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san jose neighborhood guide · property nerds® at compass
East Foothills, San Jose Homes for sale, recent sales and a Property Nerd’s guide
The foothills above Alum Rock Ave and Toyon Ave: unincorporated county streets and city tracts with San Jose 95127 addresses, most of Alum Rock Park, a private country club and the Warner Heights blocks off Story Rd.
East Foothills by the numbers
east foothills by the numbers · live from the mls
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Calculated in your browser from MLS data for East Foothills (approximate outline traced from the boundary streets). Sales are single-family homes, townhomes and condos.
homes in east foothills · live from the mls
Homes for sale, for rent and recently sold in East Foothills
Every active listing, rental and closed sale in East Foothills 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 (East Foothills (approximate outline traced from the boundary streets)); it may not match every local definition.
the story
How East Foothills came to be
Alum Rock Ave ends here, in the canyon it was built to reach. A local history academy's park timeline says a state act established Alum Rock Park on March 13, 1872, that the avenue was built in the mid-1870s when the park sat about seven miles past the city limits, and that trolleys of the Alum Rock Railway, incorporated in 1893 and electrified in 1902, ran into the canyon until 1932. Mineral springs on the canyon floor were piped and landscaped in the 1870s and 1880s. In the 1930s and 1940s work crews cleared old structures, built bridges and trails, built Cherry Flat Dam upstream to cut flooding, and turned the old railway bed into the Penitencia Creek Trail.
The same timeline records the park's rough patches: a March 1911 flood on Penitencia Creek that destroyed much of the park's rail track, the closing of the original Alum Rock Avenue entrance to cars (it stays open on foot), and winter storms that closed the park on December 31, 2022 until a phased reopening began on April 15, 2023. About 62% of the park's mapped area is in this guide; the slopes north of Penitencia Creek are in the Piedmont Hills & Sierramont guide.
Below the park, the foothills split between county and city. City annexation records show 'Penitencia No. 1-B' on November 14, 1957 bringing in the land along Penitencia Creek Rd and the park road, about 40% of the city land in today's outline, and a series of small 'Story' annexations along Fleming Ave, Story Rd and Clayton Rd from 1960 to 1995. Most of the outline never joined the city: the Census counts about 1,310 acres of it as the East Foothills census-designated place, and about 74% of the outline, mostly open hills, lies outside San Jose's Urban Growth Boundary (city layer).
streets and homes
The streets and the houses
Three kinds of streets share the 95127 ZIP code here. On the valley edge, Toyon Ave, Kirk Ave and Fleming Ave run past grid streets such as Gordon Ave, Tallent Ave, Holly Dr, Pepper Tree Ln, Valley View Ave and Mountain View Ave. Uphill, Alum Rock Ave passes the private San Jose Country Club, with Club Dr, Fairway Dr, Greenside Dr and Golf View Dr beside the course, and winding roads such as Crothers Rd, Miguelito Rd, Highland Dr, Chula Vista Dr, Alta Vista Way and Porter Ln climb the slopes. In the south, city tracts on Warner Dr, Ramstad Dr, Kaylene Dr, Hickerson Dr, Squeri Dr and Pine Ridge Way sit between Fleming Ave, Story Rd and Clayton Rd; one tract off Fleming Ave carries Shakespeare names (Romeo Ave, Juliet Ave, Macbeth Dr, Macduff Ct, Tybalt Dr), and another carries golf names (Spyglass Hill Rd, Peacock Gap Dr, La Quinta Dr, Titleist Ct).
Homes are detached houses. The city's tract-map layer shows about 1,710 recorded lots in 62 tracts inside the outline, none larger than about 77 lots (Rosemar Ave and the Shakespeare streets). On city land the zoning map shows R-1-8 on about 43% and R-1-5 on about 20%, with agricultural (A) and planned-development zoning on the upper slopes; county parcels follow county zoning. Many hillside streets sit inside state landslide zones, and the city's Wildland-Urban Interface covers most of the outline.
