Sherman Oaks West, San Jose, CA

In San Jose, Sherman Oaks West has the best transit access of any of these West Side tracts, and that is its calling card. Several VTA Green Line light-rail stations, Bascom, Fruitdale and Hamilton, sit at or near its edges along the Southwest Expressway, so this is a genuinely rail-connected neighborhood in a part of the city where most are car-only. Sherman Oaks West takes its name from Sherman Oaks Elementary. Single-family homes on flat streets make up most of the housing, with some apartments and multifamily buildings closer to Bascom Avenue. San Jose City College and Valley Medical Center are a short trip east, and Fruitdale is their station. The Los Gatos Creek Trail starts about a block from Bascom station. From there the paved path follows the creek south past the Pruneyard and Campbell Park toward Los Gatos and on to Lexington Reservoir, which makes it the everyday route for runs, dog walks and bike rides. Food and coffee lean toward Campbell. Stardust Coffee House on South Bascom in Campbell mixes specialty coffee with Asian-inspired flavors and runs a brunch menu. At the Pruneyard, where Campbell and Bascom avenues meet, Orchard City Kitchen serves small plates, and the Korean fried chicken and the Triple B biscuit are the orders to know. The Pruneyard's cinema brings cocktails to your seat. Closer in, Cafe San Jose on Meridian Avenue does breakfast and brunch with a good run of meatless plates. The expressway with its rail line and the Bascom arterial bring traffic and some train noise to the blocks along them, and the streets themselves are practical rather than scenic. Highway 17 sits just west of the Pruneyard for drives over the hill toward the coast. The honest tradeoffs are the Southwest Expressway rail-and-road corridor and the Bascom arterial that run through and along it, bringing traffic and train noise near those edges, and a workaday streetscape rather than a scenic one. But for a commuter who wants to live within reach of light rail without leaving the West Side, Sherman Oaks West is a smart, practical pick, and the transit genuinely sets it apart from its neighbors.