Before thearrival of the Spanish, the area around San Jose was long inhabited by theTamien nation of theOhlone people. San Jose was founded on November 29, 1777, as thePueblo de San José deGuadalupe, the first city founded inthe Californias.[16] It became a part ofMexico in 1821 after theMexican War of Independence. Following the U.S.Conquest of California during theMexican–American War, the territorywas ceded to the United States in 1848. After California achieved statehood two years later, San Jose served as the state's first capital.[17] San Jose experienced an economic boom afterWorld War II, with a rapid population growth and aggressiveannexation of nearby communities in the 1950s and 1960s. The rapid growth of the technology industry inSilicon Valley further accelerated the city's transition from an agricultural center to an urbanized metropolitan area, prompting MayorTom McEnery to adopt San Jose's current motto, "Capital of Silicon Valley", in 1988.[18][19] Results of the1990 U.S. census indicated that San Jose had surpassedSan Francisco in population.[20] By the early 2000s, San Jose was California's fastest-growing economy.[21]
San Jose is named afterel Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe (Spanish for 'the Town ofSaint Joseph ofGuadalupe'), the city's predecessor, which was eventually located in the area of what is now thePlaza de César Chávez. In the 19th century, print publications used the spelling "San José" for both the city and its eponymoustownship.[46][47] On December 11, 1943, theUnited States Board on Geographic Names ruled that the city's name should be spelled "San Jose" based on local usage and the formal incorporated name.[48]
In the 1960s and 1970s, some residents and officials advocated for returning to the original spelling of "San José", with theacute accent on the "e", to acknowledge the city's Mexican origin andMexican-American population. On June 2, 1969, the cityadopted a flag designed by historian Clyde Arbuckle that prominently featured the inscription "SAN JOSÉ, CALIFORNIA".[49] On June 16, 1970,San Jose State College officially adopted "San José" as the city's name, including in the college's own name.[50] On August 20, 1974, theSan Jose City Council approved a proposal by Catherine Linquist to rename the city "San José"[51][52] but reversed itself a week later under pressure from residents concerned with the cost of changing typewriters, documents, and signs.[53] On April 3, 1979, the city council once again adopted "San José" as the spelling of the city name on the city seal, official stationery, office titles and department names.[54] As late as 2010, the 1965 city charter stated the name of themunicipal corporation asCity of San Jose, without the accent mark,[55][56] but later editions have added the accent mark.[57]
By convention, the spellingSan José is only used when the name is spelled in mixed upper- and lowercase letters, but not when the name is spelled only in uppercase letters, as on the city logo. The accent reflects the Spanish version of the name, and the dropping of accents in all-capital writing was once typical in Spanish. While San José is commonly spelled both with and without the acute accent over the "e", the city's official guidelines indicate that it should be spelled with the accent most of the time and sets forth narrow exceptions, such as when the spelling is in URLs, when the name appears in all-capital letters, when the name is used on social media sites where the diacritical mark does not render properly, and where San Jose is part of the proper name of another organization or business, such asSan Jose Chamber of Commerce, that has chosen not to use the accent-marked name.[58][59][60]
During the era ofSpanish colonization and the subsequent building ofSpanish missions in California, the Tamien people's lives changed dramatically. From 1777 onward, most of the Tamien people were forcibly enslaved atMission Santa Clara de Asís orMission San José where they were baptized and educated to be Catholicneophytes, also known asMission Indians. This continued until the mission was secularized by the Mexican Government in 1833. A large majority of the Tamien died either from disease in the missions, or as a result of thestate sponsored genocide. Some surviving families remained intact, migrating to Santa Cruz after their ancestral lands were granted to Spanish and Mexican Immigrants.[64]
In 1800, due to the growing population in the northern part of the Californias,Diego de Borica, Governor of the Californias, officially split the province into two parts:Alta California (Upper California), which eventually became several westernU.S. states, andBaja California (Lower California), which eventually became twoMexican states.
