Living in San Jose
Brainy, worldly, and down-to-earth, San Jose combines big city living with small town culture down in the South Bay.
At first glance, the low skyline, sprawled neighborhoods and unassuming shopping centers of San Jose make it feel like a quintessential 90’s suburb. But just wait until you discover that its seemingly retro buildings house funky local shops, tea rooms, gastropubs and craft beer-slinging cafes. The city bustles with thousands of students attending San Jose State University. Small creative hubs take up residence in the historic buildings of SoFA (the nickname for South of First Area, the spot centered on three blocks of first street), where you can find everything from music and art spaces to cocktail lounges to cool geeky spots like TechShop (part coworking space, part high-tech shop class). In downtown, you can see the glossy halls of a new Google campus rising, while throw-back theme parks and old Cali vibes make up the scene just a couple miles east. This is no boring suburb. This is the third largest city in California, the biggest city in the Bay Area, and a place with its own brilliantly diverse history and culture. San Jose has successfully grown from a rural area of orchards and vineyards into the “Capital of Silicon Valley.”
landmarks
There are some seriously amazing landmarks to check out in San Jose and surrounding area, such as the Intel Museum (where kids can build their own microchips), the Tech Museum of Innovation (housing diverse displays like robot assembly stations and video walls), the Children’s Discovery Museum and the Computer History Museum.
The most famous spot can be a bit of a tourist trap, but is totally worth the visit: The Winchester Mystery House. With a construction period that lasted from 1886 to 1922, this esoteric mansion is full of oddities, like doors and stairs that lead to nowhere, secret alleys, rooms within rooms, windows into other rooms, M.C Escher-style staircases, masonic symbolism, and spaces that will make you feel like you’re in the Looking Glass.
Nearby is the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum and Temple, home to Egyptian relics collected by San Jose’s early secret society. The grounds include a labyrinth, gardens, reflecting pool, statues and recreated tomb. Across town you will find a melting pot of religious landmarks, including the Sikh Gurdwara, Cathedral Basilica of St. Joseph, the Japantown Buddhist Temple, and the Center for Spiritual Enlightenment.
Other important landmarks include the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library, the Municipal Rose Garden, the Historic Orchard, the Lick Observatory, and the icon Olympics Black Power Statue.
activities
Eat
San Jose isn’t shy about is its killer food scene. From tiny cafes and hole-in-the-walls to food trucks to modern eateries, San Jose is booming with culinary creatives. Check out the gastropubs in downtown, and the multifaceted collection of cooking at San Pedro Square Market. For international eats, try the Jamaican jerk at Back-A-Yard, the cuban tortas at Bakery Mexico, the pork at A Bit of Havana, and basically any restaurant in Little Italy, Little Portugal, Vietnam Town or historic Japantown. Standard fare for most also means some of the best mexican food you can find, anywhere from sit-down restaurants to tiny hole-in-the-wall spots. A local favorite is La Victoria’s, which has a few locations in the Bay Area including one right near San Jose State in an old house (pro tip: get the orange sauce!).
Party
San Jose knows how to throw a good party when festival time comes around. International culture, art and cuisine are celebrated at Chacho’s Taco Festival, Cinco de Mayo, Mar Yosip Parish Assyrian Food Festival, Polska Fest, Fiestas Patrias, Italian Family Festa, Little Italy Street Festival, Tet Festival, SJ Taco Festival of Innovation, Lunar New Year, and the Obon Festival. Art, music and local craft are spotlighted at the Luna Park Chalk Art Festival, the Almaden Valley Art & Wine Festival, the Lil’ Easy Backyard Party, the SoFA Street Fair, and San Jose Jazz Fest (there’s one in the winter and one in the summer). Freaks and geeks make magic happen at Creative Convergence, and San Jose’s FanimeCon is the biggest anime convention in Northern California. There are also numerous festivals for film, families, pets, cars, craft beer and gourmet food, providing plenty of opportunities to connect with your local community.
