Get to know San Jose

Settled as a farming community in 1777, San Jose was the first secular, civilian "pueblo" in the state, a midpoint on the El Camino Real between Spanish military strongholds at the presidios of San Francisco and Monterey. By the 1850s, San Jose boasted California’s first secular vineyard, the Old Almaden Winery, and the bustling New Almaden quicksilver mines — the country’s most prosperous. For generations, San Jose remained the agricultural hub of the Santa Clara Valley, transitioning to technology-driven endeavors in the mid-20th century. First-rate museums wonderfully and interactively capture the city’s timeline, including The Tech Museum of Innovation and History San Jose. The latter features dozens of relocated structures assembled into a vintage streetscape, complete with trolley rides.

San Pedro Square is a popular pregame before hitting SAP Center — “the tank,” to locals — for a Sharks game or A-list concerts. But virtually all the blocks in and around the downtown “transit mall,” where the light rail tracks split between First and Second Streets between St. James Park to San José State, teem with bars and eateries of all kinds. Outside the downtown proper, many of San José's established locales boast destination Main Streets, like The Alameda in the Rose Garden or Willow Glen’s Lincoln Avenue. Along Stevens Creek Boulevard, you’ll find Valley Fair and Santana Row, which bring together just about every fashion brand and upscale chain restaurant there is. Box stores line West San Carlos Street, Blossom Hill Road in the Almaden Valley, and other avenues and boulevards.