San Jose (Silicon Valley) Overview

Home to the high-tech computer industry. Unique for its diversity, great weather, and liberal attitudes. Considered San Francisco's younger sister with cutting-edge technology, five-star hotels, museums, cultural centers, and international cuisine.

Districts

San Jose residents will argue amongst themselves about where one community ends and another begins. What can be said with certainty is that the whole metropolis is a fascinating, dynamic, and almost infinitely varied mosaic.

Downtown San Jose
Thriving, sophisticated, and unquestionably moneyed, downtown feels like the Capital of Silicon Valley. The great number of popular bars and restaurants present a challenge to the visitor, while the galleries, coffeehouses, and theaters of the SoFA (South of First Street) District give downtown a bit of SoMa/SoHo urban chic.

Willow Glen
Willow Glen is a small and attractive residential community with a reputation for some of San Jose's most beautiful homes, built mostly in the 1930s in the Southwestern, Colonial, and Italian styles. Willow Glen sits just southwest of downtown San Jose, yet it has an engaging downtown of its own along Lincoln Avenue.

Santa Clara
The historic center of Santa Clara Valley is Mission Santa Clara de Asis, founded in 1777 by Father Junipero Serra. To the north are industrial parks that house some of the real giants of the technology industry: 3Com, Intel, Yahoo!, National Semiconductor, Applied Materials, and Synoptics

San Jose West (Los Gatos, Saratoga, Campbell, Cupertino)
Known by some as the West Valley and not actually part of San Jose, the Santa Clara County communities of Los Gatos, Saratoga, Campbell, and Cupertino all incorporated in the 1950s to escape annexation (see Historical Background). The downtown areas are crammed with exclusive boutiques, galleries, and upscale watering holes. All are great places for people-watching.

San Jose North (Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Santa Clara, Los Altos, Palo Alto)
Just North of San Jose are the incorporated cities of Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Los Altos, and Palo Alto (which is not even in Santa Clara County). With this constellation of cities, San Jose is right in the center of the Silicon Valley.

Sunnyvale is Silicon Valley's second largest city. Here you can find attractive parks well-used by bicyclists, runners, and in-line skaters. The northern part of town is given over to the "campuses" of high-technology businesses, including Sunnyvale's primary employers: Advanced Micro Devices, and Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space.

Mountain View abuts Palo Alto to the south. Castro Street, the heart of its downtown district, boasts some of the best restaurants, and in greater variety, than almost anywhere else in Silicon Valley. Mountain View has great parks, especially the 660-acre open-space preserve of Shoreline Park. Mountain View is home to Silicon Graphics, Netscape Communication, Google, Sun Microsystems, Hewlett Packard, and Intuit, among others.

Palo Alto, in San Mateo County, must be mentioned in any discussion of Silicon Valley, primarily because of Stanford University. One of the state's premier universities (its perennial arch-rival, Cal, is to the northeast in Berkeley), Stanford is really the cradle of the high-technology industry that grew up into contemporary Silicon Valley.

Entertainment

While San Francisco may get the press as the region's cultural and entertainment hub, San Jose is increasingly becoming a destination spot for high culture, as well as slick dance clubs, unique museums, outdoor pursuits, and all kinds of diversions for the younger set.

The Performing Arts: Music & Dance
The quality of San Jose's performing arts organizations has risen in recent years to rival those of San Francisco's. The San Jose Symphony has grown from a regional ensemble into one of national stature.

Cinema
Cinema is, as everywhere in California, the go-to entertainment choice. There are plenty of theaters in and around the Valley. Most of them, not surprisingly, feature state-of-the-art technology.

Nightlife
Bars and nightclubs come in every description, and are to be found in the greatest concentration in San Jose's downtown area. The lobby bars of the finer hotels are quite popular with the Silicon Valley's middle and upper management for after-work libations.

Museums
San Jose's museums have come a long way in recent years, rising to the level of San Francisco's in the traditional fine arts categories. And they've done San Francisco one better in the techno-culture category that is San Jose's purview.

Sports & Recreation
San Jose is die-hard in support of its San Jose Sharks, the Bay Area’s sole National Hockey League franchise (who play their games in the HP Pavilion). The South Bay is known for its healthy, outdoor lifestyle, and there is more than enough to do if you want to get outside for some recreation.

Dining and Drinking

Downtown
The great number of popular bars and restaurants in downtown San Jose, the hub of the city's nightlife, presents something of a challenge. The visitor must choose from establishments ranging from the trendiest to the cheapest, featuring cuisines from every corner of the globe. For the most refined and stylish dining in San Jose, regardless of cost, there are a number of five-star selections in the area. Alternately, you can certainly eat well at other downtown restaurants, without such severe prices.

Like any other large California city, San Jose has scores of Chinese and Asian-inspired restaurants. And if you're not in the mood for Asian cuisine, try one of the traditional Spanish establishments with live flamenco guitar on the weekends.

South of downtown, Willow Glen (an older neighborhood of San Jose) has lined its main drag, Lincoln Avenue, with some fine dining establishments.

Nearby Cities
Los Gatos, a town with a carefully preserved image and lots of money, has a small downtown area offering many worthwhile places to drink and dine. A stroll down Santa Cruz Avenue (Los Gatos' main drag) will take you by a number of night spots where one can dance or listen to music.

Where To Stay

San Jose has a wide range of accommodations for every budget, as one would expect in a city of its size and stature. Most of San Jose's five-star hotels are located in downtown San Jose, where you'll always be within walking distance of the San Jose McEnery Convention Center. Outlying towns offer more distinctive accommodations in smaller, privately owned establishments. The options for bed and breakfast accommodations in San Jose are somewhat limited compared to San Francisco, but there are a few.

San Jose by the Numbers

Average Annual Rainfall: 16 inches
Average Sunshine Days: 300

Average January Temperature: 49 degrees Fahrenheit
Average July Temperature: 70 degrees Fahrenheit

Time Zone: GMT-8
Area Code: 408

Population: 894,943; 1.5 million metro
Ethnic Mix: 48% Caucasian, 27% Asian, 16% Hispanic, 4% African American
Major Industries: High Tech, Medical Research

Did You Know?

San Jose is not only recognized as the capital of Silicon Valley, it is the safest big city in America according to findings by Morgan Quitno Press based on 2003 FBI crime statistics. San Jose is dually the third largest city in California and the 10th largest city in the nation.

Orientation/Geography

San Jose is located in northern California in the South Bay Area. The city is 41 miles from San Francisco, 42 miles from Berkeley, 88 miles from Sacramento, 305 miles from Los Angeles, and 416 miles from San Diego.


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