San Jose (California) - geography. I INTRODUCTION San Jose (California), city at the southern end of San Francisco Bay in Santa Clara County, California. One of the largest cities in population in the United States, San Jose lays claim to being the capital of Silicon Valley, a nickname for a swath of communities engaged in high-technology research and manufacturing. The city is in the Santa Clara Valley, with the Santa Cruz Mountains to the west and the Diablo Range to the east. The center of the city is 17 km (11 mi) from the marshy shore of San Francisco Bay. San Jose enjoys a mild climate year round, with an average of 300 sunny days per year. Annual precipitation averages 380 mm (15 in), with most of it falling from November through March. In January the average high temperature is 14°C (58°F) and the average low 5°C (41°F); in July the temperature averages a high of 28°C (82°F) and a low of 14°C (57°F). San Jose was founded along the banks of the Guadalupe River in 1777 as the first civil settlement in Spanish California. The settlement was called El Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe, named for Saint Joseph, the husband of the Virgin Mary. II SAN JOSE AND ITS METROPOLITAN AREA The city of San Jose covers a land area of 443.4 sq km (171.2 sq mi). Its metropolitan region encompasses all of Santa Clara County, with a land area of 3,344.2 sq km (1,291.2 sq mi), and includes such municipalities as Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, Mountain View, and Palo Alto. Downtown San Jose experienced a renaissance in the 1980s through an investment of $1.5 billion in public and private funds. The cornerstone of this massive revitalization venture is the San Jose McEnery Convention Center, completed in 1989. Circling the downtown area is a light-rail transit system, connecting outlying areas with city-center restaurants, nightlife venues, and shopping. Sycamore trees shade the new downtown transit mall, complete with decorative fountains and antique street lights. Just to the north of the convention center is the Plaza de Cesar Chavez (formerly City Plaza Park), part of the plaza originally created when the city was founded and the site of frequent community events. Near the plaza stand the San Jose Museum of Art and historic St. Joseph Cathedral, noted for its murals and stained-glass windows. Four blocks east is San Jose State University, distinguished by its ivy-covered campus tower. Several blocks north is St. James Park and the Hensley Historic District, featuring an extensive collection of restored Victorian homes. III POPULATION The population of the city of San Jose has grown at a remarkable rate in recent years. Newcomers are attracted to the city because of its climate and economic opportunities, and the city has placed highly on national rankings of the best places to live. The population of San Jose increased from 628,283 in 1980 to 894,943 in 2000. In 2006, its population was estimated at 929,936. According to the 2000 census, whites represented 47.5 percent of the city's population, Asians 26.9 percent, blacks 3.5 percent, Native Americans 0.8 percent, and Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders 0.4 percent. People of mixed heritage or not reporting race were 21 percent of the population. Hispanics, who may be of any race, made up 30.2 percent of the people. The San Jose metropolitan area also has continued to grow, but at a somewhat more moderate rate. Its population rose from 1,295,071 in 1980 to 1,787,123 in 2006. IV EDUCATIONAL AND CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS Metropolitan San Jose is one of the most highly educated areas in the country. San Jose State University, founded in 1857, is the oldest public university in the state. Also located within the city limits are San Jose City College (1921) and Evergreen Valley College (1975). Well-regarded schools in the region include Stanford University (1885) and the Santa Clara University (1851). Among the prominent cultural institutions in the city is the San Jose Museum of Art, displaying the works of 20th-century painters, sculptors, and photographers. The Tech Museum of Innovation features technological marvels from Silicon Valley and explains how technology affects everyday life, while the Children's Discovery Museum explores the arts, humanities, sciences, and technology with hands-on exhibits. In Kelley Park the San Jose Historical Museum is in 21 fully restored and original Victorian buildings depicting home and work at the beginning of the 20th century; the Japanese Friendship Garden and Teahouse is also in the park. The Egyptian Museum holds an extensive collection of Egyptian artifacts, maintained by a branch of the Rosicrucian fraternal order with its world headquarters in San Jose. The American Museum of Quilts and Textiles promotes the art, craft, and history of quilts. One of the most popular attractions in the city is the Winchester Mystery House, a bizarrely constructed Victorian mansion designed, so its owner thought, to fool evil spirits. The Lick Observatory overlooks the Santa Clara Valley from Mount Hamilton to the east of the city. San Jose has a rich selection of performing arts, including the San Jose Repertory Theatre, the American Musical Theatre of San Jose, Opera San Jose, Ballet San Jose Silicon Valley, and the Margaret Wingrove Dance Company. Annual events include the San Jose Jazz Festival in August and the San Jose Film Festival, beginning in January. The city has numerous community festivals throughout