Visit California - San Jose

Northern California’s Largest City
With a population of 925,000, San José is the third largest city in California and the West Coast, and the 11th largest city in the nation. San José is larger than San Francisco, Boston, Washington, D.C., Seattle, Miami, Denver and New Orleans. San José is also the Safest Big City in America for three consecutive years according to FBI crime statistics.

Location and Climate
Located between the Diablo and Santa Cruz mountain ranges, San José encompasses 170-square miles at the southern tip of San Francisco Bay. It is about 45 minutes south of San Francisco and 70 minutes northeast of Monterey. With nearly 300 days of sunshine, San José registers an average 70-degrees in July and 50-degrees in January. "California casual" is appropriate for daytime and most evening outings. A sweater or light jacket is suggested for evenings, with coats advisable for November through March.

History and Historic Sites
San José was founded in 1777, and is the oldest civil settlement in California. It was also the state’s first capital (before California became an official state), with the first legislature convening in a two-story adobe in December 1849. Primarily an agricultural-focused city in the early to mid-20th century, San José is now known as the Capital of Silicon Valley for the area’s many high technology companies.

Symbols of the city’s long history can still be found in the complex known as History Park, which includes the preserved and restored Peralta Adobe, built in 1797; the Fallon House, built in 1855; a historic working trolley and 25-acres of turn-of-the-century landmark buildings located at Kelley Park.

Getting to and Around San José
The Norman Y. Mineta San José International Airport (SJC) is located only three miles from downtown San José and is a completely self-supporting enterprise, owned and operated by the City of San José. SJC is served by more than a dozen major and regional airlines. The airport averages 388 commercial and 335 general aviation departures and landings daily.

American Airlines is the major long-haul carrier, with direct flights to Tokyo, Paris, Taipei, New York, Honolulu, Austin, Boston and Washington, D.C., in addition to several daily flights to its hubs in Dallas and Chicago. Southwest Airlines and Reno Air offer the most regional flights. For more information about the Norman Y. Mineta San José International Airport, visit http://www.sjc.org/

Easily accessible by ground, the Bay Area’s four major freeways – Interstate Highways 280, 680, and 880 and State Highway 101 – converge in San José. A modern “light rail” transit system operated by the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) (www.vta.org) ranges from South San José’s residential and shopping areas to Paramount’s Great America theme park in Santa Clara, and up to the City of Mountain View to the north. A network of buses links San José with other Santa Clara County destinations, and charming historic trolleys share a portion of the light rail line, circling downtown hotels, restaurants, nightlife, attractions and shopping.

Caltrain, the Bay Area’s modern railroad, is also available for visitors interested in touring the entire Bay Area. Caltrain has 76 weekday trains that pass through San José’s Diridon Station, and serves over 30,000 passengers daily.

Accommodations
San José is home to more than 8,400 guest rooms with accommodations ranging from four-star hotels to bed-and-breakfast inns. There are 2,200 guest rooms within walking distance of the San José McEnery Convention Center. San José’s full-service convention hotels include: The Fairmont San Jose, Clarion Hotel San Jose Airport, Fairfield Inn and Suites by Marriott San José Airport, Crowne Plaza of San José, Hotel De Anza, Hyatt San José and Hyatt Sainte Claire, Radisson Plaza Hotel, Doubletree Hotel, Wyndham Hotel, Hilton San Jose & Towers and the San Jose Marriott. The Hilton San Jose & Towers and the San Jose Marriott are directly connected to the San José McEnery Convention Center, to provide a seamless, world-class meeting venue.

Convention and Cultural Facilities
Considered the cornerstone of downtown San José’s revitalization, the San José McEnery Convention Center opened its doors in April 1989, and is a shining example of beauty and function. Offering 425,000 square-feet of flexible function space, the Convention Center welcomes delegates with a dramatic 125-foot mural of Royal Copenhagen tile, ablaze in color. Inside, sun streams through soaring glass walls, accenting archways and patterned terrazzo floors. Other highlights include a 22,000 square-foot ballroom and 143,000 square-feet of contiguous, column-free exhibit space.

Directly connected to the convention center are the Hilton San Jose & Towers and the San Jose Marriott, which collectively give meeting delegates “One Connection” to a truly incredible meeting solution under one roof. These three world-class venue offer 70,000 square-feet of meeting space, 143,000 square-feet of exhibit space, 1,000 parking spaces, 700 guest rooms, one high-speed Internet connection and one point of contact (one proposal, contract process and convention resume).

