San Jose, California
San Jose is a major city in California, USA, and the county seat of Santa Clara County. It is located at the south end of the San Francisco Bay, within the informal boundaries of Silicon Valley. As of 2003, the city reported an estimated population of 925,000, the most populous city in Northern California, and third in the state after Los Angeles and San Diego. It is the 11th largest city in the United States.
History
For thousands of years prior to the arrival of european settlers, the area now known as San Jose was inhabited by several groups of Ohlone Native Americans.
El Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe was founded by José Joaquin Moraga on November 29, 1777, the first settlement not associated with a mission or a military post in Alta California. (The nearest mission, Mission Santa Clara de Asis, was founded earlier in 1777, three miles from the original peublo site in neighboring Santa Clara. Mission San José de Guadalupe wasn't founded until 1797, about 20 miles north of San Jose in what is now Fremont). The town was founded as a farming community to provide food for the presidios of San Francisco and Monterey. In 1778 the pueblo had a population of 68.
On March 27, 1850, San Jose became the first incorporated city in the U.S. state of California. It also served as the first state capital with the first and second sessions of the California Legislature being held there in 1850 and 1851. For nearly two centuries a farming community, San Jose produced a significant amount of fruits and vegetables until the 1960s, and a local school team name at the time was "the prunes".
A. P. Hamann (nicknamed "Dutch") became city manager in 1950. At the time, the city had a population of 95,000 and a total area of only 17 mi2. Hamann instituted an aggressive growth program by annexation of adjacent areas, such as Alviso, Cambrian Park and other neighborhoods, and a program of dispersed urbanization, sometimes called los angelization, resulting in an annual growth rate of over 8 percent. When Hamann left office in 1969, San Jose had grown to 495,000 residents and 136 mi2.
Following Hamann's retirement, anti-growth city councils came to power, cemented in the 1971 election of Norman Mineta as mayor. Under Mineta, the city adopted the "General Plan" that restricted development of land inside the incorporated area of San Jose, and banned development in an additional 200 mi2 east and south of the city, an area known as San Jose's sphere of control. To the west, communities such as Campbell and Cupertino had incorporated as cities to avoid being annexed to San Jose, while expansion to the north was impossible because of San Francisco Bay. The result was that there was no land available to build housing. The plan's goal was to bring population growth down to a more manageable level.
However, with the boom of the electronics industry, specifically personal computers and integrated circuits, San Jose and the surrounding areas' population continued growing at high rates. By 1980, the city's population was 630,000; it reached 782,000 by 1990; and 894,943 by 2000--at which point Santa Clara County as a whole had 1,682,585 residents. As a result, housing costs in San Jose and the rest of the Bay Area rose faster than the national average in the 1980s and 1990s, such that the average 2003 home price in Santa Clara County was approximately 330% of the national average.
Law and government
San Jose has a council-manager government, with a city manager nominated by the mayor and elected by the city council.
The San Jose City Council is made up of 10 council members elected by districts, and a mayor elected in an at-large election. 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 mayor and the odd-numbered district council members last faced election in 2002; the even-numbered district council members will be elected in 2004. Councilmembers and the mayor are limited to two 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; this council member has the right to act as mayor during the absence of the mayor, but does not have the right of succession to the mayor's office upon a vacancy.
The city manager is the chief administrative officer of the city, and must present an annual budget for approval by the city council. The council elects the manager for an indefinite term, and may at any time remove the manager, or the electorate may remove the manager through a representative recall election. Other city officers elected by the council are the city attorney, city auditor, and city clerk.
The current mayor is Ron Gonzales, and the city manager is Del D. Borgsdorf. The city council members are:
- Linda J. LeZotte, District 1
- Forrest Williams, District 2
- Cindy Chavez, District 3
- Chuck Reed, District 4
- Nora Campos, District 5
- Ken Yeager, District 6
- Terry O. Gregory, District 7
- David D. Cortese, District 8
- Judy Chirco, District 9
- Pat Dando, District 10 (Vice Mayor)
Geography
San Jose is located at 37°18'15" North, 121°52'22" West (37.304051, -121.872734)1.According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 461.5 km² (178.2 mi²). 452.9 km² (174.9 mi²) of it is land and 8.6 km² (3.3 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 1.86% water.