In 1835, San Jose's population of approximately 700 people included 40 foreigners, primarilyAmericans andEnglishmen. By 1845, the population of the pueblo had increased to 900, primarily due to American immigration. Foreign settlement in San Jose and California was rapidly changing Californian society, bringing expanding economic opportunities and foreign culture.[70]
By 1846, nativeCalifornios had long expressed their concern for the overrunning of California society by its growing and wealthy Anglo-American community.[71] During the 1846Bear Flag Revolt, CaptainThomas Fallon led nineteen volunteers from Santa Cruz to the pueblo of San Jose, which his forces easily captured. The raising of the flag of theCalifornia Republic ended Mexican rule in Alta California on July 14, 1846.[72][73]
On March 27, 1850, San Jose wasincorporated. It was incorporated on the same day asSan Diego andBenicia; together, these three cities followedSacramento as California's earliest incorporated cities.[75]Josiah Belden, who had settled in California in 1842 after traversing theCalifornia Trail as part of theBartleson Party and later acquired a fortune, was the city's first mayor.[76] San Jose was briefly California's first state capital, and legislators met in the city from 1849 to 1851. (Monterey was the capital during the period ofSpanish California andMexican California).[77] The first capitol no longer exists; thePlaza de César Chávez now lies on the site, which has twohistorical markers indicating where California's state legislature first met.[78]
In the period 1900 through 1910, San Jose served as a center for pioneering invention, innovation, and impact in both lighter-than-air and heavier-than-air flight. These activities were led principally byJohn Montgomery and his peers. The City of San Jose has established Montgomery Park, a Monument at San Felipe and Yerba Buena Roads, and John J. Montgomery Elementary School in his honor. During this period, San Jose also became a center of innovation for the mechanization and industrialization of agricultural and food processing equipment.[79]
Though not affected as severely as San Francisco, San Jose also suffered significant damage from the1906 San Francisco earthquake. Over 100 people died at theAgnews Asylum (later Agnews State Hospital) after its walls and roof collapsed,[80] and San Jose High School's three-story stone-and-brick building was also destroyed. The period duringWorld War II was tumultuous;Japanese Americans primarily fromJapantown were sent tointernment camps, including the future mayorNorman Mineta. Following the Los Angeleszoot suit riots, anti-Mexican violence took place during the summer of 1943. In 1940, the Census Bureau reported San Jose's population as 98% white.[81]
IBM established its first West Coast operations in San Jose in 1943 with a downtownpunch card plant, and opened anIBM Research lab in 1952.Reynold B. Johnson and his team developed direct access storage for computers,[85] inventing theRAMAC 305 and thehard disk drive; the technological side of San Jose's economy grew.[86]
During the 1950s and 1960s, City ManagerA. P. "Dutch" Hamann led the city in a major growth campaign. The city annexed adjacent areas, such asAlviso andCambrian Park, providing large areas for suburbs. An anti-growth reaction to the effects of rapid development emerged in the 1970s, championed by mayorsNorman Mineta andJanet Gray Hayes. Despite establishing anurban growth boundary, development fees, and the incorporations ofCampbell andCupertino, development was not slowed, but rather directed into already-incorporated areas.[83]
The 1928 San Jose annualFiesta de las Rosas parade in Downtown
San Jose's participation in the expandingSilicon Valley tech industry triggered further economic and population growth. Results from the1990 U.S. census indicated that San Jose surpassed San Francisco as the most populous city in the Bay Area for the first time.[20] This growth led to the highest housing-cost increase in the nation, 936% between 1976 and 2001.[87] Efforts to increase density continued into the 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. As of 2006, 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 towardSmart Growth planning principles.[88]
San Jose is located within theSanta Clara Valley, in the southern part of theBay Area in Northern California. The northernmost portion of San Jose touchesSan Francisco Bay atAlviso, though most of the city lies away from the bayshore. According to theUnited States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 180.0 sq mi (466 km2), making it the fourth-largest city in California by land area (after Los Angeles, San Diego, andCalifornia City).[14]
San Jose lies between theSan Andreas Fault, the source of the1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, and theCalaveras Fault. San Jose is shaken by moderate earthquakes on average one or two times a year. These quakes originate just east of the city on the creeping section of the Calaveras Fault, which is a major source of earthquake activity in Northern California. On April 14, 1984, at 1:15 pm local time, a 6.2 magnitude earthquake struck the Calaveras Fault near San Jose's Mount Hamilton.[89] 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. TheDaly City Earthquake of 1957 caused some damage. TheLoma Prieta earthquake of 1989 also did some damage to parts of the city.
San Jose's expansion was made by the design of"Dutch" Hamann, the City Manager from 1950 to 1969. During his administration, with his staff referred to as "Dutch'sPanzer Division", the city annexed property 1,389 times,[90] growing the city from 17 to 149 sq mi (44 to 386 km2),[91] absorbing the communities named above, changing their status to "neighborhoods."
They say San José is going to become another Los Angeles. Believe me, I'm going to do everything in my power to make that come true.
