Tell me about San Jose, CA.

[JCorre]

@SailedTheOceanBlue

There’s a song about it. I’m sure you’ve heard it.

It’s very nice here, in a bland sort of way. The majority of people here are from somewhere else. Zoning is a mess…for instance, there’s a strip club next to a children’s store. There is a very nice golf course/housing development in the middle of a cow pasture. Cows still there.

There are a lot of festivals (mostly beer/wine/art) in the summer. There is a Grand Prix too. There is a lot of talk that the 49ers are moving to Santa Clara, which may as well be called San Jose. The Sharks are beloved and sell out every game. (17, 496 seats in the arena, which is nicknamed The Shark Tank.)

People are for the most part happy and easy going. Everybody seems to know everybody else and it’s pretty incestuous in the Valley among tech firms…people tend to move jobs frequently. There are a lot of very wealthy people here, though you’d never know it because everyone is so laid back and casual. People are VERY knowledgeable about their wine here.

Best description I’ve heard so far. Especially the “incestuous in the Valley” part.

[JillGat]

It’s interesting to read current descriptions. I lived in San Jose in the early 1960s when it was considered to be one of the most fertile valleys for growing fruit and nuts. We had Royal Anne cherry trees in our front yard and walnut trees in our backyard. There were big citrus and other orchards all around, but they were already disappearing then, as part of the post-war building boom. I had never heard the term “silicone valley” for that area until I was living in New Mexico for many years.

[JillGat]

Oh, and I also vaguely remember lovely Spanish mission style buildings. None of that personality is left, I expect. I was born in Redwood City in 1954.

[Voyager]

@Walloon

Among the sprawl, some nice places:

I’d add the Roscrucian Museum (of Egypt) which was both unexpectely awesome and had very nice grounds - and did not push their version of spirituality at all.

[Voyager]

Some press resources.

The Mercury News, the main paper. It has an excellent traffic column six days a week, if you need any more convincing we talk about this topic a lot here.

The Metro, the weekly free paper. A lot like all the other weekly free papers, it’s where I discovered the Perfect Master.

[garygnu]

@JillGat

It’s interesting to read current descriptions. I lived in San Jose in the early 1960s when it was considered to be one of the most fertile valleys for growing fruit and nuts. We had Royal Anne cherry trees in our front yard and walnut trees in our backyard. There were big citrus and other orchards all around, but they were already disappearing then, as part of the post-war building boom. I had never heard the term “silicone valley” for that area until I was living in New Mexico for many years.

If it makes you feel better, housing developments are named after whatever tree used to be planted on the land they’re built on.
Oh, and it’s silicon, not silicone.

[blondebear]

@garygnu

…housing developments are named after whatever tree used to be planted on the land they’re built on.

That may be, but the development I lived in was called “Pinehurst”. It had been a plum orchard.

[Voyager]

@garygnu

Oh, and it’s silicon, not silicone.

Right. Silicone Valley is Pam Anderson’s cleavage.