San Jose, California

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This article is about the city in California. For other meanings of "San Jose", see San José.
City of San Jose
—  City  —
Images, from top, left to right: Downtown San Jose, San Jose Museum of Art, De Anza Hotel, Plaza de César Chávez.

Flag
Seal
Nickname(s): S.J.
Motto: Capital of Silicon Valley
Location of San Jose within Santa Clara County, California
City of San Jose is located in the USA
City of San Jose
Location in the United States
Coordinates: 37°20′7″N 121°53′31″W / 37.33528°N 121.89194°W / 37.33528; -121.89194Coordinates: 37°20′7″N 121°53′31″W / 37.33528°N 121.89194°W / 37.33528; -121.89194
Country United States United States
State California California
County Santa Clara County
Pueblo founded November 29, 1777
Incorporated March 27, 1850
Government
 - Type Charter city, Mayor-council
 - Mayor Chuck Reed
 - Vice Mayor Judy Chirco
 - City Manager Debra Figone
 - Senate
 - Assembly
Area [1]
 - City 178.2 sq mi (461.5 km2)
 - Land 174.9 sq mi (452.9 km2)
 - Water 3.3 sq mi (8.6 km2)
 - Urban 447.83 sq mi (716.53 km2)
 - Metro 2,694.7 sq mi (6,979.4 km2)
Elevation [2] 85 ft (26 m)
Population (April 30, 2009)[3]
 - City 1,006,892 (10th)
 - Density 5,758.1/sq mi (2,223.21/km2)
 - Urban 1,819,198 (MSA 7/1/08)
 - Metro 7,354,555 (CSA 7/1/08)
 - Demonym San Josean
Time zone PST (UTC-8)
 - Summer (DST) PDT (UTC-7)
ZIP code 95101-95103, 95106, 95108-95139, 95141, 95142, 95148, 95150-95161, 95164, 95170-95173, 95190-95194, 95196
Area code(s) 408
FIPS code 06-68000
GNIS feature ID 1654952
Website www.sanjoseca.gov
Aerial view of San Jose. The intersection of I-280 and Guadalupe Parkway is shown at bottom. View is to the south.

San Jose (pronounced /ˌsænhoʊˈzeɪ/) (meaning St. Joseph in Spanish) or San José is the third-largest city in California and the tenth-largest in the United States. As the county seat of Santa Clara County, it is located in the southern end of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region commonly referred to as Silicon Valley. Once a small farming city, San Jose became a magnet for suburban newcomers in new housing developments between the 1950s to the present, and is now the most populous city in the United States north of Los Angeles and west of Chicago. Its estimated population of 2009 is 1,006,892[3], making San Jose the 10th U.S. city with more than a million residents. The greater metropolitan area contains approximately 7.4 million residents.[4] It is one of the primary cities of the San Francisco Bay Area, and the largest in terms of population, land area, and industrial development.

San Jose was founded on November 29, 1777, as El Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe, the first town in the Spanish colony of Nueva California, which later became Alta California.[5] The city served as a farming community to support Spanish military installations at San Francisco and Monterey. When California gained statehood in 1850, San Jose served as its first capital.[6] After more than 150 years as an agricultural center, San Jose experienced increased demand for housing from soldiers and other veterans returning from World War II, as well as aggressive expansion during the 1950s and 1960s by annexing more land area. By the 1990s, San Jose's location within the booming local technology industry earned the city its nickname Capital of Silicon Valley.

Contents

[edit] History

Main article: History of San Jose, California

Prior to European settlement, the area was inhabited by several groups of Ohlone Native Americans[7] The first lasting European presence began with a series of Franciscan missions established from 1769 by Father Junípero Serra.[8] On orders from Antonio María de Bucareli y Ursúa, Spanish Viceroy of New Spain, San Jose was founded by Lieutenant José Joaquín Moraga as Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe (in honor of Saint Joseph) on November 29, 1777, to establish a farming community. The town was the first civil settlement in Alta California.[9]

In 1797, the pueblo was moved from its original location, near the present-day intersection of Guadalupe Parkway and Taylor Street, to a location in what is now Downtown San Jose. San Jose came under Mexican rule in 1825 after Mexico broke with the Spanish crown. It then became part of the United States, after it capitulated without bloodshed in 1846 and California was annexed.[7] Soon afterwards, on March 27, 1850, San Jose became the second incorporated city in the state (after Sacramento), with Josiah Belden its first mayor. The town was the state's first capital, as well as host of the first and second sessions (1850–1851) of the California Legislature. Today the Circle of Palms Plaza in downtown is the historical marker for the first state capital.

Though not impacted as severely as San Francisco, San Jose suffered damage from the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Over 100 people died at the Agnews Asylum (later Agnews State Hospital) after its walls and roof collapsed,[10] and the San Jose High School's three-story stone-and-brick building was also destroyed. During World War II many Japanese were sent to internment camps[citation needed] including famously, future mayor Norman Mineta and, following the Los Angeles zoot suit riots, anti-Mexican violence took place in the summer of 1943.[citation needed]

As World War II started, the city's economy shifted from agriculture (the Del Monte cannery was the largest employer) to industrial manufacturing with the contracting of the Food Machinery Corporation (FMC) by the United States War Department to build 1000 Landing Vehicle Tracked.[11] After World War II, FMC (later United Defense, and currently BAE Systems) continued as a defense contractor, with the San Jose facilities designing and manufacturing military platforms such as the M113 Armored Personnel Carrier, the Bradley Fighting Vehicle, and various subsystems of the M1 Abrams.[12] IBM established its West Coast headquarters in San Jose in 1943 and opened a downtown research and development facility in 1952. Both would prove to be harbingers for the economy of San Jose, as Reynold Johnson and his team would later invent RAMAC, as well as the Hard disk drive, and the technological side of San Jose's economy grew.[13]

Downtown San Jose looking over the Tech Museum toward Mount Hamilton; hills in the background show their winter green color.

During the 1950s and 1960s, city manager Dutch Hamann led the city in a major growth campaign. The city annexed adjacent areas, such as Alviso and Cambrian Park, providing large areas for suburbs. An anti-growth reaction to the effects of rapid development emerged in the 1970s championed by mayors Norman Mineta and Janet Gray Hayes. Despite establishing an urban growth boundary, development fees, and incorporations of Campbell and Cupertino, development was not slowed, but rather directed into already incorporated areas.[11] San Jose's position in Silicon Valley triggered more economic and population growth, which led to the highest housing costs increase in the nation, 936% between 1976 and 2001.[14] Efforts to increase density continued into 1990s when an update of the 1974 urban plan kept the urban growth boundaries intact and voters rejected a ballot measure to ease development restrictions in the foothills. Sixty percent of the housing built in San Jose since 1980 and over three-quarters of the housing built since 2000 have been multifamily structures, reflecting a political propensity toward Smart Growth planning principles.[15]

[edit] Name

On April 3, 1979, the San Jose City Council adopted San José, with the diacritical mark on the "e", as the spelling of the city name on the city seal, official stationery, office titles and department names. Also, by city council convention, this spelling of San José is used when the name is stated in both uppercase and lowercase letters, but not when the name is stated only in uppercase letters. The name is still more commonly spelled without the diacritical mark as San Jose. The official name of the city remains City of San Jose with no diacritical mark, according to the City Charter.[16]

[edit] Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 894,943 people, 276,598 households, and 203,576 families residing in the city.[17]

San Jose at night, looking southwest across the Santa Clara Valley toward the coastal range, shows the density of the population.
Historical populations
Census Pop. %±
1850 3,500
—
1860 4,579 30.8%
1870 9,089 98.5%
1880 12,567 38.3%
1890 18,060 43.7%
1900 21,500 19.0%
1910 28,946 34.6%
1920 39,642 37.0%
1930 57,651 45.4%
1940 68,457 18.7%
1950 95,280 39.2%
1960 204,196 114.3%
1970 459,913 125.2%
1980 629,442 36.9%
1990 782,248 24.3%
2000 894,943 14.4%
Est. 2009 1,006,892 12.5%
sources:[3][17][18]

The population density was 5,117.9 people per square mile (1,976.1/km²). There were 281,841 housing units at an average density of 1,611.8 per square mile (622.3/km²). Of the 276,598 households, 38.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.0% were married couples living together, 11.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.4% were non-families. 18.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 4.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.20 and the average family size was 3.62.

