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san jose neighborhood guide · property nerds® at compass
Downtown Willow Glen, San Jose Homes for sale, recent sales and a Property Nerd’s guide
The Lincoln Ave main street of the old City of Willow Glen and the blocks east to Bird Ave and Highway 87: 1920s-30s storefronts, a Saturday market and houses back to the 1880s.
Downtown Willow Glen by the numbers
downtown willow glen by the numbers · live from the mls
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Calculated in your browser from MLS data for Downtown Willow Glen: Lincoln Ave from Willow St to Willow Glen Way (approximate). Sales are single-family homes, townhomes and condos.
homes in downtown willow glen · live from the mls
Homes for sale, for rent and recently sold in Downtown Willow Glen
Every active listing, rental and closed sale in Downtown Willow Glen from the MLS, updated automatically, with a map of the neighborhood outline.
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Listings come from MLSListings and other MLSs through IDX and show their listing brokerage; confirm details with the listing agent. The map outline is the neighborhood boundary used by our listing search (Downtown Willow Glen: Lincoln Ave from Willow St to Willow Glen Way (approximate)); it may not match every local definition.
the story
How Downtown Willow Glen came to be
Before it had a main street, this was farm country called The Willows. A photo history from the Sourisseau Academy for State and Local History says the district carried that name in the 1880s for the brushy willows growing in its soggy soil, and that after the Lewis Canal channelized the Guadalupe River in the late 1860s the land went to orchards. A grammar school opened at Lincoln and Minnesota avenues in 1897. Its 1913 replacement, designed by San Jose architect Frank D. Wolfe, was razed in 1924 and replaced again, and the current Willow Glen Elementary building went up in 1971. That corner has held a public school since 1897.
In 1927 The Willows incorporated as the City of Willow Glen to fight the Southern Pacific's plan to run trains through the neighborhood. After a legal fight the railroad agreed to a realignment, mostly to the east, and in 1935 it built a series of overpasses to lift the tracks over the streets. The new city lasted nine years: in 1936 its voters chose annexation to San Jose, which brought a high school and sewer connections. By 1936 Lincoln Ave had become the business street. The Willow Glen Volunteer Fire Department building went up at 1342 Lincoln Ave in 1930 and the Garden Theatre opened in 1949, and the archive's 1960 aerial of Lincoln and Minnesota shows a commercial strip much of which still stands.
Today the City maps the Willow Glen Neighborhood Business District as the Lincoln Ave frontage from Minnesota Ave north to Coe Ave and Los Gatos Creek, about 45 acres, and its Historic Resources Inventory lists a run of 1920s and 1930s buildings on the 1300 block. In 2015 the City tested a road diet on Lincoln between Minnesota and Coe, cutting it from four travel lanes to two plus a center turn lane and bike lanes. The local business association calls the district downtown Willow Glen, which is the name this guide uses.
streets and homes
The streets and the houses
Lincoln Ave runs on a diagonal, so the side streets meet it at angles. East of Lincoln the grid fills in with Willow Glen Way, Minnesota, Michigan, California and Nevada avenues and short residential streets such as Blewett, Curtiss, Settle, Kotenberg, Searles, Jansen, Hill, Telfer and Vernon. West of Lincoln and south of Minnesota Ave are Newport Ave, Glenwood Ave and the north end of Cottle Ave. County parcel data puts about 2,170 parcels in this outline. The median lot is about 6,500 sq ft, the middle half run from about 5,500 to 8,100 sq ft, and about 390 parcels are condominium or townhome-sized.
Newport Ave is the street to walk if you like old houses. The City's inventory lists an 1885 Italianate there, a c1900 Colonial Revival that is a designated City Landmark, Prairie-style houses from 1912 and 1925, a 1919 Mission Revival and a 1918 Craftsman, and Newport has about 20 lots over 15,000 sq ft. The inventory adds a Queen Anne-style City Landmark on the 1200 block of Lincoln Ave and scattered 1910s-1930s houses on Minnesota Ave. Zoning is single-family R-1-8 on the bulk of the blocks, with commercial pedestrian zoning on Lincoln north of Minnesota, two-family R-2 lots on Lincoln south of it, and planned-development clusters such as Glenpine Dr and its courts (Glenmeadow, White Pine, Pine Glen and Red Pine), Trinity Glen Ct and Laura Ville Ln.
East of Delmas and Bird avenues the City maps a second set of blocks, which it names Tamien after the nearby station, running to Highway 87 and the Guadalupe River. Prevost St, Clark St, Dorothy, Mackey and Belmont avenues, Padres Dr and its courts, Villa Maria Ct and Kayellen Ct are here, along with Galarza Elementary on Bird Ave and a planned-development condominium complex of about 110 units on W. Alma Ave. The east edge sits inside the City's Tamien Station Area Specific Plan, which the General Plan's growth layer sizes for about 1,060 homes and 600 jobs around the station.
streets in downtown willow glen
- Lincoln Ave
- Willow St
- Minnesota Ave
- Willow Glen Way
- Bird Ave
- Delmas Ave
- Newport Ave
- Lupton Ave
- Mildred Ave
- Glenwood Ave
- Michigan Ave
- California Ave
- Nevada Ave
- Blewett Ave
- Curtiss Ave
- Settle Ave
- Kotenberg Ave
- Searles Ave
- Jansen Ave
- Hill Ave
- Telfer Ave
- Vernon Ave
- Glenpine Dr
- Prevost St
- Clark St
- Dorothy Ave
- Mackey Ave
- Belmont Ave
- Padres Dr
- W. Alma Ave
- Pine Ave
parks and places
Parks, shops and landmarks near Downtown Willow Glen
- shopping
Lincoln Ave business district
Shops, restaurants and services line Lincoln Ave from Minnesota Ave north to Coe Ave, a City-mapped neighborhood business district of about 45 acres with commercial pedestrian zoning on the frontage.
