostly white (about 80%).

For prospective residents, Professorville is a flat neighborhood that sits within the spectrum of middle to upper middle-class. The area tends to be saturated with old Dutch Colonials and Tudor Revivals, most of which were built within the 1930’s. These homes are blended between one and two-stories in size. They provide comfortable porches, sizable front lawns with neatly trimmed hedges and properties that are consistently larger than most Palo Alto communities. As for the price tag, average estimated listings are around $1.5 million, while some have been known to sell upwards of $2.6 million. Those that live within the area typically rake in around an annual income of $140,000.

Professorville has a lot of amenities. For one, its close proximity to downtown Palo Alto and Stanford University make it prime real-estate. Of the latter, residents feel relatively connected to Stanford’s rich culture and weekly on-campus activities (sports events, etc.). The neighborhood is also just down the street from the Palo Alto Caltrain, a commuting option that easily connects residents to San Francisco and San Jose. For young students, the Palo Alto Unified School District always performs high on API scores across the board. Students in the area usually attend Addison Elementary, Jordan Middle School and Palo Alto High School.

Palo Verde is a pretty drab, plain-looking middle-class community nestled at the eastern edge of the Palo Alto suburbs. In fact, it is bounded by US Route 101, Loma Verde Avenue, Middlefield Road and East Meadow Road, which pits it within walking distance of the vast San Francisco Bay. The neighborhood itself stretches about 0.6 square miles of tree-shaded streets, single-story homes and not much of anything else. Demographically speaking, the neighborhood has a large white population (70%) and a small asian minority (25%) out of the 2,500 residents who call Palo Verde home.

For those committed to living within Palo Alto, Palo Verde doesn’t scream up-and-coming. In fact, its quite the opposite. Most homes are of the one-story Eichler design, which dates back to the post-World War II era. They afford three to four bedrooms, neat properties and modest-sized lawns. Though there are a couple larger, two-story homes sprinkled throughout the area, not much has changed here since the 1950’s. For numbers sake, median house prices are estimated at around $1.2 million, just under the city’s average. But if it wasn’t clear, you don’t get too much bang for your buck. Those that live here, make about $130,000/year, a number far greater than I would have expected.

As a resident, there are a number of perks to be happy about. One if the district’s biggest luxuries is its esteemed Palo Alto Unified School District. Students within the area usually attend Palo Verde Elementary (within the neighborhood), J.L. Stanford Middle School (just down the block) and Gunn High School, all of which continuously pump students into the UC school system. The district also provides a safe and family-friendly atmosphere. The number of cul-de-sacs (which cut off through traffic) and elementary school stop/slow signs makes for a relatively sheltered community.

Situated just off Stanford’s northeast campus, Old Palo Alto is a somewhat affluent, pedestrian-friendly Palo Alto community. It is bounded by Alma Street, Oregon Expressway, Middlefield Road and Embarcadero Road, extending about 0.7 square miles of quiet residential terrain. The area is mostly filled with owner-occupied residents and young professions who feed into the San Jose job market. Demographically speaking, the area is a pretty dense and largely white community (over 80%) with a population of around 3,500.

Old Palo Alto’s residential terrain spans from the middle-class to the upper-class. As a result, the neighborhood has a wide range of house sizes and architectural styles. Its wealthier homes are typically situated within the center of the community. They offer some beautiful homes which attract young professionals and young families with deep pockets. These homes can exceed 4,000 square feet of living space, which can sometimes barely fit on its designated lot. Other homes, which tend to occupy the fringe of the neighborhood, are rather old, built during the post World War II era. Many of these homes maintain its architectural integrity and traditional (or dated?) look. As a whole, median house prices are closing in on a wealthy $1.8 million, but can reach up to $6 million. Many of these residents can afford it though, raking a yearly household income of $200,000/year.

Old Palo Alto as a whole has much larger properties than its neighbors. Lots usually afford manicured lawns and front gardens with lush green foliage elegantly placed within the yard. These properties usually yield long, wide and orderly streets with trees shading the sidewalks. The area also doesn’t get much through traffic, which harbors a safe environment for young children playing in their yards.

One of the district’s main perks is that it is so convenient to Stanford University. In fact, the neighborhood is known for housing a couple faculty members and old Stanford students. As a result, the neighborhood tends to share the same spirit and liveliness during big events and game days. Other perks include the district’s school system. Students usually attend Palo Alto High School, which has garnered high praise and rivals the high scoring Gunn High School on the other part of town. Also, California Avenue Caltrain skirts the southern end of the neighborhood and provides access to both San Francisco and San Jose.