In the city the population was spread out with 26.4% under the age of 18, 9.9% from 18 to 24, 35.4% from 25 to 44, 20.0% from 45 to 64, and 8.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 103.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.5 males.

According to a 2007 estimate, the median income for a household in the city was the highest in the US for any city with more than a quarter million residents with $76,963 annually. The median income for a family was $86,822.[19] Males had a median income of $49,347 versus $36,936 for females. The per capita income for the city was $26,697. About 6.0% of families and 8.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.3% of those under age 18 and 7.4% of those age 65 or over.

As of the 2005-2007 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, White Americans made up 49.3% of San Jose's population; of which 31.7% were non-Hispanic whites. Blacks or African Americans made up 3.2% of San Jose's population; of which 3.1% were non-Hispanic blacks. American Indians made up 0.5% of San Jose's population; of which 0.3% were non-Hispanic. Asian Americans made up 30.7% of San Jose's population; of which 30.5% were non-Hispanic. Pacific Islander Americans made up 0.4% of San Jose's population. Individuals from some other race made up 12.6% of San Jose's population; of which 0.4% were non-Hispanic. Individuals from two or more races made up 3.2% of San Jose's population; of which 2.2% were non-Hispanic. In addition, Hispanics and Latinos made up 31.5% of San Jose's population.[20][21]

According to the United States Census Bureau, San Jose's population on July 1, 2008 was 948,279, third in the state behind Los Angeles and San Diego, and tenth in the country. The estimate indicated a growth of 1.66 percent from the previous year.[22][23] The California Department of Finance estimated the 2009 population at 1,006,892 residents as of January 1.[24]

San Jose and the rest of the San Francisco Bay Area is home to many Christian congregations including large, Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches,[25] Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses alongside centers of Jewish, Hindu, Islamic, Buddhist and Sikh faiths among numerous other religious communities.

A high percentage of foreign-born residents (39.0% of the population) live in the city. These include many high-tech workers from East and South Asia, Eastern European immigrants, as well as poorer immigrants from Latin America, many of whom can be found in the large, multi-generational barrio Alum Rock district. San Jose has the largest Vietnamese population of any city in the world outside of Vietnam.[26] The people from these countries have settled in the city and across the Santa Clara Valley during the last three decades.

[edit] Geography

Looking west over northern San Jose (downtown is at far left) and other parts of Silicon Valley. See an up-to-the-minute view of San Jose from the Mount Hamilton web camera.

San Jose is located at 37°20′07″N 121°53′31″W / 37.335278°N 121.891944°W / 37.335278; -121.891944.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 178.2 square miles (461.5 km²),[27] of which 3.3 square miles (8.6 km²; 1.86%) is water.

San Jose lies near the San Andreas Fault, a major source of earthquake activity in California. The most serious earthquake, in 1906, damaged many buildings in San Jose as described earlier. Earlier significant quakes rocked the city in 1839, 1851, 1858, 1864, 1865, 1868, and 1891.[citation needed] The Daly City Earthquake of 1957 caused some damage. The Loma Prieta earthquake of 1989 also did some damage to parts of the city. The other faults near San Jose are the Monte Vista Fault, South Hayward Fault, Northern Calaveras Fault, and Central Calaveras Fault.

The Guadalupe River runs from the Santa Cruz Mountains (which separate the South Bay from the Pacific Coast) flowing north through San Jose, ending in the San Francisco Bay at Alviso. Along the southern part of the river is the neighborhood of Almaden Valley, originally named for the mercury mines which produced mercury needed for gold extraction from quartz during the California Gold Rush as well as mercury fulminate blasting caps and detonators for the U.S. military from 1870 to 1945.[citation needed]

The lowest point in San Jose is 13 feet (4 m) below sea level at the San Francisco Bay in Alviso;[28] the highest is 4,372 feet (1,333 m) at Copernicus Peak, Mount Hamilton, which is technically outside the city limit. Due to the proximity to Lick Observatory atop Mount Hamilton, San Jose has taken several steps to reduce light pollution, including replacing all street lamps and outdoor lighting in private developments with low pressure sodium lamps.[29] To recognize the city's efforts, the asteroid 6216 San Jose was named after the city.[30]

It is located in a prime place, being close to the ocean, not too far from the snow of Lake Tahoe, and not too far from the San Francisco Bay. It may be Surrounded by mountains, but it is at the center of everything and by no means contained by the mountaineous terrain.

[edit] Climate

San Jose city streets are commonly lined with palm trees.
Palm trees on Almaden Boulevard.

San Jose, like most of the Bay Area, has a Mediterranean climate.[31] Unlike San Francisco, which is exposed to the ocean or Bay, San Jose lies inland, protected on three sides by mountains. This shelters the city from rain and makes it more of a semiarid, near-desert area, with a mean annual rainfall of 14.4 inches (366 mm), compared to some other parts of the Bay Area, which can get up to four times that amount. It also avoids San Francisco's omnipresent fog most of the year.[32]

January's average high is 59°F and average low is 42°F. July's average high is 84°F and average low is 57°F [33]. The highest temperature ever recorded in San Jose was 112°F on July 19–23, 2006; the lowest was 20°F (-8.3°C) in December, 1990. Temperature fluctuations between night and day can vary as little as 10°F to 12°F (-12°C to -11°C). High temperatures are almost always without high humidity.

With the light rainfall, San Jose and its suburbs experience over 300 days a year of full or significant sunshine. Rain occurs primarily in the months from October through April or May, with hardly any rainfall from June through September. During the winter and spring, hillsides and fields turn green with grasses and vegetation, although deciduous trees are few. With the coming of the annual hot summer dry period, the vegetation dies and dries, giving the hills a golden cover, which also provides fuel for frequent grass fires.

Lush and green eastern foothills overlooking East San Jose in February 2010.
The same hills are golden yellow in summers, as taken in June 2009.

Measurable precipitation falls in downtown San Jose on an average of 50 days a year, many times only for part of the day. Annual precipitation has ranged from 6.12 inches (155 mm) in 1953 to 32.57 inches (827 mm) in 1983. The most precipitation in one month was 10.23 inches (260 mm) in February 1998. The maximum 24-hour rainfall was 3.60 inches (91 mm) on January 30, 1968. Although the summer is normally quite dry in San Jose, a very heavy thunderstorm on August 21, 1968, brought 1.92 inch of rain, causing some localized flooding.[34]

The snow level drops as low as 2,000 ft (610 m) above sea level, or lower, occasionally each winter, coating nearby Mount Hamilton, and less frequently the Santa Cruz Mountains, with snow that normally lasts a few days. This sometimes snarls traffic traveling on State Route 17 towards Santa Cruz. Snow occasionally falls in San Jose, but until recently, the most recent snow to remain on the ground was on February 5, 1976, when many residents around the city saw as much as 3 inches (7.6 cm) on car and roof tops. The official observation station measured only 0.5-inch (13 mm) of snow. However, in March 2006, a smaller amount, up to one inch (2.5 cm) of snow fell in downtown San Jose as well as other areas around the city at elevations of only 90 feet (27 m) to 200 feet (61 m) above sea level.

Like most of the Bay Area, San Jose is made up of dozens of microclimates. Downtown San Jose experiences the lightest rainfall in the city, while South San Jose, only 10 miles (16 km) distant, experiences more rainfall and slightly more extreme temperatures.

