Diridon, San Jose, CA

Diridon is San Jose's transit heart and its biggest question mark at the same time. The station at its center opened in 1935 as Southern Pacific's Italian Renaissance Revival Cahill Depot, was added to the National Register in 1994 and renamed that year for transit champion Rod Diridon, and today it is the city's principal hub for Caltrain, Amtrak, ACE and light rail, with BART and high-speed rail on the way. It is also one of downtown's biggest redevelopment zones, so cranes and new plans are part of the landscape. Housing around the station is a mix. On the Delmas Park side, a block or so from the platforms, Victorian-era cottages line quiet streets near Los Gatos Creek. Much of the land closest to the depot is still surface parking inside the footprint of Google's Downtown West plan, which the city approved and which has been delayed several times since, so the blocks right around the station still look unfinished. Green space comes in small, useful pieces. Cahill Park, just west of the station, is the neighborhood lawn, and Discovery Dog Park on Delmas Avenue is the local off-leash spot. The Los Gatos Creek Trail begins a short walk south at Dupont Street, and the Guadalupe River Trail threads through downtown just to the east, so a long run or bike ride starts close to home. Eating out usually means a short walk. Henry's World Famous Hi-Life on West St. John Street is a steakhouse known for its ribs and steaks, with a historical marker out front. A few blocks east, San Pedro Square Market fills a whole building with food vendors under one roof, and Voyager Craft Coffee on the same stretch of St. John handles its own roasting and bakes its pastries in-house. Whole Foods on The Alameda is the closest full grocery. The honest tradeoffs are that development uncertainty, event-day traffic, and a transitional streetscape of surface lots and construction. But for buyers who want unmatched transit access and are comfortable betting on where this area is headed, Diridon is the ground floor of whatever San Jose becomes next, with a landmark 1935 depot at the center of it.