Best Places to Trick-or-Treat in San Jose
Do you know the way to San Jose? Singer Dionne Warwick seemed to know and rode that 1968 song all the way to a top 10 hit. We will try not to break into song and dance over San Jose, CA, but it does have a lot going for it:
- It’s considered the heart of Silicon Valley
- It’s home to lots of high-tech companies such as Adobe, Cisco, and eBay
- That crazy Winchester House is located there
- It’s the 10th largest city in the U.S.
And now… drumroll… it’s been named the fourth-best city in the U.S. for trick-or-treating!
That’s right - San Jose ranks 4th out of 20 top cities chosen in the second annual Zillow Trick-or-Treat Housing Index, which is a fancy way of saying these cities and their respective neighborhoods have been selected as the best places to stock up on candy, candy and more candy for Halloween 2010. Plus, within San Jose, we have chosen five neighborhoods that our analysis shows are the best to take the kids trick-or-treating.
Top 5 San Jose Neighborhoods to Trick-or-Treat in 2010:
Methodology
There is a common belief that wealthy neighborhoods are the Holy Grail for harvesting the most Halloween candy. However, to provide a more holistic approach to trick-or-treating, the Zillow Trick-or-Treat Housing Index was calculated using four equally weighted data variables: Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI), population density, Walk Score and local crime data from Relocation Essentials. Based on those variables, the Index represents neighborhoods that will provide the most candy, with the least walking and safety risks. Data variances between 2009 and 2010 rankings can be the result of changes in home values and local crime data.
About San Jose’s Best Trick-or-Treat Neighborhoods
Family oriented Cambrian Park is a neighborhood slightly southwest of San Jose, boasting tree-lined streets, walkability and low crime, making this a desirable area for kids to get out in force on Halloween. And while many other parts of California continue to be hit hard by the real estate meltdown, Cambrian Park’s Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI) of $610,900 has improved by 8.5% year-over-year. Since Cambrian Park is one of the older communities in San Jose, homes are a mixture of older charm and newer townhouses. (Flickr photo: hmdavid)
Closer to San Jose’s city center is Willow Glen, which considers itself a small town with charming shops, cafes and bookstores along the Lincoln Avenue business district which is the heart and soul of the neighborhood. Home prices here are a bit higher than Cambrian Park; the Zillow Home Value Index for Willow Glen is currently $623,600 and has enjoyed a 4.7% year-over-year increase.
Appropriately named, the Rose Garden neighborhood has as its jewel a 5.5-acre Municipal Rose Garden that is filled with 4,000 rose shrubs and 189 varieties. But the kids won’t be wandering through the rose gardens during Halloween — they will be wandering through the Rose Garden neighborhood that is comprised of a mixture of home styles, including Victorians, ranchers, pre-World War I Craftsman bungalows and revival styles of the 1920s and 1930s. Rose Garden currently has a ZHVI of $554,300, which is a 0.2% year-over-year increase.
Almaden Valley (usually just called Almaden) is a tight-knit bedroom community considered to be upper-middle class and home to high-tech executives, professionals, scientists, and professional athletes. Almaden Valley’s current ZHVI is $861,500 and realized a 6.9% year-over-year increase in home values.
Last is Santa Teresa, a predominately suburban neighborhood with the distinction of being home to the historic Bernal-Gulnac-Joice Ranch, which produced and provided fruit, dairy products, and spring water to nearby homes and neighborhoods and as far away as downtown San Jose. Today, it is a Santa Clara County park with hiking trails and recreational activities. Santa Teresa currently has a ZHVI of $495,100.
> See San Jose homes for sale
> See San Jose home values
Next: See Best Places to Trick-or-Treat in Denver
Responses (12)