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June 2007
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Congratulations to Congregation Shir Hadash! In April, the congregation was awarded the "Irving J. Fain Award Winner" for Outstanding Synagogue Social Action Programming by the Union for Reform Judaism because of its fantastic social justice work and the exemplary amount of participation by the congregation in this work. Specifically, the award was in response to a health fair done in 2006 to assist uninsured or underinsured population with some basic medical testing. Elizabeth and David Karpf, MD, co-chairs of the Healthy Living Fair in 2006, received the award on behalf of Shir Hadash in April.
This year, the health fair was done in East San Jose together and co-hosted with Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church and in partnership with the Muslim Community Association and the Vietnamese Physicians Association and supported 20 other PACT members (People Acting in the Community Together) - houses of worship or faith communities of many religions - in April and was a tremendous success.
Each Thanksgiving, the faith communities in Los Gatos share an ecumenical Thanksgiving prayer service. It is great to also know that these same people are rolling up their sleeves and assisting the less fortunate in a concrete and badly needed way. This is great work, and Shir Hadash is to be congratulated for its leadership in this area.
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Date: Jun. 26, 2007
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If you are thinking of moving to Los Gatos, or even within the town, you want to be aware of the microclimates before making a final decision.
What? Microclimates? We know that the weather is often different in Santa Cruz, Capitola or Rio del Mar than it is in Los Gatos, Saratoga, or San Jose. And we know that this is also true within San Francisco - there are little climates where there's more or less fog, more or less wind, and the temperatures may fluctuate more or stay more consistent.
The key to understanding all of these microclimates is simple. It's a matter of hills.
Our climate is dominated by the chilly Pacific Ocean and offshore breezes. When things get too hot inland (whether San Jose or far inland in the Central Valley by Stockton), the Pacific kicks in with nature's air conditioning to cool things down. That usually translates to "fog". When the fog rolls in on the coast, frequently higher clouds are pushed inland, over the coastal range. And it's wind that does the pushing. Cold, foggy, damp wind.
So for instance, when the fog is getting sucked in to the hot, inland areas, it will be windy in downtown Los Gatos (and pretty much all along the Los Gatos Creek area extending into Campbell). The wind whips through from the ocean through the pass where Highway 17 runs - this is the opening of the funnel. Small hills can block that wind, and the weather will be calmer behind that protection. So while it's blustery and colder along North Santa Cruz Avenue, Main Street, the Almond Grove District, the Edelen District etc., it will be calm and peaceful and noticeably warmer (and more comfortable) in Belwood of Los Gatos or in the areas off Kennedy Road, Shannon Road, or over by Quito. Why? The hills block the flow of wind.
Conversely, when we experience a heat inversion (air gets trapped in the valley with a cooler layer sitting on top of the warmer one with no real wind at all), the last thing you really want is to block what little breeze may kick up in the late afternoon off the San Francisco Bay (often at around 4pm we get a gentle breeze from the bay and this helps cool things down nicely). There are small valleys within Los Gatos where it can just bake in summer due to the lack of breezes from the hills protection. Forrester Road comes to mind. It's a beautiful street with multi-million dollar homes, but it's also a very, very tiny valley of its own and it is roastingly hot in there in summer - probably the hottest spot in Los Gatos due to the lack of air circulation. (In winter, of course, it's a delight!)
In summer, you may not mind the cooling winds from Santa Cruz to your door. But in winter, you may not appreciate it as much!
So how do you know about this wind and its impact on microclimates? Here are a few tips, both for newcomers and for locals who perhaps just never noticed how the wind blows:
(1) Downtown (along the Los Gatos Creek, and areas close to highway 17) gets the most wind, for better or worse!
(2) When shopping for a home, check for hills. How close are they? Where are they in relation to downtown? Will they block the winds from there? The small hill known as Blossom Hill (Blossom Hill Road goes over a portion of it) blocks most of the offshore flow from The Pass, so homes in East Los Gatos get a breeze but not a super strong wind.
Any other tips from a long-term resident?
If you aren't in downtown Los Gatos and want to know how the weather is there, look at the Santa Cruz Mountains (aka "The Hill") and note if there are clouds clinging to the top of the ridge. If so, of course, you know it will be overcast at the coast.
Next find the pass where Highway 17 goes through from Los Gatos to Santa Cruz. It is the lowest point in the range - makes sense, right? Any trace of clouds there? If so, you know it will be windy in downtown.
In addition to wind and hills, there's one other thing to note, and that's elevation. Los Gatos is snuggled into the base of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Some of the town's homes are no where near the valley floor, but are instead elevated considerably (with breathtaking views, sometimes all the way to San Francisco some 60 miles to the north). Homes up high, with these great views, will of course also get more wind, but they will likely feast on some snow too if they're higher than 1500 feet in elevation. The higher the home, of course, the more likely snow is to happen - particularly when the storms descend from Alaska instead of the normal Pacific route.