Climate data for San Jose, California
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °F (°C) 83
(28)		 85
(29)		 87
(31)		 95
(35)		 101
(38)		 109
(43)		 112
(44)		 105
(41)		 104
(40)		 101
(38)		 85
(29)		 83
(28)		 109
(43)
Average high °F (°C) 59
(15)		 63
(17.2)		 67
(19.4)		 72
(22.2)		 77
(25)		 82
(27.8)		 84
(28.9)		 84
(28.9)		 82
(27.8)		 76
(24.4)		 65
(18.3)		 59
(15)		 72.6
(22.6)
Average low °F (°C) 42
(5.6)		 45
(7.2)		 46
(7.8)		 48
(8.9)		 52
(11.1)		 55
(12.8)		 58
(14.4)		 58
(14.4)		 57
(13.9)		 52
(11.1)		 46
(7.8)		 41
(5)		 49.9
(9.9)
Record low °F (°C) 24
(-4)		 26
(-3)		 30
(-1)		 35
(2)		 37
(3)		 42
(6)		 47
(8)		 47
(8)		 42
(6)		 36
(2)		 21
(-6)		 20
(-7)		 20
(-7)
Precipitation inches (mm) 3.2
(81)		 2.8
(71)		 2.6
(66)		 1.0
(25)		 0.4
(10)		 0.1
(3)		 0.1
(3)		 0.1
(3)		 0.2
(5)		 0.9
(23)		 1.2
(30)		 2.0
(51)		 15.1
(384)
Source: Western Disaster Center[35] 6 March 2010

.

[edit] Cityscape

Overhead panorama of and from inside downtown San Jose.
A view of Downtown San Jose as seen from East Foothills

The city is divided into many neighborhoods, many of which were incorporated places or communities that were annexed by the city. There are also several independent cities around San Jose, but they are popularly grouped with the city of San Jose, either due to being completely engulfed as enclaves by San Jose, or lying within its immediate vicinity. Generally, the city is divided into the following areas: Downtown San Jose, Central, West San Jose, North San Jose, East San Jose, and South San Jose.

Some well-known communities within San Jose include Downtown San Jose, Japantown, Rose Garden, Sunol-Midtown, Willow Glen, Naglee Park, central, Burbank, Cambrian Park, West San Jose, Winchester to the west, Alviso, Berryessa to the north, Evergreen, Alum Rock, East Foothills, King and Story, Little Portugal to the east, Almaden Valley, Blossom Valley, Coyote Valley, Santa Teresa, Silver Creek Valley, Edenvale, Seven Trees to the south.

[edit] Landmarks

Important landmarks in San Jose include Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose, History Park at Kelley Park, Cathedral Basilica of St. Joseph, Plaza de César Chávez, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library, Mexican Heritage Plaza, Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum, Lick Observatory, Hayes Mansion, HP Pavilion at San Jose, De Anza Hotel, San Jose Improv, San Jose Municipal Stadium, Spartan Stadium, Japantown San Jose, Winchester Mystery House, Raging Waters, Circle of Palms Plaza, King and Story, San Jose City Hall, San Jose Flea Market, and The Tech Museum of Innovation.

De Anza Hotel

HP Pavilion at San Jose

Cathedral Basilica of Saint Joseph

Lick Observatory

Hayes Mansion

Plaza de César Chávez

Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum

Winchester Mystery House

[edit] Economy

Adobe Systems headquarters in downtown San Jose

The large concentration of high-technology engineering, computer, and microprocessor companies around San Jose has led the area to be known as Silicon Valley. As the largest city in the valley, San Jose has billed itself "the capital of Silicon Valley." Area schools such as the University of California, Berkeley, University of California, Santa Cruz, San José State University, San Francisco State University, California State University, East Bay, Santa Clara University, and Stanford University pump thousands of engineering and computer science graduates into the local economy every year.

High economic growth during the tech bubble caused employment, housing prices, and traffic congestion to peak in the late 1990s. As the economy slowed in the early 2000s, employment and traffic congestion diminished somewhat. In the mid-2000s, traffic along major highways again began to worsen as the economy improved. San Jose had 405,000 jobs within its city limits in 2006, and an unemployment rate of 4.6%. In 2000, San Jose residents had the highest median household income of any city in the United States with a population over 300,000, and currently has the highest median income of any U.S. city with over 280,000 people.

San Jose lists 25 companies with 1,000 employees or more, including the headquarters of Adobe Systems, BEA Systems, Cisco, SunPower and eBay, as well as major facilities for Flextronics, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Hitachi and Lockheed Martin. Sizable government employers include the city government, Santa Clara County, and San José State University.[36] Acer's United States division has its offices in San Jose.[37]

The cost of living in San Jose and the surrounding areas is among the highest in California and the nation.[38] Housing costs are the primary reason for the high cost of living, although the costs in all areas tracked by ACCRA are above the national average. Despite the high cost of living in San Jose, households in city limits have the highest disposable income of any city in the U.S. with over 500,000 residents.[39][40]

San Jose residents produce more U.S. patents than any other city.[41] Thirty-five percent of all venture capital funds in the U.S. are invested in San Jose and Silicon Valley companies.[41]

[edit] Law and government

See also: San José City Council, List of mayors of San Jose, California, and List of city managers of San Jose, California

[edit] Local

The new San Jose City Hall opened in 2005.

San Jose is a charter city under California law, giving it the power to enact local ordinances that may conflict with state law, within the limits provided by the charter.[42] The city has a mayor council government with a city manager nominated by the mayor and elected by the city council.

The San José City Council is made up of ten council members elected by districts, and a mayor elected by the entire city. During city council meetings, the mayor presides, and all eleven members can vote on any issue. The mayor has no veto powers. Council members and the mayor are elected to four-year terms; the even-numbered district council members beginning in 1994; the mayor and the odd-numbered district council members beginning in 1996. Council members and the mayor are limited to two successive terms in office, although a council member that has reached the term limit can be elected mayor, and vice versa. The council elects a vice-mayor from the members of the council at the second meeting of the year following a council election. This council member acts as mayor during the temporary absence of the mayor, but does not succeed to the mayor's office upon a vacancy.[43]

The City Manager is the chief administrative officer of the city, and must present an annual budget for approval by the city council. When the office is vacant, the Mayor proposes a candidate for City Manager, subject to council approval. The council appoints the Manager for an indefinite term, and may at any time remove the manager, or the electorate may remove the manager through a recall election. Other city officers appointed by the council are the City Attorney, City Auditor, City Clerk, and Independent Police Auditor.[43]

Like all California cities except San Francisco, both the levels and the boundaries of what the city government controls are determined by the local county Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO).[44] The goal of a LAFCO is to try to avoid uncontrolled urban sprawl. The Santa Clara County LAFCO has set boundaries of San Jose's "Sphere of Influence" (indicated by the blue line in the map near the top of the page) as a superset of the actual city limits (the yellow area in the map), plus parts of the surrounding unincorporated county land, where San Jose can, for example, prevent development of fringe areas to concentrate city growth closer to the city's core. The LAFCO also defines a subset of the Sphere as an 'Urban Service Area' (indicated by the red line in the map), effectively limiting development to areas where urban infrastructure (sewers, electrical service, etc.) already exists.

San Jose is the county seat of Santa Clara County.[45] Accordingly, many county government facilities are located in the city, including the office of the County Executive, the Board of Supervisors, the District Attorney's Office, eight courthouses of the Superior Court, the Sheriff's Office, and the County Clerk.[46]

[edit] State and federal

In the state legislature San Jose is located in the 10th, 11th, 13th, and 15th Senate Districts, represented by Democrats Ellen Corbett, Joe Simitian, and Elaine Alquist, and Republican Abel Maldonado respectively, and in the 20th, 21st, 22nd, 23rd, 24th, 27th, and 28th Assembly Districts, represented by Democrats Alberto Torrico, Ira Ruskin, Paul Fong, Joe Coto, Jim Beall, Bill Monning, and Anna M. Caballero respectively. Federally, San Jose is located in California's 14th, 15th, and 16th congressional districts, which have Cook PVIs of D +18, D +14, and D +16 respectively[47] and are represented by Democrats Anna Eshoo, Mike Honda, and Zoe Lofgren respectively.

