September 30, 2004

STREET SCENEKelez Drive

The pastel-colored condominiums and duplexes that line Kelez Drive invite those wanting to find a permanent home in Almaden Valley to temporarily rent here.

Despite the noise generated from busy Almaden Expressway, the occasional sound of sirens from the nearby fire station, and the conglomeration of a large high school crowd on Redmond Avenue, residents say it’s a good place to live because of the quality of local schools and safety of their streets.

One side of Kelez Drive features one-story, three-bedroom, two-bathroom condominiums with two- or three-car garages.

The other side is lined with two-story duplexes with high ceilings, featuring three bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms in approximately 1,600 square feet.

Gardner Joe Levy, 37, with Sunnyvale-based All-American Gardening Services, loves to groom the yards of some of the 20 properties that line Kelez Drive.

“They’re nice middle-class people trying to make an income,” he said of the neighbors who have hired him during the past two years to come trim their bushes, cut their grass and take care of their gardens.

Protected by an 8-foot concrete wall from congested Almaden Expressway, residents on this street say they’re mostly renters who like the affordability of the units in the otherwise pricey Almaden Valley.

At the end of the street we find a busy Shari Inadumi painting an empty duplex. “It’s a safe area,” she said.

“Almaden is a nice community and it’s well kept. It’s a fairly safe environment for families and the schools are great.”

Inadumi said at one time, the duplexes had one owner who then sold the units to different individuals. She and her husband have owned the unit for many years.

Sheryl Souza, 36 who moved into one of the duplexes four months ago, said she was attracted to the area by the quality of the schools and because her family needed more space. She said she enjoys having as neighbors many families with a large number of small children and as well as some teenagers.

But she’s bothered by the weekend commotion generated from the expressway. “It’s extremely noisy on Friday and Saturday nights,” Souza said. “I hear the traffic zooming down. I didn’t know it was going to be that loud.”

A former travel agent, she decided to stay home after she had her first child. Her husband commutes to Milpitas where he works as a police officer for the Elmwood Jail Correctional Facility.

Souza said the racket from the expressway is compensated by the great parks and schools in the neighborhood.

She often visits the Jeffrey Fontana Park. “It’s really nice. I’ve walked around a little bit around here, but we mostly keep to ourselves.”

The street also faces the Holy Spirit School where traffic sometimes spills over into Kelez Drive upsetting some neighbors.

Beginning on El Paseo Drive, Kelez Drive snakes down to Almaden Road.

“I like living here,” said Lisa Weisenreder, 42. “People are quiet and keep to themselves.”

Weisenreder has lived on Kelez Drive since February of 2003. The single mother of three children rented the $1,650-a-month duplex after taking care of her father, selling his house and moving him into a nursing home.

She said her children attend Bret Harte Middle and Leland High schools. She likes the area and wants to stay close to friends and family.

She’s now looking for work as she was laid off after working for 18 years as a parenting instructor for a residential drug treatment program. Due to her financial situation, she fears she may have to move out of the area.

Weisenreder said she and her neighbors like decorating the outside of their rental properties for the holidays. She also said Kelez Drive is the kind of street where neighbors borrow sugar, tools and coffee from each other.

Three months ago, she said, six renters moved out. “We have a high turnover of people, but that’s OK. These are rental properties. The people coming here are nice. They keep to themselves.”

—By Sheila Sanchez