San Jose is actually larger than San Francisco? (Santa Clara, San Carlos: best city, condos)

[Bagger]

Originally Posted by timeofseasons

So as I was viewing more California cities, I came across San Jose. So far from what I've seen ( and very little) I actually like the city. I was almost in surprise and thought of Portland, Oregon.
How has San Fransico manage to overshadow San Jose? San Jose population is larger, growing, and the city is actually known to be safer. I'm confused, looking at maps I thought San Jose may have had a population of 350-500,000...

Opinion of San Jose?
Compare and contrast San Jose and San Fransico.

I live in San Jose and like it, but I must say, San Jose is bigger than San Francisco in population only. Well, maybe as a technology center also.
(Bracing myself for the inevitable criticism )

San Francisco - Arts, Restaurants, history, financial center... you get my drift.

But, we have the SHARKS!!!!!

[krudmonk]

San Jose certainly became bigger long before it started to act its size, but it has definitely started to. Successful events like the recent Jazz Festival speak much more about this place than the recent "1 million" milestone.

[SanFranSanJo]

Originally Posted by timeofseasons

So as I was viewing more California cities, I came across San Jose. So far from what I've seen ( and very little) I actually like the city. I was almost in surprise and thought of Portland, Oregon.
How has San Fransico manage to overshadow San Jose? San Jose population is larger, growing, and the city is actually known to be safer. I'm confused, looking at maps I thought San Jose may have had a population of 350-500,000...

Opinion of San Jose?
Compare and contrast San Jose and San Fransico.

San Jose is a city of a million+ ... the land size is almost identical in area to new orleans...with double the population

It has the most percentage of any u.s big city in terms of foreign born population...with diversity throughout including large #'s of vietnamese,mexican,filipino,indian,chinese, salvadoreans, etc etc]

Any kind of food you want can be found here

It is one of, if not the safest big cities in America

The weather is amazing... 300+ days of sunshine a year

Jobs pay very well and most people are educated


the landscape consists of mountains/hills on both sides...east and west...palm tree lined boulevards abound...similar to L.A but with more greenery mixed in...

no real skyscrapers as the real money makers(tech) prefer sprawling campuses

good to raise a family...SF is a "playground" for rich south bayers only going there when they need an injection of urbanity..something most SJ'ers care less about.

It is a different mentality here...people would rather have their own 2 story 4 bedroom...two cars..and good schools rather than blocks and blocks of stacked apartments etc..

People from elsewhere might label it as "suburban" ...and in actuality it does have some of that vibe..but most "suburbs" don't have the amenities that i have listed above (i.e diversity,economy $, great food, etc)..thats the thing that sets SJ apart from most of america

instead of caucasian soccer moms ..you are more than likely to see upper class indians or other asians perusing about town in their SUV's , mercedes, bmws ..lol

[sonarrat]

Originally Posted by Bagger

I live in San Jose and like it, but I must say, San Jose is bigger than San Francisco in population only. Well, maybe as a technology center also.
(Bracing myself for the inevitable criticism )

It's a completely different kind of town. San Jose loses 50,000 people during the day due to commuting; San Francisco gains 170,000 and keeps many of them well after they clock out for the night. San Francisco has dozens of tourist attractions; San Jose has the Tech Museum. San Francisco has an ingrained culture of renting due to its rent control ordinances and consistently absurd property values; San Jose has no rent control, but homeownership is much more attainable. San Francisco is doable and, in some areas, better without a car; San Jose is between difficult and impossible.

It's a wonder that no one visiting this site seems to actually ask about San Jose. I wonder why? Maybe it takes living here to realize that Palo Alto isn't necessarily worth the premium and San Francisco isn't for everyone. But we outnumber every other town in the Bay Area, so we're clearly doing something right.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Originally Posted by sandy7

Did you start this one yet? I'd love to take a look

No, not yet.

[krudmonk]

Originally Posted by sonarrat

San Jose is between difficult and impossible.

I would say most of it is, but downtown and the ring of old development around it are very easily navigated on foot or by bike. Transit is also more frequent. It's a world away from Evergreen.

[Bagger]

Originally Posted by SanFranSanJo

Any kind of food you want can be found here

l

I totally disagree with that statement. You can find great Asian (Thai, Vietnamese, Japanese, Chinese, Korean), and now that I think about it, I'd say good not great.... and there is good Mexican food. A couple pretty good Italian Restaurants too.

But, name a good Jewish Deli, a good Russian restaurant... heck, any good eastern European restaurant.... Perogies? I don't know anywhere to find one.

So, there are good restaurants here... but not ANY kind of food you want. I've looked, and if you have recommendations for some good eastern European food... let me know. I will say that I like Teska's (sp?), a pretty nice German place.

First thing I did my last trip to Chicago was go to the Russian Tea Room and Bergoff's.

Lack of really good restaurants in the south San Jose area has been a complaint of mine for a long time. As I said before, if you have recommendations, I'd love to hear them.

[sonarrat]

Originally Posted by krudmonk

I would say most of it is, but downtown and the ring of old development around it are very easily navigated on foot or by bike. Transit is also more frequent. It's a world away from Evergreen.

I know, I went to San Jose State, I know downtown SJ. The problem with that area is that grocery stores are scarce. Can you find one on the light-rail line around downtown? Nope. You have to take the 68 for quite a while before you hit the Grocery Outlet and Smart & Final, and if you want to go to Target you have to pack yourself into the 22 and get yourself to Story & King. I think the 11 bus will take you to a Trader Joe's, but who knows how long that line will last. Whole Foods is close to the Shark Tank so at least that's fairly close, if expensive.

[krudmonk]

There's a Target at Coleman now and a Safeway going in under The 88, plus a Whole Foods being built at Stockton/Alameda. There's also Mi Pueblo at 5th/Julian.

[SanFranSanJo]

Originally Posted by Bagger

I totally disagree with that statement. You can find great Asian (Thai, Vietnamese, Japanese, Chinese, Korean), and now that I think about it, I'd say good not great.... and there is good Mexican food. A couple pretty good Italian Restaurants too.

But, name a good Jewish Deli, a good Russian restaurant... heck, any good eastern European restaurant.... Perogies? I don't know anywhere to find one.

So, there are good restaurants here... but not ANY kind of food you want. I've looked, and if you have recommendations for some good eastern European food... let me know. I will say that I like Teska's (sp?), a pretty nice German place.

First thing I did my last trip to Chicago was go to the Russian Tea Room and Bergoff's.

Lack of really good restaurants in the south San Jose area has been a complaint of mine for a long time. As I said before, if you have recommendations, I'd love to hear them.

once again...we aren't talking caucasians here...i.e whites...i.e euros

not to be racist but thats the way things are...

however...campbell has a few russian places..look em up...

sure there aren't them on every corner but the same could be said for nyc...where are the pho shops on every corner? where are the filipino bakeries in abundance? see what i mean..there are some..but for a city of 8 million youd expect that