Avoid North San Jose? Wha? East San Jose, maybe. North San Jose is like two trailer parks and a bunch of shiny new complexes. Avoid the trailer parks if that's not your thing and you're fine.

I'm talking about anything north of Montague between the Guadalupe and Coyote Creek, and south of 237. North of 237 I'd call Alviso, and that's a whole different thing.