Several state and federal agencies maintain offices in San Jose. The city is the location of the Sixth District of the California Courts of Appeal.[48] It is also home to one of three courthouses of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California; The other two being in Oakland and San Francisco.[49]

[edit] Crime

During the 1990s and 2000s, the crime rate fell,[50] but not as quickly as crime rates in most American cities during that time period. Recently, however, crime rates have risen. Despite the rising crime, it is still ranked as one of the safest cities in the entire country with a population over 500,000 people and at one point was ranked the "safest big city" in the United States.[51][52][53] The designation is based on crime statistics reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation in six categories: murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, and auto theft. Current mayor Chuck Reed is a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition,[54] an organization formed in 2006 and co-chaired by New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston mayor Thomas Menino.

[edit] Sister cities

The Office of Economic Development coordinates the San Jose Sister City Program which is part of Sister Cities International. As of 2008, there are seven sister cities:[55]

[edit] Arts and architecture

The De Anza Hotel, a classic Art Deco building in the central business district opened in 1931.

Because the downtown area is in the flight path to nearby Mineta San Jose International Airport (also evidenced in the above panoramic), there is a height limit for buildings in the downtown area, which is under the final approach corridor to the airport. The height limit is dictated by local ordinances, driven by the distance from the runway and a slope defined by Federal Aviation Administration regulations. Core downtown buildings are limited to approximately 300 feet (91 m) but can get taller farther from the airport.[56] There has been broad criticism over the past few decades of the city's architecture.[57] Citizens have complained that San Jose is lacking in aesthetically pleasing architectural styles. Blame for this lack of architectural "beauty" can be assigned to the re-development of the downtown area from the 1950s onward, in which whole blocks of historic commercial and residential structures were demolished.[58] Exceptions to this include the Downtown Historic District, the De Anza Hotel, and the Hotel Sainte Claire, both of which are listed in the National Register of Historic Places for their architectural and historical significance.

Municipal building projects have experimented more with architectural styles than have most private enterprises.[59] The Children's Discovery Museum, Tech Museum of Innovation, and the San Jose Repertory Theater building have experimented with bold colors and unusual exteriors. The new City Hall, designed by Richard Meier & Partners opened in 2005 and is a notable addition to the growing collection of municipal building projects.[60]

Public art is an evolving attraction in the city. The city was one of the first to adopt a public art ordinance at 2% of capital improvement building project budgets,[61] and the results of this commitment are beginning to have an impact on the visual landscape of the city. There are a considerable number of public art projects throughout the downtown area, and a growing collection in the newer civic locations in neighborhoods including libraries, parks, and fire stations. Of particular note, the Mineta Airport expansion is incorporating a program of Art & Technology into its development.

Within the early efforts at public art, there are notable controversies. Two examples include the statue of Quetzalcoatl (the plumed serpent) in downtown which was controversial in its planning because some religious groups felt that it was pagan, and controversial in its implementation because many felt that the final statue by Robert Graham did not closely resemble a winged serpent, and was more noted for its expense than its aesthetics. This has resulted in a common joke among locals, who insist it closely resembles a pile of feces.

The statue of Thomas Fallon also met strong resistance from those who felt that people like him were largely responsible for the decimation of early native populations and Chicano/Latino activists protested he captured San Jose by violent force in the Mexican-American war (1846) as well "repressed" historic documents of Fallon ordered the expulsion of most of the city's Californio (early Spanish or Mexican) residents. In October 1991 after protests in part of Columbus Day and Dia de la Raza celebrations, the Fallon statue plan was scrapped and the statue was stored in a warehouse in Oakland for more than a decade. The statue was returned to public display in 2002, albeit in a less conspicuous location: Pellier Park, a small triangular patched formed by the merge of West Julian and West St. James streets.[62]

In 2001, the city sponsored SharkByte, an exhibit of decorated sharks, based on the mascot of the hockey team, the San Jose Sharks, and modeled after Chicago's display of decorated cows.[63] Large models of sharks were decorated in a variety of clever, colorful, or creative ways by local artists and were then displayed for months at dozens of locations around the city. Many displays were removed early because of vandalism. After the exhibition, the sharks were auctioned off and the proceeds donated to charity. The sharks can still be found in their new owners' homes and businesses.

In 2006, Adobe Systems commissioned an art installation titled San Jose Semaphore by Ben Rubin, which is located at the top of its headquarters building. Semaphore is composed of four LED discs which "rotate" to transmit a message. The content of the San Jose Semaphore’s message remained a mystery until it was deciphered in August 2007.[64] The visual art installation is supplemented with an audio track, transmitted from the building on a low-power AM station. The audio track provides clues to decode the message being transmitted.

The city is home to many performing arts companies, including Opera San José, Symphony Silicon Valley, Ballet San Jose Silicon Valley, Children's Musical Theater of San Jose (recognized as the largest and most talented youth theatre company in the nation), the San Jose Repertory Theatre, and the now-defunct American Musical Theatre of San Jose. San Jose also is home to the San Jose Museum of Art,[65] one of the nation's premiere Modern Art museums. In addition, the annual Cinequest Film Festival in downtown has grown to over 60,000 attendees per year, becoming an important festival for independent films.

The HP Pavilion at San Jose is one of the most active venues for events in the world. According to Billboard Magazine and Pollstar, the arena sold the most tickets to non-sporting events of any venue in the United States, and third in the world after the Manchester Evening News Arena in Manchester, England, and the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, for the period from January 1 – September 30, 2004. Including sporting events, the HP Pavilion averages 184 events a year, or roughly one event for every two days, which is significantly higher than the average for NHL arenas.

[edit] Sports

See also: Sports in the San Francisco Bay Area
Club Sport Founded League Venue
San Jose Sharks Hockey 1991 National Hockey League: Western Conference HP Pavilion at San Jose
San Jose Earthquakes Soccer 1995 Major League Soccer: Western Conference Buck Shaw Stadium
San Jose Giants Baseball 1988 California League San Jose Municipal Stadium
Mixed Martial Arts 2006 Strikeforce HP Pavilion at San Jose
HP Pavilion at San Jose
Inside view of HP Pavilion at San Jose

The only two "Big Five" teams to play in San Jose are the San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League (NHL) and the San Jose Earthquakes of the Major League Soccer (MLS). The Sharks began play as an expansion team in 1991. As of the 2007–08 NHL season, the Sharks have become extremely popular in San Jose and are one of the top draws in the NHL, selling out nearly all of their home games. However, the team still has yet to win the Stanley Cup. The closest it ever came was in 2004 when it lost in the Western Conference Final to the Calgary Flames. The Sharks play home games at the HP Pavilion at San Jose (also referred to as the Shark Tank or the Tank) and are a member of the NHL's Pacific Division in the Western Conference. The Sharks have won the Pacific Division four times, most recently in 2008-2009. They have intense rivalries with the Anaheim Ducks, Colorado Avalanche, Calgary Flames, Detroit Red Wings, and Dallas Stars, as well as geographic rivalries with the Los Angeles Kings and the previously mentioned Ducks.

