9.2 out of 10

Willow Glen

Ranked 1st best neighborhood in San Jose
37.2960364566032 -121.90718291177
Great for
  • Clean & Green
  • Resale or Rental Value
  • Internet Access
  • Safe & Sound
  • Pest Free
Not great for
  • No ratings yet
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  •  
  •  
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Who lives here?
  • Professionals
  • Families with kids
  • Retirees
  • Singles
  • Students

Reviews

sd5 sd5
5/5 rating details
  • Neighborly Spirit 5/5
  • Safe & Sound 5/5
  • Clean & Green 5/5
  • Pest Free 5/5
  • Peace & Quiet 5/5
  • Eating Out 5/5
  • Nightlife 5/5
  • Parks & Recreation 5/5
  • Shopping Options 5/5
  • Gym & Fitness 5/5
  • Internet Access 5/5
  • Lack of Traffic 5/5
  • Parking 5/5
  • Cost of Living 1/5
  • Resale or Rental Value 5/5
  • Public Transport 5/5
  • Medical Facilities 5/5
  • Schools 4/5
  • Childcare 5/5
2yrs+

"Green, Clean and Beautiful Area with a wonderful Neighborly Spirit"

Everything here is a positive except for the cost of renting/buying a home. One of the priciest neighborhood in San Jose. That is the only con. Other than that you'll love everything about Willow Glen. Prime location for most of the tech companies (eBay, Paypal, Adobe, Upcoming Google campus) in the area and still quiet and peaceful. This is one of the most desirable neighborhoods in the valley. You need to visit to know what willow glen living is all about.
Pros
  • Neighborly Spirit
  • Peaceful
  • Upscale Living Style
  • Close to Downtown
  • Good Night Life and Restaurants
  • Variety of Home Styles
Cons
  • Expensive
Recommended for
  • Professionals
  • Families with kids
  • Retirees
4/5 rating details
  • Neighborly Spirit 2/5
  • Safe & Sound 4/5
  • Clean & Green 4/5
  • Pest Free 3/5
  • Peace & Quiet 3/5
  • Eating Out 3/5
  • Nightlife 1/5
  • Parks & Recreation 3/5
  • Shopping Options 1/5
  • Gym & Fitness 1/5
  • Internet Access 3/5
  • Lack of Traffic 1/5
  • Parking 1/5
  • Cost of Living 1/5
  • Resale or Rental Value 5/5
  • Public Transport 1/5
  • Medical Facilities 1/5
  • Schools 4/5
  • Childcare 1/5
2yrs+

"Great huge single story homes with amazing landscaping."

I love the parts of Willow Glen with it's huge single story homes and large yards - for the most part. Unfortunately, some of Willow Glen has super small lots that border downtown. Shopping isn't abundant, but it is quieter than most neighborhoods. It's super close to downtown so a lack of public transportation isn't a problem. Resale value is high here and the trees are mature. A great part of San Jose.
Pros
  • Close to Downtown
Cons
  • Inconvenient
  • Expensive
  • Average Schools
Recommended for
  • Professionals
  • Singles
  • Retirees
  • LGBT+
4/5 rating details
  • Neighborly Spirit 4/5
  • Safe & Sound 4/5
  • Clean & Green 3/5
  • Peace & Quiet 4/5
  • Nightlife 3/5
  • Shopping Options 4/5
  • Cost of Living 4/5
2yrs+

"Upscale, upper middle-class"

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.
Pros
  • Close to Downtown
  • Good Night Life and Restaurants
  • Variety of Home Styles
Cons
  • Expensive
Recommended for
  • Professionals
  • Singles
  • Families with kids
  • Retirees
  • Students
  • Trendy & Stylish
4/5 rating details
  • Neighborly Spirit 4/5
  • Safe & Sound 3/5
  • Clean & Green 4/5
  • Pest Free 4/5
  • Peace & Quiet 3/5
  • Eating Out 4/5
  • Nightlife 4/5
  • Parks & Recreation 4/5
  • Shopping Options 4/5
  • Gym & Fitness 4/5
  • Internet Access 5/5
  • Lack of Traffic 4/5
  • Parking 3/5
  • Cost of Living 2/5
  • Resale or Rental Value 4/5
  • Public Transport 4/5
  • Medical Facilities 5/5
  • Schools 3/5
  • Childcare 4/5
2yrs+

"San Joses Most Single Friendly Neighborhood"

Willow Glen, San Jose is, perhaps the oldest residential section of the San Jose. In the northeastern part of this neighborhood you will find homes dating back to the early 1900’s. Basically that means lots of California bungalows as they are known.

Throughout the rest of Willow Glen, however, the most common kind of houses are large luxurious Ranch homes dating to the 1950’s. If you liked the neighborhood in Leave It to Beaver, you will fall in love with the main section of Willow Glen.

Homes from the 1950’s make up more than a quarter of the homes in Willow Glen, with another quarter dating from the 1960’s and 70’s. Less than a quarter of the homes here are from after 1980.