Finally, when choosing an area in which to live, talk to your agent, talk to the home seller and talk to your prospective neighbors. Do a lot of research! You will be very glad you did.
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A fascinating, but little known fact of Los Gatos history is that our quaint town has been the setting for quite a few movies over the years. This was especially true in 1910 and 1911, when the Essanay Film Production Company ("S" and "A" for the initials of the founders) took up residence in the Lyndon Hotel (see image and floorplan) for a few months.
Prolific to the extreme, Essanay cranked out a film a week - sometimes more. In 1911, for instance, they produced 99 silent films! Not all of these were in Los Gatos, however. (This is the same firm that a little later produced so many movies in the Niles Canyon area of Fremont too.)
Looking for the right climate for their outdoors work, Essanay had moved west from Colorado, landing first in San Jose and then moving the 10 miles further west to Los Gatos. They were able to set up their production studio right behind the Lyndon Hotel, where they resided at the time. Additionally, they discovered the hamlet of Alma (which was flooded in 1952, along with the town of Lexington, to create the Lexington Reservoir) just up the hill into the Santa Cruz Mountains, and many of their movies were filmed there too.
Unfortunately for the folks at Essanay, the winter of 1910-1911 appears to have been a particularly bad El Nino year. In one four day period in January, the town received 16 inches of rain. That much water caused countless problems with accessibilty and it convinced the film production company to seek an alternate location after their work ground to a halt for about 5 weeks. So in February of 1911, they left soggy Los Gatos and next went south, toward Los Angeles. Thus ended the brief but prolific history of Los Gatos and the Essanay Film Production Company. They did not stay away from the San Francisco Bay Area for long, though. Later in 1911, Essanay filmed in San Rafael and by 1912 was esconced in Niles.
That was not really the end of the story for Los Gatos, though. A total of 23 films were made here, the most recent of which was just last year, and you can see list by clicking on the link below under more information.
And why should we be surprised? Los Gatos normally has wonderful weather and the beautiful backdrop of the Santa Cruz Mountains (not to mention our lovely older buildings). Imagine how long Essanay might have stayed if it weren't for a bad bout of El Nino!
For more information:
If you'd like to read more about Essanay, I highly recommend a book I gave to my husband last Christmas, Broncho Billy and the Essanay Film Company. The author is David Kiehn and it was written in 2003. You can order it on Amazon and it is available in some bookstores.
If you'd like more information on which films (older and newer) were made in Los Gatos, The Internet Movie Database has lots of info, both a simplelist of movies made here and also details on each one.
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Things are heating up now and you may be thinking about where to go for a little relief. There's the beach, of course - it's always temperate over in Santa Cruz on the water (and a nice breeze usually blows too). There are all the usual air conditioned places (stores, malls, theaters). But there's also a little place in Los Gatos, hidden from the view of most folks, where you can get a surprising amount of relief from the heat.
And amazingly, it's right in the middle of town!
 The secret location is along the Los Gatos Creek Trail under the Vasona Dam spillway. The rush of water through the gates creates a cool, light mist that floats down like some of the "misters" that you may have encountered at Disneyland, Paramount's Great America in very nearby Santa Clara, or in waterparks like Raging Waters in San Jose.
 To get there, the easiest approach is via Garden Hill Drive, which is off of Lark Avenue in Los Gatos. Follow the road almost to the very end, when it takes a sharp bend to the left. Park your bike or car and enter the park/trail and follow the path northwest (away from the freeway) and you will find the misty spot not too far up.
There are no benches or tables, so this is a spot not intended for picnicing - but I think it's a great place to do it nonetheless. (In fact, there's a warning sign to not go too close to the spillway.) It is not secluded (so ixnay on the romantic spot, this did not qualify as one of my "Best Places to Kiss" in Los Gatos) but it is cool and comfortable and refreshing.
Would you like to see some photos from the dam area? I have compiled a Vasona dam area 60-second slideshow (plus extra photos if you want to see them). Take a look!
Do you have a favorite place to cool off? I'd love to have you share it here!
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Live in Los Gatos:
A blog about Los Gatos real estate, homes, houses, condos, townhomes, housing market, neightborhoods, history, events, businesses, parks, schools, photos, issues, and lifestyle.
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Independence Day is a big deal in Los Gatos! Beginning at 11am at the Civic Center lawn (110 E. Main Street), there will be festivities that run until 7:30pm. For a complete list of what happens and when, please visit the 
The old firehouse turned museum in Los Gatos, known as the Tait Museum, has a couple of new exhibits that are worth noting. One highlights surgical photographs and the other paintings of the coast. 
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