San Jose has had previous attempts to draw teams from Major League Baseball, the NFL and the NBA by offering stadium deals or attracting relocating sports teams. In 1991 the San Francisco Giants baseball team nearly closed the deal to play in San Jose.[citation needed] In November 2007, MLB's Oakland Athletics (A's) submitted plans to the neighboring city of Fremont in Alameda County for a 32,000 seat stadium with a planned opening for the 2011 season. Since the mid-1990s, numerous attempts to move the team to San Jose or Santa Clara never materialized due to territorial restrictions that places San Jose into neighboring National League's San Francisco Giants territory. Nevertheless, the proposed Cisco Field (naming rights were purchased in 2006 by San Jose-based networking company Cisco Systems) was to be five to eight miles (8 to 13 kilometers) north of San Jose's city limits via Interstate 880. This was possible because the A's own territorial rights for Alameda County, which borders much of San Jose to the north. Since the team would have been located closer to San Jose than its current home in Oakland if the plan went through, speculation on a name change to more closely identify with San Jose and its more affluent population and businesses was rife according to the San Jose Mercury-News. In February 2009, local opposition from Fremont businesses and residents in the area forced the A's to terminate the project. Oakland A's lead owner Lew Wolff announced plans a few days to pursue a new stadium in San Jose. In May 2009, the San Jose city council (mindful of the community opposition that killed the Fremont stadium proposal) voted to approve a set of principles to guide attempts to pursue the Oakland Athletics. The proposed site of the new stadium would be near Diridon Train Station and HP Pavilion just west of downtown San Jose.[66] The San Francisco Giants still own territorial rights to San Jose so this issue will also need resolving for the A's to relocate to San Jose.

San Jose has been home to the Earthquakes in the North American Soccer League (1974–1984), Western Soccer Alliance (1985–1988) and Major League Soccer (1996–2005; 2008– ). The players of the San Jose Earthquakes moved to Houston, Texas after the 2005 season to become the Houston Dynamo. In July 2007, it was announced that San Jose Earthquakes would rejoin MLS for the 2008 season in the Western Conference. Now back in the league, the team is officially a continuation of the one that went on hiatus in 2005 and has kept its 1996-2005 records and accomplishments, including its MLS Cup wins in 2001 and 2003 and its MLS Supporters' Shield win in 2005.

The Major League Lacrosse team, the San Francisco Dragons, play at Spartan Stadium. Though after moving from San Francisco's Kezar Stadium in 2008, the team decided to remain being called the San Francisco Dragons so to represent the Bay Area as a whole. They share the stadium with the San José State Spartans, who play football there.

In 1997, due to the renovation of the Oakland Arena, the Golden State Warriors basketball team played their entire season home games at the San Jose Arena.[67] Neighboring Santa Clara recently announced (2006) a new 49ers stadium proposal. The stadium would be the new home of the San Francisco 49ers football team. As of 2009, the 49ers were still in negotiations with the city. The stadium proposal will be on the Santa Clara ballot for a public vote on June 8, 2010. The proposal would have the new stadium open in 2014. The team says that it would keep its current name. San Jose may also soon house the practice facilities for the Oakland Raiders.

Previously, San Jose was home to the San Jose Bees (1962–1976; 1983–1987) of the minor league baseball California League, the San Jose Missions (1977–1981) of the minor league baseball Pacific Coast League (from 1977–1978) and the California League (from 1979–1981), the San Jose Rhinos of Roller Hockey International (1994–1997;1999), the San Jose Grizzlies (1993–1995) of the Continental Indoor Soccer League, the San Jose Golddiggers (1987–1989) of Major League Volleyball (women's), the San Jose Jammers (1989–1991) of the Continental Basketball Association, the San Jose Lasers of the American Basketball League, the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (while Oakland Arena was being renovated, 1996–1997), the San Jose CyberRays of the Women's United Soccer Association (2001–2002), the San Jose Frogs of the United Soccer Leagues Premier Development League (2006–2008) and the San Jose Ballers of the International Basketball League, now the Tri City Ballers.

In addition to professional teams, San Jose hosts several national sporting events. The SAP Open (formerly the Sybase Open) is an annual men's tennis tournament held at the HP Pavilion. San Jose was the host of ArenaBowl XVI on August 18, 2002 in which the San Jose SaberCats defeated the Arizona Rattlers, 52-14. San Jose State University's Spartan Stadium has hosted numerous FIFA events including the 1999 Women's World Cup. San Jose hosted the United States Figure Skating Championships in 1996. San Jose native Rudy Galindo won the men's singles competition that year. San Jose is slated to host the U.S. Figure Skating Championships again in 2012. The San Jose Grand Prix, first held in July 2005, brought Champ Car racing to a temporary road course on downtown streets. Downtown San Jose hosted the finish for daily stages of the Amgen Tour of California in February 2006, 2007, and 2008, and hosted the individual time trial in 2006. The city also was one of five host cities for the Dew Action Sports Tour in both 2005 and 2006.

Located in downtown San Jose, San José State University fields a total of 16 NCAA Division I men's and women's athletics teams. The SJSU football team is one of only 120 collegiate football teams nationwide to compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (formally known as Division I-A). The San José State Spartans compete in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). The Pac-10 Women's Basketball Championship is held at the HP Pavilion at San Jose as well as either the men's or women's West Regional tournament during the NCAA's March Madness.

From the successes with Lloyd (Bud) Winter's NCAA Champion Track team at San Jose State, the San Jose area became a hotbed for training elite athletes. San Jose State was home to 1968 medalists Lee Evans, Tommie Smith, John Carlos and Ronnie Ray Smith as well as the first 18 foot Pole Vaulter Christos Papanikolaou. Before Title IX, the San Jose Cindergals was one of the first elite women's track teams, spawning the success of multi-Olympians Francie Larrieu and Cindy Poor. Bruce Jenner trained 8 hours a day at San Jose City College preparing for his 1976 Gold medal. San Jose City College Track Coach Bert Bonanno created the "Bruce Jenner Invitational" which became an annual, televised stop on the elite United States Track and Field circuit (equivalent with the Prefontaine Classic.[68] San Jose City College also hosted the (then TAC) National Championships in 1984. Benny Brown, Millard Hampton, John Powell, Brian Oldfield, Ed Burke, Andre Phillips and Ato Bolden all can trace their training roots to San Jose. Many of those names are now in the San Jose Sports Hall of Fame.

In 2004, the San Jose Sports Authority hosted the U.S. Olympic team trials for judo, taekwondo, trampolining and rhythmic gymnastics at the San José State Event Center. In August 2004, the Authority hosted the USA All-Star 7-Aside Rugby Championships at Watson Bowl, east of Downtown. San Jose is also home to the St Joseph's Hurling Club. In 2008, around 90 percent of the members of the United States Olympic team were processed at San José State University prior to traveling to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.[69] The 2009 Junior Olympics for trampoline will also be held here.

[edit] Transportation

[edit] Public transportation

VTA light rail train running on the Alum Rock-Santa Teresa line.
VTA Rapid Bus Route 522
A FedEx plane approaches the Mineta San José International Airport.
View of a major freeway interchange for I-280 connecting with SR87 in downtown.

Rail service to and within San Jose is provided by Amtrak (the Sacramento-San Jose Capitol Corridor and the Seattle-Los Angeles Coast Starlight), Caltrain (commuter rail service between San Francisco and Gilroy), ACE (commuter rail service to Pleasanton and Stockton), and a local light-rail system connecting downtown to Mountain View, Milpitas, Campbell, and Almaden Valley, operated by the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA). Historic streetcars from History Park operate on the light rail lines in downtown during holidays. Long-term plans call for BART to be expanded into the San Jose area via the East Bay. Diridon Station (formerly Cahill Depot, 65 Cahill Street) is the meeting point of all regional commuter rail service in the area. It was built in 1935 by the Southern Pacific Railroad, and was refurbished in 1994.

VTA also operates many bus routes in San Jose and the surrounding communities, as well as offering paratransit services to local residents. Additionally, the Highway 17 Express bus line connects central San Jose with Santa Cruz.