Framed by San Antonio Road, Alma Street, Arastradero Road and West El Camino Real, Monroe Park is a pleasant and affordable, middle-class Palo Alto community. The neighborhood is fairly small, spanning about 0.3 square miles of exclusively residential terrain. The district’s proximity to commercial zones and the prestigious Stanford University make for an attractive residential experience. And while a couple apartment buildings dot the district, the area gives you a variety of living options that get you more bang for your buck than other Palo Alto communities.

Monroe Park’s residential ambiance is a quiet and safe neighborhood nestled deep into the San Francisco peninsula. And comparative to other Palo Alto neighborhoods, the community enjoys a cheaper option for potential residents and young families. If you drive through the neighborhood, you’ll notice the long, tree lined streets and quaint communal spaces. Properties are mixed between the attractive and the dull. They offer old style bungalows and 1950‘s California ranch homes on these lots while a couple waves of more modern, two-story homes have slowly crept into the neighborhood the past decade or so. These luxury homes are mostly concentrated towards Wilkie Way. If you’re looking for something cheaper, there are also a couple fresh-looking, recently built and multi-colored apartment facilities clumped around El Camino Real.

While situated along the southern fringe of Palo Alto, the area does offer a lot of amenities. For one, the the San Antonio Shopping Center sits along San Antonio Road. The shopping plaza is outfitted with a Walmart, Trader Joe’s, a 24-hour Fitness and a couple neighborhood eateries and chain restaraurants. Also, the San Antonio Caltrain station skirts the eastern end of the neighborhood and connects residents to both San Jose and San Francisco. There is also convenience to local bus lines that trek along the neighborhood’s border. But even with these option, traffic remains a problem, due in large part to the district’s department store haven. For young families, Monroe Park is served by the Los Altos school district rather than the more esteemed Palo Alto school district.

Bounded by Oregon Expressway, US Route 101, Alma Street and Loma Verde Avenue, Midtown is a relatively safe and family-friendly Palo Alto community. It is relatively large in size, stretching about 1.5 square miles of dense residential terrain (almost 10,000 residents). From the accounts of many realtors, the neighborhood offers some of the best places to call home due to its relative convenience to all things Palo Alto. It is also firmly gripped in the middle-class blanking...

Midtown is an exclusively residential, firmly middle-class community. Most homes are rather old, built during California’s staggering population boom in the 1950’s. As a result, there are still a plethora of single-story Eichler homes or what’s described as “California modern.” However, some homes have been torn down in favor of larger, two-story homes (situated along/close to Rosewood Drive). In the recent past, many older residents have feared that the neighborhood’s original character and traditional elements have been neglected over a newer, larger homes which give a certain modern, younger appeal.

As a whole, the neighborhood offers some quaint neighborhood aesthetics with fresh green foliage situated on almost every property. While properties vary in size, as do the homes themselves. That’s why housing prices are estimated between $750,000 to $2 million in price while condominiums tend to be sold for around $500,000. If you anticipate living here, median household incomes are around a lofty $110,000/year. And-according to the 2010 US Census, the neighborhood’s racial makeup is largely white (70%), with a sizable asian minority (25%).

For your commercial needs, there is a small shopping center (Midtown Shopping Center) situated along Middlefield Road. The area offers your neighborhood amenities including a Walgreens, a CVS pharmacy, a Round Table Pizza, a couple cafes and coffee shops. The neighborhood also encompasses two neighborhood parks, Greer Park and Henry Seale Park. Both offer a large soccer surface while Greer has a youth baseball field. Elsewhere, US Route 101 skirts the northern edge of the neighborhood which can make for some congested traffic around the district’s perimeter. There are also a plethora of churches with different denominations located around the eastern side of Middlefield.

Meadow Park, also known as Adobe Meadow, is a flat and very traditional-looking neighborhood nestled at the eastern end of Palo Alto. Many residents choose to move here because of the city’s excellent public school system, while others leave for greener pastures (or at least a more modern ambiance). For the perspective resident, the district offers a variety of overpriced homes which are under stringent maximum floor plan. As a result, this has inhibited its recent growth and prosperity as it relates to closer Mountain View communities.

