Photos

When Karen Koshgarian first moved into her home on Carmelita Drive 30 years ago, the neighborhood population looked distinctly different than it does today.

"When I first moved in, it was very white and there were maybe two Japanese families," she said. "Now there's more ethnic diversity."

Koshgarian, a young teacher at the time, remembers being surrounded by adults in their 40s and 50s. "It's a wide range of ages now," she said. "There's a fair number of young families."

Now retired, Koshgarian has watched the neighborhood change in a number of other ways. Although she was first drawn by how rural it was, ongoing development has modernized the atmosphere.

"It's gentrifying and it's not going to stop," she said.

Still, Koshgarian said, the neighborhood has maintained some of its rural qualities — no sidewalks, and houses with mailboxes at the end of their driveways.

Alison Goh, who moved into the neighborhood in 1999, has found it a safe community with welcoming neighbors.

"The people here are pretty caring, pretty helpful," she said, recalling how willing they were to baby-sit her child when needed.

Goh lives right across the street from Ranch 99, a Chinese supermarket that opened in November. "It's so convenient," she said. "It's been drawing crowds. They close at nine o'clock every night, and you can still see people parking."

Part of what pulls this community together is the Martens-Carmelita Neighborhood Association. Robin Iwai, who's lived on Carmelita Drive since 1993, serves as the contact person for the loosely organized association.

"We have an annual neighborhood garage sale," Iwai said, "and an annual neighborhood block party. One year we had a back-yard garden tour."

The neighborhood's cul-de-sacs and unconnected streets are nice for privacy and calm traffic, but can make it awkward for everyone to share a single sense of community. Bentley Square housing developments border Carmelita Drive, but no streets connect them, and this leaves residents like Maria Lange a little uncertain of their relationship to the rest of the neighborhood.

Lange moved to Bentley Square in 1984, and does her own part to keep her neighbors connected to the community pulse. "I'm on the library board, and I'm in tune with the city," said Lange, who maintains an informal e-mail list to pass on what she hears.

Lange is enthusiastic about the Bentley Square community. "I moved here because the homes are charming, it was close to my daughter's school, had lighted tennis courts, a pool, and even though it's very private, it has access to major freeways, and shopping centers right across the street," she said. "When I first moved in, there weren't many children, but now there are many more, which is nice."

Tonya Cummings is also glad to see more kids coming in since she brought her three young children to Barcelona Court in 2004.

"I don't know California that well, but it's nice to have a community feel even in a really busy part of the state. We can walk to Huff elementary school. Everything's here. If I didn't want to, I'd never have to go five miles from my house. Ever," she said.


FACTS


CHILDCARE AND PRESCHOOLS: Baby World, 1715 Grant Road; Montecito School, 1468 Grant Road; St. Timothy's Preschool, 2094 Grant Road; YMCA — Huff Kids' Place, 253 Martens Ave.

FIRE STATION: No. 2, 160 Cuesta Drive

NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION: Martens-Carmelita Neighborhood Association, Robin Iwai, 650-961-8257, robin.iwai@yahoo.com

PARKS: Huff Park, Martens Avenue

POST OFFICE: Blossom Valley, 1768 Miramonte Ave.

PRIVATE SCHOOLS (NEARBY): St. Simon Catholic School, 1840 Grant Road, Los Altos

PUBLIC SCHOOLS: Mtn. View-Whisman School District — Huff Elementary School, Graham Middle School; Mtn. View-Los Altos Union High School District — Mountain View High School

SHOPPING: Grant Park Plaza, Grant Road at El Camino Real; Mountain View Center, El Camino at Grant Road

MEDIAN 2008 HOME PRICE: $1,260,000 ($989,665-$1,790,000)

HOMES SOLD: 7

— Dan Shilstone and Kelly Truong