From Ohio, visiting San Jose for a week-need tips! (move)

[otterprods]

There are many things to do within driving distance of 1 hour or less from San Jose. The downtown area itself, while relatively pretty and well-mainitaind for a city center, doesn't have that much to do. It has the tech museum, the children's museum (if you have kids), some good restaurants, and is fun to walk around for a while, But other than that, it's pretty dull compared to SF. So, one may wonder why so many people live in SJ if it's such a boring place. Basically it goes like this:

San Jose (and surrounding areas) is best for:
1. Working an interesting job for good pay (usually tech)
2. Finding a place to park
3. Getting out of town quickly via freeway to enjoy the other beautiful areas

San Francisco is best for:
1. Looking/feeling cool/hip
2. Doing tourist stuff (kind of hard to do #1 and #2 at the same time though)
3. Taking photos
(oh and they also have the best ballpark in all of sports)

So, as you can see, SF is a lot more fun and cool to hang out in, which is why it's often a two-hour wait in traffic to get IN to downtown on a Friday night. But which one would you rather base your life around and which one would you rather just visit?

[bobby_guz_man]

Originally Posted by otterprods

(oh and they also have the best ballpark in all of sports)

PNC Park in Pittsburg is still the best, in my opinion. And pretty much all folks in baseball except for Va-Ginats fans will agree with that

But soon, if things fall the way it should be, and the Va-Ginats stop cockblocking my city, then we will also get our own pretty damn nice ballpark. Won't come with the view of the bay, but it will be even more intimate than PNC and best baseball weather to boot.

I'm looking forward to shorts and tshirts at Cisco Field all season long except for November and December where I'll wear a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved tshirt. We won't need to wear stupid panda hats to warm our heads like Va-Ginats fans

Originally Posted by otterprods

So, as you can see, SF is a lot more fun and cool to hang out in, which is why it's often a two-hour wait in traffic to get IN to downtown on a Friday night. But which one would you rather base your life around and which one would you rather just visit?

Exactly. That's why there are a million of us who chose San Jose as our home. It's pretty simple, SJ is to live/work and SF is for visit/play.

And to be honest, after the age of 26 (after the party years), I go to SF maybe once a year. For the last 3 years I have only gone up there once to do my travel visa.

Everything I needed, including fun/arts/music/sports I can now find here in San Jose/South Bay. Is it as abundant or as "quality" as SF's? No. And probably never. But that's fine, because I'm a normal guy and not a "foodie" or "wine afficionado" or "enjoy life to the max" type of person. I'm fine with what I got

Plus, I'm an Asian-American guy, so there are other interesting things that San Jose offers me that SF does not. And I'm not going to get into those "things" And no, it's not just better Vietnamese food we're talking about

[otterprods]

Originally Posted by bobby_guz_man

Va-Ginats fans

:rolls eyes" (but also LOL'd a little)
Let's not open a sports rivalry here. You can think Pittsburgh is #1 if you want (snicker, snicker). And yes a SJ-Cisco field will be great if/when it ever happens. The Giants need to let that go. The SJG's are no more significant to the baseball-fan market than the Bees. They're just being greedy and forcing a lot of people to drive way too far just to see a game. They should show more confidence in the loyalty of their fan base, but of course that confidence would be unfounded.

It's pretty simple, SJ is to live/work and SF is for visit/play.

And to be honest, after the age of 26 (after the party years), I go to SF maybe once a year. For the last 3 years I have only gone up there once to do my travel visa.

Everything I needed, including fun/arts/music/sports I can now find here in San Jose/South Bay. Is it as abundant or as "quality" as SF's? No. And probably never. But that's fine, because I'm a normal guy and not a "foodie" or "wine afficionado" or "enjoy life to the max" type of person. I'm fine with what I got :

I had to commute up daily one summer for work (from Sunnyvale) and hated it. But then I'd go for a jog at lunch or walk over to AT&T and catch a ballgame after work, and think, 'what a cool place', and then pass some ridiculous-looking hipster dufus on his way to class at Academy of Art College and think, 'oh, brother...' but then see the boats out on the bay and think 'nice...' and then pass a warm pile of human poo on the street and think, 'I'm over it' and then take the irritatingly long train ride home because I missed the bullet. ... and eventually be really happy to be back in my little mobile home on an anonymous street.

[blue bird]

Bobby guz man, Bobby guz man and Otterprods, Dt SF is dull, too. It's overrated and very, very dirty, and I was disappointed with this city's downtown. I can't speak volume on San Jose's since I've never been there, but SF is meh. If you guys want a stellar downtown and city, go to Philadelphia if you can. It's off the hook! West coast doesn't have a city like that.

[bobby_guz_man]

Originally Posted by blue bird

Bobby guz man, Bobby guz man and Otterprods, Dt SF is dull, too. It's overrated and very, very dirty, and I was disappointed with this city's downtown. I can't speak volume on San Jose's since I've never been there, but SF is meh. If you guys want a stellar downtown and city, go to Philadelphia if you can. It's off the hook! West coast doesn't have a city like that.

blue bird. SF is more than just the downtown area. SF itself, the entire city, is a FREAKIN DOWNTOWN. I've been to Philadelphia's downtown and I thought it was very nice and spacious, very walkable (I actually walked most of the darn thing), and at the same time doesn't have that extreme density that SF has. You can still drive cars there in a sane manner.