Although a little less desirable than most Palo Alto neighborhoods, Meadow Parks does have a 1950‘s charm that hasn’t been lost on some. The area is saturated with mid-century ranch homes and two-story Eichlers. Some are plotted on some small, drab and uninteresting properties with those old, self-pull garage doors or long driveways that lead into side lots. Other properties can be shallow, but usually provide well-kept front yards that might keep retirees busy. In either case, don’t expect much bang for your buck here. Median house listings in the area are priced at around $1.1 million, while some have sold north of $2 million. The richer homes tend to congregate around Ortega Court, where a new housing development has originated.

All in all, there is nothing too glamorous about Meadow Park. Its common spaces remind you of an outdated, mid-century design, but offer clean and orderly streets. The district has a couple neighborhood perks as well, all of which are due to its location. First, the neighborhood is within minutes of the vast San Francisco Bay. Second, US Route 101 skirts the northern corner and gives quick access to commuters traveling up and down the San Francisco peninsula. And finally, the heavily-touted Google campus is just down the road from the neighborhood’s limits.

Framed by Middlefield Road, Oregon Expressway, Embarcadero Road and Louis Road, Leland Manor is an upscale, exclusively residential community set within a quiet, affluent rancher ambiance. Also, its convenience and location within Palo Alto make it a prime example of how neighborhoods can flourish given just the right chance. Geographically speaking, the neighborhood spans about 0.4 square miles with a total population just under 2,000 (fairly dense). Its residential makeup is predominately white (about 75%), while its next largest racial group is asian (20%).

To try to describe Leland Manor’s residential aesthetic would be difficult due to its wide range of house styles. For the perspective resident, homes are rather old, built between 1940-60. They afford such styles as post World War II tract homes, single-story traditional ranch homes and a handful of two-story east coast style homes that fill within pockets of the community. Residences here are no less than 18000+ feet and sit on rather sizable properties. Some are elegantly groomed, while others are fairly unattended to. For numbers sake, average estimated house values are a wealthy $1.4 million (while some can exceed $3 million). Also, the median household income is around a surprising $150,000/year.

Leland Manor is a great location amidst a busy Palo Alto city. For one, its just down the street from US Route 101. Secondly, its within minutes of the prestigious Stanford University. And finally, its recently paved streets and quaint, green community aesthetics put it within the upper echelon of Palo Alto communities. For recreation, there is a small youth sports field situated along North California Avenue. The area offers a baseball diamond and plenty of space for a couple soccer fields.

Although old fashioned, Greenmeadow is a quaint, family-friendly neighborhood that has succeeded in maintaining its historic order of the 1950’s. For perspective residents, most homes are owner-occupied, built just after World War II. They are the upward move (in price), mainly due to the public school district’s rising acclaim. The neighborhood itself spans about 0.5 square miles of dense residential terrain (total population exceeds 2,000). It is also relatively safe, on par with most other Palo Alto communities. Demographically speaking, the racial makeup is predominately white (over 65%), with a relatively sizable asian minority (20%).

Greenmeadow’s residential aesthetic mostly concerns itself with keeping with its mid-century charm. For the most part, the neighborhood is saturated with an eclectic mix of house styles from Eichler homes to long, single-story ranch houses. A couple of these homes have gone under renovation in the past couple of years, trying to elicit a more modern aesthetic to appeal to younger families. Properties are somewhat adequate, but can have shallow (sometimes garage-less) driveways with only mildly attractive front yards. Communal spaces are nothing more than orderly roads, healthy sidewalks and bushy trees popping up in every lot. If you’re looking to own a home, you’ll likely pay upwards of $1.1 million for an Eichler while condominiums are listed, on average, at $750,000.

Greenmeadow is a firmly middle-class community, only holding high praise because of the local school district. In fact, the neighborhood is served by the Palo Alto Unified School District, an area which has fostered a number of students into the UC school system and the prestigious Stanford University. For your commercial needs, a small shopping plaza is situated at the corner of Middlefield Road and East Charleston Road. The area is outfitted with a hair salon, ice cream parlor and a small food market (basically your neighborhood essentials). There is also a communal pool and park within every community clubhouse.

