 | Campbell California: Encyclopedia II - Campbell California - Housing and businesses
Campbell California - Housing and businesses
There are few large shopping centers or business complexes in the city, as Campbell is primarily a suburban residential area. Fry's Electronics and The Home Depot each have stores within the city limits and are two of the city's largest employers.
Most residences are single-family homes, although there are some areas with condominiums, duplexes, and apartments. Single-family homes typically have one or two bathrooms and three or four bedrooms, and are between 1100 and 1600 square feet (100 and 150 m²) on lots typically measuring about 6,000 square feet (560 m²). The vast majority were built in the 1950s through 1970s. There are pockets of older homes, mostly near downtown, often in demand for their architectural styles, and pockets of newer, much larger homes (often called "monster houses" by existing residents) of 3000 to 4000 square feet (280 to 370 m²) on lots that seem small in comparison to the size of the homes, mostly built in the 1990s on subdivided lots previously occupied by homes dating from the first half of the 20th century.
Most of Campbell's apartments are located in northern Campbell on Hamilton and Campbell Avenues. As a result, most of the housing there is for rent and has a lower median household income than southern Campbell, which has primarily owner-occupied detached single-family homes.
Campbell's downtown is located near where Campbell Avenue intersects with the railroad. The downtown has many shops, bars, and restaurants.
The oldest commercial building in the city is that used for the Bank of Campbell (founded in 1895), which is a branch of the Mercantile Trust of California; the building was erected in 1920 originally for the Grower's Bank, which eventually merged with Mercantile Trust. The bank was converted to a movie theater in 1938, which closed in 1953 and remained closed with a few exceptions until 1968, when The Gaslighter Theater company purchased and refurbished the building with a small stage and bar. The Gaslighter has produced melodramas and Vaudeville-style shows there ever since.
As of September 2004, the median price of single-family homes and condos was $580,000, up 10% from the previous September, and averaging $414 per square foot ($4,456/m²) according to the San Jose Mercury News; the average single-family home price, excluding condos, was $645,000 in January, 2004 (according to the Santa Clara County Association of Realtors). The price is based largely on the land value; the replacement cost for homes is about $150 to $200 per square foot ($1,600 to $2,200/m²).
Like many other cities in the Santa Clara Valley, Campbell was originally orchard land that was later developed into housing tracts. A few small orchards remain, though their numbers continue to dwindle rapidly as they are converted to housing and shopping.
Other related archives1851, 1878, 1895, 1950s, 1952, 1970s, 1990s, 2000 census, African American, Asian, California, California State Highway 85, California State Route 17, California State Route 85, Fry's Electronics, GR1, GR2, Highway 17, Hispanic, James Dunham, Latino, Los Angeles, Los Gatos, Native American, Pacific Islander, Pierre Omidyar, Pruneyard Shopping Center, San Francisco, San Jose, San Jose Mercury News, Santa Clara County, California, Santa Clara Valley, Saratoga, Silicon Valley, The Home Depot, U.S. Supreme Court, United States, United States Census Bureau, Vaudeville, White, acre, apartments, bathrooms, bedrooms, canning, census, college, concrete, condominiums, craftsman home, culverts, degree, downtown, duplexes, eBay, fences, firehouse, fruit cocktail, hay, hikers, joggers, km², lots, married couples, mayor, melodramas, mi², orchards, other races, paths, per capita income, population density, poverty line, suburban
 Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Housing and businesses", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki |
