The Cupertino Courier

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Diverse neighborhood is united with one voice

By Tiffany Carney

To some, a picture-perfect neighborhood might include streets lined with trees, but to residents who live in the Murdock neighborhood, their tree-lined streets offer only sticky feet.

In West San Jose, near the Cupertino border, members of the Murdock Neighborhood Association, which was formed in October 2004, gather at quarterly meetings to discuss issues such as the diseased tulip trees that leak sap on their neighborhood streets.

The Murdock neighborhood includes 868 homes bounded by Lawrence Expressway to the east, Bollinger Road to the north, Johnson Avenue to Lynbrook High School to the west and Oak Knoll Drive to the south.

"It is a very defined, geographical area with a lot of really strong boundaries, which gives it quite an identity," says former District 1 councilwoman and Castle Glen Avenue resident Trixie Johnson, who moved to the neighborhood in 1974.

Alice Toolson, 75, moved to her Castle Manor Drive home in 1967. Toolson recently joined the association to reconnect with her neighbors. Other longtime members, such as David Bratman, 50, a resident of Huntingdon Drive, remember going to the first meeting. He served on the association's first traffic committee.

"I wanted to know what neighborhood issues concerned other people, and I wanted to bring up some issues that interested me," Bratman says.

One of the main reasons Bratman enjoys the neighborhood so much is because it is tucked away and isolated to a certain degree and residents have access to their own park, schools and nearby trail for walkers, bikers and joggers.

In addition to Murdock Park, at the corner of Wunderlich Drive and Castle Glen Avenue, residents have access to the Saratoga Creek Trail.

Johnson, who served as vice president in the association's first year, remembers her two daughters, who graduated from Lynbrook High School in the 1980s, bringing home pollywogs from the creek even before the trail was built. The creek was always part of the neighborhood, she says. Now, the 0.8-mile trail is just another perk for residents.

Residents near the trail still have some minor concerns involving graffiti and landscape maintenance along the 1 1/2-year-old trail. The association allows Murdock residents to voice their concerns collectively to San Jose's Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services department as well as other organizations on a city level.

Association president Larry Murchan, 62, a newly retired businessman and president of the association, has lived on Oakhurst Court since 1975. Emergency preparedness education seminars, an annual National Night Out and a city-sponsored Dumpster Day are just some of the events Murchan plans to continue in his one-year term.

Murchan also plans to focus the association's projects in four specific areas: space, which includes the park and trail; social, including picnics and movie nights; services, such as offering the neighborhood Dumpster Day; and safety, including four active Neighborhood Watch groups and traffic control.

"There is a high demand to move into this particular area mostly because of the school system, but it is also a nice section of San Jose," Murchan says.

According to Johnson, homes in the Murdock area were originally built in the late 1950s with the newest development added in the late 1970s. When Johnson first moved to the neighborhood, she remembered houses selling in the low $50,000 range.

"Now I doubt if you could find anything for under $600,000," she said.

The number of members involved in the association has held steady at 80 households for the past couple of years. Membership is $10 per year, which includes quarterly meetings and all other benefits of the association.

"I think it is a good thing, and I am very appreciative of the people who put effort into the association," Bratman adds.

The association also creates opportunities for neighbors to meet fellow neighbors. Every summer, near the Fourth of July, all residents in the neighborhood are invited to attend an annual multicultural picnic.

"This is a diverse neighborhood, and we have people from each culture bring samples of their food," Murchan says.

For the last few years more than 100 residents have come to enjoy a taste of the world and mingle with the neighborhood.

"This is our third year, so we are just beginning to expand," Murchan says.

School and traffic concerns in the neighborhood helped bring residents together to form the association, says Murchan.

Lynbrook High School, part of the Fremont Union High School District and Murdock-Portal Elementary School, part of the Cupertino Union School District, are two major causes of traffic congestion.

According to Jeremy Nishihara, communications manager for the Cupertino Union School District, Murdock Elementary School was closed in 1980 due to declining enrollment and the campus was then leased out to different tenants. In January 2004, the Murdock campus was used to accommodate a shift involving multiple schools throughout the district.

The original Portal location, at 10300 N. Blaney Ave. in Cupertino, is now home to Collins Elementary School and Murdock-Portal, the alternative program, is now at the original Murdock Elementary School location on Wunderlich Drive. Residents experienced more traffic because anyone in the district can choose to attend Murdock-Portal, Murchan says.

"The district has four alternative programs and 17 neighborhood schools. So essentially, you could go to your neighborhood school or apply for one of the four alternative programs," Nishihara explains.

Concerns surrounding the merger created an opportunity for the neighbors to join together and create one voice for the neighborhood. The association was created shortly thereafter.

Another topic the association continues to address is the diseased tulip trees, which plague their neighborhood streets with sap.

Although the natural canopy over the neighborhood is beautiful from afar, the tulip trees used to create it have become a nuisance to neighbors.

Toolson is one of many residents with a sap-dripping tulip tree at the end of her driveway.

"In the summertime the tree is just beautiful, but it has black sap, and you have to clean the sidewalk every day," Toolson says.

"There is a bug that gets on those trees and it's very difficult to remove," says Murchan. "It produces these sticky droppings and the leaves fall off and it becomes very barren."

The sap makes it hard for Toolson to walk in the neighborhood without finding leaves and sap stuck to each shoe. Her quick fix: She takes her shoes off and leaves them at her door.

The sticky sap is not the only problem. The tree's roots also lift the sidewalk and asphalt causing high and low areas in the street where water gathers when it rains. Instead of flowing down the street and into the storm drains, the water remains stagnant for several days following the rain, Toolson says.

Some residents have contemplated having the trees removed, but it is not easy. Permits and inspections performed by the city of San Jose are required.

"The homeowner is responsible," Toolson says. "That means I would have to pay to have it done to their specifications, and it would be thousands of dollars."

The association is well aware of the issue and has brought it to the attention of District 1 city representatives. City of San Jose arborist Ralph Mize has attended meetings in the past to answer questions about the trees and give information on how to treat them.

Although the neighborhood has seen many changes, one that Johnson has noticed and grown to love is the young faces. "We have renewed. We've gone from being an aging neighborhood to one filled with young children again, which is wonderful."

For more information on how to join the Murdock Neighborhood Association, visit www.murdockna.org or email mna-information@murdockna.org.