Be a kid
San Jose is a magical place to be a kid (or a really cool grownup). There’s the Children’s Discovery Museum, The Tech Museum of Innovation, Frontier Village, Raging Waters waterpark, and the Happy Hollow Park & Zoo. You can play life-size chess at Santana Row, or play on the biggest Monopoly board in the world at the Guadalupe River Park. In the winter you ice skate on a rink surrounded by palm trees at Downtown Ice, and in the summertime the fountains are turned on for all the kids and the young-at-heart to jump around and play on the splash pads.
Get outdoors
With its inland location, San Jose sees a lot more sunshine than its Bay Area neighbors. So it’s not surprising that most residents have a great relationship with the great outdoors. There over 50 miles of scenic trails, parks and green spaces around town, and thousands of acres of rugged mountains, nature preserves, and redwood forests just beyond the city limits.
transportation
While public transit and cycling are popular among San Jose commuters, a car is recommended for anyone living outside of the city center. Traffic can get pretty bad around rush hour, but is otherwise not bad.
Public transportation includes a mix of commuter trains, light rail and bus routes. The CalTrain has 125 stops in the area, with bullet trains to San Francisco. VTA buses run all over Silicon Valley, and BART is making its San Jose Debut, connecting even more commuter routes.
sports
San Jose is Shark country, where California’s hottest hockey team draws big crowds at the SAP Center (aka “The Shark Tank”). This city has also made a name for itself in the soccer world, with the championship-winning San Jose Earthquakes. During football season, you’ll see a lot of 49ers and Raiders jerseys, supporting the nearby San Francisco (now in Santa Clara) and Oakland teams, as well as collegiate football fans supporting their San Jose State Spartans. And, when it comes to baseball, this big tech city has a lot of love for their minor-league San Jose Giants, and the MLB San Francisco Giants nearby in San Francisco.
weather
San Jose is situated in a valley surrounded by mountains, shielding it from much of the foggy, rainy weather of the San Francisco Bay. If you’re someone who dreams of living in the Silicon Valley but also yearns for clear skies and hot summer days, then San Jose hits the sweet spot climate-wise. Summer temperatures usually top out in the 80’s, while winter typically stay in the 40 - 60 degree range. There are an average of 300 sunny days per year, with an annual rainfall just under 16 inches, a third of the amount of other Bay Area cities.
company headquarters
San Jose is a tech industry epicenter, and home to some 7,000 tech companies and counting. This is where Intel was born, and where modern tech giants like Oracle, Cisco, Paypal, Ebay, and Adobe have headquarters and corporate offices. The smaller cities that are part of San Jose’s urban sprawl are also home to companies like Apple, Netflix, Google, and so many more of the household names in tech. It’s not all tech, though. Gordon Biersch brewery is based here.
Rent Trends for Apartments in San Jose
| Bedroom count | San Jose | vs Last Month |
|---|---|---|
| Studio | $2,399 |  up 0.50% |
| 1 Bedroom | $2,700 | up 1.89% |
| 2 Bedroom | $3,407 | up 1.58% |
| 3 Bedroom | $4,000 | up 0.13% |
| 4 Bedroom | $4,500 | No change |
Neighborhoods in San Jose
Downtown
Japantown
Midtown
Rose Garden
Willow Glen
West San Jose
South San Jose
East San Jose
Renting an Apartment in San Jose
Types of housing
The housing market in San Jose has a lot of variety. There are house-shares and studio apartments for less than $1,000 per month. Unique rental homes, duplexes, bungalows and townhomes can be found from downtown to the farthest city limits. And modern luxury apartments are springing up all across town.
The basics
While San Jose has a wide range of rentals, the basics are all the same: you will need first and last month’s rent, a security deposit, and application docs (credit report, rental history, references, etc.). The rental market is stretched pretty thin, and getting accepted is just as hard as scoring a job in this town, so do yourself a favor and apply to multiple apartments to improve your chances of finding a place to live.
Parking
If you’re moving to town with your own wheels, then go ahead and budget a little extra cash for parking. Street parking is metered in downtown, parking garages will run you up to $30 per day, and some rentals charge an extra parking fee as well.
Pets
Pet friendly apartments in San Jose are easy to find, as long as your pet is a smaller breed. For larger dogs, renters should look for rental homes and duplexes with more lax pet policies.
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