Almaden Valley

almaden-poppy1Almaden Wine Festival


Almaden Valley, often just called Almaden, is a neighborhood of about 37,000 in the southwestern portion of San Jose, California, roughly equivalent to the 95120 zip code. The neighborhood is south east of the town of Los Gatos, west of the Santa Teresa neighborhood of San Jose and south of Coleman Ave. at the Southern end of the Blossom Hill neighborhood of San Jose.


History

It is named after the New Almaden Mines, which were named after the mercury mine in (old) Almadén, Spain, and produced mercury that was used to process ore during the Gold Rush. The informal borders are generally Coleman Rd. at the Northern end, McKean Rd. at the southern end, where the valley becomes mostly rural, and the town of Los Gatos to the west. The valley is located between a small series of hills and the Santa Cruz Mountains, with Mount Umunhum to the west dominating the local geography.almaden-valley-panoramic

Like its Spanish namesake, California’s Almaden had a number of quicksilver mines. The mercury was used during gold extraction in the California Gold Rush, but the mines were closed in 1975 and have been converted into Almaden Quicksilver County Park. Despite the closure of the mines, there still remains a high mercury content in the nearby soil, creeks and rivers, and signs are posted alongside them warning people not to eat the fish. Even still, many of the names in Almaden still retain their mercury mine themes. For example, there are streets called Silver Lode Lane and Silver Mine Drive (the latter of which was renamed). Also, many places in Almaden still use the name Quicksilver.

As part of the Silicon Valley, the main industry in the neighborhood is now high technology research and development; ibm-almaden-img-for-postsIBM Almaden Research Center is located there. The neighborhood is primarily upper middle-class, with homes owned by local professionals, scientists, athletes, and Silicon Valley executives.


Real Estate

Most people who move to Almaden Valley find Recreation, Community and Schools the big draw. The Real Estate here enjoys a wide diversity of options from Horse Property Ranchettes to Duets and Townhomes. Ranging in price from $400K to the Multi-Million dollar range. Property values increase above the national average and withstand marketalmaden-los-gatos-landscape-pic-for-posts fluctuations extremely well. Almaden Valley would be considered an affluent bedroom community by most standards and is highly regarded almaden-neighborhood-img-for-postswhen mentioned in conversation.

Nearby lakes, resevoirs, trails and historic sites within a short hike or bike ride can keep a family busy for years. I would rate Real Estate for this area of San Jose in my TOP 5. Most of the neighborhood schools are within San Jose Unified School District and are, nearly all, rated as number one in the district.

High Schools

Middle Schools

Elementary Schools