Stretching from El Camino Real to the Foothill Expressway, Green Acres is a calmer, more low-key community than its neighbors and just so happens to be close to downtown Palo Alto. Its residential aesthetics consist of a newer trend of homes set against a traditional, mid-century California theme. As a result, there have been a recent influx of many younger families, which has pumped some liveliness into an otherwise drab neighborhood. Geographically speaking, the area is a skinny slice of land spanning about 0.7 square miles with a high capacity of residents (2,600 total). Its racial makeup is largely white (over 60%), with a rather sizable asian minority (20%)

Green Acres residential quarters are a clash between the old and the new. For starters, the neighborhood is mixed between two-story, high-end starter homes and traditional one-story ranch homes (with a few spanish-style manors tucked away within the community). Most homes were built between the 1950‘s and 1970’s. But like I stated earlier, there have been an stream of new renovations or complete demolitions of homes, which have torn away at Green Acres’ traditional, albeit out-dated character. These renovated homes seem like luxury homes in comparison and tend to be situated on and around Pena Court. For cheaper living, there are also a couple lively and attractive condominiums around Maybell Avenue and Thain Way. For the perspective homeowner, house listings tend to circle around $1.5 million while condominiums can sell for a much cheaper $500,000. And according to the 2010 US Census, median household incomes are a wealthy $130,000/year.

Green Acres has two big perks, its convenience to commercial real-estate and its family-friendly aesthetics. First, the district is within close proximity to Downtown Palo Alto and the commercial strip of El Camino Real that skirts the easterly border. The area provides a myriad of different restaurants, small businesses and other anonymous commercial buildings. Secondly, the neighborhood is relatively safe and encompasses part of the Henry Gunn High School. The prep school is notorious for feeding a large number of students into the prestigious Stanford University. The rest of the Palo Alto Unified School District is conveniently within walking distance of Green Acres. Its one drawback is the dense amount of school zone traffic that continues to discourage the local community and perspective residents.

While keeping a kind of rural feel of isolation, Greater Miranda is one of the smallest neighborhoods in Palo Alto. In fact, it only encompasses about four residential streets (that end in cul-de-sacs) as well as part of the Alta Mesa Cemetery. Its best attribute is its proximity to the Palo Alto Unified School District (and Stanford University) which ranks as one of the best along the San Francisco peninsula. As a result, the school system has raised the price in real-estate dramatically, but has done little in actually improving the aesthetic nature of the neighborhood.

Greater Miranda’s residential terrain has a bit of a muddled Palo Alto feel to it. Though in the past couple of years an influx of young families have slowly crept into the neighborhood, filling elementary and middle school classrooms to the brim. For numbers sake, the average house prices are estimated at an expensive $1.3 million while some homes have sold for about $3 million (little bang for a lot of buck). Geographically speaking, Greater Miranda is situated along Arastadero Road and Foothill expressway, adjacent to the Henry Gunn High School. The prep school is known for feeding the largest number of students into Stanford University.

Greater Miranda isn’t really known for much. That might be because the Alta Mesa Cemetery takes up most of the land area. The non-denominational cemetery is somewhat isolated from the public, hidden behind a fence and heavy foliage. The area itself spans 72 acres and is the location where Steve Jobs was laid to rest. Elsewhere, the neighborhood is situated just down the block of a Palo Alto satellite hospital.

Situated between Alma Street and Middlefield Road, Fairmeadow is a less than glamorous middle to lower middle-class Palo Alto community. It spans about 0.25 square miles of a densely populated neighborhood (population: 1,000). As a whole, the district has an old, traditional appeal to it, which can be off putting to some young professionals and families, but still maintains that sort of mid-century charm. Demographically speaking, the racial makeup is largely white (almost 75%), with a rather sizable asian minority.

Fairmeadow’s residential quarters are blended between owner-occupied residences and rental friendly condos and apartment buildings. Its overarching theme seems to be imbedded in the high-design of the 1950’s suburban development model of California ranch homes and Eichlers. But unlike most old neighborhoods, Fairmeadow residences have undergone a lack of redevelopment, eliciting an aged and decaying sense of style. Moreover, most of these homes are situated on ignored and unkempt properties. As for its communal spaces, the neighborhood’s roads are designed in concentric circles with lush, green bushes lining each block. In turn, this provides a quiet and safe area for children to play outdoors.

For young families, Fairmeadow has a great public school system. In fact, Fairmeadow Elementary School has garnered a 5-out-of-5 stars on greatschools.org. Moreover, the neighborhood encompasses Jane Lathrop Stanford Middle School and Herbert Hoover Elementary School, both under the leadership of the praised Palo Alto Unified School District. For your commercial needs, the mid-town shopping area is within walking distance and provides a small market, a coffee shop, a couple local businesses and some smaller stores for your household essentials.