[edit] Air transportation

San Jose is served by Norman Y. Mineta San José International Airport (IATA: SJC, ICAO: KSJC, FAA LID: SJC), two miles (3 km) northwest of downtown, and by Reid-Hillview Airport of Santa Clara County (ICAO: KRHV, FAA LID: RHV) a general aviation airport airport located in the eastern part of San Jose. San Jose residents also use San Francisco International Airport (IATA: SFO, ICAO: KSFO, FAA LID: SFO), a major international hub located 35 miles (56 km) to the northwest, and Oakland International Airport (IATA: OAK, ICAO: KOAK, FAA LID: OAK), another major international airport located 35 miles (56 km) to the north. The airport is also near the intersections of three major freeways, U.S. Route 101, Interstate 880, and State Route 87.

[edit] Freeways and highways

The San Jose area has a freeway system, including three Interstate freeways—I-280, I-880, and I-680—in addition to several state and one US Highway, US 101, SR 85, SR 87, SR 17, and SR 237. It is, however, the largest city in the country not served by a primary, "two-digit" interstate. Additionally, San Jose contains many expressways of the Santa Clara County Expressway System, including the Almaden Expressway, Capitol Expressway, San Tomas Expressway, and Lawrence Expressway.

Several regional transportation projects have been undertaken in recent years to deal with congestion on San Jose freeways. This includes expansion of State Route 87 including more lanes near the downtown San Jose area. The interchange for I-280 connecting with I-680 and US 101, a rush-hour spot where the three freeways meet has been known to have high-density traffic similar to Los Angeles County interchanges.

[edit] Major highways

[edit] Utilities

San Jose Water Works at West Santa Clara St.

Potable water is provided primarily by the private-sector San Jose Water Company, with some by the Great Oaks Water Company, and ten percent by the public-sector San Jose Municipal Water System. Great Oaks provides exclusively well water[citation needed], while the other two provide water from multiple sources[citation needed], including well water, and surface water from the Los Gatos Creek watershed, Santa Clara Valley Water District, and the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission's Hetch Hetchy Reservoir.

Garbage, wastewater treatment, and recycling services are overseen by the city of San Jose's Environmental Services Department. San Jose recycles 64% of its waste, an exceptionally high percentage that is attributed to the recycling program's accepting an unusually long list of recyclable items without requiring that materials be sorted.[70] Among the items accepted are all types of plastic, aerosol cans and paint cans, foam packing materials, aluminum furniture, small metal appliances, pots and pans, and clean fabrics.

Wastewater treatment happens at the San Jose/Santa Clara Water Pollution Control Plant, which treats and cleans the wastewater to more than 1,500,000 people that live and work in the 300 square mile (780 km²) area encompassing San Jose, Santa Clara, Milpitas, Campbell, Cupertino, Los Gatos, Saratoga, and Monte Sereno.[70]

About ten percent of the treated wastewater is sold for irrigation ("water recycling") in San Jose[citation needed], Santa Clara, and Milpitas, through local water providers San Jose Municipal Water System, City of Milpitas Municipal Services, City of Santa Clara Water & Sewer Utility, Santa Clara Valley Water District, San Jose Water Company, and Great Oaks Water Company.

PG&E provides residents with needed natural gas and electricity. Telephone communications are provided primarily by AT&T, and cable television is provided by Comcast.

[edit] Education

San Jose State University's Tower Hall and lawn. SJSU's Campus Village residence complex appears in background.

[edit] Colleges and universities

San Jose is home to several colleges and universities. The largest is San José State University, which was founded by the California legislature in 1862 as the California State Normal School, and is the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) system. Located in downtown San Jose since 1870, the university enrolls approximately 30,000 students in over 130 different bachelor's and master's degree programs. The school enjoys a good academic reputation, especially in the fields of engineering, business, art and design, and journalism, and consistently ranks among the top public universities in the western region of the United States.[71] San José State is one of only three Bay Area schools that fields a Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) Division I college football team; Stanford University and U.C. Berkeley are the other two.

National Hispanic University, with an enrollment of 600, offers associate and bachelor's degrees and teaching credentials to its students, focusing on Hispanic students.

Lincoln Law School of San Jose offers law degrees, catering to working professionals.

The San Jose campus of Golden Gate University offers business bachelor and MBA degrees.

San Jose's community colleges, San José City College and Evergreen Valley College, offer associate degrees, general education units to transfer to CSU and UC schools, and adult and continuing education programs. The West campus of Palmer College of Chiropractic is also located in San Jose.

The University of California, Santa Cruz operates Lick Observatory atop Mount Hamilton.

Additionally, San Jose residents attend several other area universities, including Santa Clara University, Stanford University in Palo Alto, Carnegie Mellon Silicon Valley in Mountain View and the University of California, Berkeley. San Jose and South Bay residents also comprise large proportions of the student bodies at major California public universities, including UC Santa Cruz, UC Davis, and UC San Diego.

[edit] Primary and secondary education

Up until the opening of Lincoln High School in 1943, San Jose students only attended San Jose High School. Some of the city's history is embedded within these two high schools, which still hold the only Thanksgiving Day high school football game, called the "Big Bone," west of the Mississippi. As of 2010, there are 127 elementary, 47 middle, and 44 high schools, of which are all public. Public education in the city is provided by four high school districts, fourteen elementary districts, and four unified school districts (which provide both elementary and high schools).

In addition to the main San José Unified School District (SJUSD), other nearby unified school districts of nearby cities are Milpitas Unified School District, Morgan Hill Unified School District, and Santa Clara Unified School District.

Districts using the "feeder" system:

[edit] Annexation issue

Prior to 1954, California law required cities and school districts to have the same boundaries. When San Jose began expanding, rural school districts became one of the major opponents, as their territory and tax base was taken by the city. The city's legislators pushed a bill through the California Legislature, removing that requirement, and ending much of the opposition. The result is a patchwork of local school districts in the areas annexed after 1954.[11]

[edit] Private education

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library

Private schools in San Jose are primarily run by religious groups. The Catholic Diocese of San Jose has the second largest student population in the Santa Clara County, behind only SJUSD; the diocese and its parishes operate several schools in the city, including six high schools: Archbishop Mitty High School, Bellarmine College Preparatory, Notre Dame High School, Saint Francis High School, St. Lawrence High School, and Presentation High School.[72] Other private high schools not run by the Diocese include two Baptist high schools, Liberty Baptist School and White Road Baptist Academy, one Protestant Valley Christian High School in the North Valley neighborhood, and a nonsectarian K-12 Harker School west of the city in the Blackford neighborhood.

[edit] San Jose library system

The San José Public Library system is unique in that the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library combines the collections of the city's system with the San José State University main library. In 2003 the building of the library, which now holds more than 1.6 million items, was the largest single library construction project west of the Mississippi, with eight floors that result in more than 475,000 square feet (44,100 m2) of space with a capacity for 2 million volumes.[73]

The city has 21 neighborhood branches (17 of them open and not currently undergoing renovation or reconstruction) including the Biblioteca Latinoamericana which specializes in Spanish language works.[74] The East San José Carnegie Branch Library, a Carnegie library opened in 1908, is the last Carnegie library in Santa Clara County still operating as a public library and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. As the result of a bond measure passed in November 2000, a number of brand new or completely reconstructed branches have been completed and opened. The four branches currently undergoing construction are the Calabazas Branch, the Educational Park Branch, the Seventrees Branch, and the Bascom Branch and Community Center. The yet-to-be-named brand new Southeast Branch is also planned, bringing the bond library project to its completion.[75]

The San Jose system (along with the University system) were jointly named as "Library of the Year" by the Library Journal in 2004.[76]

[edit] Attractions

View of Circle of Palms Plaza
Front of the San Jose Museum of Art, the remaining facade of San Jose's first post office.
The Market in Downtown San Jose as seen with uplit Palm Trees.
The Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum at Rosicrucian Park.
Cathedral Basilica of St. Joseph
Church of the Five Wounds on East Santa Clara St.
Main article: List of attractions in Silicon Valley

[edit] Parks, gardens, and other outdoor recreational sites

[edit] Trails

San Jose's trail network offers over 53 miles (90 km) of recreational and commute trails throughout the City.[77] The major trails in the network include:

This large urban trail network, recognized by Prevention Magazine as the nation's largest, is linked to trails in surrounding jurisdictions and many rural trails in surrounding open space and foothills. Additional information is available at the City of San José trail network website.

