If you live in or visit Los Gatos and enjoy hiking, biking, horseback riding, jogging, soccer (and other sports requiring playing fields) or other outdoor activities, you'll want to know about a Town of Los Gatos document,  "Parks, Open Space, and Trails Inventory".  It's a 70 page pdf with beautiful maps and photos of Los Gatos which you can download from the town's site.

The SuperBowl has come and gone. Now what???

There's plenty to do in Los Gatos, Saratoga, Campbell, San Jose and nearby areas within Silicon Valley. But if you've got the "winter blahs", maybe you could use a few suggestions.

The Museums of Los Gatos (2 locations) showcases art (Tait location) and history (Forbes Mill location)

The Art Museum of Los Gatos
Current art show is Painterly Painting: The Next Level
4 Tait Avenue, Los Gatos CA
Now through February 28th 2009
Also, art classes are offered through the museum too.  One offering is a Life Drawing Class, which happens on Tuesdays from 2:30 - 5pm, ongoing, drop in basis. $14 per session (uninstructed, no registration required). Call 408 395-7375 for more information.

The History Museum of Los Gatos has rotating and travelling exhibits. Right now the featured exhibits are the car dealerships of Los Gatos).
75 Church St off E. Main St.
Los Gatos, CA 95030
408.395.7375
Open Wednesday – Sunday, Noon – 4pm
The museum also offers a self guided walking history tour of Los Gatos too. It's about a 45 minute walk and worthwhile!

There's always something happening at Villa Montalvo In Saratoga.
Live Performance Calendar (music)
Family Theatre (kid shows)
Visual Arts - now through March 8th, "Boolean Valley"

Los Gatos and nearby cities generally have plenty going on.

Los Gatos events c/o Los Gatos Chamber
Saratoga - calendar of events
Campbell's calendar is online - see what tickles your fancy!

San Jose Repertory Theater ("The Rep") is a great downtown SJ venue. Check out the current performances on the Rep's website. Featured now: A Picasso. (See a bit of it online at their site.)

Want to expose your kids to the stage? Try the Children's Musical Theater of San Jose. They run summer camp programs too (my kids did that about 10 years ago).  Starting on February 26th is the production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

San Jose State isn't just for college kids. The arena holds a variety of events, including a diverse array of sports as well as other entertainment offerings. Check out the current events here.

Nearby Santa Clara University also hosts a variety of events. Visit www.SCU.edu to see all the happenings or click here to see the campus events page.  Coming soon: a lecture on The Evolution-Intelligent Design controversy: what lessons does it offer about the nature of legitimate science?  Don't forget that the museum, the de Saisset, is open 11-4 Tues through Sunday and charges no admission.

Lest we forget... Stanford University isn't too far away and likewise shares many wonderful events with the community, which you can check out online.

If the weather's good, go explore a park. The Santa Clara County Parks Department has 28 parks, many of them quite large and great for hiking. Check them out!

Have fun. Feel free to share your favorite local event here in the comments section!

Relocation is an upheaval, but often one full of excitement and promise. People moving to Silicon Valley find themselves coming to a place unlike any other - it's is an entrepenuer's haven, a high tech magnet. With a highly educated population, low crime, fantastic weather, scenic beauty, and opportunities in every aspect of life, the move to Silicon Valley or the San Jose area is abundant with opportunity for success and happiness.

How do you choose where to live once you decide that Santa Clara County, or Silicon Valley, will be home?  There are a lot of things to consider, from the type of home you want and the commute distance you can tolerate to the availabilty of parks and trails, excellent schools, and an ambiance where you'll feel at home. And cost, too, of course.

For many, many people relocating to Silicon Valley from within the U.S. or from abroad, Los Gatos is that place that "feels like home". People from Europe have often told me that Los Gatos has a "European feel", and from my year living in Florence, Italy, I can appreciate that correlation! With the many unique shops and great restaurants and the heavy foot traffic, Los Gatos comes across as a place for living and spending time.  It's a true community.

The community aspect is extremely important in Los Gatos. Many things bring people together. Big public events are common in Los Gatos - and many of them are free!  In summers, there are not one but three free musical concert series (Vasona Vibrations, Jazz on the Plazz and Music in the Park). There's Shakespeare at Oak Meadow Park too. In September, a free movie is shown at Oak Meadow Park and the event is called "Screen on the Green". In December, there will be a well-attended tree lighting ceremony on the first Friday night of the month and a huge holiday parade the next morning. Every Sunday there's a Farmer's Market in the Los Gatos town Park Plaza (across from the post office). There are so many events, all year round, that bring people together. Some are sponsored by local churches (like the St. Mary's Country Fair in early October) or the Chamber of Commerce (Claws for a Cause in September). In November there's an inter-faith Thanksgiving service. Each year it is hosted at a different house of worship. And this is only a passing glance at the fun events that happen each year in the town of Los Gatos.