Sales taxes were a chief source of revenue. Hamann would determine where major shopping areas would be, and then annex narrow bands of land along major roadways leading to those locations, pushing "tentacles" or "finger areas" across the Santa Clara Valley and, in turn, walling off the expansion of adjacent communities.[93][94][95]
During his reign, it was said the City Council would vote according to Hamann's nod. In 1963, the State of California imposedLocal Agency Formation Commissions statewide, but largely to try to maintain order with San Jose's aggressive growth. Eventually the political forces against growth grew as local neighborhoods bonded together to elect their own candidates, ending Hamann's influence and leading to his resignation.[96] While the job was not complete, the trend was set. The city had defined its sphere of influence in all directions, sometimes chaotically leaving unincorporated pockets to be swallowed up by the behemoth, sometimes even at the objection of the residents.[90]
TheSanta Clara Valley experiences aMediterranean climate, with an average of 301 days of sunshine.A satellite image of theSanta Clara Valley near San Jose; the city makes up most of the urbanization in the center of the valley.Map of the major hill and mountain ranges in San Jose:
The lowest point in San Jose is 13 ft (4.0 m) below sea level at the San Francisco Bay in Alviso;[98] the highest is 2,125 ft (648 m).[99] Because of the proximity toLick Observatory atop Mount Hamilton, San Jose has taken several steps to reducelight pollution, including replacing all street lamps and outdoor lighting in private developments withlow pressure sodium lamps.[100] To recognize the city's efforts, theasteroid6216 San Jose was named after the city.[101]
There are four distinct valleys in the city of San Jose: Almaden Valley, situated on the southwest fringe of the city; Evergreen Valley to the southeast, which is hilly all throughout its interior; Santa Clara Valley, which includes the flat, main urban expanse of the South Bay; and the ruralCoyote Valley, to the city's extreme southern fringe.[102]
San Jose, like most of the Bay Area, has aMediterranean climate (Köppen:Csb),[106][107] with warm to hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters. San Jose has an average of 298 days of sunshine and an annual mean temperature of 61.4 °F (16.3 °C). It lies inland, surrounded on three sides by mountains, and does not front the Pacific Ocean like San Francisco. As a result, the city is somewhat more sheltered from rain, barely avoiding acold semi-arid (BSk) climate.[106]
Like most of the Bay Area, San Jose is made up of dozens ofmicroclimates. Because of a more prominentrain shadow from the Santa Cruz Mountains, Downtown San Jose experiences the lightest rainfall in the city, while South San Jose, only 10 mi (16 km) distant, experiences more rainfall, and somewhat more extreme temperatures.
The monthly daily average temperature ranges from around 50 °F (10 °C) in December and January to around 70 °F (21 °C) in July and August.[108] The highest temperature ever recorded in San Jose was 109 °F (43 °C) on September 6, 2022; the lowest was 18 °F (−7.8 °C) on January 6, 1894. On average, there are 2.7 mornings annually where the temperature drops to, or below, the freezing mark; and sixteen afternoons where the high reaches or exceeds 90 °F or 32.2 °C.Diurnal temperature variation is far wider than along the coast or in San Francisco but still a shadow of what is seen in theCentral Valley.
"Rain year" precipitation has ranged from 4.83 in (122.7 mm) between July 1876 and June 1877 to 30.30 in (769.6 mm) between July 1889 and June 1890, although at the current site since 1893 the range is from 5.33 in (135.4 mm) in "rain year" 2020–21 to 30.25 in (768.3 mm) in "rain year" 1982–83. 2020–2021 was the lowest precipitation year ever, in 127 years of precipitation records in San Jose. The most precipitation in one month was 12.38 in (314.5 mm) in January 1911. The maximum 24-hour rainfall was 3.60 in (91.4 mm) on January 30, 1968. On August 16, 2020, one of the most widespread and strong thunderstorm events in recent Bay Area history occurred as an unstable humid air mass moved up from the south and triggered multiple dry thunderstorms[109] which caused many fires to be ignited by 300+ lightning strikes in the surrounding hills. The CZU lightning complex fires took almost 5 months to fully be controlled. Over 86,000 acres were burned and nearly 1500 buildings were destroyed.[110][111]
The snow level drops as low as 4,000 ft (1,220 m) above sea level, or lower, occasionally coating nearbyMount Hamilton and, less frequently, theSanta Cruz Mountains, with snow that normally lasts a few days. Snow will snarl traffic traveling onState Route 17 towardsSanta Cruz. Snow rarely falls in San Jose; 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 in (0.076 m) on car and roof tops. The official observation station measured only 0.5 in (0.013 m) of snow.[112]
Alum Rock Park, 718 acres (2.91 km2) in East San Jose, the oldest municipal park in California and one of the largest municipal parks in the United States.
Children's Discovery Museum hosts an outdoor park-like setting, featuring the world's largest permanent Monopoly game, per the Guinness Book of World Records.[118] Caretakers for this attraction include the 501(c)3 non-profit group Monopoly in the Park.
Circle of Palms Plaza, a ring of palm trees surrounding a California state seal and historical landmark at the site of the first state capitol
Emma Prusch Farm Park, 43.5 acres (17.6 ha) in East San Jose. Donated by Emma Prusch to demonstrate the valley's agricultural past, it includes a4-H barn (the largest in San Jose), community gardens, a rare-fruit orchard, demonstration gardens, picnic areas, and expanses of lawn.[119] Chickens, ducks, and peafowl roam the park freely.