Framed by Alma Street, Page Mill Road, El Camino Real and Park Avenue, Evergreen Park is split between a modest, strictly middle-class community and a small commercial hub. It spans 0.3 square miles of busy/dense residential terrain, but does share its western border with the prestigious Stanford University. For perspective residents, homes were built from the 1950’s to the most recent developments popping up within the last two decades. There is also your choice of condominium and apartment complex living. And not that anyone notices, but the neighborhood is the epicenter of Palo Alto’s local government.

Evergreen Park’s residential aesthetics are somewhat unglamorous. For the most part, the neighborhood is outfitted with either small, single-story cottages or bland two-story condominiums, both with little family-friendly appeal. They usually sit on long, narrow properties that afford little to no space rather than a shallow driveway and a small grassy yard. There are a couple larger homes sprinkled throughout, but they’re few and far between while condominiums are only concentrated along Sheridan and Grant Avenue. Prices for these residences tend to circle around $1.5 million for homeowners and $550,000 for a typical condo.

For your commercial needs, there is a small shopping strip that lines South California Avenue that elicits a kind of small-town feeling. Here you can find a number of different eateries, sandwich shops, small cafes and a few places for lodging. There are also a couple mildly attractive, anonymous, mid-rise office buildings that dot the area. If you’re looking for local transportation, a bus line travels down California Avenue and connects residents to destinations around town. Elsewhere, the California Avenue Caltrain station skirts the district’s northern limits for more long-distance travel. These options might help considering street parking can be a bit hard to come by (especially the closer you get to downtown).

Esther Clark Park is a ritzy, secluded neighborhood nestled deep into the Palo Alto countryside. It is also very small, spanning about 0.4 square miles of leafy residential terrain. The neighborhood itself is somewhat spread out, with luxurious dream homes (and their elaborate properties) dotting the neighborhood that stretches along Palo Alto’s rolling hills. In fact, many homes are either separated by acres of lush green foliage or situated along cul-de-sacs, making for a quiet, serene environment that’s hard to find in the city.

Cornered into Arastradero Road and Foothill Expressway, Esther Clark Park is an upper middle-class, exclusively residential neighborhood. It consists of a blend of starter homes and large, staggering mansions. Styles for these residences include mid-century ranch homes, mediterranean mansions and modern (arc deco) houses. They tend to be situated on enormous properties, some stretching for 20+ acres. With so much space (and money), homeowners have a lot of options to beautify their lots. Some homes have deep, elaborate front yards with tasteful gardening and three-car garages, while others have half circle driveways and maybe a private tennis court/pool in the backyard. Yet, homes like these don’t come cheap. Median house listings are from $2 million to $5.5 million.

For young families, Esther Clark Park is connected to one of the best public school districts along the San Francisco peninsula. The neighborhood is served by the Palo Alto Unified School District which includes Nixon Elementary School, Terman Middle School and Gunn High School. All of these schools have tested high on IP tests and come heavily regarded by the local community. Elsewhere, the district is surrounded by a satellite Palo Alto hospital, the local high school, a large grassy knoll that includes a soccer field and the Alta Mesa Cemetary.

Duveneck, also known as St. Francis, is a lush green, middle-class Palo Alto community nestled against US Route 101. It stretches about 0.5 square miles of highly dense residential terrain, but it is within minutes of the San Francisco peninsula. For the most part, the neighborhood is saturated with quiet neighborhood streets, single-story homes and leafy residential aesthetics. Demographically speaking, the community is largely white (over 75%) with a total population of over 2,500.

Duveneck’s residential quarters offer some slightly more affordable residences than most other Palo Alto communities. For the perspective resident, there are a couple modern-looking homes tucked away between the more traditional, ranch-style homes. But even the older homes have been revamped with a second story or extended to the edge of its properties. These homes tend to be situated towards the northern end of the community. As for their properties, they are mostly shallow, but are usually elegantly maintained with trimmed lawns and primped bushes. For numbers sake, median house listings are around $1.3 million, slightly below average for Palo Alto. Moreover, the typical household income is an unassuming $185,000/year.

If you’re looking to live within Palo Alto, you can’t really go wrong with Duveneck. The area is saturated with orderly streets, pleasant greenery/foliage and bushy oak trees lining the street. Its also one of the more convenient city neighborhoods with US Route 101 edging the neighborhood. The highway makes commuting to San Jose and parts of San Francisco of relative ease. And for the young families, St. Francis students have a variety of outstanding private and public schools to work with.