- market
Willow Glen Farmers' Market
Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., year-round, rain or shine, at Willow Glen Elementary, 1425 Lincoln Ave.
- landmark
Garden Theatre and the 1930 fire house
The Garden Theatre on Lincoln Ave between Willow St and Minnesota Ave was completed in 1949 and now hosts events; the 1930 Willow Glen Volunteer Fire Department building stands at 1342 Lincoln Ave.
- trail
Three Creeks Trail
A paved trail on an old rail corridor runs from Hervey Ln and Minnesota Ave northwest past Bird Ave and Palm Haven to the Los Gatos Creek Trail. A Guadalupe River crossing to the east is still under study.
- park
Jesse Frey Community Garden and nearby parks
The City's 0.65-acre community garden sits at W. Alma Ave and Belmont Way. River Glen Park, with tennis and pickleball courts, ballfields and play areas, is just across Bird Ave to the southwest, about 0.4 mile straight-line from the center of this outline.
- library
Willow Glen Branch Library
The San Jose Public Library branch at 1157 Minnesota Ave is just across Lincoln Ave and keeps a seed library.
schools and commute
School districts and getting around
School districts
Census school-district maps put the whole outline in San Jose Unified School District for all grades. Public schools inside it are Willow Glen Elementary at 1425 Lincoln Ave, and Galarza Elementary and Hammer Montessori at Galarza, which share 1610 Bird Ave. River Glen School is just north at 1088 Broadway Ave. Attendance boundaries change, so check the exact address with San Jose Unified before you count on a school.
Getting around
- Caltrain and the VTA light rail Blue Line stop at Tamien station, 1355 Lick Ave, just across Highway 87: about 0.6 mile straight-line from the center of this outline and about 1 mile from Lincoln and Willow. Caltrain lists 275 free parking spaces there.
- San Jose Diridon station (Caltrain and VTA light rail) is about 1.7 miles straight-line north; VTA's Virginia light rail station is about 0.9 mile.
- Highway 87 has ramps at Lelong St by Willow St and at Almaden Rd by Willow Glen Way; I-280 has ramps at Bird Ave about 1 mile north (approximate straight-line distances).
- The City's bikeway map shows bike lanes on Lincoln Ave, Willow St, Minnesota Ave and Bird Ave (buffered on parts of Bird), and the Three Creeks Trail links Bird Ave and Minnesota Ave to Palm Haven and the Los Gatos Creek Trail.
- VTA bus routes 56 and 64A stop near the Willow Glen library on Minnesota Ave.
nerd notes
Buying or selling in Downtown Willow Glen: what we check
Buying here
- Check the FEMA flood map for the parcel. FEMA maps parts of the blocks east of Lincoln Ave around Bird and Delmas avenues in Zone AO, a special flood hazard area for shallow flooding; much of the rest of the outline is Zone D, where the hazard is undetermined. Ask your lender and an insurance agent what applies.
- Look the address up in the City's Historic Resources Inventory. About two dozen properties in the Lincoln Ave blocks are listed, two of them City Landmarks, and listed houses generally need a Single-Family House Permit (historic review) for exterior work that needs a building permit.
- If the house is in a planned development (Glenpine Dr and its courts, Trinity Glen Ct, Laura Ville Ln, the W. Alma Ave condominiums), read the PD permit and any HOA documents for what you can change.
- Older houses here can date to the 1880s-1920s: budget for a sewer-lateral video inspection, a foundation check and an electrical review for knob-and-tube or undersized service.
- Walk the block on a Saturday morning and a Friday evening if you are close to Lincoln Ave, and look at the City's Tamien Station Area Specific Plan if you are near Highway 87, since it plans for added housing around the station.
Selling here
- Measure the real walking time to Lincoln and Willow and to the Saturday market, and put it in the listing.
- Pull the permit history early. On an older house, unpermitted additions or garage conversions are a common inspection question.
- If the house is on the Historic Resources Inventory, say so up front and note what the Single-Family House Permit process means for a buyer's plans.
- Have the FEMA flood-zone page for the parcel ready; on the Bird and Delmas side, be ready to answer whether flood insurance is required.
nerd noteCommissions are always negotiable, and we offer bundled services, so ask us what's included.
faq
Downtown Willow Glen questions, answered
Where does Downtown Willow Glen start and end?
This guide runs from Willow St south to Willow Glen Way and Mildred Ave, and from Lupton Ave east to Highway 87 and the Guadalupe River. Lincoln Ave north of Willow St is covered in our Palm Haven and North Willow Glen & Gardner guides.
Was Willow Glen really its own city?
Yes. The Willows incorporated as the City of Willow Glen in 1927 to fight a Southern Pacific rail plan, and its voters chose annexation to San Jose in 1936 to get a high school and sewer connections.
When is the Willow Glen farmers' market?
Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., year-round, at Willow Glen Elementary, 1425 Lincoln Ave.
Which school district serves Downtown Willow Glen?
San Jose Unified School District covers the whole outline. Willow Glen Elementary and Galarza Elementary are inside it, but attendance boundaries change, so confirm the address with the district.
Is Downtown Willow Glen a historic district?
No. The City's conservation areas are just north, in Palm Haven and North Willow Glen. Individual properties here are on the City's Historic Resources Inventory, including two City Landmarks.
Is any of it in a flood zone?
FEMA maps parts of the blocks east of Lincoln around Bird and Delmas avenues in Zone AO, a special flood hazard area. Check the FEMA map for the specific parcel.
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