Is the city of Santa Clara a suburb of San Jose? (San Francisco: real estate, condo)

[roadwarrior101]

Both cities are suburbs of San Francisco

[gone down south]

Originally Posted by Jericho79

A bit off-topic:

Many people refer to Southern California as "SoCal".

Is it common among Bay Area residents (and Californians in general) to refer to Northern California as "NoCal"?

"NorCal", actually.

[TheGreatCurve]

Originally Posted by roadwarrior101

Both cities are suburbs of San Francisco

But how can the suburb be bigger than the city, such as the case with SJ and SF? Shouldn't San Francisco be a suburb of San Jose since San Jose is bigger?

[TheGreatCurve]

Originally Posted by gone down south

"NorCal", actually.

Correct, but I think more people still refer to the area as "The Bay Area" than as "NorCal".

[Jericho79]

Hey everyone. OP here.

I just want your opinion on this.

As I mentioned earlier, I had my first taste of the Bay Area when I saw U2 at the Oakland Coliseum.

Let's just say that in 2014 or 2015, U2 puts on a big concert at the brand-new 49ers stadium in Santa Clara.

Should Bono address the crowd in attendance with "Thank you, San Jose!"?

Or should Bono address the crowd in attendance with "Thank you, Santa Clara!"?

Personally, I don't think "Thank you, Santa Clara" would work because (really) no one outside of the Bay Area has ever heard of Santa Clara, CA.

[Jericho79]

I must confess. Originally, I figured that Santa Clara is a suburb of San Jose. I mean, San Jose is one the Bay Area's big three- SF, SJ, and Oakland.

I'd imagine people commute from Santa Clara to San Jose for work. Santa Clara doesn't seem to stand on its own without economic influence from SJ.


Just think Arlington, TX. It has no skyline and no businesses. People commute from Arlington to Dallas or Fort Worth. Arlington's only claim to fame is Cowboys Stadium.

Contrast that with Fort Worth itself. It has a notable skyline, and is the headquarters for AT&T, American Airlines, among others. It has no ties at all with Dallas in terms of money or culture.

[the city]

San Jose (Silicon Valley) is one major metro area
San Francisco (Bay Area) is another major metro area
Sacramento Area is another major metro area
Los Angeles, San Diego, and Fresno are other major metro areas

Bakersfield, Modesto, and Stockton are not because they are more along the lines of tier 3 or mid-sized cities.

Major metro areas to me in my honest opinion have at least 500,000 population and 2-3 suburbs surrounding the central city.

[roadwarrior101]

Originally Posted by the city

San Jose (Silicon Valley) is one major metro area
San Francisco (Bay Area) is another major metro area

Despite what you read in the statistics, the Silicon Valley and the cities are not two separate metro areas. There are tons of people that commute between the regions (in both directions) via car, BART and Caltrain. The area does not have any urban breaks, where there is open space separating the region. The entire Bay Area shares a common media market.

[mstnghu2]

Originally Posted by the city

San Jose (Silicon Valley) is one major metro area
San Francisco (Bay Area) is another major metro area
Sacramento Area is another major metro area
Los Angeles, San Diego, and Fresno are other major metro areas

Bakersfield, Modesto, and Stockton are not because they are more along the lines of tier 3 or mid-sized cities.

Major metro areas to me in my honest opinion have at least 500,000 population and 2-3 suburbs surrounding the central city.

Originally Posted by Jericho79

Hey everyone. OP here.



I just want your opinion on this.

As I mentioned earlier, I had my first taste of the Bay Area when I saw U2 at the Oakland Coliseum.

Let's just say that in 2014 or 2015, U2 puts on a big concert at the brand-new 49ers stadium in Santa Clara.

Should Bono address the crowd in attendance with "Thank you, San Jose!"?

Or should Bono address the crowd in attendance with "Thank you, Santa Clara!"?

Personally, I don't think "Thank you, Santa Clara" would work because (really) no one outside of the Bay Area has ever heard of Santa Clara, CA.

Interesting question...I've been to lots of concerts around the Bay Area and one of my biggest peeves is when the artist says "Hey there San Francisco! How are you all doing tonight?!" This has happened at the Greek theatre in Berkeley (not San Francisco), Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View (also not San Francisco), and at Sleeptrain Pavilion in Concord (also not San Francisco). I think it shows that people who aren't from here really have no clue that the Bay Area is a whole lot more than just San Francisco. The artist should just say "Bay Area". On a side note, every artist at all the concerts I've been to at HP Pavilion in San Jose always say "San Jose".

I also don't necessarily agree that nobody outside of the Bay Area knows where Santa Clara is. It's one of the main cities in Silicon Valley, is home to one of CA's missions and has the same name as the important CA county in which it's located. Try telling people you're from Monte Sereno or Milpitas...that will get you blank stares.

In response to the city, despite what the U.S. census bureau thinks, most people consider the entire Bay Area to be one metro region. It's one region made up of nine different counties and is interconnected in multiple ways. Anybody who thinks they are different regions probably doesn't have any real knowledge about the Bay Area. Also, FYI, San Jose/Silicon Valley is part of the Bay Area, contrary to the previous quote.

[TheGreatCurve]

Originally Posted by Jericho79

I must confess. Originally, I figured that Santa Clara is a suburb of San Jose. I mean, San Jose is one the Bay Area's big three- SF, SJ, and Oakland.

I'd imagine people commute from Santa Clara to San Jose for work. Santa Clara doesn't seem to stand on its own without economic influence from SJ.


Just think Arlington, TX. It has no skyline and no businesses. People commute from Arlington to Dallas or Fort Worth. Arlington's only claim to fame is Cowboys Stadium.

Contrast that with Fort Worth itself. It has a notable skyline, and is the headquarters for AT&T, American Airlines, among others. It has no ties at all with Dallas in terms of money or culture.

But lots of people also commute from San Jose to Santa Clara because there are lots of companies and jobs in Santa Clara, such as Intel, Applied Materials, Sun Microsystems/Oracle, Nvidia, etc. Santa Clara is not just a residential bedroom community. It has lots of industry and industrial parks and many, many high tech companies.