Niles, Fremont, CA

Niles sits at the foot of the hills in northeast Fremont, where Mission Boulevard meets the mouth of Niles Canyon. The Central Pacific Railroad platted the town in 1888, and more than a dozen subdivisions followed between 1900 and 1942, so the blocks near Niles Boulevard hold many bungalows from the 1910s and 1920s. Postwar tracts such as Niles Crest came after 1949.

Niles Boulevard is the main street, with roughly four blocks of antique shops, stores and restaurants. The old Edison Theater houses the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum, which screens silent films weekly from original prints. Essanay ran a studio at Niles Boulevard and G Street from 1913, and Charlie Chaplin shot The Champion and The Tramp in town in 1915. Also on the boulevard, the 1901 Southern Pacific depot, moved back to its original site in 2009, faces Niles Town Plaza and holds model railroads. The Niles Canyon Railway boards at its Niles station on Mission Boulevard for runs up the canyon to Sunol.

Houseberry scores public spaces 4 out of 5 and curb appeal 4.5. The Alameda Creek Regional Trail starts at the Niles Staging Area and follows the creek about 12 miles to the bay, paved on the south bank and unpaved on the north. About two miles along it, Quarry Lakes Regional Recreation Area has a swim beach on Horseshoe Lake, a fishing pier and a boat launch. Niles Community Park on School Street has a playground under mature shade trees.

Niles Canyon Road, part of Highway 84, runs east through the canyon to Sunol. September is the warmest month, with highs near 78 degrees, and about 18 inches of rain falls in a typical year.