North San Jose, San Jose, CA

North San Jose is more a job center than a neighborhood, and it is honest to say so. This is the city's tech business-park corridor, the Innovation District, where Cisco and other campuses, R&D buildings and big-box uses fill wide-set parcels along First Street and Tasman Drive, served by VTA light rail and edged by the Guadalupe River Trail. Housing in North San Jose is mostly recent apartment and condo buildings rather than detached houses, dropped into what was built as a business park. The city has long planned this area for new homes alongside new jobs, so the balance keeps tilting as older low-rise office sites are redeveloped. The Guadalupe River Trail is the best reason to step outside. The paved path runs along the edge of the district, past the airport and north to Gold Street in Alviso, and it gets as much use for bike commuting as for weekend exercise. River Oaks Park, a crescent-shaped park on the old Sony plant site, is a short walk or ride east near the River Oaks light rail stop. Food nearby is built around the workday. SAJJ on North First Street turns out Mediterranean bowls, wraps and plates with falafel or shawarma. Faz on East Tasman Drive is a weekday lunch and happy hour spot for kabob combos, grilled salmon and lamb shank. Morning coffee comes from the Starbucks on River Oaks Place. Getting around is built for commuting. VTA light rail runs along First Street and up Tasman Drive, US-101 and Highway 237 are both close, and Sprouts on East Brokaw Road is the closest full grocery. For a tech worker who wants a new apartment steps from the office and the train, it works, and works well. For anyone seeking a traditional neighborhood feel, North San Jose is simply not built for it, and buyers should go in understanding which of those two things they are getting.