The Other City By The Bay
San Jose is at the south end of the San Francisco Bay, a sprawling city of some 175 square miles. San Jose is actually considered part of the “Bay Area,” one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas of the United States. It is located along the San Andreas Fault and the most significant quake was almost a century ago.
For years, San Jose was an agriculture area. Crops included broccoli, prunes, grapes, apricots and more. But in the 1960s, the tide turned and technology-based businesses took the area by storm, eventually creating the nearby area known as “Silicon Valley.” Until then, the larges employers in the area where farmers and canneries.
San Jose has been the “first” in several of California’s landmarks. When Spanish settlers first arrived in California in the 1700s, San Jose was the first town to be organized. When California was admitted to the Union in 1850, San Jose was named the state’s first capital. In the 1960s, those who lived and worked in Silicon Valley began to look for housing in the San Jose area.
That demand prompted the change from agricultural to housing development. The proximity to Silicon Valley and the number of people who were working in the valley while living in San Jose prompted the nickname, “The Capital of Silicon Valley."
Fast Facts
- Location: San Jose is located at the south end of the San Francisco Bay, near San Francisco proper and the area known as “Silicon Valley.”
- Population: 894,943
- Housing units: 281,841
- Land area: 175 square miles
- Persons per square mile: 5,117.9
- Average annual rainfall: 14.4 inches per year
- Elevation: 87 feet above sea level
- Information provided by the U.S. Census Bureau