Framed by Middlefield Road, University Avenue, Alma Street and Palo Alto Avenue, Downtown North is a very dense, pedestrian-friendly Palo Alto community. It is almost exclusively residential and spans about 0.25 square miles. For the perspective resident, the district is one of the most urban neighborhood’s of Palo Alto and, as a result, is one of the most economically diverse. Median household incomes are around $82,000/year, but vary drastically in range as seen by the variety of housing options. Demographically speaking, the community holds about 2,500 residents, most of which are of a white background.

Downtown North’s residential aesthetics are a mix between a number of condominiums, mid-rise studio apartments and charming bungalows. If you’re looking to become a homeowner, the area is mixed between one and two-story homes, usually fitted on tight lots with shallow, not too glamorous front yards and old front porches reminding you of more traditional times. Estimated house prices are up to a pricey $1.3 million, which doesn’t really make sense to me. For renters, there are a handful of condominiums priced around $650,000 while rents tend to be in the range of $1,200 to $1,600/month (for the large number of modest duplex apartment buildings). In the last two decades, however, there have been a couple newly built, high density homes with a nice modern appeal to them.

Downtown North has a sense of small town feel to it. For one, the neighborhood deals with pesky traffic issues and lack of street parking. But on the other hand, the area is pretty convenient to Stanford University and downtown Palo Alto. There is also a small commercial strip that lines University Avenue that provides the neighborhood essentials (i.e. drug store, coffee shop, hardware store, banks, a couple neighborhood eateries, the Stanford Theatre and a large parking structure). And for commuters, Palo Alto Caltrain station anchors the southern end of the neighborhood.

Crescent Park is a quiet, comfortable and family-friendly Palo Alto community situated between US Route 101 and Middlefield Road. It stretches about 0.7 square miles with a population just under 4,000, making for a pretty dense, urban sprawl. However, the community is known for its pricey living quarters, mostly because the Palo Alto school’s system has garnered high academic achievements in the last decade. And finally, its proximity to downtown Palo Alto, US Route 101 and Stanford University make for a great location for many young families and professionals.

While exclusively residential, realtors contend that Crescent Park is the hottest real-estate market in the city. The district itself boasts a balance between old and new homes and a variety of house styles. These include everything from Mediterranean, Early Californian, Monterey Colonial and Victorian style homes. There are also larger, more two-story homes sprinkled throughout the district than other Palo Alto communities. For perspective residents, houses tend to be situated on some attractive 20,000 square foot properties with either a two-car garage or a driveway that runs deep into side yards. They’re usually listed in the low $2 million, while rents can set you back a not-so-cheap $2,000/month. However, most families can afford the high prices, usually raking in a annual household salary of $185,000.

Crescent Park is outfitted with a lot of amenities. Its flat living quarters, orderly sidewalks and heavy foliage (that line the street) all exude a sense of calmness and tranquility that usually eludes most Palo Alto communities. For your commercial needs, a large retail shopping plaza is located just adjacent to US Route 101. The area is outfitted with an IKEA, a Nordstrom, a sporting goods store and a couple neighborhood restaurants.

College Terrace is an exclusively residential, pedestrian friendly community at the foot of the prestigious Stanford University. As a result, it is an enormously convenient location for both students and young families who like to stay connected to the university’s rich culture and campus events. Geographically speaking, the neighborhood spans about twelve blocks lengthwise and two blocks widthwise, stretching from Alma Street all the way to Junipero Serra Boulevard (1.2 square miles). Moreover, the streets are named after prominent Ivy League universities, which include Princeton, Yale, Cornell, Harvard, Dartmouth and Columbia. College Terrace also has a sprawling population of about 5,000 residents. Its racial makeup consists of mostly white residents (75%), but with a sizable asian minority (23%).

College Terrace is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Palo Alto, and has garnered a rich history and tradition. For the perspective resident, the district is mixed between relatively small one and two story homes. They usually range in age and style as well, with a plethora of small, single-story cottages built after World War II to other (larger) beautiful Victorian homes constructed up to the late 1980’s. However, these newer developments have been a concern for older residents, who wish to keep the traditional prestige and visual character intact. Properties also very in size and aesthetic. Most homes are situated on small, but tidy properties with either two-car garages or long driveways that run deep into side lots. For numbers sake, median house values are estimated at about $1.2 million, but can climb to as much as $2.5 million. There are also a good number of condominiums and apartment buildings, usually set aside for students. Rents are typically in the range of $1,300/month.

