San Jose, officially the City of San José, is the largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2022 population of 971,233, it is the most populous city in both the Bay Area and the San Jose–San Francisco–Oakland Combined Statistical Area—which in 2022 had a population of 7.5 million and 9.0 million respectively—the third-most populous city in California after Los Angeles and San Diego, and the 13th-most populous in the United States. Located in the center of the Santa Clara Valley on the southern shore of San Francisco Bay, San Jose covers an area of 179.97 sq mi (466.1 km2). San Jose is the county seat of Santa Clara County and the main component of the San Jose–Sunnyvale–Santa Clara Metropolitan Statistical Area, with an estimated population of around two million residents in 2018.
Northern California is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, spanning the northernmost 48 of the state's 58 counties. Its main population centers include the San Francisco Bay Area, the Greater Sacramento area, the Redding, California, area south of the Cascade Range, and the Metropolitan Fresno area. Northern California also contains redwood forests, along with most of the Sierra Nevada, including Yosemite Valley and part of Lake Tahoe, Mount Shasta, and most of the Central Valley, one of the world's most productive agricultural regions. Northern California is also home to Silicon Valley, the global headquarters for some of the most powerful tech and Internet-related companies in the world, including Meta, Apple, Google, and Nvidia.
The Santa Clara Valley is a geologic trough in Northern California that extends 90 miles (140 km) south–southeast from San Francisco to Hollister. The longitudinal valley is bordered on the west by the Santa Cruz Mountains and on the east by the Diablo Range; the two coastal ranges meet south of Hollister. The San Francisco Bay borders the valley to the north, and fills much of the northern third of the valley. The valley floor is an alluvial plain that formed in the graben between the San Andreas Fault to the west and the Hayward and Calaveras faults to the east. Within the valley and surrounding the bay on three sides are the urban communities of San Mateo County, Santa Clara County, and Alameda County, while the narrow southern reaches of the valley extend into rural San Benito County to Hollister. In practical terms, the central portion of the Santa Clara Valley is often considered by itself, contained entirely within Santa Clara County.
Alviso is a district of San Jose, California, located in North San Jose on the southern shores of San Francisco Bay. Originally an independent town, founded in 1852, today Alviso is San Jose's only waterfront district, primarily residential in nature, with several Silicon Valley tech companies and recreation-oriented businesses. Alviso is named after 19th-century Californio ranchero Ignacio Alviso, who owned the area as part of his Rancho Rincón de Los Esteros.
Santa Teresa is a neighborhood of San Jose, California, United States, located in South San Jose. Founded in 1834, Santa Teresa was originally established as Rancho Santa Teresa by the Bernal family, a prominent Californio clan. Today, Santa Teresa is largely a residential area, but also home to numerous Silicon Valley tech campuses.
Berryessa is a district of San Jose, California, located in North San Jose. The district is named after the Berryessa family, a prominent Californio family of the Bay Area which historically owned most of the area.
Rancho Milpitas was a 4,458-acre (18.04 km2) Mexican land grant in Santa Clara County, California. The name comes from the Nahuatl "milpan", a term meaning "in the field". Therefore, Milpitas could be translated as "little fields". The grant included what is now the city of Milpitas.
José María de Jesus Alviso was a Californio ranchero, soldier, and politician. He served as Alcalde of San José (mayor) in 1836 and was the rancho grantee for Rancho Milpitas. Alviso is considered the founder of the city of Milpitas.
Rancho Rincón de los Esteros was a 6,353-acre (25.71 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day Santa Clara County, California.
Juan Ignacio Alviso (1772–1848) was a Californio ranchero and soldier. He is the namesake of Alviso, a neighborhood of the city of San Jose, California.
Milpitas is a city in Santa Clara County, California, in Silicon Valley. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 80,273. The city's origins lie in Rancho Milpitas, granted to Californio ranchero José María Alviso in 1835. Milpitas incorporated in 1954 and has become home to numerous high tech companies, as part of Silicon Valley.
The Berreyesa family is a prominent Californio family of Northern California. Members of the family held extensive rancho grants across the Bay Area during 18th and 19th centuries. Numerous places are named after the family, including the Berryessa district of San Jose and Lake Berryessa in Napa County.
Santa Clara County, officially the County of Santa Clara, is the sixth-most populous county in the U.S. state of California, with a population of 1,936,259 as of the 2020 census. Santa Clara County and neighboring San Benito County form the San Jose–Sunnyvale–Santa Clara metropolitan statistical area, which is part of the larger San Jose–San Francisco–Oakland combined statistical area. Santa Clara is the most populous county in the San Francisco Bay Area and in Northern California.
Rancho Pala was a 4,454-acre (18.02 km2) Mexican land grant in present day Santa Clara County, California given in 1835 by Governor José Castro to José Joaquín Higuera. The origin of the name is the subject of debate. The word "pala" translates as "shovel" in Spanish, but means "water", in many native American dialects. The grant was a narrow strip of land east of San Jose, and extending southward along the foothills from Penitencia Creek to Norwood Avenue.
The Silicon Valley BART extension is an ongoing effort to expand the Green and Orange Line service by Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) into Santa Clara County via the East Bay from its former terminus at the Fremont station in Alameda County. Planned since at least 1981, the project has seven stations in three sequential phases.
North San Jose is the northern region of the city of San Jose, California. North San Jose is made up of numerous neighborhoods grouped into three districts: Alviso, Berryessa, and Rincon / Golden Triangle. North San Jose is bordered by the San Francisco Bay and Milpitas to the north, the Diablo Range to the east, Santa Clara and Sunnyvale to the west, and bound in the south by the Bayshore Freeway (US-101), Nimitz Freeway (CA-880), and Mabury Road.
The American city of San Jose, California has various cycling routes on roads and trails used by both commuters and recreational riders. The city has plans to expand the current 285 miles (459 km) of bike lanes to 400 miles (640 km), and the current 60 miles (97 km) of trails to 100 miles (160 km). San Jose was ranked as a bronze-level bicycle-friendly community by the League of American Bicyclists.
Rincon South is a neighborhood of San Jose, California, located in North San Jose. Rincon South is a major employment hub for Silicon Valley businesses, and is home to numerous high tech companies.
Calero, also known as Calero Lake and occasionally as South Almaden Valley, is a rural neighborhood in the Almaden Valley district of San Jose, California. Located in South San Jose, Calero is notably home to Calero County Park, which surrounds Calero Lake.