[edit] Museums, libraries, and other cultural collections

[edit] Sports and event venues

[edit] Other structures

See also: Santa Clara County, California#Cities.2C towns.2C and neighborhoods

[edit] Media

Main article: Media in San Jose, California

NBC 11's KNTV is licensed to San Jose. San Jose is served by local media as well as that of the Greater Bay Area and national media. Media outlets based in San Jose include the San Jose Mercury News and various smaller newspapers and magazines, five television stations, six AM radio stations, and sixteen FM radio stations.

In April 1909, Charles David Herrold, an electronics instructor in San Jose, constructed a radio station to broadcast the human voice. The station "San Jose Calling" (call letters FN, later FQW), was the world's first radio station with scheduled programming targeted at a general audience. The station became the first to broadcast music in 1910. Herrold's wife Sybil became the first female "disk jockey" in 1912. The station changed hands a number of times before eventually becoming today's KCBS in San Francisco.[78] Therefore KCBS technically is the oldest radio station in the United States, and celebrated their 100th anniversary in 2009 with much fanfare.

[edit] Cultural references to San Jose

[edit] See also

San Francisco Bay Area portal

[edit] Notes and references

  1. ^ US Census Bureau Lists of Urbanized Areas
  2. ^ "USGS—San Jose, California". http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=gnispq:3:::NO::P3_FID:1654952. Retrieved 2007-02-17. 
  3. ^ a b c "Population and Housing Data". http://www.sanjoseca.gov/planning/data/population. 
  4. ^ "Annual Estimates of the Population for Metropolitan Areas". United States Census Bureau. 2008-07. http://www.census.gov/popest/metro/tables/2008/CBSA-EST2008-02.xls. Retrieved 2010-03-06. 
  5. ^ "The First City". California History Online. http://www.californiahistory.net/text_only/4_3_1.htm. Retrieved 2008-03-15. 
  6. ^ "California Admission Day - September 9, 1850". California State Parks. 2007. http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=23856. Retrieved 2008-03-15. 
  7. ^ a b "Early History". National Register of Historic Places. http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/santaclara/history.htm. Retrieved 2007-06-05. 
  8. ^ "Junípero Serra". California History Online. California Historical Society. 2000. http://www.californiahistory.net/4_PAGES/missions_junipero.htm. Retrieved 2007-06-20. 
  9. ^ Clyde Arbuckle (1986). Clyde Arbuckle's History of San Jose. Smith McKay Printing. ISBN 978-9996625220. 
  10. ^ "Agnews Insane Asylum". National Register of Historic Places. http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/santaclara/agn.htm. Retrieved 2007-06-07. 
  11. ^ a b c "Flashback: A short political history of San Jose". San Jose State University. http://www2.sjsu.edu/depts/PoliSci/faculty/christensen/flashback.htm. Retrieved 2007-06-07. 
  12. ^ "BAE Systems History". http://www.uniteddefense.com/co/history.htm. 
  13. ^ Winslow, Ward (editor); The Making of Silicon Valley: a One Hundred Year Renaissance; 1995; ISBN 0-9649217-0-7
  14. ^ "San Jose case study, part one: the urban-growth boundary". Thoreau Institute. http://www.ti.org/vaupdate31.html. Retrieved 2007-06-07. 
  15. ^ "Building Permit History, 1980-2006". City of San Jose. http://www.sanjoseca.gov/planning/data/build_permit_hist/table1.asp. Retrieved 2007-06-07. 
  16. ^ City of San Jose City Charter
  17. ^ a b "Annual Estimates of the Population for Incorporated Places over 100,000, Ranked by July 1, 2008 Population: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2008". United States Census Bureau. 2008-07. http://www.census.gov/popest/cities/tables/SUB-EST2008-01.xls. Retrieved 2009-07-19. 
  18. ^ Moffatt, Riley. Population History of Western U.S. Cities & Towns, 1850-1990. Lanham: Scarecrow, 1996, 54.
  19. ^ "San Jose, California: Earnings in the Past 12 Months (In 2007 Inflation-Adjusted Dollars)". U.S. Fact Finder. U.S. Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/STTable?_bm=y&-context=st&-qr_name=ACS_2007_1YR_G00_S2001&-ds_name=ACS_2007_1YR_G00_&-CONTEXT=st&-tree_id=307&-keyword=San%20Jose,%20California&-redoLog=true&-_caller=geoselect&-geo_id=16000US0668000&-format=&-_lang=en. 
  20. ^ "San Jose city, California - Fact Sheet - American FactFinder". US Census Bureau. 2008-01. http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/ACSSAFFFacts?_event=ChangeGeoContext&geo_id=16000US0668000&_geoContext=&_street=&_county=San+Jose&_cityTown=San+Jose&_state=&_zip=&_lang=en&_sse=on&ActiveGeoDiv=&_useEV=&pctxt=fph&pgsl=010&_submenuId=factsheet_1&ds_name=ACS_2008_3YR_SAFF&_ci_nbr=null&qr_name=null&reg=null%3Anull&_keyword=&_industry=. Retrieved 2010-03-06. 
  21. ^ "San Jose city, California - ACS Demographic and Housing Estimates: 2005-2007". US Census Bureau. 2007-01. http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/ADPTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=16000US0668000&-qr_name=ACS_2007_3YR_G00_DP3YR5&-ds_name=ACS_2007_3YR_G00_&-_lang=en&-redoLog=false&-_sse=on. Retrieved 2010-03-06. 
  22. ^ "E-1 Population Estimates for Cities, Counties and the State with Annual Percent Change — January 1, 2006 and 2007". State of California, Department of Finance. May 1, 2007. http://www.dof.ca.gov/HTML/DEMOGRAP/ReportsPapers/Estimates/E1/E-1text.asp. Retrieved 2007-06-18. 
  23. ^ "Population estimates for places over 100,000: 2000 to 2005". U.S. Census Bureau. http://www.census.gov/popest/cities/SUB-EST2005.html. Retrieved 2007-06-18. 
  24. ^ "State Finance Department Releases New Population Data for 2008". California Department of Finance. 2009-04-30. http://www.dof.ca.gov/research/demographic/reports/estimates/e-1/2008-09/documents/E-1_2009%20Press%20Release.pdf. Retrieved 2010-03-06. 
  25. ^ San Jose Churches
  26. ^ "S.F.'s 'Little Saigon' / Stretch of Larkin Street named for Vietnamese Americans". San Francisco Chronicle. 2004-02. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/02/16/BAG2751OP81.DTL. Retrieved 2010-03-06. 
  27. ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2000 and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2005-05-03. http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/gazette.html. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
  28. ^ "Sinking State". San Francisco State University. April 1996. http://www.journalism.sfsu.edu/www/pubs/prism/apr96/14.html. Retrieved 2008-04-27. 
  29. ^ San Jose City Council, date=March 1, 1983. "Outdoor lighting on private developments". http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=3&url=http%3A%2F%2Fsanjoseca.gov%2Fplanning%2Fcounter%2Fpolicies%2Fpol_lighting.pdf&ei=mkR2RqydJ5m-hAPZ6PT1CA&usg=AFQjCNHDbqDIYFFcWkybElTJ4QBvX9IpHA&sig2=6PJB3qDV_RqledmvU9UYmA. Retrieved 2007-06-18. 
  30. ^ "UCSC, Lick Observatory designate asteroid for the city of San Jose". University of California, Santa Cruz. May 25, 1998. http://www.ucsc.edu/oncampus/currents/97-98/05-25/asteroid.htm. Retrieved 2007-06-18. 