Field Sports Park, Santa Clara County's only publicly owned firing range, located in south San Jose[120]
Rosicrucian Park, nearly an entire city block in the Rose Garden neighborhood; the Park offers a setting of Egyptian and Moorish architecture set among lawns, rose gardens, statuary, and fountains, and includes theRosicrucian Egyptian Museum, Planetarium, Research Library, Peace Garden and Visitors Center
San Jose's trail network of 60 mi (100 km) of recreational and active transportation trails throughout the city.[122] 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. Several trail systems within the network are designated as part of the National Recreation Trail, as well as regional trails such as the San Francisco Bay Trail and Bay Area Ridge Trail.
Early written documents record the local presence of migrating salmon in the Rio Guadalupe dating as far back as the 18th century.[123] Bothsteelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) andKing salmon are extant in theGuadalupe River, making San Jose the southernmost major U.S. city with known salmon spawning runs, the other cities beingAnchorage;Seattle;Portland andSacramento.[124] Runs of up to 1,000Chinook or King Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) swam up the Guadalupe River each fall in the 1990s, but have all but vanished in the current decade apparently blocked from access to breeding grounds by impassable culverts, weirs and wide, exposed and flat concrete paved channels installed by theSanta Clara Valley Water District.[125] In 2011 a small number of Chinook salmon were filmed spawning under the Julian Street bridge.[126]
Conservationist Roger Castillo, who discovered the remains of a mammoth on the banks of the Guadalupe River in 2005, found that a herd oftule elk (Cervus canadensis) had recolonized the hills of south San Jose east of Highway 101 in early 2019.[127]
In 2022, the US Census Bureau released its new population estimates. With a total population of 971,233,[131] San Jose showed a 4.1% decline in population since the 2020 census. San Jose became the second US city in history (after Detroit) that used to have a population of more than one million but dropped back under one million. Some reasons for this decline are people leaving the area for more affordable cities and more remote working opportunities.[132]
San Jose, California – racial and ethnic composition Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.
The2020 United States census reported that San Jose had a population of 1,013,240. The population density was 5,684.1 inhabitants per square mile (2,194.6/km2). The racial makeup was 27.3%White, 2.9%African American, 1.4%Native American, 38.5%Asian, 0.4%Pacific Islander, 18.2% fromother races, and 11.2% from two or more races.Hispanic or Latino of any race were 31.2% of the population.[137] The census reported that 98.5% of the population lived in households, 1.2% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0.3% were institutionalized.[137]
There were 328,622 households, out of which 36.2% included children under the age of 18, 53.4% were married-couple households, 6.2% werecohabiting couple households, 22.8% had a female householder with no partner present, and 17.6% had a male householder with no partner present. 19.0% of households were one person, and 6.9% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 3.04.[137] There were 239,392families (72.8% of all households).[138]
The age distribution was 21.1% under the age of 18, 9.1% aged 18 to 24, 30.4% aged 25 to 44, 26.1% aged 45 to 64, and 13.3% who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 37.6years. For every 100 females, there were 101.0 males.[137]
There were 342,037 housing units at an average density of 1,918.8 units per square mile (740.9 units/km2), of which 328,622 (96.1%) were occupied. Of these, 54.0% were owner-occupied, and 46.0% were occupied by renters.[137]
In 2023, the US Census Bureau estimated that the median household income was $141,565, and theper capita income was $63,253. About 4.9% of families and 7.8% of the population were below the poverty line.[139]
The census reported that 932,620 people (98.6% of the population) lived in households, 9,542 (1.0%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 3,780 (0.4%) were institutionalized. There were 301,366 households, out of which 122,958 (40.8%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 162,819 (54.0%) wereopposite-sex married couples living together, 37,988 (12.6%) had a female householder with no husband present, 18,702 (6.2%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 16,900 (5.6%)unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 2,458 (0.8%)same-sex married couples or partnerships. 59,385 households (19.7%) were made up of individuals, and 18,305 (6.1%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.09. There were 219,509families (72.8% of all households); the average family size was 3.54.
The age distribution of the city was as follows: 234,678 people (24.8%) were under the age of 18, 89,457 people (9.5%) aged 18 to 24, 294,399 people (31.1%) aged 25 to 44, 232,166 people (24.5%) aged 45 to 64, and 95,242 people (10.1%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35.2 years. For every 100 females, there were 101.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.8 males.
There were 314,038 housing units at an average density of 1,745.0 per square mile (673.7/km2), of which 176,216 (58.5%) were owner-occupied, and 125,150 (41.5%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.6%; therental vacancy rate was 4.3%. 553,436 people (58.5% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 379,184 people (40.1%) lived in rental housing units.
