Sunnyvale is Santa Clara County’s second largest city. It second in size only to San Jose and is known for low crime and high tech.
With plenty of shopping, dining, parks, culture, and businesses, this is a popular place to live and work. It has been ranked highly by national reports for safety and as a place to raise children, and schools range from middle to national high.
This is a very self contained city with just about every type of store, shop, or eatery imaginable.
This city is bordered by:
- Mountain View
- Los Altos
- Cupertino (and nearby, West San Jose)
- Santa Clara
- The San Francisco bay
Sunnyvale’s diverse neighborhoods
With a little over 150,000 residents, it’s no surprise that this city is large enough to enjoy a wide variety of neighborhoods.
Part of this area is fairly urban and walkable, particularly along El Camino Real and Sunnyvale-Saratoga Road. But there are other busier streets full of shops and restaurants.
The majority of this city is quieter, older ranch style neighborhoods. Newer construction is scattered around the community, but may be most likely to be found toward the bay. If you love Eichler homes and other mid-Century modern style houses, you can find some here, too, in several neighborhoods (I sold one on Morse many years ago). These are more modest than those you’d find in Willow Glen or in Palo Alto, and therefore more accessible to most home buyers.
Townhouses and condominiums can be found throughout the city. Some of them enjoy gorgeous views of Stevens Creek (the creek, not the road), Sunken Gardens Golf Course, or other open spaces.
Transportation
Cal Train runs through this west valley city, making commutes to San Francisco or downtown San Jose a breeze. Busses tend to follow major roads, particularly Central Expressway in this city.
The northern part of Sunnyvale is served by light rail. Busses cover many other parts of this area, primarily along major surface roads. Please see the Valley Transportation Map (VTA Map) for details.
Major automobile commute routes include Central Expressway, El Camino Real (Hwy 82), Highway 101, Highway 237, Highway 85, Highway 280, plus Sunnyvale-Saratoga Road, and Lawrence Expressway.
Schools
In Silicon Valley, school district boundaries don’t follow city limits, zip codes, or any other easy to pinpoint zone. The district lines were drawn before these areas were fully incorporated, so some of the boundaries have crazy shapes.
Most of this city is in the Sunnyvale Elementary School District and the Fremont Union High School District. On the eastern side of Sunnyvale, some areas are in the Santa Clara Unified School District. Part of Sunnyvale enjoys the Cupertino Union Elementary School District, an district with highly regarded schools. Homes in that area will sell for a premium for that reason.
Natural hazards
There are natural and environmental hazards in and near Sunnyvale. Much of the northern areas of this city are in a liquefaction zone. Sections very close to the bay may be in 100 year flood plains (not surprisingly, when we consider the elevations). A few areas near creeks are also in flood and liquefaction zones.
You can take a look at the Cal My Hazards site and learn more about the nearby natural hazards.
There are environmental hazards, too. A good place to learn about the Superfund and other sites is the EnviroStor site.
Real estate
Each month, we update a Sunnyvale real estate market post on our main blog. Please check it out!
Below please find a live Altos Research chart, showing the median list price of homes for sale – this will give you an idea of what homes might cost there today.
Homes for sale in Sunnyvale
On our main blog, you can browse listings of homes for sale, or use the map feature below.