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. The river is the home to the only known salmon spawning run through a major U.S. downtown area. Along the southern part of the river is the neighborhood of Almaden, 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.
The lowest point in San Jose is at sea level at the San Francisco Bay in Alviso, the highest is 4,372 feet at Copernicus Peak, Mount Hamilton.
San Jose considers itself "the Capital of Silicon Valley." As such, its economy rises and falls with high-tech employment in the Bay Area. During the peak of the tech bubble, employment, housing prices and traffic congestion peaked, but all eased as the economy slowed during the first few years of the 21st century. As of 2003, the city reported 355,000 jobs within the city limits and an unemployment rate of 8.7%.
The city lists 25 companies with 1,000 employees or more, including the headquarters of Adobe Systems, BEA Systems, Cisco and eBay, as well as major facilities for Flextronics, Hewlett-Packard, IBM and Lockheed Martin. Sizable government employers include the city, Santa Clara County, and San José State University.
There are 276,598 households out of which 38.3% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.0% are married couples living together, 11.7% have a female householder with no husband present, and 26.4% are non-families. 18.4% of all households are made up of individuals and 4.9% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 3.20 and the average family size is 3.62.
In the city the population is 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 are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 33 years. For every 100 females there are 103.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 102.5 males.
The median income for a household in the city is $70,243, and the median income for a family is $74,813. Males have a median income of $49,347 versus $36,936 for females. The per capita income for the city is $26,697. 8.8% of the population and 6.0% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 10.3% are under the age of 18 and 7.4% are 65 or older.
The San Jose area has a well-developed freeway system, including three Interstate highways, I-280, I-880 and I-680 in addition to several federal and state highways, US 101, CA 85, CA 87 CA 17 and CA 237. Rail service to San José is provided by Amtrak, Caltrain (commuter rail service to San Francisco and Gilroy), and a local light-rail system connecting downtown to Mountain View, Milpitas, and Almaden, operated by the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA). San Jose is served by the medium-sized Mineta San Jose International Airport, 2 miles northwest of downtown, as well as San Francisco International Airport, a major international hub 35 miles northwest.
Economy
Demographics
statue in Plaza de César Chávez]]
As of the census of 2000, there are 894,943 people, 276,598 households, and 203,576 families residing in the city. The population density is 1,976.1/km² (5,117.9/mi²). There are 281,841 housing units at an average density of 622.3/km² (1,611.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 47.49% White, 3.50% African American, 0.77% Native American, 26.86% Asian American, 0.40% Pacific Islander, 15.94% from other races, and 5.04% from two or more races. 30.17% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.Attractions
Colleges and universities
Sports teams
San Jose is the home of the San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League, San Jose SaberCats of the Arena Football League, San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer and the San Jose Stealth of the National Lacrosse League. San Jose was to have been the home of the Demons of the XFL, but the team moved to San Francisco prior to the start of the season.Notable residents
People born in San Jose
People who moved to San Jose
Neighborhoods
Transportation
External link
References
| Counties and Largest Cities in California | |
|---|---|
| Cities: Anaheim | Bakersfield | Fremont | Fresno | Glendale | Huntington Beach | Long Beach | Los Angeles | Modesto | Oakland | Oxnard | Riverside | Sacramento | San Bernardino | San Diego | San Francisco | San Jose | Santa Ana | Stockton | |
| Counties: Alameda | Alpine | Amador | Butte | Calaveras | Colusa | Contra Costa | Del Norte | El Dorado | Fresno | Glenn | Humboldt | Imperial | Inyo | Kern | Kings | Lake | Lassen | Los Angeles | Madera | Marin | Mariposa | Mendocino | Merced | Modoc | Mono | Monterey | Napa | Nevada | Orange | Placer | Plumas | Riverside | Sacramento | San Benito | San Bernardino | San Diego | San Francisco | San Joaquin | San Luis Obispo | San Mateo | Santa Barbara | Santa Clara | Santa Cruz | Shasta | Sierra | Siskiyou | Solano | Sonoma | Stanislaus | Sutter | Tehama | Trinity | Tulare | Tuolumne | Ventura | Yolo | Yuba | | |