The Crossings, Mountain View

Although one of the smallest, The Crossings is one of Mountain View's most self-contained and aesthetically striking neighborhoods. Anything but the typical subdivision, its design may be the neighborhood of the future.

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Tucked between San Antonio Road, Showers Drive and California Street, the neighborhood sits just south of the San Antonio Caltrain Station and across California Street from the San Antonio Shopping Center on the city's southwestern edge.

Peter Calthorpe of Calthorpe Associates designed The Crossings for the 18-acre site of the Old Mill Mall in the late 1990s. Touted as a model of new urban development, the neighborhood lies near mass transit and within walking distance of restaurants and retail centers. In addition to the nearby San Antonio Shopping Center, The Crossings contains a Safeway grocery store on San Antonio Road and the Crossings CafÈ and Larry Wells Studio salon at Showers Drive and Pacchetti Way.

The Crossings facts: CHILDCARE AND PRESCHOOLS (NEARBY): Hobbledehoy Montessori Preschool, 2321 Jane Lane FIRE STATION: No. 3, 301 N. Rengstorff Ave. NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION: Separate associations for condominiums, townhouses, row houses and single-family homes; all run by Nagi Chami, CEO of Tri-State Enterprises; 650-210-0085 PARKS: Concord Circle and Sondgroth Way, Beacon Street and Laurel Way; nearby: Klein Park, Monta Loma Park POST OFFICE: Mountain View, 211 Hope St. PRIVATE SCHOOLS (NEARBY): Gideon Hausner Jewish Day School, 450 San Antonio Road, Palo Alto PUBLIC SCHOOLS: Los Altos School District -- Santa Rita Elementary School, Egan Junior High School; Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District -- Los Altos High School SHOPPING: San Antonio Shopping Center, strip shopping on California Street MEDIAN 2007 HOME PRICE: $865,000 ($850,000-$880,000) # HOMES SOLD: 2 MEDIAN 2007 CONDO PRICE: $717,500 ($690,000-$751,000) # CONDOS SOLD: 4

The opportunity to walk or take a train to shops, restaurants and even jobs has attracted residents such as Haiyan Gao, who moved to the area in 1999 from Sunnyvale.

"It's like Safeway is in your back yard, and everything is so close," he said of The Crossings.

The neighborhood's housing is a mix of roughly 400 single-family homes, condominiums, row houses and apartments, most of which are owned instead of rented. Created in coordinating shades of cream, orange and pink faÁades with white front porches and trim, the houses sit on tree-lined streets.

Manicured green space dots the neighborhood in a few small parks, including a roundabout with redwoods and benches on Pacchetti Way, playground equipment on Concord Circle and a grassy area with a gazebo on Laurel Way at Beacon Street. The parks, as well as the streets, are popular places for residents to jog or walk their dogs and for kids to play. As Crossings homes offer small backyards, these public spaces are meeting spots, particularly for youngsters.

"The Crossings is a very culturally diverse community," said John Eames, who moved to The Crossings in 1996 to ease his commute to work in Sunnyvale. "It doesn't' matter where you came from, your first day in The Crossings is like you have always been there."

Although most children attend Santa Rita Elementary School, in the Los Altos School District, in Fall 2008 they'll be sent to Covington Elementary, where Eames' daughter now attends.

Margie Woch said the school district was a reason her family rented a house at The Crossings while their Los Altos home was being remodeled. She said residents are predominantly families, a situation that made her five children feel welcome and gave her a chance to meet her neighbors. Although the family has returned to their remodeled Los Altos home, she still keeps in touch with her neighbors at The Crossings -- and still shops in Mountain View.

-- Katie Vaughn