On July 31, 2015, Cupertino-basedApple Inc. purchased a 40-acre site in San Jose.[149] The site, which is bare land, will be the site of an office and research campus where it is estimated that up to 16,000 employees will be located. Apple paid $138.2 million for the site.[149] The seller, Connecticut-based Five Mile Capital Partners, paid $40 million for the site in 2010.[150]
San Jose is situated in the most affluent county inCalifornia and one of the most affluent counties in the United States.[151][152][153]
With a median home price of $1,085,000[154] and the highest percentage of million-dollar (or more) homes in the United States,[155] San Jose has the most expensive housing market in the United States and the fifth most expensive housing market in the world.[156][157][158]
Thecost of living in San Jose and the surrounding areas is among the highest in California and the nation, according to 2004 data.[159] Housing costs are the primary reason for the high cost of living, although the costs in all areas tracked by theACCRA Cost of Living Index are above the national average. Households in the city limits have the highestdisposable income of any city in the U.S. with over 500,000 residents.[160][161]
San Jose residents produce more U.S. patents than any other city.[163] On October 15, 2015, theUnited States Patent and Trademark Office opened a satellite office in San Jose to serve Silicon Valley and the Western United States.[164][165] By April 2018,Google was in the process of planning the "biggest tech campus in Silicon Valley" in San Jose.[166] However, in April 2023, it was reported thatGoogle paused on Google West San Jose Campus constructions due to slowing economic conditions and a decreased requirement for physical office space by tech companies,[167] although the tech ecosystem has also recently become more geographically dispersed.[168]
High economic growth during thetech bubble of the late 1990s led to elevated employment, housing prices, and traffic congestion. As the economy slowed in the early 2000s, employment and traffic congestion was somewhat diminished.[169] 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%. San Jose has the highest median income of any U.S. city with over 280,000 people.
On March 14, 2013, San Jose implemented a public wireless connection in its downtown area. Wireless access points have been placed on outdoor light posts throughout the city.[170]
San Jose is served by Greater Bay Area media. Print media outlets in San Jose includeThe Mercury News, the weeklyMetro Silicon Valley,El Observador and theSilicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal. The Bay Area'sNBCO&O,KNTV 11, is licensed to San Jose. In total, broadcasters in the Bay Area include 34 television stations, 25 AM radio stations, and 55 FM radio stations.[171]
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.[citation needed] 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 becoming today'sKCBS in San Francisco in 1949.[172]
TheScottish Rite Temple of San Jose, on St. James Park, built 1924
Because the downtown area is in the flight path to nearbySan Jose Mineta International Airport (also evidenced in the above panoramic), there is a height limit for buildings in the downtown area, which is underneath 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 ft (91 m) but can get taller farther from the airport.[174]
There has been broad criticism over the past few decades of the city's architecture.[175] 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.[176] Exceptions to this include theDowntown Historic District, theHotel De Anza, and theHotel Sainte Claire, both of which are listed in theNational Register of Historic Places for their architectural and historical significance.
Municipal building projects have experimented more with architectural styles than have most private enterprises.[177] 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 newCity Hall, designed by Richard Meier & Partners, opened in 2005 and is a notable addition to the growing collection of municipal building projects.[178]
Celebrations for the 240th anniversary of the founding of San Jose at thePeralta Adobe in 2017
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,[181] and as a result of this commitment, a considerable number of public art projects exist in the downtown area, and a growing collection in neighborhoods including libraries, parks, and fire stations. In particular, the Mineta Airport expansion incorporated art and technology into its development.
Early public art included a statue ofQuetzalcoatl (the plumed serpent) downtown, controversial in its planning because some called it pagan, and controversial in its implementation because many felt that the final statue byRobert Graham did not look like a winged serpent, and was more noted for its expense than its aesthetics. Locals joked that the statue resembles a pile offeces.[182]
A statue ofThomas Fallon also met strong resistance from those who called him largely responsible for the decimation of early native populations.Chicano/Latino activists protested because he had captured San Jose by military force in theMexican–American War (1846). They also protested the perceived "repression" of historic documents detailing Fallon's orders expelling many of the city'sCalifornio (early Spanish/Mexican/Mestizo) residents. In October 1991 protests atColumbus Day andDia de la Raza celebrations stalled than plan, and the statue was stored in a warehouse inOakland for more than a decade. The statue returned in 2002 to a less conspicuous location: Pellier Park, a small triangular patch at the merge of West Julian and West St. James streets.[183]
In 2001, the city-sponsored SharkByte, an exhibit of decoratedsharks based on the mascot of the hockey team, the San Jose Sharks, and modeled after Chicago's display of decorated cows.[184] Large models of sharks decorated in clever, colorful, or creative ways by local artists were displayed for months at dozens of locations around the city. After the exhibition, the sharks were auctioned off for charity.
