San Jose, California
 

What kind of a night life is there in San Jose, California? I'm interested in relocating there and I'm still young. Is it a fun place to live? Are there other nice cities, in Northern or Southern California, with a high quality of life (low crime, etc.) and where you can have a lot of fun?

"Fun" isn't a word that leaps to mind when I think of San Jose and environs.<BR>Fun as compared to Omaha, Baton Rouge or Bakersfield -- probably; as compared with San Francisco, Chicago or Montreal -- most likely not.

It depends on what you mean by night life. There are places where people go to meet and let off steam, usually microbreweries and classy bars. Palo Alto and Los Gatos have many such places in a small area so they tend to be happening on the weekends. But it's certainly not New York or San Francisco! However, San Francisco is only and hour, hour and a half drive, and many people go up there on Friday or Saturday nights from San Jose (not me, though, I'm too old!) The demographic in San Jose is quite young, so there are a lot of young professionals.

Leslie, San Jose is a great place to live but doesn't have the very best nightlife. Where are you moving from? In San Jose the cost of living is comparatively high and housing is tight and the job market is scarce ... BUT that is all because it is a great place to live, great weather, centrally located to many beautiful locales: Tahoe, the beach, SF, Monterey, Yosemite. Fun? Depends on what your idea is of fun. Where are you coming from?

Since you are thinking about Southern California - have you considered Los Angeles? The cost of living is much better here (I have family and was born in San Jose) as is the night life. LA is a great place to be single and have fun.<BR><BR>San Diego might also be an idea.<BR><BR>I guess it depends on what you do for a living and your interests.

Leslie,<BR><BR>Being that San Jose is the largest city in Northern California, there is plenty in terms of nightlife, restaurants, museums, performing arts, parks etc. (www.sanjose.org) Of course, being that it is a major business center and a high technology hub, it is an expensive place to live. It is all relative compared to your salary, of course. In terms of nightlife, the best place would be downtown in the SoFa (South First Area) District where there are numerous clubs, restaurants, and during the day you can stroll varous area art galleries. There are also plenty of great restaurants of all types, as well as museums all in walking distance. The nearby Compaq Center (San Jose Arena) always has some game or concert event planned. In the Spring and Summer Downtown has numerous planned events such as opera in the park and the San Jose America Festival during the 4th of July. There are also unique neighborhoods in the city such as Willow Glen( quaint Lincoln Avenue with sidewalk cafes and shops) or the Rosegarden (home to the Municipal Rosegarden and the Rosucrucian Egytian Museum). Of course, the proximity of San Jose to the Monterey Bay Area, Lake Tahoe, and Yosemite also make it a desirable place to live, along with having a Mediterranean climate (300 sunny days per year). The rainy season usually starts in November and goes until about April. If you prefer living in the suburbs, the town of Los Gatos and the city of Palo Alto would also be great places to look into.

Oh God. Our relentless San Jose cheerleader is posting his epistles about the glories of living/visiting in that cesspool yet again...complete with web site links. He and his aliases are the ONLY ones touting the region, probably because the chamber of commerce is paying him to do so. Everyone else in the world realizes what a hell hole the place is and avoids it like the plague.

If you go to San Jose in the summertime, remember to take an oxygen mask and a lot of eye drops so you can tolerate the air pollution.

Leslie,<BR><BR>I lived in San Jose while going to graduate school during my mid twenties (only a couple of years ago). I moved up to San Francisco for work after that, and now i'm living in Palo Alto and working in San Jose. <BR><BR>I wouldn't worry about finding nightlife near San Jose. I used to go out at night in Los Gatos, Palo Alto, and downtown San Jose where there were plenty of young people. There are quite a few different restaurants, bars, concert venues and clubs where people your age congregate at night. During the weekends, there are lots of things to do and places to see to keep you interested. It's definitely not anything like Omaha or Bakersfield like a previous poster seems to think, but it's not like living in a city either. <BR><BR>This is a really convenient place to live with a lot to offer: i've always been able to find a gym less than 10 minutes from home or work, find a variety of unique restaurants that serve up international cuisine, find a movie theater showing independent films, see a play, take a windsurfing or ballroom dance class, etc, etc, etc. You can always find something new to do as long as you look for stuff that interests you. Plus, i've found that the area attracts a lot of intelligent, fun and well-rounded people, although the male-female ratio here is a bit skewed to the benefit of the women because of the technology industry. My suggestion would be to come up for a visit and bring a friend with you just to see how you like it. If and when you do, i'm sure if you post a question asking for some nightlife suggestions, people will be happy to accomodate you.