Directly across the street from the San José McEnery Convention Center is the versatile Civic Auditorium Complex, featuring the 3,060-seat Civic Auditorium and the 30,000 square-foot Parkside Exhibit Hall.

The Montgomery Theater and the San José Center for the Performing Arts (designed by Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation), located kitty-corner to the Convention Center, offer the finest in theater, musical and cultural entertainment throughout the year, and also can be used for stage presentations and special events.

Also located downtown is the HP Pavilion, home to the San José Sharks and major entertainment headliners. The HP Pavilion is also available as a meeting venue for groups with general sessions of 10,000 people or more.

Attractions and Things to Do
Varied points of interest and activities for San José visitors range from the mysterious to the intriguing to old-fashioned family fun. For example, the Tech Museum of Innovation, a 132,000 square-foot facility includes an IMAX Dome Theater, four themed galleries with nearly 200 hands-on exhibits; the Children’s Discovery Museum features more than 150 hands-on exhibits and is the largest facility of its kind on the West Coast; the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum includes 3,000 year-old mummies and houses the largest collection of Egyptian artifacts on the West Coast; the Winchester Mystery House is a beautiful and bizarre 160-room mansion once owned by Winchester Rifle heiress, Sarah Winchester; Paramount’s Great America, Raging Waters and Bonfante Gardens theme parks offer thrill rides and other entertainment for the young and young-at-heart.

Visitors can also explore the city’s eclectic arts and entertainment district such as SoFA (South First Area), as well as its quaint neighborhood districts including San Pedro Square, Willow Glen, Japantown and the Rose Garden, or sample spirits at one of the area’s 50 wineries or its microbrewery restaurants.

Sports fans have many choices as well – Sharks (hockey), Giants (minor leagues baseball), Earthquakes (men’s soccer), CyberRays (women’s soccer), SaberCats (arena football) or San Jose State University (men’s and women’s college sports). Sporting events are held at the state-of-the-art HP Pavilion, San José State University’s Event Center and Spartan Stadium, as well as the San Jose Municipal Stadium.

Cultural and Performing Arts
Works by local, national and international artists are on display at the more than 30 galleries and museums within San José. The San Jose Museum of Art features changing exhibition of 20th century American art. San José is also home to world-class performing art companies, including the San Jose Repertory Theatre (which opened in November 1997), Opera San Jose (founded by 20-year Met star Irene Dalis), San Jose Symphony Orchestra (with renowned director Leonid Grin), American Musical Theatre of San Jose (the highest subscribed musical theater in the nation), Ballet San Jose of Silicon Valley, and Children’s Musical Theater of San Jose.

Visitors interested in knowing what festivals, events, cultural arts and performances are taking place in San José should visit www.Artsopolis.com, the Valley’s ultimate guide to arts and culture.

Parks and Gardens
Although known as a major urban center, San José has some 3,000 acres of parkland, including 125 parks and gardens, such as: Emma Prusch Farm Park, an 86-acre farm park that represents San José’s rich agricultural past; Alum Rock Park, San José’s first and largest park with 700-acres of natural and rugged beauty; Lake Cunningham Park, an open space and 50-acre lake perfect for fishing, jogging, walking and family barbequing; downtown’s Plaza de Cesar Chavez, once the site of the 1797 town center and location for several festivals such as the city’s annual Music in the Park; San Jose Municipal Rose Garden, with more than 150 varieties of roses; Overfelt Gardens is home to the Chinese Cultural Garden, which offers visitors a natural wildlife sanctuary amid a peaceful pond setting; and Kelley Park, which includes the Japanese Friendship Garden (modeled after Korakuen, a park in San José’s sister city of Okayama, Japan), and the Happy Hollow Park and Zoo. A spectacular work in progress is the Guadalupe River Park, which will offer visitors and residents three miles of lush gardens and natural riverbank beauty when completed in the near future.

Shopping
Whether you are a “shopaholic” or a window browser, San José offers a number of shopping possibilities. Charming boutiques and specialty stores are found throughout downtown and outlying neighborhoods. Several major malls such as Westfield’s Oakridge and Valley Fair Malls have top retail stores, while bargains can be found at nearby factory outlets such as the Great Mall of the Bay Area or an offbeat, 200-acre flea market with 2,000 booths, the largest open air market in the U.S. Santana Row, San José’s newest shopping center located only minutes from downtown, combines upscale shops and restaurants with urban living.