San Jose from Norcal/ San Jose state art school (Santa Cruz: homes, college)

[lewo]

Hello..
My daughter is interested in san jose state ..given it's Art School and in the Ca. state program..We are ex - east coasters and moved to the foothills a few years ago.. we've only barely passed through San Jose..What it like for a single women as a freshmen?? Whats it like period ...?Thanks

[mstnghu2]

Originally Posted by lewo

Hello..
My daughter is interested in san jose state ..given it's Art School and in the Ca. state program..We are ex - east coasters and moved to the foothills a few years ago.. we've only barely passed through San Jose..What it like for a single women as a freshmen?? Whats it like period ...?Thanks

More specific questions will get you more specific answers.

[jaijai]

Originally Posted by lewo

Hello..
My daughter is interested in san jose state ..given it's Art School and in the Ca. state program..We are ex - east coasters and moved to the foothills a few years ago.. we've only barely passed through San Jose..What it like for a single women as a freshmen?? Whats it like period ...?Thanks

To be blunt, San Jose is ugly and polluted.
Why not UCSC? ... just over the hill (S.C. mountains) in Santa Cruz.
http://art.ucsc.edu/
If i were a college student i'd much prefer going to UCSC unless there's something particularly attractive to her about the school in San Jose.
Santa Cruz county is a much more hospitable place, it's easy to get around (great public transportation), there are many young people, the ocean is there, it's beautiful, the air is clean, the people are generally friendly and open and she can live on campus or in any town in the county that suits her.
There's also, historically, a strong art culture in S.C. county.
Just my unsolicited two cents.

[mstnghu2]

Originally Posted by jaijai

To be blunt, San Jose is ugly and polluted.
Why not UCSC? ... just over the hill (S.C. mountains) in Santa Cruz.
Art Department | UC Santa Cruz
If i were a college student i'd much prefer going to UCSC unless there's something particularly attractive to her about the school in San Jose.
Santa Cruz county is a much more hospitable place, it's easy to get around (great public transportation), there are many young people, the ocean is there, it's beautiful, the air is clean, the people are generally friendly and open and she can live on campus or in any town in the county that suits her.
There's also, historically, a strong art culture in S.C. county.
Just my unsolicited two cents.

I completely disagree with this. San Jose, overall, is actually a mostly attractive city. I'm not sure how I'd know that...oh yeah, I lived in the South Bay for over 29 years.

You should search through my posts on my profile and find my thread on San Jose images in Google street view showing the many attractive parts of SJ.

As far as Santa Cruz goes, I think you're talking it up a bit too much. You forgot to mention the extensive history of protests/violence/vandalism throughout the UCSC campus and against some of the school leaders' homes. You're forgetting to mention about the destruction caused downtown recently by anarchist groups. You forgot to mention about the growing gang problem in SC county. You also forgot to mention that there are limited shopping options and many people have to commute back over the hill to ugly San Jose to for any decent shopping. You also forgot to mention that most jobs are in San Jose and many people have to commute over the hill for that. You also forgot to mention that many Santa Cruz residents are hostile to outsiders. You also forgot to mention that there's a washed-up/down and out/junky/former hippy sort of vibe that permeates the city and you can find countless homeless people and tweakers if you spend any real time walking around the center of town.

[jaijai]

Originally Posted by mstnghu2

I completely disagree with this. San Jose, overall, is actually a mostly attractive city. I'm not sure how I'd know that...oh yeah, I lived in the South Bay for over 29 years.

You should search through my posts on my profile and find my thread on San Jose images in Google street view showing the many attractive parts of SJ.

As far as Santa Cruz goes, I think you're talking it up a bit too much. You forgot to mention the extensive history of protests/violence/vandalism throughout the UCSC campus and against some of the school leaders' homes. You're forgetting to mention about the destruction caused downtown recently by anarchist groups. You forgot to mention about the growing gang problem in SC county. You also forgot to mention that there are limited shopping options and many people have to commute back over the hill to ugly San Jose to for any decent shopping. You also forgot to mention that most jobs are in San Jose and many people have to commute over the hill for that. You also forgot to mention that many Santa Cruz residents are hostile to outsiders. You also forgot to mention that there's a washed-up/down and out/junky/former hippy sort of vibe that permeates the city and you can find countless homeless people and tweakers if you spend any real time walking around the center of town.

Different strokes for different folks.
You have attitude about Santa Cruz and i have attitude about San Jose.
I also always make a point to recommend Santa Cruz county.
Your description of a facet of Santa Cruz does not in any way apply to the entire county.

[mstnghu2]

Originally Posted by jaijai

Different strokes for different folks.
You have attitude about Santa Cruz and i have attitude about San Jose.
I also always make a point to recommend Santa Cruz county.
Your description of a facet of Santa Cruz does not in any way apply to the entire county.

...and your description of San Jose does not apply to the entire city. It's one thing to have a personal preference about a place. It's a whole other thing to ignorantly throw out a blanket statement like "San Jose is ugly and polluted". I'm not sure what kind of warm fuzzy response you were expecting by saying that.

[jaijai]

Originally Posted by mstnghu2

...and your description of San Jose does not apply to the entire city. It's one thing to have a personal preference about a place. It's a whole other thing to ignorantly throw out a blanket statement like "San Jose is ugly and polluted". I'm not sure what kind of warm fuzzy response you were expecting by saying that.

I didn't expect a warm fuzzy response ... i didn't expect any response.
I just offered my opinion.
San Jose does not appeal to my aesthetic sensibility.
And the air quality is relatively poor.

[sonarrat]

I went to SJSU as a music major, and my little brother is there now as a drama major. There's a common theme to our experiences - wonderful teachers, lots of opportunities, but a generally subpar student body.

[lewo]

I have purposely been non specific, we took the tour at santa cruz and loved it. So again thanks for the info.

[jaijai]

Originally Posted by lewo

I have purposely been non specific, we took the tour at santa cruz and loved it. So again thanks for the info.

Very good. It's a fun place to be ... a little funky for some but, like i said, if i were a young college student, i'd love to go to school in Santa Cruz.
And don't forget, if she does go to UCSC and wants to live off-campus, she doesn't have to limit herself to Santa CRuz proper.
The public transportation system is excellent and living in other towns in the county (like Capitola, Aptos, or Soquel) might suit her better depending on her living preferences.