Leslie,<BR><BR>I would just ignore the naysayers. Given the fact that close to 1 million people live in San Jose, the city obviously must be a desirable place. <BR><BR><BR>

Guess California has over 1 million dumb people with lung problems then?<BR>Over 7 million people live in LA so that means it's a great place to live also?<BR>Almost as smoggy as LA. Can't see the hills from spring until fall.

Yeah, most of the residents are Third World Hispanic and Asian immigrants, so anything looks good to them after living in Vietnam or Mexico. The place is outrageously priced and the quality of life is very low. Then again, if you enjoy Third World conditions, by all means, move there.

xxx,<BR>To say that residents of San Jose are Third World suggests that you are not a very educated individual. San Jose's population is actually very highly educated given the fact that most people come here to be in the center of Silicon Valley. That is not exactly an attrubute of a Third World place. San Jose is expensive, but what desirable place to live is not? It would not be expensive if people did not want to live there. New York City is expensive but I would not say that it is Third World or that it has a low quality of life. <BR><BR>noSJ, I have lived in the San Jose area many years and have no trouble seeing the mountains on the outskirts of the city. I also do not have any lung problems nor do I know of anybody who has as a result of air quality. Of course, I cannot speak for LA.

I've live in/near SJ forever, I'm in my late 20s, and I wouldn't say that there's a great nightlife there. Most of us head up to SF (~1hr away) or Palo Alto for the nightlife.<BR><BR>In the last couple of years, SJ has tried to revitalize it's downtown area, but hasn't had much luck. There are some GREAT restaurants in SJ, but they closed all the clubs. There are a couple of great bars/restaurants where people (mostly young professionals) hang out. There are also some great shows (musicals/plays, etc) & sports events, but SJ is not a major urban center.<BR><BR>One of the best things about SJ is the location. Our weather is better than SF (slightly warmer than Palo Alto, too), and it's not too far away from all the fun stuff - SF, the beach, skiing, wine country, etc.<BR><BR>If you're serious about relocating here, look into the cost of living. I love it here, but it's EXPENSIVE to live here (at least in terms of housing).

Some of the responses on this thread are just ridiculous. Clearly, if you don't like San Jose, don't live there! Why so much anger?<BR><BR>And Dave, while giving factual information, does sound a bit like the Visitors Bureau spokesperson. Everything he says is true, but I don't think that Leslie was asking about art galleries! I remember well being in my early 20's, and if I can put thoughts into Leslie's mind I think she's asking will she be able to go out and have fun at night or will she be stuck bored out of her mind. And Leslie, I like Anna's answer the best. Clearly she knows the scene.

Monica,<BR>I agree with you in terms of these negative posters. It's obvious that they have nothing meaningful to say. Just to clarify, I do not work for the San Jose Visitor's Bureau. I was just trying to give Leslie some of the pertinent facts about the city<BR><BR>Leslie,<BR><BR>For an unbiased opinion, take a look at Money Magazine's most recent survey of the most desirable metropolitan areas to live.<BR>http://www.carychamber.com/money1.html<BR><BR>Actually, San Jose was by far the highest ranking major urban center in California.<BR><BR>

"Unbiased"???? Surely you jest. I can tell you that I worked in the human resources department of a major corporation, and there were two places in which no manager wanted to live or work: Los Angeles and San Jose. We had to offer "urban combat" pay, and even so, no one budged, even if it meant they were sacrificing future promotions. The quality of life and cost of living were two factors that no HR team in the world could overcome.

San Jose is the armpit of California! Avoid it at all cost! I can't understand why anyone would live there.

Well, I leave this board for a few weeks and David (my partner at the San Jose Visitor's Bureau) shows up touting the virtues and glories of San Jose. Fact: San Jose is an endless suburb, with 1 million people living in it's vacinity. It is neither "fun" nor "attractive". It *does* have many jobs and many streets and cars. Oh and an Airport (sanjoseairport.com). But it's not known for it's nightlife.<BR><BR>In the San Francisco Bay Area, there is only one "City", of course, and that is San Francisco. Everyone in the Bay Area flocks to The City for their night life. Search this board for San Francisco and you will get 100's of ideas on what it has to offer for nightlife.<BR><BR>My suggestion: Come to the bay area, you may have a hard time finding a place to live that you can afford, but just remember that if you want to have fun, you will always end up in The City by the bay!

Vacinity? What's that?