Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I think it is ridiculous to claim that cities such as Seattle and many other major cities are inferior to San Jose. However, it makes no sense to me that a city like Boise would win against San Jose. Yes, San Jose lacks in many categories most notably urbanity and to some extent transportation. Boise is on the level of Fresno, far from San Jose. Boise is much less dense than San Jose, it does not have an international airport with 5 destinations to Europe and Asia, the economy of Boise is not even a twelfth of San Jose, the weather is pitiful (I hate continental climates), and for how small Downtown San Jose is to downtowns for cities San Jose's size, Boise does not come close. One thing that people forget or don't know about San Jose is that it has the largest network of paved bike trails in the nation. There are some hidden gems such as the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum which houses the most Egyptian artifacts of any museum West of the Mississippi. As for natural beauty and nature, I'd say they are both equal in that regard. Last but certainly not least, San Jose's MSA and places nearby have some of the best art and education institutions in the not the country, but the world. San Jose it is.
Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
10,745 posts, read 23,804,636 times
Reputation: 14660
Voted San Jose by virtue of being an hour's drive to either San Francisco or Santa Cruz. San Jose itself is nothing to get excited about, but the location is nice.
Last edited by Champ le monstre du lac; 06-07-2018 at 08:15 PM..
I think it is ridiculous to claim that cities such as Seattle and many other major cities are inferior to San Jose. However, it makes no sense to me that a city like Boise would win against San Jose. Yes, San Jose lacks in many categories most notably urbanity and to some extent transportation. Boise is on the level of Fresno, far from San Jose. Boise is much less dense than San Jose, it does not have an international airport with 5 destinations to Europe and Asia, the economy of Boise is not even a twelfth of San Jose, the weather is pitiful (I hate continental climates), and for how small Downtown San Jose is to downtowns for cities San Jose's size, Boise does not come close. One thing that people forget or don't know about San Jose is that it has the largest network of paved bike trails in the nation. There are some hidden gems such as the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum which houses the most Egyptian artifacts of any museum West of the Mississippi. As for natural beauty and nature, I'd say they are both equal in that regard. Last but certainly not least, San Jose's MSA and places nearby have some of the best art and education institutions in the not the country, but the world. San Jose it is.
San Jose is 70% urban and 30% suburban. Second best transportation system in the country, according to Brooking Inst.
There is absolutely no way San Jose can have the second best transportation in the entire country. New York would be first followed by Chicago then maybe Washington DC or Boston. San Jose does have a functioning light rail system and bus system, however for a city of that size, it has a really low ridership. The best thing that San Jose has in terms of transportation is its bike trails and maybe Caltrain. Not to mention that San Jose has some of the worst traffic problems in the country. I do acknowledge that San Jose is denser than one would think, and is the third or fourth densest msa in the country, the density is fairly uniform, making for mostly semi-dense suburban expanses. Nothing like cities on the East Coast, while overall less dense, have impressive city cores. San Jose is densifying with new apartment complexes as well as mixed used buildings, but for now it has a fairly unexciting urban form. San Jose's downtown is definitely underrated, but I would not call it one of the best in the country. It does have beautiful older buildings and good restaurants though. Like the rest of San Jose, the downtown is a work in progress with new high rises being built and more and more tech companies moving in. Don't get me wrong, I love San Jose, I live there, and I would choose it over Boise or even Pittsburg, but claiming that San Jose is the best city in the country is quite fantastical.
There is absolutely no way San Jose can have the second best transportation in the entire country. New York would be first followed by Chicago then maybe Washington DC or Boston. San Jose does have a functioning light rail system and bus system, however for a city of that size, it has a really low ridership. The best thing that San Jose has in terms of transportation is its bike trails and maybe Caltrain. Not to mention that San Jose has some of the worst traffic problems in the country. I do acknowledge that San Jose is denser than one would think, and is the third or fourth densest msa in the country, the density is fairly uniform, making for mostly semi-dense suburban expanses. Nothing like cities on the East Coast, while overall less dense, have impressive city cores. San Jose is densifying with new apartment complexes as well as mixed used buildings, but for now it has a fairly unexciting urban form. San Jose's downtown is definitely underrated, but I would not call it one of the best in the country. It does have beautiful older buildings and good restaurants though. Like the rest of San Jose, the downtown is a work in progress with new high rises being built and more and more tech companies moving in. Don't get me wrong, I love San Jose, I live there, and I would choose it over Boise or even Pittsburg, but claiming that San Jose is the best city in the country is quite fantastical.
I just feel like Boise has so much potential. It could be the next Denver. San Jose has had a lot of potential during the past few decades but hasn’t done anything special with it and now that potential is sputtering out.
Voted San Jose by virtue of being an hour's drive to either San Francisco or Santa Cruz. San Jose itself is nothing to get excited about, but the location is nice.
San Jose also is less than 90 minutes to the beautiful Monterey Peninsula. It does have some very nice suburban cities nearby, too: Los Gatos, Saratoga, Mountain View, Palo Alto, etc. The region has pro teams in every major league sport while Boise has none. The cost of living is very high, though.
Last edited by chessgeek; 06-08-2018 at 12:20 AM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
