May 12, 2005

STREET SCENEAlamitos Creek Drive

Homes on Alamitos Creek Drive range from 1,132 to 1,475 square feet and sell for about $735,000.

With its understated homes with small front yards featuring colorful spring flowers, Alamitos Creek Drive is a peaceful place, reminding one of a simpler time.

Ensconced in a neighborhood reminiscent of a close-in European village, children joyfully ride their bicycles and play together on the quiet street. Along the sidewalk, basketball hoops, scooters and toys await, while little girls arrange flowers and boys excitedly trade Yu-Gi-Oh cards. Many young families live in the neighborhood, having met through their children.

Alamitos Creek Drive is a narrow side street abundant with speed bumps, yet it is a quiet place and the perfect spot for children to play.

“I don’t know any other place as nice for my daughter to play outside the way we did when we grew up,” says resident Brian Dudley. “I’ve lived all over Almaden, and I can’t think of a better place for kids.”

Neighbor Kirsten Osorio agrees. “Lots of kids come out and play together,” she says. “There’s a good mix of stay-at-home moms, working families, babies, young kids, teenagers and retirees.”

Halloween is a major event within the Creekside development, with elaborately decorated homes and even the grown-ups dressing up in costume. One of the neighbors, to the children’s delight, on occasion joins the trick-or-treaters on horseback, offering them carrots to feed his horse. The evening is so much fun, in fact, that previous residents return to share in the festivities.

“One Halloween, a friend I went to Leland High School with showed up at my door, trick-or-treating with his kids,” says Dudley. “He drove 45 minutes just to come here.”

Located off McKean Road on the southern edge of Almaden Valley, the neighborhood lies close to farmland, horse stables and rolling hills, which lends it a country air. Residents also enjoy wandering along nearby Calero and Los Alamitos Creek trails and hiking through Quicksilver Park.

Farshad Zarghami, who has resided on Alamitos Creek Drive since 1989, appreciates the natural beauty of his surroundings. “We go hiking in the area a lot,” he says. “It’s a good location.”

Bo Li has lived on Alamitos Creek Drive since 1998 and often takes a walk with his family on the creek trails. Li vividly recalls the first time he and his wife saw their home. “My wife liked it very much,” he says. “She told me that this is the one she liked. She really wanted this house.” Li is so pleased with the local schools (Graystone, Bret Harte and Leland) that he plans to stay in the neighborhood for years to come. “We’ll probably live here until our kids, who are in elementary school now, graduate from high school,” he says.

Resident Sherry Pennings agrees. “The schools are really great here, which is one reason why the homes sell so quickly,” she says. “The house across the street sold the first weekend it was on the market.”

Pennings, who has lived here for 14 years, believes it’s a great neighborhood for young families. “Alamitos Creek Drive is a great street to have children play on,” she says. “Some of the kids who live on the busier streets come here to play because it’s so safe.”

Although the Pennings originally bought their house as a starter home, they found it such a nice place to raise a family that they never left. “It’s tucked away, surrounded by beautiful hills and trails,” she says. “I just love it.”

—By Lorraine Gabbert