County or city, street by street (county city-limits map and road centerlines). Unincorporated Santa Clara County, with county planning, zoning and building permits: Altadena Ln, Alum Rock Falls Rd, Anderson Rd, Barbee Ct, Bay Tree Ln, Bayview Ave, Bellflower Ct, Blue Gum Dr, Bon Vista Ct, Brundage Way, Camino Vista Way, Canyon Dr, Celeo Ln, Cherokee Ln, Chula Vista Ave, Chula Vista Ct, Chula Vista Dr, Clavering Hill Rd, Club Dr, Corralitos Ln, Crest Dr, Cureton Dr, Dormar Ct, East Hills Dr, Echo Knolls Rd, Edgemont Dr, Enchanto Vista Dr, Ervin Way, Fairmont Dr, Fairway Dr, Freeman Ave, Garcal Dr, Gina Ct, Golf Dr, Golf View Dr, Gordon Ave, Greenside Dr, Herchell Dr, Hidden Valley Ln, Highland Dr, Holly Dr, Holmes Dr, Holmes Ln, Hubbard Way, Jeanette Ln, Jilinda Ct, Joanne Ave, Kenny Ln, Lori Anne Ln, McVay Ave, McVay Ct, Merkley Row, Miguelito Rd, Mountain View Ave, Mt Hamilton Rd, Oakmore Dr, Observatory Dr, Olive Dr, Pedro View Rd, Pepper Tree Ln, Photinia Ln, Piazza Ct, Piazza Way, Poppy Ln, Porter Ct, Porter Ln, Prieta Ct, Regal Ct, Rennie Ave, Reynaud Dr, Rica Vista Way, Ridgetop Dr, Ridgeview Ave, Ridgeview Ct, Ridgeview Ter, Ridgeview Way, Rolfe Ct, Rose View Dr, San Pablo Ave, Sheree Ct, Siesta Vista Dr, Silveira Ln, Simoni Dr, Soelro Ct, St Catherine Ct, St Laurent Ct, Stiles Way, Summit Ave, Tallent Ave, Valley View Ave, Vista Valle Ct, Whipple Ct and Yona Vista. Split between county and city: Alta Vista Way, Alum Rock Ave, Clayton Rd, Crothers Rd, Kirk Ave, McKee Rd and Miradero Ave (mostly county); Macbeth Dr, Penitencia Creek Rd, Romeo Ave and Toyon Ave (mostly city); and Canon Vista, Fleming Ave, Fleming Ct, Juliet Park Dr, Park Way, Peacock Gap Dr, Pueblo Vista Ave, San Pablo Ct and Vista Ave (about evenly split). City of San Jose: Barley Ct, Calco Creek Dr, Cedar Flat Ct, City View Pl, Country Tree Ct, Cristal Cts, Feller Ave, Fourier Dr, Glamorgan Ct, Harbor Ct, Hickerson Ct, Hickerson Dr, Impresario Way, Juliet Ave, Kaylene Ct, Kaylene Dr, La Quebrada Way, La Quinta Dr, Lee Terrace Ct, Macduff Ct, Mace Ct, Mace Dr, Machado Ln, Marchant Ct, Marchant Dr, Millet Ct, Morrie Dr, Murietta Ln, Nob Hill Ct, Nob Hill Dr, Peak Dr, Pine Ridge Ct, Pine Ridge Way, Pueblo Hill Ct, Rafter Ridge Dr, Ramstad Dr, Renraw Dr, Ridgeline Ct, Rock Canyon Cir, Rosemar Ave, Rosemar Ct, Rye Ct, Salmon Creek Ct, Schramm Way, Spurling Ct, Spyglass Hill Rd, Squeri Dr, Story Ct, Story Ln, Titleist Ct, Tybalt Dr, Utopia Pl, Warner Ct, Warner Dr, Wheat Ct and Wildman Dr, plus the Story Rd frontage and the road through Alum Rock Park. Every address here uses a San Jose 95127 mailing address either way.
streets in east foothills
- Alum Rock Ave
- Penitencia Creek Rd
- Toyon Ave
- Kirk Ave
- Fleming Ave
- McKee Rd
- Mt Hamilton Rd
- Clayton Rd
- Story Rd
- Crothers Rd
- Miguelito Rd
- Gordon Ave
- Valley View Ave
- Mountain View Ave
- Highland Dr
- Porter Ln
- Rosemar Ave
- Warner Dr
- Ramstad Dr
- Kaylene Dr
parks and places
Parks, shops and landmarks near East Foothills
- park
Alum Rock Park
The city's canyon park along Penitencia Creek, about 719 acres on the city layer, with about 13 miles of trails (some open to horses and bikes), picnic areas and lawns; the main entrance is at 15350 Penitencia Creek Rd (city parks layer; visitor bureau listing). Parking lots charge a fee, and storm damage has closed trails before, so check current conditions first.
- trail
Penitencia Creek Trail
The trail on the old trolley bed (park timeline) leaves the park westward along Upper Penitencia Creek toward Penitencia Creek Park in the Penitencia Creek & Toyon guide.
- landmark
San Jose Country Club
A private membership golf club at 15571 Alum Rock Ave; its own site gives 1899 as its founding year. A place on the map, not public parkland.
- landmark
Mt Hamilton Rd (CA-130)
Leaves Alum Rock Ave inside the guide and winds about 18.5 miles to Lick Observatory (observatory directions page).
- library
Dr. Roberto Cruz Alum Rock Branch Library
At 3090 Alum Rock Ave by White Rd, about 1.2 miles straight-line west of the middle of the guide's homes.
schools and commute
School districts and getting around
School districts
Most streets are in the Alum Rock Union Elementary School District. The city tracts off Story Rd and Clayton Rd (Warner Dr, Ramstad Dr, Kaylene Dr, Hickerson Dr, Squeri Dr, Pine Ridge Way and nearby courts) map to the Mount Pleasant Elementary School District, and a few streets at the north-west corner (Tallent Ave, Ridgetop Dr, Freeman Ave, San Pablo Ave, Rock Canyon Cir and Poppy Ln) map to the Berryessa Union School District; all of it is in the East Side Union High School District (Census district maps). Linda Vista Elementary (Alum Rock Union, 100 Kirk Ave) is inside the outline. Nearby: Robert Sanders Elementary (Mount Pleasant, 3411 Rocky Mountain Dr), about 0.3 mile straight-line south of the outline, and James Lick High (East Side Union, 57 N. White Rd), about 1.2 miles straight-line west. Horace Cureton Elementary and Joseph George Middle, just west in the Alum Rock guide, closed after the 2024-25 school year (district consolidation page). Attendance boundaries change, so check the exact address with each district.
