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OK, that looks like another Plant, which is exactly what that area needs. That's a huge QOL thing having a complex like that close by.
Well, there are already two small malls like this on Bernal, with stores like Starbucks, Sweet Tomatoes, Flames, sports grill, Ross, Safeway, etc. Also, there is another strip mall on Santa Teresa/Cottle. Also, if you drive onto Blossom Hill from Poughkeepsie Road, you can swing over Monterey Road and go to Walmart and other convenient stores and food places. Across this complex is another small strip mall that has Bill's Cafe, Orchards, etc.
So I don't see a HUGE need for this complex. I really think they build it just to justify the ridiculous pricing of the residential components that will be built around it (Avenue One, etc.). I guess when you're paying a cool million bucks, you better have that Target RIGHT NEXT door
Hey guys, I've read and googled everything I could about living in San Jose and it seems gang violence is inevitable. Or at least having cars stolen or having homes broken into. I guess I should invest in a security system once I move there in about a month. My job has relocated me to a place over there and I figured this is the most affordable area, plus it's pretty nice inside the house from what I've seen when I actually visited the place to make sure it was okay to live. However, not being a resident of San Jose I see alot of gang activity and crime around the area regarding car theft and such. I don't know if that place is a ghetto area or a potential place for crime to take place. Let alone raise a family. People say to keep your neighbors informed on when u go on vacation and to keep an eye out foreachother which makes me feel better but somewhat unsure as to how safe the area is. I've also heard living in san jose you can't get away from gangs and it's just a fact of life. When I visited the Makati Circle area in San Jose where I'll be staying I found it to be a really green area with trees and lots of gardens and what not. It seemed okay for the time I visited but after coming back home in the east coast from that brief visit after buying the house I found alot of info about San jose and "gangs". I just have a few questions:
1.) Is it safe to walk around at night in Makati Circle?
2.) Can I walk my dog at night in Makati Circle?
3.) Are there shootings anywhere near Makati Circle?
4.) Is Makati Circle considered the ghetto?
5.) Is Makati Circle a desirable area to live in San Jose?
I'm not sure if Makati Circle in San jose is considered Santa Teresa district? or Edenvale District? or Blossom Hill? or Blossom Valley? Not sure about what the exact district is called but I just wanted to get some feedback from anyone living there or with experience in that neighborhood specifically. I heard theres some not so good neighborhoods in San Jose but I just wanted to make sure. Thanks again you guys. Really appreciate any honest feedback about this area.
San Jose used to be rated on of the top 10 safest big cities in the US for a long time, while crime may be up a bit from those days to call it gang infested as you're claiming is quite the exaggeration. Can you provide any links that mention this supposed gang problem, I tried googling for such information that says that you would have gang problems anywhere in San Jose, and I couldn't find such information. The best I could figure is that you found out that San Jose is 1/3 hispanic, and extrapolated based on some stereotypes from there.
"It seemed okay for the time I visited but after coming back home in the east coast from that brief visit after buying the house I found alot of info about San jose and "gangs"."
I seriously doubt that. If you're uncomfortable living around Hispanic people, then don't move here, it is that simple, no need to make stuff up about a place.
What is with all the trolls showing up in this forum as of late?
Last edited by cardinal2007; 09-29-2014 at 10:43 AM..
Hey guys, I've read and googled everything I could about living in San Jose and it seems gang violence is inevitable. Or at least having cars stolen or having homes broken into. I guess I should invest in a security system once I move there in about a month. My job has relocated me to a place over there and I figured this is the most affordable area, plus it's pretty nice inside the house from what I've seen when I actually visited the place to make sure it was okay to live. However, not being a resident of San Jose I see alot of gang activity and crime around the area regarding car theft and such. I don't know if that place is a ghetto area or a potential place for crime to take place. Let alone raise a family. People say to keep your neighbors informed on when u go on vacation and to keep an eye out foreachother which makes me feel better but somewhat unsure as to how safe the area is. I've also heard living in san jose you can't get away from gangs and it's just a fact of life. When I visited the Makati Circle area in San Jose where I'll be staying I found it to be a really green area with trees and lots of gardens and what not. It seemed okay for the time I visited but after coming back home in the east coast from that brief visit after buying the house I found alot of info about San jose and "gangs". I just have a few questions:
1.) Is it safe to walk around at night in Makati Circle?
2.) Can I walk my dog at night in Makati Circle?
3.) Are there shootings anywhere near Makati Circle?
4.) Is Makati Circle considered the ghetto?
5.) Is Makati Circle a desirable area to live in San Jose?
I'm not sure if Makati Circle in San jose is considered Santa Teresa district? or Edenvale District? or Blossom Hill? or Blossom Valley? Not sure about what the exact district is called but I just wanted to get some feedback from anyone living there or with experience in that neighborhood specifically. I heard theres some not so good neighborhoods in San Jose but I just wanted to make sure. Thanks again you guys. Really appreciate any honest feedback about this area.
Well, you came to the right place! I used to own a condo in Makati Circle and lived there for five years.
1/2.) Makati Circle is basically considered part of Blossom Valley but is right at the transitional area where it starts to become nice. Monterey Rd. is nearby and is not a nice part of town. Just visit the Wal-Mart and you'll get an idea of what the demographics are like there. Overall, the Makati complex (officially known as Terrace Villas) is a nice place. Being close to some bad areas though, means it wasn't without crime issues. During the time I lived there, there were quite a few car break-ins. There is a security guard that roams around on a golf cart at night but he can't be everywhere at once. My unit was next to the pool and a couple of times people who didn't live in the complex jumped the fence in the middle of the night and hung out in the pool, making a ton of noise. For a few months, there were a boyfriend/girlfriend who were living in a unit adjacent to mine. They had a completely out of control group of friends who'd party in the middle of the parking lot and become completely drunk and belligerent. I had to call the police after I stupidly confronted them one night and almost got my a** kicked. A few days later, the building I lived in was vandalized along with a bunch of cars in our carport. I know it was not random. They finally got evicted.
