Though its population numbers only 30,000 there are almost as many ways to live in Los Gatos as there are residents. You can live in a rustic pre-war cabin, shaded by redwood trees, or a stately Victorian on a flat block near downtown. The city has multiple historic districts adjacent to downtown, with homes ranging in size from “rustic weekend cabins” to “early land grant estate.” Away from downtown, you can live in a condominium or a sprawling estate; you can enjoy easy freeway access or live so far removed from civilization that the only noise at night is made by crickets.
Homes here can fetch impressive prices — a real estate brokerage survey found Los Gatos to be the fifth-most expensive city in the U.S. to purchase a four-bedroom, two-bathroom home — and the local market is traditionally quite strong. The presence of Netflix, which employs some 1,500 workers in a complex located near Vasona Park and La Rinconada Country Club, only adds to the pool of well-compensated workers looking for a place to put down roots.
Borne of humble, at times rowdy roots as a late 19th-century logging and mill town, Los Gatos has evolved into the epitome of upscale Americana, a place where locals enjoy a friendly, small-town atmosphere without sacrificing any of the amenities they’d find in a large city. With highly-rated schools, a year-long slate of community events and activities, excellent local dining, shopping, nightlife, parks, and access to hiking and biking trails, Los Gatos offers a package that not even its biggest rivals atop the Silicon Valley housing market can match.
