Jackson Park, Mountain View

If any neighborhood embodies the diversity that has historically defined Mountain View, it is the neighborhood centered on Jackson Park. For more than a century, immigrant groups from around the world have concentrated in this small neighborhood, bounded by Shoreline Boulevard, Stierlin Road, Windmill Park Lane, Central Avenue, Moffett Boulevard and Central Expressway.

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When it was subdivided in 1904 the neighborhood was cut off from the rest of Mountain View by the railroad tracks. Its isolation made it an affordable locale for Spanish immigrants in the 1920s who nicknamed it "El Charco de la Rana" -- the frog pond -- a tongue-in-cheek reference to the muddy quagmire its unpaved streets became after a rainstorm.

Frances Avila, who has lived on Washington Street since 1936, remembers when it was home to a close-knit community of Mexican-American families who formed clubs, held dances and created their own credit union. Her memories however, are bittersweet. In 1969 she witnessed the demolition of dozens of homes for the construction of the Shoreline Boulevard/Central Expressway overpass.

Jackson Park facts: FIRE STATION: No. 1, 251 S. Shoreline Blvd. PARK: Jackson Park, Jackson Street and Stierlin Road POST OFFICE: Mountain View, 211 Hope St. PUBLIC SCHOOLS: Mtn. View-Whisman School District -- Monta Loma or Theuerkauf elementary schools, Crittenden Middle School; Mtn. View-Los Altos Union High School District -- Mountain View High School SHOPPING: Moffett Boulevard, Downtown Mountain View MEDIAN 2007 HOME PRICE: $1,075,000 ($750,000-$1,250,000) # HOMES SOLD: 3

"Because of the overpass, all my friends moved away," Avila said. Despite the drastic changes she's seen, Avila is still happy to live on Washington Street. "It has been very nice, and very quiet. It's my home," she said.

When Chuck Hartle moved to Jackson Street in 1980, it was still recovering from the destruction wrought by the overpass. "It was basically an old downtown neighborhood that hadn't been touched by the city," he said. "It was almost a dirt road up front."

However, the neighborhood was described as up-and-coming, and by the late 1980s streets were improved, Jackson Park was built, and dozens of new homes were constructed along Windmill Park Lane. Like Hartle, many new residents have been drawn to the neighborhood because of its central location, relative affordability and easy access to downtown. "I go to downtown at least once a day," he said.

Hartle also mentioned the neighborhood's cultural diversity as one of its assets. Every July he goes to the Obon Festival, a celebration held by the Japanese-American community at the Buddhist Temple on Stierlin Road. Like the Spanish and Mexican communities, Mountain View's Japanese community was also concentrated in this neighborhood. Many Japanese families owned nurseries near Stierlin Road. In 1957 the Buddhist Temple was built to help further unite their community.

The Portuguese Hall across the street shares a similar story. It was constructed in 1929, when Stierlin Road was lined with dairies owned by immigrants from Portugal's Azore Islands. On the sixth Sunday after Easter, the sound of marching-band music fills the air of the Jackson Park neighborhood. It's a sign to Hartle and his neighbors that the annual Portuguese Holy Ghost Parade is making its way from the hall to Saint Joseph's Church.

Known for its marching bands, Hartle said, "I always go out and watch it."

When the neighborhood isn't home to the Obon Festival or a Portuguese celebration, it's a relatively calm place. Along with its diversity, the neighborhood's quiet atmosphere is a quality that has remained constant through decades of change.

-- Nick Perry