There are a thousand small things too. Volunteers make this town go! Los Gatos has two museums, and volunteers are the heart and soul of those operations. Volunteers in Policing, the many town commissions are all hosted by volunteers. (My husband is a volunteer on the Los Gatos Parks Commission.)

Schools are a big deal in Los Gatos too. The town is served by three elementary and middle school districts and they range from good to great in terms of the scoring.

Another key element that makes Los Gatos special is scenic beauty. The town of Los Gatos is nestled into the base of the Santa Cruz Mountains, so there are gentle, rolling hills and some steeper hills that provide dramatic and impressive views. The terrain is lovely with oak trees and redwood trees alike, but many grassy meadows where you might find deer or wild turkey.  Some of Los Gatos is "horse country" too.  

Vineyards are popular in lots with more space and the Santa Cruz Mountains are filled with wineries. You won't have to go far to taste locally grown and bottled wine, though - we have spots right in town where that can be done! 

The Old Los Gatos or downtown area is historic and architecturally beautiful too. The Almond Grove District, the Edelen District, and the Broadway area are all turn-of-the-last century vintage and lovely old Victorian homes line the streets. Talk about charm!  In December there are horse-drawn carriage rides that meander through the downtown and historic parts of Los Gatos.

Our weather is conducive to year-round fun outdoors - the Santa Clara Valley enjoys 300 sunny days a year! Los Gatos is the gateway to the coast, too, so it's only about a thirty minute drive from downtown Los Gatos to the beach at Santa Cruz. 

Los Gatos also enjoys a bountiful supply of great parks. Vasona Lake County Park doesn't belong to the town (it's a county park) but it's over 100 acres, with a lake, right in the middle of the town of Los Gatos. Many other parks grace the town from one end to the other. Some have a fascinating history too.

Low crime, great schools, community spirit, fabulous dining and shops, ambiance, and parks are all a part of the Los Gatos experience. 

For More Information:

Visit my community profiles on my main website, PopeHandy.com:
http://www.popehandy.com/neighborhoods/index.cfm

Chicago Title has a relocation guide online, at no cost. Visit http://www.chicagotitle.com/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=352 and input California for the state and Santa Clara for the county and you'll get a very helpful guide to Silicon Valley.

What if you love Los Gatos but it's beyond your budget?

I can help you to find a home either in or near Los Gatos if the town is not quite in reach right now. There are many great areas adjacent to Los Gatos, such as Cambrian Park, Saratoga, Almaden Valley, Campbell, and Willow Glen - many of which are more affordable (or may offer a shorter commute). Call or email me and we'll evaluate your wants and needs together to get you as much as possible within your budget!

Let's be clear on something: squirrels, possums, skunks, racoons and other wildlife are not generally a problem in Los Gatos. Recently a mountain lion was seen on Cypress Way - and sometimes the big cats wander into suburbia. Those events constitute a problem. But by and large, the small furry animals that share our turf are not an issue.

I bring this up because I like to track who's finding "Live In Los Gatos", how they get here, what are the popular search terms, etc. It's all visible to you, too, if you are in the slightest bit interested. Just scroll to the bottom of the page and find the Site Meter button. Click on it. A whole world of info - probably much more than could possibly interest you - about how people find this spot lies in the pages beyond that portal.

What upset me today was seeing that one Google surfer found this site by asking about killing squirrels in Los Gatos. If you go through the Site Meter link and then look at the left sidebar where it says "Referrals" you will find one that reads as follows:

When I clicked on the Google search page, I saw that there seem to be aggressive squirrels in Palo Alto and people are thinking of extermination. Maybe it's beyond that and it's part of a plan. But as far as I know, there's NOTHING like that in Los Gatos.

That said, I just asked my husband, Jim Handy (who is a volunteer parks commissioner in Los Gatos) if there's anything about a plan to kill squirrels in Los Gatos. "No, but there's a problem with gophers at Oak Meadow Park", he informed me. What kind of problems? "Ankle turners..." Jim explained that people have been getting hurt tripping on gopher holes at the Town's Oak Meadow Park. Apparently there is a plan to poison gophers - at that one park.

It used to be against the law to use poison in parks in all cases. Apparently now, under heavy regulation, some use of poison is allowed. I can't say this makes me feel any better that it's a very guarded situation.

What about the historic but still timely Macabee Gopher Trap? It has been in production right here in Los Gatos for about a hundred years. Or perhaps it would be better if they would use a product like my old Saratoga High School friend Bob Bruno's "Gophernator" (or "Rodenator" since apparently it handles more than just gophers). Who ya gonna call?