While not the nicest looking neighborhood, College Terrace is a pretty busy area. It has everything from flat, tree-lined streets that shade sidewalks to a downplayed religious fervor. In fact, there are three churches within the neighborhood’s limits. These include the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Sains, The Chabad House and the University Church (Episcopal Lutheran Campus Ministry). Elsewhere, you can find three small parks within the area: Donaldina Cameron Park, William Werry Park and Frederick Weisshaar Park.

Cornered into Middlefield Road and Embarcadero Road, Palo Alto’s Community Center is a close-knit, middle-class community with a family-friendly appeal. It spans about 0.4 square miles of dense residential terrain with a total population approaching 2,000. Its few perks include its proximity to the community-based attractions, its central location in Palo Alto and its reasonable distance to the many happenings of Stanford University. Demographically speaking, the racial makeup of the neighborhood is overwhelmingly white (over 80%), while the minority is mixed between asian and hispanic residents.

Although a bit drab, Community Center’s residential aesthetics are a step above most Palo Alto communities. If you’re driving through the neighborhood, you’ll find it’s a clean and quiet neighborhood with wide, orderly streets and leafy properties. In fact, its bushy trees tend to overhang onto streets making for a relatively shady neighborhood. For the perspective resident, most homes are rather old, built between 1930 and 1960. They are also mixed between one and two-story homes, with relatively attractive house fronts (although there are a fair share of shabby looking residences). Residences usually sit on somewhat sizable lots (for Palo Alto) with trimmed lawns and primped bushes. They tend to sell around a pricey $1.5 million, but homes have sold for over $4 million before. As for the typical resident, he or she lives in a household that rakes in around a wealthy $175,000/year.

While it might be a little unexpected, Community Center sits within a desirable real-estate market, mostly due to Palo alto’s fine public school system (Palo Alto Unified School District). The district includes such schools as Walter Hays or Duveneck Elementary School, Jordan Middle School and Palo Alto High School. Also, the district offers the Children’s Theater, Walter Hays Kids’ Club and Art Center all within the community’s recreation center. And finally, the neighborhood is within walking distance to Downtown Palo Alto (coffee shops and retail stores) and close proximity to US Route 101. As a result from all these amenities, Community Center has become an attractive option for young families.

Bounded by El Camino Real, West Charleston Road and Alma Street, Charleston Meadows is a pleasant, somewhat family-oriented community situated within the dense residential makeup of Palo Alto. It boasts a somewhat traditional, mild-mannered theme with bushy residential aesthetics, orderly roads and clean sidewalks. The area roughly spans about 0.4 square miles with a total population just exceeding over 2,000. Demographically speaking, the community is largely white (70%) with a somewhat sizable asian minority (25%)

Charleston Meadows is firmly gripped in middle-class monotony. The area is saturated with old, mid-century homes and tends to take pride in its unglamorous, historic roots. There are also a couple ordinary and modest-looking apartment buildings/complexes that dot the area (especially around James Road). And while there have been tempered discussions about future redevelopment, there have been other homes that have been added onto or replaced completely with Mediterranean-style residences. But this still doesn’t make up for the lack of character and identity. For numbers sake, median house values are a pricey $1 million, while condominiums can run you a cheaper $500,000. Rents tend to be in the range of $1,400 to $1,600/month. And according to the 2010 US Census, the typical household rakes in an unexpected $100,000/year.

Although not the most glamorous place to live, Charleston Meadows is a somewhat desirable location for young couples and new families. For one, the district is within walking distance to Jane Lathrop Stanford Middle School and Herbert Hoover Elementary School. Both schools have been awarded high honors for their academic achievements and are well-received by the local community. For local commuters, a bus line treks through both West Charleston Road and El Camino Real every so often. Also, the neighborhood is about equidistant to US Route 101 and Highway 280. There are also a couple neighborhood eateries that line the busy El Camino Real, the central commercial strip of Palo Alto. But again, nothing too glamorous.

Framed by East Charleston Road, Middlefield Road and San Antonio Road, Charleston Gardens is a small, flat and modest residential space in the heart of Palo Alto. There’s not much to know about this community, except for its middle-class roots which include an old residential aesthetic with wide, orderly roads and underwhelming homes. It is, however, convenient to a lot of things, including US Route 101, Costco and the many schools that make up the Palo Alto Unified School District.