  31. ^ Miguel Miller. "Climate of San Jose". National Weather Service. http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/mtr/sfd_sjc_climate/sjc/SJC_CLIMATE3.php. Retrieved 2007-06-18. 
  32. ^ http://weather.gov
  33. ^ "San Jose Month Weather". AccuWeather. http://www.accuweather.com/us/ca/san-jose/95113/forecast-month.asp. 
  34. ^ wrcc.dri.edu/summary/Climsmcaa.html; San Francisco Chronicle, August 22, 1968
  35. ^ "San Jose Record temperatures". http://www.westerndisastercenter.org/sjc/daily_records.html. Retrieved 6 March 2010. 
  36. ^ "Fact Sheet: Community Profile: Employment and Employers". City of San Jose. 2008-04-01. http://www.sanjoseca.gov/planning/factsheet/employment.asp. Retrieved 2008-04-07. 
  37. ^ "Contact Us." Acer America. Retrieved on August 10, 2009.
  38. ^ [1]
  39. ^ "San José - Accolades". "America's Most Livable Communities" (Partners for Livable Communities, Washington, DC). http://www.mostlivable.org/general/san-jos-accolades.html. Retrieved 2008-04-07. 
  40. ^ "San Jose, Capital of Silicon Valley: #1 Community for Innovators in U.S.". City of San Jose. 2008-03-27. http://www.sjeconomy.com/aboutsj/communityinnovators.asp. Retrieved 2008-04-07. 
  41. ^ a b America's most livable:San Jose, California
  42. ^ "List of California Charter Cities". The California Planners' Book of Lists. California Governor's Office of Planning and Research. 1999. http://ceres.ca.gov/planning/bol/1999/charter.html. Retrieved 2007-06-09. 
  43. ^ a b San Jose City Charter
  44. ^ Local Agency Formation Commission
  45. ^ "Charter of the County of Santa Clara, Article 101". Santa Clara County. http://www.sccgov.org/SCC/docs%2FSCC%20Public%20Portal%2Fattachments%2F628168County_Charter.pdf. Retrieved 2008-02-16. 
  46. ^ "County of Santa Clara Contacts". http://www.sccgov.org/portal/site/scc/contacts. Retrieved 2008-02-16. 
  47. ^ "Will Gerrymandered Districts Stem the Wave of Voter Unrest?". Campaign Legal Center Blog. http://www.clcblog.org/blog_item-85.html. Retrieved 2008-02-10. 
  48. ^ "Courts of Appeal: Sixth District San Jose". California State Courts. http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/courts/courtsofappeal/6thDistrict/. Retrieved 2008-02-16. 
  49. ^ "Court Info: San Jose". United States District Court for the Northern California District. http://www.cand.uscourts.gov/CAND/FAQ.nsf/840afa494a77a59388256d4e007d54ff/de9a30b748bc1e5388256ebc0055acf4?OpenDocument. Retrieved 2008-02-16. 
  50. ^ San Jose Crime Statistics
  51. ^ Males, Mike. Scapegoat Generation
  52. ^ 2007 Morgan Quitno and Khoa Le Award City Crime Rankings by Population Group (To verify the "Since 2002" claim, change the 07 in the URL to see previous year's results.)
  53. ^ City Crime rankings by Population group
  54. ^ "Mayors Against Illegal Guns: Coalition Members". http://www.mayorsagainstillegalguns.org/html/about/members.shtml. 
  55. ^ "Sister City Program". The City of San Jose. http://www.sjeconomy.com/sistercities/. Retrieved 2009-05-08. 
  56. ^ "Staff Review Agenda". City of San Jose. 2007-11-15. http://www.sanjoseca.gov/planning/pdf/recent/111507.pdf. Retrieved 2008-05-05. 
  57. ^ "Development Services". City of San Jose. 2006-02-06. http://www.sanjoseca.gov/development/developmentcenter/second_floor.asp. Retrieved 2008-05-05. 
  58. ^ "San Jose Downtown Historic District". National Parks Service. http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/santaclara/shd.htm. Retrieved 2008-05-05. 
  59. ^ "Green Building Policy". 2007-04-10. http://www.sanjoseca.gov/ESD/natural-energy-resources/gb-policy.htm. Retrieved 2008-05-05. 
  60. ^ Yoders, Jeff (2005-11-01). "San Jose's Richard Meier-designed city hall: To Leed, or Not to Leed". Building Design and Construction. http://www.bdcnetwork.com/article/CA6281251.html. Retrieved 2008-05-05. 
  61. ^ 2006-2007 Proposed Capital Budget. City of San Jose. http://www.sanjoseca.gov/budget/FY0607/ProposedCapital/28.pdf. 
  62. ^ "Fallon statue unveiled". Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal. September 20, 2002. http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/2002/09/16/daily78.html. Retrieved 2007-06-18. 
  63. ^ Chicago cows on parade exhibit
  64. ^ "Decoding the San Jose Semaphore". Ear Studio. http://www.earstudio.com/sanjosesemaphore/decoding.pdf. Retrieved 2010-03-06. 
  65. ^ San Jose Museum of Art
  66. ^ "San Jose council accepts principles for A's stadium talks.". San Jose Mercury-News. http://www.mercurynews.com/politics/ci_12354568. Retrieved 2009-05-12. 
  67. ^ "Golden State Warriors History". Golden State Warriors. http://www.nba.com/warriors/history/00401109.html#25. Retrieved 2008-07-29. 
  68. ^ "Youtube of Jenner Invitational". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWa3cBjPcQA. Retrieved 2010-03-06. 
  69. ^ Bruce Newman (2008-07-24). "Unseen Heros: Olympians in 'lockdown' at SJSU on way to Beijing". San Jose Mercury News. http://origin.mercurynews.com/tv/ci_9980596. Retrieved 2008-07-29. 
  70. ^ a b "Flat Rate Reality San Jose Area Info". http://www.flatraterealtysanjose.com/html/areaInfo.htm. 
  71. ^ "Best Colleges 2010". U.S. News and World Report. http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/masters-west-top-public. Retrieved February 19, 2010. 
  72. ^ "Schools". Roman Catholic Diocese of San Jose in California. http://www.dsj.org/dsj/schools_results.asp?show=all. Retrieved 2007-06-18. 
  73. ^ SJ Library MLK Fast Facts page (Mentions joint university/city status, collection size and size of construction project.)
  74. ^ Locations page at SJ Library site(See BL article for its references.)
  75. ^ Bond Projects for Branch Libraries page at the SJ Library site
  76. ^ San Jose 2003-2004 Annual Report "In 2004, San José Public Library and San José State University Library were jointly named Library of the Year by the Library Journal."
  77. ^ "Network Status Table". City of San Jose. 2008-01-30. http://www.sjparks.org/trails/doc/TrailStatus1-30-08.pdf. Retrieved 2008-03-31. 
  78. ^ Marty Cheek. "KQW Radio, San Jose". Bay Area Radio Museum. http://www.bayarearadio.org/audio/kqw/kqw_30th-anniv_nov-10-1945.shtml. Retrieved 2007-06-18. 
  • The Weather Channel data for San Jose
  • Peck, Willys I., "When Ma Bell Spoke With a Human Voice," Saratoga Stereopticon: A Magic Lantern of Memory, (Cupertino, California: California History Center and Foundation, 1998, pp. 41–42.
  • Map: Mobile Communications: Reaching the World by Mobile Telephone Service, (San Francisco: Pacific Telephone Co., 1983.)
  • Undated San Jose Mercury News article describing exchange names possibly written by Patricia Loomis or Clyde Arbuckle.

[edit] Further reading

  • Beilharz, Edwin A.; and DeMers Jr., Donald O.; San Jose: California's First City; 1980, ISBN 0-932986-13-7
  • The California Room, the San Jose Library's collection of research materials on the history of San Jose and Santa Clara Valley.

[edit] External links

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