Why Do You Love Gilroy?

There are just so many reasons to love the Garlic City, so we decided to give you, the reader, a chance to let the world know .

Every day, we will publish a different reason to love Gilroy, as told by residents and fans of Gilroy in our "bulletin" section of the site—right at the top of the page.

Each reason will then be recorded here so that if you missed one, you can always catch it here.

Tell us your reason in the comments section of this article and we will include it in a daily bulletin! Make sure to include your name as you would like it to appear and a single sentence, for a total of 140 characters.

Reason No. 1: "What I love about Gilroy is the mix of businesses that are offering so many products and services in our community. We love every one of them." Susan Valenta

Reason No. 2: "I love Gilroy because of the home town feeling of community. My daughter loves the Demonstration Garden, my son loves riding his bike on the bike paths and we all love the small town parades." Kimberly Davis

Reason No. 3: "I love the outlets! And the Super Walmart, Costco, Famous Daves [and] IN-N-Out Burger!" Juan Torres

Reason No. 4: "The community spirit, as evidenced by so many people willing to give their time and resources. I think the Garlic Festival helps foster this spirit in everyone, even the kids, by showing them the joy you get from giving back." Barbara Orth

Reason No. 5: "I love Gilroy cause it's awesome. The people are awesome, and it's a good environment. I grew up here and I know a lot of people throughout high school and around me—it's just an awesome place." Joseph Delgado

Reason No. 6: "There are a lot of reasons I love Gilroy. I love Gilroy for its wineries. Gilroy has so many wineries and they're just great." Sandra Castaneda

Reason No. 7: "One reason I love Gilroy is the new Gilroy library. It's huge, and will be open soon for my kids to use." Brian Puente

Reason No. 8: "I love how people really care about getting involved and doing things to make the community even better." Jan Bernstein Chargin

Reason No. 9:  "I love being a local business owner here. Every day I come to work and visit with a steady flow of regular customers." Amber Madrone

Reason No. 10: "You get to know everybody. You know their family, their kids, who's getting married. That's what I like most." Collette Harmon

Reason No. 11: "Drive a few minutes and you are in the beautiful countryside...go the other direction and there are the redwoods." JoAnne Perez Robinson

Reason No. 12: "We're sort of a hidden gem. We've got the wineries, great restaurants and great entertainment in town." Kevin Heath

Reason No. 13: "Gilroy is very community oriented. Every body really works well together to meet the city's needs." Maria De Leon

Reason No. 13: "I'm a big fan of the Gilroy Garlic Festival and try to attend every year. I make sure to bring enough cash with me to buy everything from garlic-seasoned tri-tip to garlic bbq rub and sauce for my kitchen. You always hear great music as well!" Jeremy Barousse

Reason No. 14: "I love Gilroy because, as I often tell people, I was raised in this same small town in Ohio. Same friendly community, same stalwart citizens, same spirit of volunteerism. But, Gilroy has better weather, and I have the love of a good woman here, so here I am." Bob Dillon, City of Gilroy council member

Reason No. 15: "I love the way people respond to my requests for volunteers to help with the new events at the interim Center for the Arts, and how enthusiastic the community has become about the arts. I have been working toward a community center for the arts for over 20 years, and it's a thrill to see it finally taking shape. First we build the community support, then the new facility!" Sylvia Wallace Myrvold, Gilroy Arts Alliance

Reason No. 16: "I love Gilroy because, even though I wasn't born here, I grew up here. It will always be my 'hometown'! And the food is always hot and the beer is always cold at Victorias Mexican Restaurant." Lydia G Moreno

Reason No. 17: "I love the countryside of Gilroy. Being able to take a breather and just go five minutes out of town and see hills and sit in the middle of trees is very peaceful." Nicole Moreno

Reason No. 18: "I love the 9Lives rock n' roll club, and the Gilroy Garlic Festival, which has the best tasting food ever in the history of the world. I love all the various churches that I've been able to learn from and study with. I love Gilroy for making it easy for me to train for tennis tournaments and team leagues. I love that the tennis courts we all use are not a country club, but are mixed in with the same park tennis players from other cities would call 'ghetto.'" Tony Light

Reason No. 19: "Gilroy may be small, but it's an awesome city. We have the outlets, the best fast food and restaurants in town. And we have a nice and improved downtown that everyone can enjoy, day and night!" Juan Refugio Davalos

Reason No. 20: "In addition to the outlets and garlic, I'd say the wineries. They are really picturesque and some rival those found in big touristy hubs like Napa (and they are waaay less crowded)." Rachel Stern

Reason No. 21: "I love Gilroy for three reasons, in no particular order: Wineries, Garlic and Gilroy Patch." Jonas Davidson 

Reason No. 22: "I love Gilroy because there are so many places to hear live music, like the downtown club 9Lives. Gilroy supports live music!" Michelle Wolfe-Perguidi  

Reason No. 23: "I lived in San Jose and Gilroy's a smaller community, not as much traffic and there's as many activities for kids and people to do here as any big city." Tom Grahm 

Reason No. 24: "I like that Gilroy is surrounded by open space, agricultural lands and beautiful hillsides. It only takes five minutes to get out of the city, yet we are only 30 minutes away from the San Jose metropolitan area and an hour from the big city lights of San Francisco. We have the best of both worlds within a very short distance." Bill Faus

Reason No. 25: "Gilroy has really cool wineries that even the savviest wine connoisseur may not be aware of." David Byron 

Reason No. 26: "El pueblo de Gilroy me encanta por su rica historia, su gran gente y porque tiene el ambiente de ciudad pequeña. Disfruto también el comercio local, el Festival del Ajo, Gilroy Gardens, y las Outlets!" Vince D. Monroy

(I love Gilroy for its rich history, great people and because it has a small-city atmosphere. I also enjoy the local business, garlic festival and the outlets.)

Reason No. 27: "I love Gilroy because of the people here and the small-town feel. Everyone knows each other—you just walk in and everyone says hi to each other and is friendly." Brittany Pinkham.

Reason No. 28: "I love Gilroy for all the great murals and public art. If anyone takes a few minutes to walk around the downtown area and look at all the great public art they’d [see] paintings on walls, telephone service boxes, historical statues, and more. There’s even a dinosaur! How could you not love that?" Jorge Briones, 9Lives co-owner