[4] Though most of the neighborhood is incorporated as part of San Jose, a small portion exists as an unincorporated census-designated place called Cambrian Park.

The name "Cambrian Park" was used regularly since the 1950s by the then San Jose Mercury and San Jose News newspapers (now The San Jose Mercury News) to refer to a portion of the Union school and Cambrian school areas, the latter school named in the 1870s by ranch hand David Lewis of the Jeremiah D. Casey Ranch for Cambria, the is the Latin name for Wales (Welsh, Cymru), the country of Lewis's birth.

Due to the relative isolation of adjacent population centers within then rural Santa Clara County, place names and later, municipalities, were often defined by their public school service boundaries.

The Cambrian Park area continues to be recognized as a distinct, partly unincorporated neighborhood bordering the cities of San Jose and Campbell and the town of Los Gatos.

[5] We and Our Neighbors Clubhouse was established in the adjacent Union School District area in 1892, "...to promote social ties, intellectual and cultural pursuits, charitable deeds, and recreation for the farm families of the neighborhood."

Today the center maintains the country charm and construction style, across over 170,000 square feet of stores.

Willow Glen is to its north, Los Gatos is to its south and west, Campbell is to its northwest, and Almaden is to its east.

Most of Cambrian lies within San Jose's city limits, though a small portion is an unincorporated county pocket.

[9][10] According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP had a total area of 0.6 square miles (1.6 km2), all of it land.

These figures do not include any part of Cambrian Park which has been incorporated into San Jose at the time of the census.

Hundreds of townhouses and apartments, a couple of hotels, a convalescent home, a town square and a small park would mix with stores and shops at the renovated Cambrian Park Plaza shopping center, according to recently unveiled preliminary design plans.