San José

About San José:

San José is the second of San Isidro’s four districts and covers the eastern side of the canton. Its head town, San Josecito, stands at 1,330 metres, a little below the canton seat, about two kilometres to the west. The official list of settlements gives it Barrio Santa Cruz and the villages of El Arroyo, Huacalillos, Santa Elena, Trapiche and Yerbabuena, plus a share of Santa Cecilia, which it splits with Concepción. Two national roads cross the district: Ruta 112 toward Heredia and Ruta 32, the Braulio Carrillo highway between the Central Valley and the Caribbean. The San José–San Isidro bus that travels “por pista” comes up that highway, stops in San Josecito and finishes in front of San Isidro’s church.

Growth here came late. In 1927 the district had 767 inhabitants, and in 1950 it had fewer. The count reached 1,865 in 1984, then almost tripled to 5,102 by 2000 and stood at 7,447 in 2011. Since then it has added only a few hundred people. The canton was built on coffee, vegetables and dairy, and San José and Concepción are where San Isidro grows its ornamental plants: an orchid and cactus nursery trades a few hundred metres from the Santa Elena crossing on Ruta 32. Around that crossing there is a small shopping centre, Centro Comercial Valeska, and a handful of businesses facing the highway, but banks, the town hall and most shops are in San Isidro centre.

Like the rest of the canton, San José lies on the lower slopes of the Barva massif, with rivers running down from the Zurquí and Caricias hills. Those rivers matter when you look at a property. Residents of San Josecito have watched a river take out their bridge three times. When the Tranqueras swept away the footbridge at the entrance to one caserío, the families behind it were cut off, because there was no other way in. The bridge over the Paracito on the Calle Zurquí–Huacalillos road has also been closed to traffic. Drinking water comes from ESPH, the utility owned jointly by the municipalities of Heredia, San Rafael and San Isidro, and the canton’s volcanic soils feed aquifers that supply much of the metropolitan area.

San José holds two quite different markets. The barrios around San Josecito’s church and Barrio Santa Cruz are built up with family homes on small plots, some with a separate apartment that is let to a single tenant or a couple. Toward Santa Elena and the highway the plots grow to thousands of square metres, and that is where buyers from the wider metropolitan area come for a large house, a gated residential street or a hectare with a view. The district has its own football history too: Deportivo España de San Josecito was the canton’s first provincial champion, and A.D. Santa Cruz de San Josecito made its name in the same amateur leagues.

Houses in San José:

At the modest end, a house in Barrio Luján has been offered with two bedrooms, one bathroom and garage space for two cars, on a property of about 227 square metres. At the other end, a residence in Santa Elena has 605 square metres built across three levels on a lot of 10,786, with six bedrooms and open parking for more than fifteen cars. In between come family houses inside private residential streets with 24-hour security, and properties such as a 600-square-metre house with a heated pool on almost 5,900 square metres of land. Before you settle on one of the houses for sale in San Josecito de San Isidro, drive every bridge between the gate and Ruta 32 after a day of rain. If the house runs on a septic tank, find out where the tank and its drain field sit, since this is aquifer recharge ground.

Rentals in San José:

Most rentals here are small. A typical offer is a ground-floor apartment of about 50 square metres with two bedrooms, one bathroom and a kitchen with a breakfast bar, let to one or two people. Larger homes are let as well, such as a 225-square-metre house on a lot of just under 300. If you will commute by bus, ask how far the unit is from the stops of the “por pista” line, which is the direct service to San José.

Land and Lots in San José:

Land comes in every size. Around San Josecito there are lots of about 950 square metres and of 3,900 square metres, the latter offered as ready to build, a plot of some 1,570 square metres near Ruta 32 reached by an easement, and an 11,000-square-metre property with 460 square metres already built on it. Near Santa Elena, almost a hectare of mostly flat ground close to the highway shows how tight the rules can be: its land-use certificate allows 10% coverage, a single dwelling and no more than two storeys, and access is by a seven-metre agricultural easement behind a gate. Never assume the parcel next door carries the same allowance; each lot has its own certificate. When you compare lots for sale in San José de San Isidro, put the coverage figure and the access route side by side with the price.

FAQ:

• Is San Josecito de San Isidro the same as San Josecito de San Rafael?

  No. There are two San Josecitos a few kilometres apart in Heredia. This page covers San José district of San Isidro canton, postal code 40602, whose head town is San Josecito. San Rafael canton has its own district named San Josecito, and ads for both often say only “San Josecito, Heredia”. The cadastral plan names the canton, so read it before you book a viewing.

• What should I check on title and access before buying land here?

  Start with how you reach the parcel. Some outer lots hang off a private or agricultural easement, and some depend on a single bridge, so confirm that the easement is registered on the title, how wide it is, and that the municipality will issue a building permit for a lot reached that way. Then ask the Municipalidad de San Isidro for a current certificado de uso de suelo: near Santa Elena a hectare can be limited to one house covering a tenth of the land. Pull the property and its cadastral plan from the Registro Nacional (Registro Inmobiliario), walk the boundaries, and if a river borders the land, find out how much of the bank is a protected strip.

• How do I get to San José city from here?

  By car, Ruta 32 is the quick way south. Without a car, take the San José–San Isidro bus that runs “por pista”: it uses the highway and stops in San Josecito. Ruta 112 is the road west to Heredia. Make the trip at the hour you would really travel before you commit.

• What services are inside the district?

  San Josecito has its own parish church, Parroquia San José, and a primary school, and an agricultural supply store trades a block from the church. The canton’s main health centre, the Área de Salud San Isidro, is on Calle Rinconada in San Francisco district, on the far side of San Isidro centre. Banks, the municipality and the larger supermarkets are in the canton seat.