There are some really amazing micro neighborhoods in Willow Glen. The older homes in the northern area are really attractive in a quaint sort of way. They are very reminiscent of Berkeley or West Sacramento, though safer than those areas.

Then there are several idyllic 1950’s style neighborhoods with homes of various types—from large luxurious Ranch style homes to a neighborhood filled with Prairie style homes with sky roofs right in the center of the homes.

There is also a neighborhood that has all red-tiled adobe style homes and several apartment complexes. Basically, if you have a bit of fetish for one kind of home or another, Willow Glen probably has a neighborhood for you.

The median home price in Willow Glen is around $525K.

Willow Glen is also home to San Jose City College—the main community college in San Jose.

Unfortunately, the schools in Willow Glen don’t really match the quality of other schools just to the west or south of here. Del Mar and Willow Glen High School—though not terrible in terms of test scores and other metrics—are only average in terms of the education they offer. This is one of the central drawbacks of the area.

The other good thing about Willow Glen is that with central San Jose just to the north an some spillover into Willow Glen, you have a number of entertainments in terms of nightlife. There is, for example, the Goosetown Lounge and Marmist Cocktail Lounge, just to name a couple.

Overall, this is one of the more enticing areas of San Jose proper for singles and the college aged (especially on the northern end). It also has some cool spots to the south. The main drawback is the high cost of property in Willow Glen.
Pros
  • Variety of Home Styles
  • Close to Downtown
  • Good Night Life and Restaurants
Cons
  • Average Schools
  • Expensive
Recommended for
  • Professionals
  • Singles
  • Families with kids
  • Retirees
  • LGBT+
  • Hipsters
  • Students
  • Trendy & Stylish
4/5
2yrs+

"Just a little too perfect. Great Antique area though!"

Every time I drive through Willow Glen in San Jose, California I automatically think of the movie The Stepford Wives. Everything seems to perfect, too perfect. The lawns are seem to be manicured to perfection and the mailboxes could compete for their own neighborhood sanction. Don't get me wrong Willow Glen is a nice area. The community and surrounding neighborhoods obviously take pride in their overall presentation but sometimes too much can be a little over board. The one thing that I do like about Willow Glen is it's dedication to antiques. I am an avid antique collector. Lincoln Avenue in Willow Glen has quite a few small and charming antique stores. I don't always walk away with something but I always enjoy my "eye" shopping. Most of the houses in this area were constructed in another era. There are quite a few apartment complexes that are up and coming right on the Southwest part of Willow Glen, boarding the downtown San Jose area.
Recommended for
  • Professionals
  • Families with kids
  • Retirees
5/5 rating details
  • Neighborly Spirit 5/5
  • Safe & Sound 5/5
  • Clean & Green 5/5
  • Pest Free 5/5
  • Peace & Quiet 5/5
  • Eating Out 5/5
  • Nightlife 5/5
  • Parks & Recreation 5/5
  • Shopping Options 5/5
  • Gym & Fitness 5/5
  • Internet Access 5/5
  • Lack of Traffic 5/5
  • Cost of Living 5/5
  • Resale or Rental Value 5/5
  • Public Transport 5/5
  • Medical Facilities 5/5
  • Schools 5/5
  • Childcare 5/5
2yrs+

"My Fond Memories"

When I lived In California One of the places i settles with my parents was in Willow Glen. I loved living here there was always a ton to do as a kid which was good. It kept me busy and got me out of the trouble id be in constantly if I was bored. I enjoyed the teachers in the schools in this area thought they were enjoyable and I dont have a ton of fond memories of school. I would love to live here with kids when I have them. I always thought this was a great neighborhood to grow up in. The downside is the street noise but that is easy to get over and after a short time youll hardly hear it.
Recommended for
  • Professionals
  • Families with kids

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Best Streets in Willow Glen

1

Lincoln Ave

4.5/5
"Neat street shopping"
37.3003416252659 -121.894041745446
2

Clark St

3.5/5
"Last part of WG not yet overrun by McMansions"
37.3116553452707 -121.891346458617

Unranked Streets in Willow Glen

Curtner Ave

3.5/5
"Take another trip without leaving San Jose. "
37.2880030148144 -121.892839436708

Fuller Ave

3.5/5
"Spacious trees and plenty of green."
37.3179358767082 -121.896715720292

Hartford Ave

3.5/5
"Hollywood in San Jose"
37.3163146661999 -121.89899283586

Husted Ave

3.5/5
"Take a short trip and visit the Willow Glen Neighborhood"
37.2803528504202 -121.898366050695

Meridian Ave

3.5/5
"Good coffee and great food"
37.2947355194698 -121.913543494044
"Nicest Neighborhood in San Jose"
37.3156642671961 -121.900012842738

Pine Ave

3.5/5
"Nice place to live with children"
37.2985021372378 -121.893260733251

Plaza Dr

3.5/5
"Nice Suburban Street"
37.3154530090767 -121.901192841503

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