Downtown San Jose, San Jose, CA

Downtown San Jose is where California itself began, and it is the closest the South Bay comes to genuine urban living. The Pueblo de San Jose was founded here in 1777 as Alta California's first civilian town, and its last surviving building, the 1797 Peralta Adobe in San Pedro Square, is the oldest structure in the city. Most homes are condos and apartments in high-rise and mid-rise buildings, many stacked over ground-floor shops and restaurants. On the edges, the historic districts of Hensley and Naglee Park hold Victorians, Craftsman houses and bungalows from before the 1906 earthquake, so a short walk can take you from a glass tower to a Victorian front porch. Coffee is a point of local pride. Nirvana Soul, the SoFA shop on South First Street started by two sisters, roasts its own beans, Playback Coffee Co. Inside San Pedro Square spins vinyl behind the counter, and Con Azucar Cafe on East Santa Clara Street pours cafe de olla with a side of conchas. For dinner, San Pedro Square Market gathers a hall full of vendors under one roof, and La Victoria Taqueria on West Santa Clara is famous for its creamy, spicy orange sauce. Open space comes in city form. St. James Park is ringed by old buildings and has its own dog run, Plaza de Cesar Chavez is the big public square, and the river trail along the Guadalupe cuts through downtown for a long walk or ride that can go all the way north to Alviso. The San Jose Museum of Art, The Tech Interactive and the King Library, shared by the city and San Jose State, are all within a few blocks. Getting around without a car is easy here. VTA light rail runs through the middle of downtown, and Diridon Station on the west edge adds Caltrain, Amtrak and ACE. The honest tradeoffs are the ones density brings: it is louder and grayer than the residential districts, parking and traffic are real, and the street-level experience is uneven while downtown keeps working through its long revitalization. But for buyers who want walkability, nightlife and a front-row seat to the city's core and its history, downtown is the only address in San Jose that truly offers it.