“Willow Glen is the part of San Jose that still behaves like a town. Lincoln Avenue is a real main street, with a bookshop, a hardware store and four places to get a coffee, and on a Saturday you will walk it twice because you keep running into people. The housing stock is the draw: 1920s and 1930s bungalows on wide, tree-lined streets, most of them altered at the back by somebody at some point, which means the inside of two houses on the same block can be nothing alike. That is where I earn my fee here. I know which additions were permitted, which streets flood at the bottom end in a wet February, and which blocks look quiet until school pickup. If you want a garden, a porch and a walk to dinner, this is the first place I would show you. If you need a four bedroom under a million and a half, I would start you in Cambrian Park instead and tell you why.”
About Willow Glen
Willow Glen is an established residential neighborhood in central San Jose, roughly two miles southwest of downtown. It is known for its 1920s and 1930s bungalow and Spanish Revival housing stock, mature street trees, and a walkable commercial strip along Lincoln Avenue with independent shops, restaurants and cafes. The neighborhood is served by San Jose Unified School District and sits close to State Route 87 and Interstate 280, putting downtown San Jose within about ten minutes by car.
Good to know
- Main street
- Lincoln Avenue, walkable from most of the neighborhood
- Housing
- 1920s and 1930s bungalows, many with later rear additions
- Schools
- San Jose Unified, Willow Glen Elementary and High
- Commute
- About 10 minutes to downtown San Jose by car
Map
Willow Glen on the map
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