Charleston Gardens is an all residential neighborhood fitted within three residential streets. In fact, its one of the smallest neighborhoods (if you can even call it that) in all of Palo Alto. While the community can be a bit off-putting for some (as if it was still stuck in the 1950’s), most homes are small and try to retain the character and charm of its mid-century past. But as a result, many of these homes can require an enormous amount of maintenance and upkeep. Properties are nothing glamorous too. There can be a bit of a raggedy feel for some, but most lots have manicured lawns and keep their spaces tidy. For numbers sake, the typical house listing is within the $900,000 to $1.5 million range while median prices for a condominium are a reasonable $700,000.

Charleston Gardens’ most desirable characteristic lies within its public school system--the Palo Alto Unified School District. The school system holds a top-tier educational program for its young families and has been routinely recognized as one of the best along the San Francisco peninsula. These schools include Herbert Hoover Elementary School, Jane Lathrop Stanford Middle School and Gunn High School. And with the University of Stanford just up the way, its no wonder these schools maintain such high academic esteem. For commuters, the district is convenient to local transportation as bus routes run through Middlefield Road and East Charleston Road. Elsewhere there is a small shopping plaza that lies adjacent to the neighborhood’s limits. The small neighborhood plaza includes an ice cream shack, a small market, a hair salon and a coffee shop.

There’s nothing too interesting about Barron Park. For the most part, it’s your typical run-of-the-mill, middle-class community with old-fashioned residential accommodations and not much else. Geographically speaking, the district stretches about 0.75 square miles of fairly dense residential terrain. But this is to be expected with the neighborhood situated along El Camino Real, the main commercial zone of Palo Alto. And with its convenience to popular job hubs of San Jose and Mountain View, the area has garnered attention from young professionals looking to upstart their career.

If you’re just passing through, Barron Park’s residential aesthetics are somewhat dull and unappealing. Residences are mostly single story residences with shallow front yards and mildly charming house fronts. Most homes were built during the mid 20th century and still maintain an old-fashioned (somewhat outdated) aesthetic. However, newer, more attractive starter homes and/or remodeled houses have been popping up in the neighborhood in recent years combatting that traditional look that has plagued the area for so long. For parking, properties usually accommodate two-car garages and enough driveway space to hold two more cars. And lots are usually well-maintained, with small front lawns and bushy common areas. For the perspective resident, median house prices are estimated at around $1.2 million, but can sell for as high as $2.8 million. Those who can afford it typically rake in an annual household income of $115,000.

Barron Park offers a more rural way of life compared to most Palo Alto communities. While its proximity to Stanford University does provide a wealth of fun activities, the district maintains a pretty quiet and calm sense of lifestyle. For young families, Barron Park is within walking distance to all four local public schools, especially with the re-opening of Terron Middle School in 2006. For older students, the Henry M. Gunn High School skirts the southern border and has gained some positive notoriety with the local community.

Formerly the grounds of the Tobin Clark Family Estate, this district is an affluent, well-connected neighborhood located within the southern reaches of the Hillsborough community. To be blunt, it is close to everything, from Aragon High School, to the College of San Mateo to the Peninsula Golf Course and Country Club. And it also consists of large homes and quaint residential terrain. Geographically speaking, the area stretches about 0.75 square miles of very scare residential terrain. In fact, the total population barely exceeds 1,000 residents (split evenly between white and asian backgrounds).

Although next to nearly everything you need, Tobin Clark Estate is an exclusively residential neighborhood. Homes are pretty enormous, typically offering somewhere around 4,500 square feet of living area which usually includes 10+ rooms. Most of these homes were built after the 1970’s, the approximate time when the Tobin Clark Estate was broken up into segments and sold as separate properties. As a result, the district’s homes are a bit newer than the typically Hillsborough community. Some of these homes were built along the hillside, affording beautiful views of the woodsy canyons down below. Others just have that well-to-do country charm that Hillsborough is candidly known for. As for perspective residents, homes tend to follow one specific rule: if it looks newer, chances are its bigger and more expensive. Median house prices are estimated at around $1.7 million, but its not uncommon for homes to sell for as much as $5 million. Furthermore, the typical household rakes in a wealthy $200,000/year.

Tobin Clark Estate is one of the most well-connected Hillsborough communities. I say this because the US Route 92‘s on-ramp is situated within a block away and runs north and south. The highway connects residents to the more frequented Highway 280 and US Route 101. Also, Downtown San Mateo is also within reach and provides all your shopping and dining needs. For young families, both Aragon High School and College of San Mateo skirt the neighborhood’s borders. The latter of which is a 2-year community college that serves San Mateo County residents. And finally, Peninsula Golf Course and Country Club is within the district’s limits and is a traditional, family-oriented, full-service club with a handful of tennis courts.