|
This map has been restricted to listings in Cupertino (95014), West Sunnyvale (94087), Saratoga (95070), Los Altos (94024), West San Jose (95129) and West Santa Clara (95051). To see listings in other parts of the Silicon Valley, please click here.
Cupertino is world-renowned for the quality of its schools, which score very high. Many schools have won state and national recognition for academic excellence. Computer education is outstanding in this district. Vice President Al Gore once visited the city's Monta Vista High School and Homestead High was honored at a White House ceremony. Community and business support is very strong for education in Cupertino.
Close to the heart of Silicon Valley, Cupertino offers a short commute to most high tech firms, including the headquarters for both Symantec, Borland and Apple Computer.
Cupertino is an attractive city, rising from flatlands to hills. It has a wide variety of housing choices. Homes in the hills are more expensive, ranging as high as $2 million-plus in price. Those on lower ground are more moderately priced.
While schools receive most of the attention in Cupertino, recreational activities are plentiful as well. The city itself offers over 200 activities from painting to karate and the soccer leagues draw over 1,000 children. The after-school music program and Shakespeare for the Kids are popular. Family's can enjoys 13 parks, a nature preserve, and a racquet club as well as bowling and ice-skating. The local Junior College, De Anza, offers many classes for the community.
Residents enjoy the city events such as the arts and wine festival, Heritage parade and De Anza Days under pleasant skies with winter average temperatures of around 50 degrees and summer averages around 80 degrees.
Click here to see community photos
The Cupertino Real Estate Market
Home prices in Cupertino vary widely from the $450,000 condominium to the $1,000,000 ranch home to the multi-million dollar estates in the Cupertino Foothills. Like the rest of Silicon Valley the relative value of the homes mirrors the perceived quality of the schools that the children of that home would be most likely to attend. While Cupertino Union Elementary and Fremont Union High School districts are among the best in the state, there still is a wide range of API school stores for the individual schools. In general, all schools in Cupertino will rate from having very good test scores to having the best test scores in the county if not the state.
Thus school attendance boundaries can have a great affect on the value of otherwise comparable homes in Cupertino. The highest home values generally lie within the boundaries of Kennedy Middle School with the new Lawson Middle School coming in next followed by Cupertino and Hyde Middle Schools. Children who live within the district may also apply to attend any of the alternative schools in Cupertino including Portal and Faria Elementary. Faria Elementary recently scored a perfect 1000 API score.
Below are brief descriptions of the various neighborhoods within the city of Cupertino.
Downtown/Central: This neighborhood is bounded by De Anza Blvd, Hwy 280, Miller Ave and Bollinger Ave. It is a mostly mature neighborhood with 40 year old ranch homes ranging in price from $800,000 to 1.4 million. In the past few years 2 large condo projects (Travgine and Montebello) have been built with prices in the $500,000 - $900,000 range. Along De Anza Blvd, a large townhouse complex (Sterling Square) and condominium complex (Villagio) have been constructed. A mixed use residential condo complex (The Metropolitan) has been built along Stevens Creek near Vallco. The homes located within the Lawson Middle school area have benefited from as increased API scores since the recent addition of the new middle school. The prime attraction for this area is its proximity to Hwy 280, all of the shopping areas and the newly constructed Cupertino Library.
Monta Vista and the Cupertino Foothills: This neighborhood is the largest in Cupertino and is bounded by Hwy 280, De Anza Blvd and runs to the mountains in the west. Homes in this area start at $900,000 and but are mostly in the 1.4 million dollar range and up. Areas such as unincorporated Monte Vista are in a state of transition as many older homes are being torn down and million dollar homes are being put up in their place. In the foothills, there are several large estates and wineries that boast incredible views of the valley. At the base of the foothills lies Cupertino's only major housing develpment in the last twenty years, Seven Springs.
Rancho Rinconada: This up and coming area was annexed by the city of Cupertino in the 90's. It too is an area in transition with many of its "Eichler" style homes being torn down and being replaced with large mediterranean style homes. Older homes in this area start in the $600,000 range and can go up to 1.5 million. This area is bounded by Miller Ave, Stevens Creek, Lawrence Expressway and Bollinger Ave.
Garden Gate: This formerly unincorporated area is similar to Rancho Rinconada in that it was annexed by the city in the 90's. Generally featuring larger lots than the Rancho area, this area is a mix of smaller older homes and large recently built homes. The smaller homes on large lots start in the $900,000 range and the rebuilt homes can go for as much as 2 million. This area is generally bounded by Stevens Creek to the west, Hwy 280 to the east and bisected by Stelling Ave.
West San Jose: While not technically part of Cupertino, this part of W. San Jose is highly desired and is known as the Lynbrook High area. This part of San Jose is located within the boundaries of the Cupertino Elementary School district and includes Dilworth, Meyerholtz, & John Muir Elementary, Miller Middle School and Lynbrook High. The homes located within the boundaries of Dilworth Elementary are generally considered the most desirable. Most of the homes in the area are single family ranch style homes with a few townhomes mixed in. Prices range from the high $900,000's to $1.6 million. This area is bounded by Hwy 85, Bollinger, Lawrence Expressway and De Anza Blvd.
Community Links
City of Cupertino Home Page
Cupertino Courier - The Local Newspaper
Cupertino Union Elementary School District
Fremont Union High School District
Cupertino Chamber of Commerce
Cupertino Parks and Recreation
Community Facts and Figures
Population - 52,300
Average Household Income - $147,000
Census 2000 Statistics
Commercial Centers/Areas
Vallco Fashion Park
This aging enclosed mall was recently purchased a by a local group and current plans call for a total renovation of the insides with the additions of a 20 screen movie theater and several top quality restaurants. The theater should be completed by winter 2006 and current new restaurant include Alexander's Steakhouse and the 1,000 seat Chinese Seafood Restaurat, Dynasty. The current anchor tenants are Macy's and Sears. Located at the corner of Wolfe Rd. and Stevens Creek Blvd. The shopping area across the street from Vallco is also undergoing construction and renovation including the addition of the Elephant Bar.
Cupertino Village
This open air center houses primarily asian stores and resturants and is the most active part of Cupertino. People from all over the area come to the center to shop at Ranch 99 Market and eat at Joy Luck Place. Parking on the weekends can be very tough. Located at the corner of Wolfe Rd. and Homestead Rd.
Cupertino Crossroad/Stevens Creek Blvd
This stretch of Stevens Creek Blvd between De Anza Blvd and Stelling Rd has several strip malls with many choices for shopping and dining. Top shops include Target, Marina Market, Whole Foods Market, Mervyn's and coming soon, Petsmart. Top dining establishments include Fontana's, Marie Calendar's, Hong Fu, Baja Fresh, Noah's Bagels and Starbucks. Peet's Coffee and Panera Bread are also opening soon in a newly built development.
Cupertino City Center
Located across De Anza Blvd from Cupertino Crossroads, this area is undergoing a major transformation. The recently opened Cypress Hotel is the premiere hotel in the city and now hosts most of the city's major events in its ballrooms. The fine restaurant Park Place is located within the hotel. Next to the hotel is newly built city gateway,Cali Mill Plaza and Le Boulangerie (inside Montebello Condos). Just a few blocks away, the civic center has undergone a major change with a new state of the art, Cupertino Library and Cupertino Community Hall.
Additional Articles on Cupertino and Cupertino Schools
Cupertino's 4 Alternative School Programs
