Senter Monterey South, San Jose, CA

Senter Monterey South has the Capitol Caltrain station inside its borders, a rare thing for a residential pocket of south San Jose. Trains stop only during weekday peak hours, northbound in the morning and southbound in the evening, so the station suits a regular office schedule more than a night out in the city. Most blocks hold modest homes from the postwar decades, set back from the traffic. Away from the tracks, the neighborhood is postwar single-family tract housing on flat blocks that run east from Monterey Road toward Senter Road. The houses are small and plain, set back from the main road, with the older rail and industrial corridor along the western edge. Senter Road is where the eating is. Oc Lau Nuong cooks Vietnamese seafood, crawfish and crab with garlic noodles on the side, and runs a dine-in happy hour. Banh Cuon Tay Ho makes delicate steamed rice rolls, and Lopez Taqueria handles the burrito run. Over on Monterey Road, City Diner is the breakfast stop for chilaquiles or chicken and waffles. For a walk with a view, Communications Hill rises across Monterey Road to the west, where the Grand Staircase climbs to overlooks with long views across the valley and a short trail loops the ridge. Kelley Park, home to Happy Hollow and a Japanese garden, sits a few minutes north and makes an easy weekend outing. Beyond Caltrain, the Capitol light rail stop sits a short drive west past Communications Hill, and Capitol Expressway links east to US-101. Groceries and other errands run along Senter, Monterey and the expressway, almost always by car. This is a value neighborhood, plain and simple, for people who want into San Jose without a leafy-street premium. If a peak-hour train and cheap freeway access line up with your life, it is worth a look, with clear eyes about the corridor.