Alum Rock Union School District site · Mount Pleasant School District site · East Side Union High guide
Getting around
- VTA light rail (Orange Line): the Alum Rock and McKee stops on Capitol Ave are each about 1.8 miles straight-line west of the middle of the guide's homes.
- Berryessa/North San Jose BART (1620 Berryessa Rd) is about 3.4 miles straight-line west-north-west.
- Alum Rock Ave, McKee Rd and Story Rd run west to I-680, about 2 miles straight-line from the middle of the homes.
- Mt Hamilton Rd (CA-130) leaves Alum Rock Ave and climbs east; Clayton Rd links Story Rd to Mt Hamilton Rd through the hills.
- The Penitencia Creek Trail starts in Alum Rock Park and heads west along the creek.
- Downtown San Jose (City Hall) is about 4.9 miles straight-line west-south-west.
nerd notes
Buying or selling in East Foothills: what we check
Buying here
- County or city: about four-fifths of the land and most of the homes are unincorporated county, where the county handles planning, zoning, building permits and ADU rules. Split streets such as Alum Rock Ave, Fleming Ave and Toyon Ave change block by block, so check the parcel on the county assessor and city maps, not just the street list.
- Hillside hazards: state maps put about 65% of the outline in a landslide zone and about 15% in an Alquist-Priolo earthquake fault zone (it crosses Crothers Rd, Gordon Ave, Valley View Ave, Fairway Dr and nearby streets). Read the natural hazard disclosure and ask what geologic or geotechnical review an addition or ADU would need.
- Fire: the city's Wildland-Urban Interface covers about 82% of the outline, and CAL FIRE's 2025 maps show about half of it as a High fire hazard severity zone in the State Responsibility Area and about a quarter as High in the Local Responsibility Area. Check defensible-space and building rules and get insurance quotes early.
- Urban Growth Boundary: about 74% of the outline, including the upper ends of Crothers Rd, Miguelito Rd and Clayton Rd, is outside San Jose's Urban Growth Boundary, where the city's General Plan does not plan urban growth. Ask what lot splits or new units are possible before you count on them.
- On county hillside parcels, ask who provides water and sewer (or whether the home is on septic) and who maintains the road; answers can differ from the city parcel next door. The city flood layer shows almost all of the outline as FEMA Zone D (undetermined); confirm on the FEMA Map Service Center.
Selling here
- Say up front whether the parcel is county or city land, and pull permits from the agency that had jurisdiction when work was done.
- Have the natural hazard disclosure, any geotechnical reports and records of defensible-space work ready; hillside buyers ask early.
- Straight-line distances to Alum Rock Park, the Alum Rock library and the light rail stops are fair points to make.
- List upgrades (roof, panel, sewer lateral or septic, retaining walls, drainage) with dates.
nerd noteCommissions are always negotiable, and we offer bundled services, so ask us what's included.
faq
East Foothills questions, answered
Is the East Foothills part of San Jose?
Mostly not. Every address uses San Jose 95127, but about 79% of the land in this guide is unincorporated Santa Clara County, including the Census East Foothills CDP. The city parts are mainly the tracts off Story Rd and Clayton Rd, the Rosemar Ave and Nob Hill Dr streets, the Penitencia Creek Rd side and Alum Rock Park. The street-by-street list above shows which is which.
Who issues building permits in the East Foothills?
Santa Clara County on unincorporated parcels and the City of San Jose on city parcels. Check the parcel on the county assessor's map or the city's GIS maps before planning work.
How much of Alum Rock Park is in this guide?
About 62% of the park's mapped area, including the main entrance on Penitencia Creek Rd. The city layer lists the park at about 719 acres; the slopes north of Penitencia Creek are in the Piedmont Hills & Sierramont guide.
Which school districts serve the East Foothills?
Alum Rock Union on most streets, Mount Pleasant on the tracts off Story Rd and Clayton Rd, and Berryessa Union on a few streets near Toyon Ave, with East Side Union High for high school. Confirm with each district for the exact address.
Is the San Jose Country Club open to the public?
It is a private membership club (club website), so treat it as a place on the map rather than a public park.
What hazards should buyers check here?
Landslide and earthquake fault zones on the hillsides, wildfire hazard zones and the Wildland-Urban Interface, and whether the parcel is outside the Urban Growth Boundary. The natural hazard disclosure covers most of these; ask for any geotechnical reports.
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