City, Santa Clara County
© McCormack's Guides
Zip Codes: 95030, 95031, 95032, 95033
Pretty, prestigious, lovely homes, charming old town. Crime low. School scores high.
Population 30,296. Great job of
revamping its downtown into an inviting place to shop, stroll, dine, sip lattes
and coffee, and peruse. The price of success: shortage of parking and
complaints about street traffic. www.mccormacks.com
Flat or
gently sloping land rising to wooded hills and open hills. Many trees. Good
views. For cat lovers, the name translates into “The Cats.”
First city
in county to adopt ordinance preserving historic buildings, and Los Gatos has
reputation for being hypersensitive about development and quality of life.
Trader Joe's and Whole Foods. Fall foliage; maples throughout the downtown.
Also redwoods, magnolias, palms. Short drive to Santa Cruz and Pacific.
Click for regional or detailed map
Between 1980 and 1990, Los Gatos added
about 1,100 residential units, about three-fourths of them single homes or
single attached. Many of the new homes jump up the scale but a good deal of the
housing runs to well-done suburban with a high level of maintenance.
In the
1990s, Los Gatos built about 800 units, about half of them single homes, and
increased its population by 1,235. Between 2000 and 2006, Los Gatos erected 232
units.
Town is
essentially built out but the market has been rewarding owners who tear down the
old and small and replace it with something bigger. Or remodelings that add
rooms. Many people are remodeling just to spruce up and to install modern
kitchens, bathrooms and wiring. www.mccormacks.com
Housing
units in 2008 numbered 12,952, of which 7,172 were single homes, 1,841 single
attached, 3,816 multiples, 123 mobile homes. Rentals in the downtown, which
also has the older homes.
Median age
of residents is 41. Those under age 18 make up 21 percent of the town's
residents, those over 55 make up 27 percent. Demographic translation: not that
many kids, more gray heads.
The
commute got better in 1994 with the opening of Highway 85 to Cupertino and
Saratoga and other Silicon Valley cities. One of these years, light rail will
connect Los Gatos to San Jose.
Los Gatos
suffered major damage in 1989 quake, mostly to old structures, although
chimneys and walls were cracked in newer homes. No one killed but many
emotionally shaken. Building codes were revised to make reconstructed buildings
better able to withstand earthquakes. Town recovered quickly.
Zero
homicides in 2005, one each in 2004 and 2003, zero between 2002 and 1998, one
in 1997, zero in 1996, one in 1995, zero between 1991 and 1994, one in 1990,
two in 1989, zero in 1988, two in 1987, and one in 1986. In 2005, a firefighter
was killed at a home blaze when he stepped on a live power line. See Crime. www.mccormacks.com
Two school
districts: Los Gatos Elementary, four elementary schools, kinder to 5th,
one middle, 6-8th, total enrollment, 2,600; Los Gatos-Saratoga Union
High School, two schools, Saratoga High, 1,327 students, Los Gatos High, 1,700.
Students can attend either school but not surprisingly, the Los Gatos kids go
to the local school. See Schools.
Scores
among the tops in the state. Los Gatos High and Fisher Middle School have
received national honors for their programs. Computer labs, music, art at
elementary. Foreign languages at middle school. Teen center next to high
school.
Voters in
1990, for the elementary district, approved a $180-a-year parcel tax, which is
hard to win because it requires two-thirds approval. Money is used to keep
class sizes down, services up, repair buildings and buy books and supplies. The
tax was to have expired in 1994 but residents voted to renew it and in 2002
renewed it again.
Parents
also fund school programs through a foundation. In 2002, when the dot coms
crashed and the state, running a deficit, reduced school funding, the elementary
district found itself short $1 million and proposed cutting programs and 15
teachers. The foundation, which had been raising about $200,000 per year, got
cracking and came up with the $1 million from parents and others in the
community.
Looking at
Los Gatos and similar towns, many people might say, Aha! The rich have good
schools because they can pay for them. This is true. But the money often is not
great. $1 million divided by 2,600 students comes out to a one-time hit of $385
per student. Many parents pay much more for child care. www.mccormacks.com
Perhaps
just as important, Los Gatos had an organization — the foundation —
that could respond quickly to an emergency and this organization was backed by
parents and a community that had high educational values.
For
parents moving to Los Gatos, you are expected to rally around the schools, to
contribute to the foundation and to work with the teachers on your child’s
education.
Steve
Wozniak, a.k.a. “the Woz,” co-founder of Apple, is a Los Gatos resident. He
helped set up computer lab-arcade at Fisher school and trained many of the
teachers. Also chipped in for a math lab at high school.
High
school district in 1998 passed a $79 million bond. Some of the money was used to
renovate and add classrooms, build a science wing and upgrade the labs.
Located in
the downtown, the high school has become an integral part of the community. It
has a classical front with columns and a large lawn that is used for picnics
and music events. When not in use by the students, the school with its fields,
swimming pool, gym and rooms, are open to residents and community groups for a
variety of activities. Volunteers plant flowers at the high school. www.mccormacks.com
Note: some
streets on the north side are in the Campbell elementary district. See Choosing a School.
Oak
Meadows-Vasona Park, one of the nicest in the county (reservoir, miniature
trains, playgrounds), is full on weekends with parents cooing over kiddies. About
10 parks total, playgrounds, over 400 acres of open space, miles of trails for
hiking, biking, horse riding. Golf course on the northwest side. Tennis,
softball, soccer, rowing club, baseball, activities, classes. Concerts. Movie
house. YMCA. Jewish Community Center with pool. High-school pool is used to
teach children and adults to swim. Racquet and swim club. Banquet hall. Fitness
clubs. Farmers market. Bocce courts.
Summer
concerts. Two historical museums. Library open seven days a week. Art
galleries. Fiesta de Artes. Cats Festival. Quaint Old Town Shopping Plaza.
Top-notch and diverse restaurants, bookstores, delis, furniture and antique
stores.
Community
Foundation throws parties to raise money for parks, service groups and such
endeavors as the high school band. Many small towns can’t or won’t support a
local newspaper. Los Gatos is an exception.
Among
those who call or have called Los Gatos home: Peggy Fleming, Olympic ice
skater; writer John Steinbeck; and Yehudi Menuhin, violinist. Fleming and her
husband are wine enthusiasts and run a small winery. www.mccormacks.com
At
Christmas, residents gather in old town for tree lighting, caroling and kids'
parade. Stores go all out for holidays with lights and displays. Chamber of
commerce (408) 354-9300.
• NetFlix,
the popular renter of films, is headquartered in Los Gatos.
• Los
Gatos and Campbell, agree: For safety reasons, no Segways, the two-wheeled,
upright scooters, on their sections of the Los Gatos Creek Trail. Santa Clara
County and San Jose said OK to Segways on their sections of the trail. The trail,
13 miles, attracts about 500,000 a year.
• Annual
bike ride, The Turkey Run, attracts hundreds who want to test their stamina.
Cyclists climb 2,250 feet, up all the way. Party at the top. Coming home is one
long coast.
• When a
neighborhood bar got rowdy in 2006, the city council gave the owner a choice:
Close altogether or close at 10 p.m. The owner chose the latter. Otherwise, the
saloon scene, especially in the downtown, is thriving. Several offer live
music. www.mccormacks.com
• Quarry
in east hills, near Aztec Ridge Drive. Complaints about noise.
• Unusual
library: the Planetree. It specializes in medical issues and in living healthy.
(408) 358-5667.
City web site:
www.town.los-gatos.ca.us
