Luna Park, San Jose, CA

In San Jose, Luna Park carries the name of a long-gone amusement park that drew crowds here from 1907 until 1921, and the neighborhood northeast of downtown kept the name long after the rides came down. Today it is a small, mostly residential pocket of older homes, close to downtown but hemmed by the US-101 and 880 interchange that defines its northern and eastern edges. Luna Park houses are older, mostly modest single-family homes on a regular grid, and the straight grid makes the blocks easy to walk from end to end. The neighborhood runs roughly from 13th Street and Old Oakland Road east toward North 17th Street, with Berryessa Road and the freeway along the north end, and away from the freeway the streets stay residential. North 13th Street is the local main drag, and Taqueria Lorena's there is the neighborhood taqueria, the place for a burrito or a plate of tacos without leaving the area. Next door, Japantown puts much more within a short walk or bike ride, which is a big part of daily life here. Roy's Station Coffee & Teas on Jackson Street pours Verve coffee inside an old Mobil station, Shuei-Do Manju Shop makes Japanese sweets by hand, and Okayama on North 6th Street has been serving Japanese food for decades. Nijiya Market and Santo Market in Japantown cover groceries, prepared meals and poke, and the farmers market there runs year-round. Backesto Park, just to the south, is the bigger green space and hosts the Luna Park Chalk Art Festival each year, when artists cover the paths in color. For light rail, Japantown/Ayer station on the Blue and Green lines is a short trip west, and downtown is a quick drive or ride south. But it is genuinely close to downtown and Japantown, carries a distinctive bit of San Jose history, and remains a relatively accessible way into the central city. For a buyer who likes a neighborhood with a story and does not mind the freeway edge, Luna Park delivers both.