Overall, I did consider my experience living there to be positive. There definitely were some crime and quality of life issues that I encountered while living there though. I felt safe walking my dog around at night and did so all the time. I'm older now, so I'm not sure I'd have as much patience for most of the issues I mentioned though.
3.) I'm not personally aware of any shootings that have occurred anywhere near Makati, but as I mentioned, it's close to some not so great areas of town. In reality, pretty much all of San Jose has good and bad pockets close to each other. If you head East from Makati Circle to Silver Creek Valley Rd., you'll get to the Silver Creek Valley Country Club in about 5 minutes. It's very upscale and homes sell for well over $2 million.
4.) I wouldn't consider Makati Circle to be ghetto. The Terrace Villas complex itself is quite nice.
5.) I wouldn't necessarily consider the area to be a "desirable" part of San Jose, but not bad either. The further west and south you head into Blossom Valley, the nicer the neighborhoods get.
Also, I'm not sure why you're getting this idea that gang violence is inevitable when living in San Jose. San Jose is still quite safe as far as large cities go. I've lived in the South Bay my entire life and have never been a victim of gang violence and don't personally know anybody who has either. There are many parts of San Jose that don't have any real gang presence. I honestly think you're being paranoid.
Where do you live? and have you ever lived in san jose? i've been to san francisco and it was okay. some weird stuff going on but nothing like shootings and stuff.
San Francisco actually has a lot of crime in general and has far more crime than San Jose. The worst parts of SF are just as bad if not worse than the bad parts of Oakland. Your perception about SF is just as skewed as your perception about San Jose. I'm honestly not trying to be rude, but like I said in my previous post, you seem paranoid about SJ's crime issues.
Crime can happen anywhere and San Jose has seen a crime increase as of late. It's mainly due to police staffing shortages that have been plaguing the city for the last few years. The police department should have many more officers based on the population of residents. It's caused the SJPD to be stretched thin.
The fact is that all major metro areas in CA have gang activitiy. It's not like living in San Jose every other person you come in contact with is going to be a gang member. Gang members only make up a very small population of residents in SJ. The vast majority of people are hard-working, law-abiding citizens. Honestly, I find people in SJ to be generally friendly and pleasant.
The same thing is true of the Costco at Almaden and Blossom Hill. Forget about going there on a weekend, you'll circle for 20 minutes trying to find a parking spot. That new location on Great Oaks is sorely needed.
I don't mean to hijack this thread, but do you (or anyone else here) happen to know if that's a done deal? I've read that there were reports that Costco was interested in the land, but can't find much more than that.
Thanks for your input you guys. Really appreciate it. I think i have a much better idea of what the area is like now. If anyone has any other info they want to offer about the area please feel free to post. Thanks again everyone!
When they first proposed the retail for the area, they said it would be Santana Row'ish. What they actually built and are building is completely different. It is big box stores with national chain restaurants with maybe a couple of local restaurants. The only "different" thing they did was put a small number of restaurants next to each other on a "street". It is very underwhelming.
The Costco will be built but I believe it will be along Great Oaks Parkway and not next to the rest of the retail.
As some have mentioned, it is not very pleasant to go to Oakridge shopping center for dinner on a weekend. It is very hard to park and it may be a hour to 2 hour wait for the more popular restaurants there.
As for the Costco at Almaden, it is extremely unpleasant to drive into that parking lot because of all the traffic.
The one thing that is missing in South San Jose is anywhere to go eat and then walk around a little bit. I was hoping the retail next to Cottle would be it but it is just more of the same.
Thanks for your input you guys. Really appreciate it. Not sure how Bobby live in San jose while also calling it "gangland" but to everyone else, thanks again.
You are absolutely right. I think bobby guzman is afraid of being hispanic himself.
Bobby's a regular poster here. He's just being sarcastic. He knows SJ well. I figured I could offer some good insight here since I've actually lived on Makati Circle. I did have some quality of life and crime issues while living there. I also think I had a good overall living experience there though. There's not a huge sense of community there because many people are renters and are in some sort of transition. You won't find a ton of long time residents who owned their properties. My neighbor who lived above me had lived there since the complex was brand new though and she was awesome. When I hung out in the hot tub, most people there were not SJ natives and were not really attached to the area. They were there for the job. The people I encountered living in the complex were mostly pretty decent though.
The only time I ever felt unsafe living there was the experience I previously mentioned about the crazy people partying in the parking lot that I confronted. That was the only time I was really annoyed about living there. Those d-bags didn't live there for too long because they got evicted. Living in a multi-plex community, you're always going to find those types of potential annoyances.
It's really not a bad place to live and I always felt quite safe living there. As I also mentioned, I used to walk my dog at night through the neighborhood all the time and was never worried. There was occasional graffiti on the outside walls of the complex but was always cleaned up quickly.
It's not another Santana Row. Target was the first to open and has been open for a while. Petco and I believe Marshalls and Ulta are already open. Chipotle and Mod Pizza are already open too. I'm pretty sure the Starbucks is already open, not sure about the Panda Express.
Mod Pizza is fantastic. So glad they finally built one in San Jose.
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