Santa Clara County Neighborhoods Digest

Twenty years after East San Jose residents began advocating for more open spaces in their community, city leaders have completed a key step in expanding the neighborhood’s celebrated Five Wounds Trail.

Seeking to bring order to the city’s nascent and chaotic parklet scene, the Palo Alto City Council adopted a suite of rules for outdoor dining spaces in University Avenue and portions of California Avenue.

Palo Alto city leaders gathered on a dusty field to celebrate the city's first expansion of a park in at least two decades.

For three years, businesses and pedestrians have enjoyed the temporary closure of a downtown San Jose street to cars. City leaders are working to make that permanent.

Proponents of Midtown Shopping Center, a midcentury retail area, are calling for the center’s revitalization and asking the city for help.

When Leslie Wambach was house hunting on the Midpeninsula, she thought she had found the perfect home. But then she discovered something that gave her pause: The property deed included outdated and illegal racial restrictions.

Free food distribution is still essential for East San Jose residents, as evidenced by the line around the block of Mexican Heritage Plaza twice a month waiting for food donated by Second Harvest of Silicon Valley.

Fox Tale Fermentation Project and Cash Only are two new businesses that have popped up around Fountain Alley, which is located downtown near the intersection of East Santa Clara and South Second streets.

Nearly 200 apartments are coming to San Jose’s Five Wounds neighborhood near a future planned expansion of a walking trail. A two-story commercial building will be razed, and in its place a six-story, 198-apartment complex will rise.

A new idea in an underutilized part of San Jose could turn into a win for a variety of businesses and the residents living in the area. Midtown Immersive Night Party, created by event planners Jonathan and Linnea Gomez, is a night-time venue waiting to be discovered.

In an effort to improve safety and efficiency on Shannon Road, the Los Gatos Town Council returned plans that fit the rural feel of the area. Goals include installing sidewalks and bike lanes.

A Lifestyles Home Tour in Willow Glen will once again be offered, this time on May 6-7. All proceeds will benefit the San Jose Day Nursery. This is the 39th year of the tour, with five grand homes on display.

The San Jose Neighborhoods Commission is on pause, for now. The City Council voted unanimously to suspend the commission until it can come up with a better model to attract and retain commissioners.

Caltrans recently authorized fixes on a stretch of El Camino Real that runs through Los Altos. Residents hope the work will resolve the potholes and other road hazard issues.

A San Jose citizen commission that represents neighborhoods hasn't convened for more than six months due to a lack of members. One councilmember has an idea how to revive it.

Leaf blowers have been banned from Los Altos since 1991, but there are plenty of violators each and every month.

San Jose residents are speaking out against the 13,900-square-foot Wat Khmer Kampuchea Krom Temple, planned for a 1.86-acre vacant corner lot at Ruby and Norwood avenues.

With its walkable streets and proximity to Stanford, College Terrace doesn't seem like Palo Alto’s grumpiest neighborhood. But a new survey points to resident dissatisfaction.

Numerous Palo Alto residents are mourning the loss of a stone pine that served untold numbers of children, adults and birds.

Santa Clara residents will need permits again to park in overcrowded areas, including neighborhoods near the Alameda, Levi's Stadium and Rivermark Plaza. The city stopped enforcing permit requirements during the pandemic due to city staffing issues.

For many residents, the most infamous aspect of Milpitas history involves the putrid odor that has spread throughout the city, existing for over 100 years and involving multiple factors.

“This vigil is not a victory lap; it is a call to action,” said Sunnyvale Vice Mayor Alysa Cisneros at the city’s Solidarity Vigil Against Hate on Nov. 15. “We will have created a culture of belonging, when every person feels safe, included, heard and respected.”

It all started with a simple question on Nextdoor.  Alagarasan Chinnadurai put up a post in the Milpitas area, asking if anyone spoke Tamil, which is one of the oldest languages currently being spoken across the world.

More than 300 dog owners in Palo Alto's Barron Park plan to submit a petition to the city to open a dog park in their neighborhood.

Two entrepreneurs have bought parcels in San Jose’s Japantown, with the intent to upgrade the block. Jordan Trigg and wife Rina Trigg, acting through an affiliate, bought the Taylor Street parcels; they operate JTown Pizza, Jack’s bar and 7Bamboo karaoke lounge, all in Japantown.

The settlement will wrap up a more than year-long legal dispute over the city’s dual ordinances—banning oversized vehicles from parking on “narrow streets” that are 40 feet or less in width and any street with a bike lane.

The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors is preventing Stanford from filling in a neighborhood after residents said they wanted to preserve its rural feel and low density.

GreenTown Los Altos held its first Family Bike Days event Saturday and Sunday, featuring guided rides with “energizer stations,” while the Los Altos Police Department sponsored a bike rodeo Sunday.

El Gato Village, a Los Gatos fixture, was purchased for $33 million, according to documents filed with the Santa Clara County Recorder’s Office. Businesses at the center include Nob Hill Foods and Los Gatos Cafe Uptown.

New life is being breathed into the Viet Heritage Garden after it sat empty for six years due to a lack of funding.

Palo Alto's California Avenue used to be a bustling shopping area, but is now filled with vacant buildings. Many locals wonder if the street can make a comeback following the financial hits from COVID-19.

More than 60 years after Santa Clara’s downtown was razed to make way for housing, some residents are hoping to re-create a Main Street of the past, including more opportunities for small businesses and even a trolley system.