In 2006,Adobe Systems commissioned an art installation titledSan Jose Semaphore by Ben Rubin,[185] at the top of its headquarters building. Semaphore is composed of four LED discs which "rotate" to transmit a message. The content remained a mystery until it was deciphered in August 2007.[186][187] 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.
Although intended to be permanent monuments to the city's heritage as a mission town founded in 1777, a number of murals have been painted over, notablyMural de la Raza, on the side of a Story Rd shoe store, andMexicatlan at the corner of Sunset and Alum Rock. In addition, two of three murals by Mexican artist Gustavo Bernal Navarro have disappeared.[188] The third mural,La Medicina y la Comunidad at the Gardner clinic on East Virginia Street, depicts both modern and traditional healers.[188]
Surviving Chicano history murals includeNuestra Senora de Guadelupe at Our Lady of Guadalupe church and the 1970s or 1980sVirgen de Guadelupe Huelga Bird at Cal Foods east of downtown. The Guadalajara restaurant has the 1986Guadalajara Market No. 2 by Edward Earl Tarver III and a 2013 work by Jesus Rodriguez and Empire 7,La Gran Culture Resonance.[188]
An unknown artist painted theHuelga Bird and Aztec City mural in the 1970s or 1980s on the Clyde L. Fisher Middle School. In 1995 Antonio Nava Torres paintedThe Aztec Calendar Handball Court at Biebrach Park, and the unknown artist ofChaco's Pachuco painted it on the former Chaco's Restaurant in the 1990s. TheJerry Hernandez mural by Frank Torres at Pop's Mini Mart on King Road dates to 2009, and another recent mural by Carlos Rodriguez on the Sidhu Market at Locust and West Virginia depicts a stern-looking warrior.[188]
The annualCinequest Film Festival in downtown has grown to over 60,000 attendees per year, becoming an important festival for independent films. TheSan Francisco Asian American Film Festival is an annual event, which is hosted in San Francisco,Berkeley, andDowntown San Jose. Approximately 30 to 40 films are screened in San Jose each year at the Camera 12 Downtown Cinemas. TheSan Jose Jazz Festival is another of many events hosted throughout the year.
San Jose has been host to severalU.S. Olympic team trials over the years. In 2004, the San Jose Sports Authority held the trials for judo, taekwondo, trampolining and rhythmic gymnastics at theSan Jose State Event Center. SAP Center hosted the Gymnastic trials in 2012[192] and 2016 (women's only).[193] and theU.S. Figure Skating Championships (used in Olympic years to select the Olympians) in 1996, 2012, and 2018. It was due to host the 2021 Championship, but that was moved toLas Vegas and it will instead host 2023.[194] In 2008, around 90 percent of the members of the United States Olympic team were processed at San Jose State University prior to traveling to the2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.[195] The 2009 Junior Olympics for trampoline were also held here.
In the 2010s, San Jose "aggressively wooed" theOakland Athletics to relocate to San Jose from nearby Oakland, but theSan Francisco Giants exercised a veto against this proposal.[197] In 2013, the city of San Jose suedMajor League Baseball for not allowing the Athletics to relocate to San Jose.[198] On October 5, 2015, theUnited States Supreme Court rejected San Jose's bid on the Athletics, who in 2023 announced they would relocate toLas Vegas.[199]
San Jose is acharter 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.[201] The city has acouncil-manager government with acity manager nominated by the mayor and elected by thecity council.
TheSan Jose City Council is made up of ten council members elected by district, 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.[202] Each council member represents approximately 100,000 constituents.
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.[202]
The city manager is the chief administrative officer of the city, and must present an annualbudget 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 arecall election. Other city officers directly appointed by the council include the City Attorney, City Auditor, City Clerk, and Independent Police Auditor.[202] Like all cities and counties in the state, San Jose has representation in thestate legislature.
Like all California cities except San Francisco, both the levels and the boundaries of what the city government controls are determined by theLocal Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO).[203] The goal of a LAFCO is to try to avoid uncontrolledurban 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 thecounty seat ofSanta Clara County.[204] 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.[205]
Like most large cities, crime levels had fallen significantly after rising in the 1980s.[210] From 2002 to 2006,Morgan Quitno Press named San Jose the safest city in the United States with a population over 500,000 people.[211] Crime in San Jose had been lower than in other large American cities until 2013, when crime rates in San Jose climbed above California and U.S. averages.[212]
In 2020, violent crime per 100,000 people has been the lowest the city has seen in 2017 while the homicide rate has been the highest since 2016; property crime per 100,000 people has been the lowest the city has seen in over ten years.[213]
In June 2021, roughly a month following the shooting, San Jose became the first city in the United States to require gun owners to carry liability insurance after a unanimous vote by the city council.[221]
San Jose is home to several colleges anduniversities. The largest isSan José State University, which was founded by the California legislature in 1862 as the California State Normal School, and is the founding campus of theCalifornia State University (CSU) system. Located in downtown San Jose since 1870, the university enrolls approximately 35,000 students in over 250 different bachelor's, master's and doctoral degree programs.[222]
The school enjoys a good academic reputation, especially in the fields of engineering, business, computer science, art and design, and journalism.[223] San Jose State is one of only three Bay Area schools that fields aFootball Bowl Subdivision (FBS)Division I college football team;Stanford University andU.C. Berkeley are the other two.
