Los Gatos, California

Los Gatos is a town located in Santa Clara County, California, United States. As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 28,592. It is located on the edge of Silicon Valley on the southwest corner of San Jose on the hilly edge of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Homes are mostly upscale, varying from million-dollar cottages in the village itself to large custom homes in the surrounding hills. The town is noted for its many antique stores and upscale but small-town downtown.

Geography

Los Gatos is located at 37°14'10" North, 121°57'42" West (37.236044, -121.961768){{GR|1}}. Los Gatos is bisected by California State Highway 17, which runs through the town from south to north. The terms "East Los Gatos" and "West Los Gatos" are sometimes used to describe the parts of the town that lie east and west of Highway 17, respectively, but there is no official governmental division of the town as such. Prior to 1997, the town's two main ZIP codes corresponded to the portions of the town east and west of Highway 17, with 95032 on the east side and 95030 on the west side, but the postal service rezoned the ZIP codes along a north-south division, to better correspond to the two post offices in Los Gatos, which are located at the north and south ends of town.

Related Topics:
California State Highway 17 - ZIP code

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California State Route 85 marks more-or-less the northern boundary of the town, although there are pockets of houses north of Highway 85 that are technically part of Los Gatos.

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Downtown Los Gatos, the area on and around Santa Cruz Avenue and Main Street, is located in the southwest quadrant of town. A left exit on northbound Highway 17 becomes the south end of South Santa Cruz Avenue, leading into downtown. The area around Los Gatos Boulevard, east of Highway 17, is much more typically suburban than downtown, with medium-sized shopping centers clustered at major intersections of the multilane boulevard.

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Vasona Park, a county park, and neighboring Oak Meadow Park, which belongs to the town, are located in what is roughly the geographic middle of the town, bordered on the south by Blossom Hill Road, on the east by Highway 17, on the west by University Avenue, and reaching at the north end not quite all the way to Lark Avenue. Los Gatos Creek begins in the Santa Cruz Mountains south of the town and runs through the town parallel to Highway 17 all the way through neighboring Campbell and San Jose to the Guadalupe River, which flows into San Francisco Bay. A walking, jogging, and biking trail called the Los Gatos Creek Trail runs alongside much of the creek from Lexington Dam through Vasona Park and Campbell to Meridian Avenue in San Jose. In Los Gatos, the trail passes the 1854 Forbes Mill. El Sereno mountain stands to the southwest; El Sombroso stands to the southeast.

Related Topics:
Vasona Park - Campbell - Guadalupe River - San Francisco Bay - Los Gatos Creek Trail - San Jose - 1854 - Forbes Mill

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According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 28.0 km² (10.8 mi²). 27.7 km² (10.7 mi²) of it is land and 0.3 km² (0.1 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 0.93% water.

Related Topics:
United States Census Bureau - Km² - Mi²

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