the year, many celebrating ethnic themes. V RECREATION The largest of the many parks inside San Jose is Alum Rock Park, where many kilometers of hiking and equestrian trails wind through oak woodlands and chaparral in the mountain foothills. Multiuse trails and parkways follow Coyote Creek through San Jose. Along its banks is Kelley Park, which contains Happy Hollow, a family park focused on providing children with a creative play area. Almaden Lake Park is popular for its swimming beach on a lake that filled a former rock quarry. A section of the San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge covers the estuary where the Guadalupe River enters the bay. Among the beautiful public gardens in the city are the Municipal Rose Garden, with about 3,500 rose plants; the San Jose Heritage Rose Garden, which emphasizes the history of rose cultivation; and the Overfelt Gardens, noted for its Chinese Cultural Garden. County-operated parks near the city include Almaden Quicksilver County Park, which was once a quicksilver mine; SanbornSkyline County Park, with groves of redwood trees and sweeping views of the Santa Clara Valley; and the large Joseph D. Grant County Park, on the eastern mountain slopes. San Jose is home to the National Hockey League's San Jose Sharks and the Major League Soccer's San Jose Earthquakes. Themed amusement parks in the area include Paramount's Great America in nearby Santa Clara. The West Coast's only remaining seaside amusement park is located south of San Jose at Santa Cruz. VI ECONOMY The San Jose metropolitan area is an economic powerhouse. It is the single most important high-technology center in the United States, specializing in aerospace and computer technology. Assisting in the area's steady innovation is its many venture capital firms, which loan money to entrepreneurs starting new companies. It is estimated that the region contains one-half of the leading venture capital firms in the world. Among the nation's largest companies in the San Jose metropolitan region are Intel, the world leader in making microprocessors and headquartered in Santa Clara; Apple Computer, maker of computer hardware and software, in Cupertino; Hewlett-Packard, manufacturer of diverse electronic equipment, in Palo Alto; and Sun Microsystems, computer developer, in Mountain View. Other major employers include the missiles and space division of Lockheed Martin, International Business Machines (IBM), and National Semiconductor. Once known as "The Valley of Heart's Delight," the greater San Jose area continues to be an important agricultural region. It produces fruits, nuts, vegetables, and cut flowers. The many wineries in the area produce wines sold worldwide. Transportation links to San Jose include San Jose International Airport, located a short distance northwest of downtown. Local bus and light-rail service provides connections to the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system. Four major freeways converge in San Jose. VII GOVERNMENT San Jose has a council-manager form of government, in which the council sets policy and hires a professional manager to oversee day-by-day city operations. The 11member city council consists of a mayor elected citywide and 10 council members elected by district. Voters elect the mayor and other members of the council to serve no more than two four-year terms. VIII HISTORY The Ohlone people lived along the shores of San Francisco Bay for more than 1,000 years before the arrival of the first white settlers. In 1777 José Joaquin Moraga founded the pueblo of San Jose, the first civil settlement in what is now the state of California, as a farming community to supply food to the military presidios (forts) in San Francisco and Monterey. San Jose grew slowly during its early years. San Jose boomed following the takeover of California by the United States in 1846 and the discovery of gold in the Sierra Nevada in 1848 (see California: History). Its population reached 3,000 by 1850, the year the city was incorporated. San Jose served as the state's first capital from 1849 to 1851, a distinction it lost because the city's accommodations were so poor. During the second half of the 19th century, San Jose developed as the center of a flourishing agricultural region. Prunes became the valley's biggest crop, but other orchard species fared well, too, leading to the establishment of canneries and fruit-drying operations. In the second half of the 20th century, the greater San Jose area underwent a fundamental change. It shifted from a rural and agricultural region to one that was increasingly industrial and urban. Its leading industries became aerospace and electronics. San Jose annexed nearby lands as the valley's population grew. The city increased in area from 44 to 407 sq km (17 to 157 sq mi) between 1950 and 1980. The growth of the region's industries fueled concerns about air pollution, toxic waste disposal, and competitiveness. Controlling growth became a major issue in local politics. In 1973 voters adopted a measure to limit growth and the following year a new mayor was elected on a slogan of "making San Jose better before making it bigger." Subsequent redevelopment projects revitalized the downtown area. Cutbacks in federal spending for defense and aerospace in the 1990s were a severe blow to the region's economy. Local firms, dependent on federal contracts, sought new ways to employ their productive capacities for peacetime purposes. Contributed By: James J. Rawls Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
