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Old 04-09-2012, 04:52 PM
 
12 posts, read 25,160 times
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I think this is an interesting question.

The short answer is yes, Santa Clara is technically a suburb of San Jose because it's smaller, borders the larger city, and is in the same county.

However, in my opinion there are a lot of historical details that can add nuance to this discussion. Santa Clara is home to the only Spanish mission in the county, and is the original Spanish settlement in the area. Shortly after it was founded in early 1777, a pueblo was then founded in San Jose. Eventually a road was built to connect the two settlements called The Alameda which still exists today and connects downtown Santa Clara with downtown San Jose. If you're into early California history these Wikipedia articles make for some interesting reading:

The Alameda (San Jose) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mission Santa Clara de Asís - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
History of San Jose, California - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

San Jose incorporated as a city in 1850, then Santa Clara two years later. The population of the two cities remained relatively small because much of the county was agricultural. It wasn't till the 1940's and 50's when the area started to rapidly urbanize.

In 1950, San Jose's population was under 100,000, which is only a tenth of what it is now. What happened is that the city hired a city manager who went crazy in annexing county land to boost San Jose's population and image. Smaller towns that surrounded San Jose got swallowed up. Because of San Jose's aggressive growth other towns like Campbell and Milpitas voted to incorporate to protect their identities. Some more fascinating reading:

A. P. Hamann - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Basically the way I see it is that Santa Clara and San Jose "grew up" together, and it wasn't until the middle of the 20th century when San Jose started to get big. I lived in Santa Clara for a couple of years and the impression I got from long-time residents is that they didn't consider the city as a suburb. For the brief time I lived there I was impressed by how well the city was run. It has a long history and a unique identity.

As I've come to learn the city fathers made some really smart decisions that have paid off big time. The biggest of these is the creation of their own electric utility called Silicon Valley Power. Besides providing cheaper rates for residents, it also attracts businesses. Because of this data centers are a really hot item now in the city. Santa Clara also has a convention/entertainment district, anchored by a theme park, convention center, and hotels. The new 49ers stadium will be across the street from the convention center. And, as already mentioned, the city has a very favorable jobs/population ratio.

About the only negative thing I can say about Santa Clara is the downtown is pretty weak. It's dominated by the university and not very attractive. I'm down there fairly often and I see potential but I'm not sure if there are any long-range plans to improve it.
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Old 04-11-2012, 12:43 PM
 
30,896 posts, read 36,965,098 times
Reputation: 34526
Quote:
Originally Posted by usedmedia View Post
I think this is an interesting question.

The short answer is yes, Santa Clara is technically a suburb of San Jose because it's smaller, borders the larger city, and is in the same county.

However, in my opinion there are a lot of historical details that can add nuance to this discussion. Santa Clara is home to the only Spanish mission in the county, and is the original Spanish settlement in the area. Shortly after it was founded in early 1777, a pueblo was then founded in San Jose. Eventually a road was built to connect the two settlements called The Alameda which still exists today and connects downtown Santa Clara with downtown San Jose. If you're into early California history these Wikipedia articles make for some interesting reading:

The Alameda (San Jose) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mission Santa Clara de Asís - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
History of San Jose, California - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

San Jose incorporated as a city in 1850, then Santa Clara two years later. The population of the two cities remained relatively small because much of the county was agricultural. It wasn't till the 1940's and 50's when the area started to rapidly urbanize.

In 1950, San Jose's population was under 100,000, which is only a tenth of what it is now. What happened is that the city hired a city manager who went crazy in annexing county land to boost San Jose's population and image. Smaller towns that surrounded San Jose got swallowed up. Because of San Jose's aggressive growth other towns like Campbell and Milpitas voted to incorporate to protect their identities. Some more fascinating reading:

A. P. Hamann - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Basically the way I see it is that Santa Clara and San Jose "grew up" together, and it wasn't until the middle of the 20th century when San Jose started to get big. I lived in Santa Clara for a couple of years and the impression I got from long-time residents is that they didn't consider the city as a suburb. For the brief time I lived there I was impressed by how well the city was run. It has a long history and a unique identity.

As I've come to learn the city fathers made some really smart decisions that have paid off big time. The biggest of these is the creation of their own electric utility called Silicon Valley Power. Besides providing cheaper rates for residents, it also attracts businesses. Because of this data centers are a really hot item now in the city. Santa Clara also has a convention/entertainment district, anchored by a theme park, convention center, and hotels. The new 49ers stadium will be across the street from the convention center. And, as already mentioned, the city has a very favorable jobs/population ratio.

About the only negative thing I can say about Santa Clara is the downtown is pretty weak. It's dominated by the university and not very attractive. I'm down there fairly often and I see potential but I'm not sure if there are any long-range plans to improve it.
Thank you for this post. I also agree that Santa Clara is much better run than neighboring San Jose.
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Old 04-11-2012, 03:16 PM
 
Location: yeah
5,717 posts, read 16,352,002 times
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Originally Posted by mysticaltyger View Post
Thank you for this post. I also agree that Santa Clara is much better run than neighboring San Jose.
Heh, only before the 49ers came along....
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Old 04-11-2012, 03:59 PM
 
Location: Boca Raton, FL
711 posts, read 1,856,708 times
Reputation: 351
Quote:
Originally Posted by usedmedia View Post
The biggest of these is the creation of their own electric utility called Silicon Valley Power. Besides providing cheaper rates for residents, it also attracts businesses. Because of this data centers are a really hot item now in the city.
AB32 is going to seriously spike electricity costs in California. Big companies like Apple are already moving their data center operations out of state, when AB32 is fully implemented expect the exodus to accelerate.
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