California University of Management and Technology (CALMAT) offers many degree programs, including MBA, Computer Science, Information Technology. Most classes are offered both online and in the downtown campus. Many of the students are working professionals in the Silicon Valley.
WestMed College is headquartered in San Jose and offers paramedic training, emergency medical technician training, and licensed vocational nursing programs.
Western Seminary has one of its four campuses in San Jose, which opened on the campus of Calvary Church of Los Gatos in 1985. The campus relocated in 2010 to Santa Clara. Western is an evangelical, Christian graduate school that provides theological training for students who hope to serve in a variety of ministry roles including pastors, marriage and family therapists, educators, missionaries and lay leadership. The San Jose campus offers four master's degrees, and a variety of other graduate-level programs.[224]
National Hispanic University offered associate and bachelor's degrees and teaching credentials to its students, focusing on Hispanic students, until its closing in 2015.[225]
Until the opening ofLincoln High School in 1943, San Jose students only attendedSan Jose High School. San Jose has 127 elementary, 47 middle, and 44 public high schools.
Public education in the city is provided by four high school districts, fourteenelementary districts, and threeunified school districts (which provide both elementary and high schools).[226]
SJUSD declared bankruptcy in 1983; at that time, it was the largest US school district to declare bankruptcy.[227] Observers identified the reasons as a drop of 5,000 students in the preceding years, the difficulties imposed on school finances bySerrano v. Priest in 1968, the reduction of tax monies because of1978 California Proposition 13, and the local teachers' union contract requiring a raise in pay.[228]
TheSan José Public Library system is unique in that theDr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library combines the collections of the city's system with the San Jose State University main library. In 2003, construction 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 sq ft (44,100 m2) of space with a capacity for 2 million volumes.[233]
The city has 23 neighborhood branches including theBiblioteca Latinoamericana ('Latin American Library') which specializes in Spanish language works.[234] TheEast San Jose Carnegie Branch Library, aCarnegie library opened in 1908, is the last Carnegie library in Santa Clara County still operating as a public library and is listed in theNational 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 yet-to-be-named brand new Southeast Branch is also planned, bringing the bond library project to its completion.[235]
The San Jose system (along with the university system) were jointly named as "Library of the Year" byLibrary Journal in 2004.[236]
Like other American cities built mostly after World War II, San Jose is highly automobile-dependent, with 76 percent of residents driving alone to work and 12 percent carpooling in 2017.[237] The city set an ambitious goal to shift motorized trips to walking, bicycling, and public transit in 2009 with the adoption of its Envision San Jose 2040 General Plan. In 2018, the city extended these goals to 2050 with its San Jose Climate Smart plan.[238]
Long-term plans call forBART to be expanded to Santa Clara from theBerryessa/North San José station. Originally, the extension was to be built all at once, but due to the recession, sales tax revenue has dramatically decreased. Because of this, the extension will be built in two phases. Phase 1 extended service to San Jose with the completion of the Milpitas and Berryessa BART stations on June 13, 2020. In addition, San Jose will be a major stop on the futureCalifornia High-Speed Rail route between Los Angeles and San Francisco.[239]Diridon Station (formerly Cahill Depot, 65 Cahill Street) is the meeting point of all regional commuter rail service in the area.[45] It was built in 1935 by theSouthern Pacific Railroad, and was refurbished in 1994.
Several regional transportation projects have been undertaken in recent years to manage congestion on San Jose freeways. This includes expandingState Route 87 to add more lanes near the downtown San Jose area.
Central San Jose has seen a gradual expansion of bike lanes over the past decade, which now comprise a network of car-traffic-separated and buffered bike lanes.San Jose Bike Party is a volunteer-run monthly social cycling event that attracts up to 1,000 participants during summer months to "build community through bicycling". Fewer than one percent of city residents ride bicycles to work[242] as their primary mode of transportation, a statistic unchanged in the past ten years. Typically, between three and five residents are struck and killed by car drivers while bicycling on San Jose streets each year.[243]
San Jose has one of the oldestSister City programs in the nation. In 1957, when the city established a relationship with Okayama, Japan, it was only the third Sister City relationship in the nation, which had begun the prior year. The Office of Economic Development coordinates the San Jose Sister City Program which is part ofSister Cities International. As of 2014[update], there are eightsister cities:[244][245]
^Kettmann, Steve (November 4, 2005)."36 Hours in San Jose, Calif".The New York Times.Archived from the original on March 26, 2022. RetrievedMarch 26, 2022.