But SF and SJ are different animals than Philadelphia. You won't find another city like Philadelphia in the West Coast because people here are different than people in the East Coast, simple as that

To be honest, after visiting Paris, every other city seems like a dump But you can't go through life measuring dlcks, just gotta be happy with what you are blessed with and make the most of it.

[bobby_guz_man]

Originally Posted by otterprods

:rolls eyes" (but also LOL'd a little)
Let's not open a sports rivalry here. You can think Pittsburgh is #1 if you want (snicker, snicker). And yes a SJ-Cisco field will be great if/when it ever happens. The Giants need to let that go. The SJG's are no more significant to the baseball-fan market than the Bees. They're just being greedy and forcing a lot of people to drive way too far just to see a game. They should show more confidence in the loyalty of their fan base, but of course that confidence would be unfounded.

I'm not the only one thinking PNC Park is #1 Granted, ATT is pretty much Top 3 in most surveys, but PNC almost always win the #1 battle.

And you are a cool Giants fan, which we do have a lot down here in San Jose and South Bay. That is appreciated.

Bottom line, there are A LOT of wealth here, not just in San Jose/South Bay, but also in the Peninsula, and in SF. There are more than enough wealth in SF and SJ to support two great baseball teams.

Anyhow, back to topic before we all get banned for being overly helpful

[spicydreamt]

Originally Posted by bobby_guz_man

To be honest, after visiting Paris, every other city seems like a dump

What?! Paris IS a dump. Grey buildings leaking soot, dirty streets esp. at midnight, and most of all dangerous. Intensely class-stratified - everybody preys on each other while affecting to ignore everybody else. San Francisco is 100 times safer and more beautiful. Remove the romance-tinted shades and spend the night walking through its street - once you remove the pretty dresses and the careful make-up, Paris is a big pile of ugly. I'd take any other French city over it - with my preference going to pretty Toulouse. Sorry for being way off topic...
(next time you're there, take a midnight RER from CDG to Gare du Nord, then take a stroll via Barbes to Montmartre. It's just a few blocks but you'll never see Paris the same way)

[bobby_guz_man]

Originally Posted by spicydreamt

What?! Paris IS a dump. Grey buildings leaking soot, dirty streets esp. at midnight, and most of all dangerous. Intensely class-stratified - everybody preys on each other while affecting to ignore everybody else. San Francisco is 100 times safer and more beautiful. Remove the romance-tinted shades and spend the night walking through its street - once you remove the pretty dresses and the careful make-up, Paris is a big pile of ugly. I'd take any other French city over it - with my preference going to pretty Toulouse. Sorry for being way off topic...
(next time you're there, take a midnight RER from CDG to Gare du Nord, then take a stroll via Barbes to Montmartre. It's just a few blocks but you'll never see Paris the same way)

That's like telling me to go to the ****ty part of SF and walk the streets of the worst part of SF at night. Of course there's a good chance that I'm going to get my ass punked. If you go out LOOKING for trouble, it's not going to be hard to find...anywhere.

If I go out looking for trouble in Oakland, I'll find it. If I go out looking for trouble in San Jose, I'll find it.

But for the accessible parts, the touristy parts, I'd say it's incredibly beautiful and makes every other city looks like a dump.

But telling San Francisco lovers that Paris makes their city looks like a dump is going to provoke a strong reaction, no doubt. NYC folks just shrug and say "who gives a ****". SF folks are just all up in arms. Calm down SF homer, you're in the SJ forum.

On a side note: though I think Paris is incredibly beautiful, I would elect to live in the South of France instead. Those hilltowns are so nice to see. I rented a car and drove around the Avignon area for several days and fell in love with the region. I really need to go back...

[spicydreamt]

Originally Posted by bobby_guz_man

That's like telling me to go to the ****ty part of SF and walk the streets of the worst part of SF at night. Of course there's a good chance that I'm going to get my ass punked. If you go out LOOKING for trouble, it's not going to be hard to find...anywhere.

If I go out looking for trouble in Oakland, I'll find it. If I go out looking for trouble in San Jose, I'll find it.

But for the accessible parts, the touristy parts, I'd say it's incredibly beautiful and makes every other city looks like a dump.

But telling San Francisco lovers that Paris makes their city looks like a dump is going to provoke a strong reaction, no doubt. NYC folks just shrug and say "who gives a ****". SF folks are just all up in arms. Calm down SF homer, you're in the SJ forum.

On a side note: though I think Paris is incredibly beautiful, I would elect to live in the South of France instead. Those hilltowns are so nice to see. I rented a car and drove around the Avignon area for several days and fell in love with the region. I really need to go back...

No, I beg to differ. I've lived & studied in Paris for several years, and lived & worked in SF for several years, so I can confidently say that the cherry picker is you - touristy areas only make for a few streets and bridges in Paris. I'll agree some areas are man-made beautiful (but so is Rome) - if you don't cherry-pick however and give an inclusive assessment, Paris IS a dump.
Agree with your assessment of the country's South

[bobby_guz_man]

Originally Posted by spicydreamt

No, I beg to differ. I've lived & studied in Paris for several years, and lived & worked in SF for several years, so I can confidently say that the cherry picker is you - touristy areas only make for a few streets and bridges in Paris. I'll agree some areas are man-made beautiful (but so is Rome) - if you don't cherry-pick however and give an inclusive assessment, Paris IS a dump.
Agree with your assessment of the country's South

ENOUGH. Paris is a dump. SF is God's gift to Mankind. We got it. Jesus fvckin Christ...