Cambpell

City, Santa Clara County

© McCormack's Guides

 

Zip Codes: 95008, 95009, 95011

Bedroom community, population 40,161, that in 2005 greatly improved its commute with the opening of a light-rail line connecting Campbell with most of Silicon Valley and this in turn has livened its downtown with more restaurants, side-walk cafes, shops and condos. www.mccormacks.com

Built for the middle class and now pretty much built out, Campbell has polishing itself for decades and adding amenities that make the town all the more attractive. Crime is low, school scores generally high, the commute, for many, short. The main criticism: surrounded by other communities, Campbell gets an inordinate amount of drive-through traffic. City Hall has upgraded lights to keep cars and trucks moving.

Campbell was famous for its prunes and apricots. The name “Sunsweet” was first used in reference to a local plant that processed dried fruit. Orchards all went in the building boom that started in the 1940s. Campbell remembers its past in diverse ways, among them The PruneYard, a picturesque shopping mall and an annual Prune Festival.

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Residential units in 2008 numbered 16,932, of which 7,341 were single homes, 2,095 single attached, 7,239 multiples, 257 mobile homes.

In the 1940s, the town built 1,100 residential units; in the 1950s, 3,100 homes and apartments, in the 1960s 4,100 units, in the 1970s about 4,000 and in the 1980s 2,600 units. In the 1990s, as buildable lots became fewer, Campbell erected about 700 units.

To summarize: About three-fourths of the housing was built between 1940 and 1980, and one-fourth in the last 25 years — an old-new suburb. With light-rail, Campbell, like many other communities, is looking to intensify development around the stations and favoring designs that mix stores with apartments or condos. www.mccormacks.com

In appearance, Campbell falls into the category of typical suburban but the neighborhoods differ. The homes east of Bascom Avenue are slightly older and more upscale and have more trees and foliage than the homes west of Bascom. Most of the single homes will have three bedrooms but possibly because home values have soared many homes have been remodeled and expanded.

Well-cared-for town. Residents mow the lawns, apply the paint and generally do a good job of keeping up appearances. Many of the apartments are located along Campbell Avenue, one of the main thoroughfares.

Campbell is bisected by two freeways and one expressway and close to another expressway. The light-rail line, which has three stations in Campbell, glides to downtown San Jose then branches off to Mountain View, Almaden Valley (south San Jose), and East San Jose, with stops in cities along the way.

Campbell is within 5-10 miles of Cupertino, Santa Clara and Sunnyvale, major job centers. If you work in the tall office buildings near downtown Campbell and in its few high-tech businesses, the commute is all the easier.

Civic leaders hope the light rail will attract more shoppers to Campbell's downtown, on which the town has lavished money and care. Many of the historic buildings were saved and refitted for modern retail and a variety of restaurants and coffee houses. In 2004, the town opened a performing arts center in the auditorium of the old downtown high school. www.mccormacks.com

The downtown ends at a park and linear trail and Highway 17. On the other side of the freeway is The PruneYard Mall: restaurants, Barnes and Noble Bookstore, Trader Joe's, movie complex. Other stores include Whole Foods, Staples, Home Depot, Fry's Electronics, Kohl's department store.

Education by Moreland and Campbell elementary districts and Campbell High School District, which also serves kids in other towns. All districts have passed bonds to renovate their facilities and wire and equip them for high-tech. In 2004, because of declining enrollment, Hazelwood Elementary was closed and the buildings leased to a private school. In 2005, Campbell Elem. District won a grant of $518,000 to improve technology instruction. See Schools.

When the high school district in 2004 said that it might have to eliminate the seventh period, parents and community raised the necessary funds to keep the period for another year and then passed a parcel tax to make the salvation permanent. In 2006, voters approved a $90 million bond for the high schools to replace toilets, lights and fixtures, upgrade technology, modernize the libraries and improve vocational education.

Parents group is trying to form a charter middle-high school aimed at high achievers. The local school board denied the application but an appeal has been made to the county board of education.

One homicide each in 2005 and 2004, zero between 2003 and 2000, three in 1999. Zero between 1998 and 1993, one each in 1992 and 1991, zero in 1990 and 1989. See Crime. www.mccormacks.com

Campbell recreation listings runs over 50 pages, everything from ice skating, to Pilates, to rock climbing to dance, tennis, club sports, etc. Activities for children, adults and elderly. High school, a 30-acre site, was converted into a community center (gyms, Heritage Theater, track, tennis). University classes. Year-round pool. Eight parks. New dog park with fountains for dogs and fountains for humans. City museum. Bike-jogging trail along creek. You can pedal to Los Gatos or, if your job is close by, to work. One park features giant plastic tubes with water spigots. Exercise courses. Summer day camps. Fly-casting ponds. Scottish Highland games, Prune Festival, Bunnies and Bonnets Parade, Easter Egg Hunt, Christmas Crafts Faire, Oktoberfest. Summer concerts.

Gaslight Theater, which used to stage melodramas and vaudeville, was converted into a lounge-dance club with live music.

Popular dance club-school, Dance Spectrum. New cooking school.

With the downtown becoming more inviting, merchants are trying to make dining and shopping in the downtown second nature for residents. Their efforts include strolling musicians on Friday nights.

Chamber of commerce (408) 378-6252.

• When mosquitoes carrying the West Nile virus were discovered in 2006, several neighborhoods in Campbell and San Jose were “fogged” with insecticide. www.mccormacks.com

• Segways are two-wheel scooters that stand up-right and reach speeds of about 12 miles an hour. Local Segway fans want to ride the vehicles along the popular creek trail, which passes through multiple jurisdictions. Campbell and Los Gatos, citing safety reasons, have said no to Segways along their portions of the trail. San Jose and Santa Clara County say yes.

• In 2006, Campbell was invaded again by skunks, animals that used to avoid the town. The culprits, the experts believe, are the well intentioned who leave out food for feral cats and create a skunk trail to Campbell. Then there are those who like skunks. One woman, turned in by neighbors, opened her doors to the skunks and fed them inside the house. Another culprit, fruit and avocados that are not picked up right away when they fall to the ground. To get rid of skunks or cut their numbers, stop feeding them.

City web site: www.ci.campbell.ca.us