^Monro-Fraser, J. P., ed. (August 1881).History of Santa Clara County, California. Alley, Bowen & Company. p. 344.Archived from the original on April 23, 2023. RetrievedSeptember 7, 2021 – via Google Books.On Saturday, December 15, 1849, the first Legislature of the State met in San José.
^"Decision 44-136". Washington, D.C.: United States Board on Geographic Names. December 11, 1943.Archived from the original on August 29, 2021. RetrievedAugust 28, 2021.
^"An Accent Mark". Napa, California:Napa Valley Register. United Press International. August 21, 1974. p. 17.Archived from the original on April 23, 2023. RetrievedAugust 29, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
^"Salute reversed".The Courier-Journal. Louisville, Kentucky. Associated Press. August 30, 1974. p. A6.Archived from the original on April 23, 2023. RetrievedAugust 29, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
^City of San Jose – Memorandum, Use of the Official City Seal and the Bicentennial Logo, April 5, 1979 (on file at the San Jose City Clerk's Office)
^For origin, arrival and displacement based on "linguistic evidence" in 500 CE per Levy, 1978:486, also Bean, 1994:xxi (cites Levy 1978). For Shell Mound dating, F.M. Stanger 1968:4.
^"Pre-History". November 4, 2013. Archived fromthe original on November 22, 2017. RetrievedNovember 23, 2017.
^For events of 1795–1796, Milliken, 1995:129–134 ("Mass Migration in Winter of 1794–95"). For runaways, Milliken, 1995:97 (cites Fages, 1971).
^"Junípero Serra".California History Online. California Historical Society. 2000. Archived fromthe original on August 12, 2004. RetrievedJune 20, 2007.
^Edward F. O'Day (October 1926)."The Founding of San Francisco".San Francisco Water. Spring Valley Water Authority. Archived fromthe original on July 27, 2010. RetrievedFebruary 7, 2013.
^Arbuckle 1986, p. 27: "Therefore, unless posterity can determine the order in which the Governor signed these bills, there will always be a question as to whether San Jose, already preceded by Sacramento, was California's second, third, or fourth incorporated city."
^George R. Stewart,The California Trail: An Epic with Many Heroes (University of Nebraska Press, 1962), p. 28.
^Ken McKowen & Dahlynn McKowen,Best of California's Missions, Mansions, and Museums (Wilderness Press, 2006), pp. 77–99.
^David Crimp; Leda Patmore; C. Michael Hogan; Harry Seidman; Vivian Paparigian (1976). Final Environmental Impact Report, Almaden Quicksilver Park.Santa Clara County Parks and Recreation Department (Report).
^Eastern Region Geography, Information Services (April 29, 2005)."Elevations and Distances". Egsc.usgs.gov.Archived from the original on November 9, 2013. RetrievedOctober 21, 2014.
^"Emma Prusch Farm Park".Parks, Recreation & Neighborhood Services. City of San Jose. Archived fromthe original on March 10, 2005. RetrievedNovember 9, 2013.
^Helm, Leslie (March 25, 1997)."Financial Desk – Netcom to Set Time Limits on Internet Use;".Los Angeles Times. p. D1. Archived fromthe original on November 1, 2011. RetrievedSeptember 7, 2010 – viaProQuest.Charting a new direction for money-losing Internet service providers, San Jose-based Netcom On-Line Communications Services ...
^"San Jose – Accolades". "America's Most Livable Communities" (Partners for Livable Communities, Washington, D.C.). Archived fromthe original on February 26, 2011. RetrievedApril 7, 2008.
^Laws, David (January 7, 2015)."Who named Silicon Valley?".Computer History Museum.Archived from the original on October 16, 2018. RetrievedOctober 16, 2018.
^"Fallon statue unveiled".Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal. September 20, 2002.Archived from the original on March 14, 2005. RetrievedJune 18, 2007.
^abcdeLeonardo Castaneda (December 16, 2018). "San Jose's Disappearing Murals: 'It's Like Wiping Away People's History'".San Jose Mercury-News. Bay Area News Group. p. A1.
^"List of California Charter Cities".The California Planners' Book of Lists. California Governor's Office of Planning and Research. 1999. Archived fromthe original on February 8, 2007. RetrievedJune 9, 2007.
^"Court Info: San Jose". United States District Court for the Northern California District. Archived fromthe original on February 11, 2008. RetrievedFebruary 16, 2008.
Beilharz, Edwin A.; and DeMers Jr., Donald O.;San Jose: California's First City; 1980,ISBN0-932986-13-7
TheCalifornia RoomArchived November 10, 2013, at theWayback Machine, the San Jose Library's collection of research materials on the history of San Jose and Santa Clara Valley.
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