WTF is San Jose like?

It's the 10th largest city in the country.

Why is it so anonymous?

I've got lots of friends in San Jose.

Topeka with palm trees. Herb Caen wrote that San Jose’s cultural contribution to the world was a freeway sign stating : “San Jose next 10 exits.” I hear that there are finally some tall buildings downtown. Lol

It really is a snooze, OP. It's perfectly pleasant, but it's just a HUGE, nondescript, middle-class feeling suburb at the armpit of San Francisco Bay.

On the plus side, it's very diverse - lots of different Asian cultures, lots of South Asian cultures, Middle Eastern folk, and probably the highest concentration of Latinos in the Bay Area.

Even though it's not at all "ritzy," you won't find any single family homes under $1.5MM. Saratoga and Los Gatos are extremely tony, but relatively friendly, towns in the hills rimming San Jose.

[quote] the hills rimming San Jose.

this sounds kinky!

In San Jose all seems to breathe freedom and peace and to make one forget the world and its sad turmoils.

Its near Apple headquarters, lots of wealthy techies live there. My cousin lives there In a huge house, he not a techie but a trust fund baby this parents live in Los Gatos. It's nice to visit once, I couldn't see myself ever living there.

You can really breathe in San Jose.

They have good Indian food.

I work in San Jose but live in San Francisco. Not only is housing more expensive in San Jose, but its dull and unpleasantly warm most of the year.

I can’t bring myself to live here. It reminds me of the Inland Empire in Southern California, but with more expensive housing.

It's a pleasant place to live, innovative urban planning and "enlightened" and relatively prosperous government and schools make it easy to work, shop, walk, bike. It's environment is clean. But there is little (no?) reason for "tourists" to visit it.

It has a modest "urban sophistication" to its downtown. While San Jose's population is over 1 million, it sits in the middle of many other cities, contiguous with it, often with their own aethetics. There are great neighborhoods with old, interesting houses (Rose Garden, Willow Glen, Almaden), but the more interesting neighborhoods are in other small cities: Los Gatos, Saratoga, Cupertino, Campbell, Santa Clara, Los Altos Hills. Some of those residential neighborhoods are the most attractive in the state, the country.

^^ And as was shared above, it is one of the most ethnically diverse areas in the country. There are some poorer areas (mostly Latino and Vietnamese). but as a whole it is a "minority-majority" community... and South Asian (Hindu, Pakistani, a large Sikh community), Chinese, Taiwanese, Korean, Latin American, Eastern European, Persian, Arab. Black and white "Americans" are in the minority. And all those immigrant groups are industrious and relatively prosperous.

Last, "over the hill" is Santa Cruz with its beaches and forests.

It is really the city that deserves the "There's no 'there' there" label. It is soulless. R11 pretty much nails it.

I'm surprised it's the 10th largest city in the nation. I'm from SF and back in the dinosaur age we'd drive through San Jose to get to my grandparents cabin in the Santa Cruz Mountains. It was mainly dusty fruit orchards back in the day. Slowly developed into suburban town then boomed with the growth of Silicon Valley. There are some very wealthy towns and suburbs in the surrounding hilly areas. The entire place is now way overpriced, thanks to the technology crowd. It also became ethnically diverse and has a big East Indian population who work in tech.

I've visited on rare occasions while attending conferences and like the downtown area. It's small compared to other Bay Area cities but has a couple of nice museums and a European style bakery. I'm a bakery afficionado. It's also home to the incomparable Winchester Mystery House. I've been several times, including a midnight Halloween visit where we captured floating orbs on film in the midnight garden.

Although small, the San Jose Museum of Art has a very nice collection.

[quote]On the plus side, it's very diverse - lots of different Asian cultures, lots of South Asian cultures, Middle Eastern folk, and probably the highest concentration of Latinos in the Bay Area.

So. lots of dry cleaners, 7-11s and landscape businesses.

"They have good Indian food."

Isn't this an oxymoron?

It's a fine place to live. There is no reason for anyone who doesn't live there or have relatives or business there, to visit. "San Jose" the city is in the middle of "the Silicon Valley"... and this thread won't get past 20 posts, appropriately.

Characteristically, zoning is tight - in the downtown of a metro area of more than a million people, no building can be higher than 10 floors. It keeps the skyline, "nice", not too pushy.

R18 gets holiday meals from Arby's.

R17, you are uninformed. The Asian communities in the Bay Area are economically diverse, some are among our wealthiest and most educated citizens. There was an exodus of wealthy Chinese from Hong Kong following the transfer of power from the British to China in 1997 and many Asian immigrants are hard-core ambitious, making CA universities even more competitive.

I worked in a downtown SF bank with a Chinese guy from Hong Kong whose wealthy family emigrated during that time. He spoke perfect English and was hilarious. That was a memorable workplace. We had Chinese, Irish, English, Filipino, White, Jewish, Hispanic, Gay, and Black employees. Most of the ethnic groups were immigrants. Everyone was young and got along great. We had a lot in common, mainly a penchant for fun. Our Filipino supervisor would break out in the song Feelings, as sung by Andy Williams, at random times. He was so easy going and lively.

[quote][R17], you are uninformed.

No, I'm uninterested in your opinion.

R20 Yep, about a decade ago rich Chinese were buying houses in Cupertino (adjacent to San Jose) for cash, and sending their kids to live there and attend the highly rated Cupertino schools. That's an example of how immigration has made Santa Clara County a very productive, successful place to work and live.

In the US, what religious group is the most affluent? Hindu. What national identity is the most educated and affluent among all immigrant groups? Nigerian.

R21, and you will remain uninformed.

R23 And given that this is a San Jose thread, we'll just smile at R21, say thanks for your opinion, and go on to build a better world.

R25 Home, back yards, childcare centers, gyms, hiking and bike trails.... San Jose is good for a gay married couple. Single 20 something? I mean SF is just 30 minutes on the 101 if there's no traffic.

I don'l know her and I don't know the way.

There are some gay bars and a pride parade r25.

San Jose is disgrace. Because of bad NIMBY zoning they built no housing so houses are millions of dollars for a piece of shit. And what are you getting for your money? It's a boring nondescript place, no one would want to be there if their job wasn't in Silicon Valley.

Perfectly fine place if it was a tenth of the cost, but I feel bad for people whose careers are causing them to pay so much to be there.

Doesn’t sound touristy and is definitely not flyoverstan. Sounds like a decent place to see new things and be around less fat people than usual.

[quote]around less fat people than usual.

Oh, dear.

I was born and raised in San Jose

R31 You could make an argument that a hyphen is needed, "less-fat" as an adjective rather than the fussing around people as a count noun.

Given that, the few v less battle is no longer relevant. English is changing... note how "there's" begin almost all sentences that once might have asked for "there are"...

[quote]Given that, the few v less battle is no longer relevant. English is changing... note how "there's" begin almost all sentences that once might have asked for "there are"...

You're that Swiss guy, aren't you?

There'll be a place where you can stay.

R34 I was born in Los Angeles of Anglo and Irish parents.

R35 Yes! We've got a guest room out by the pool... 200 thread count organic cotton sheets, kiva, aromatherapy diffuser (incense is just so bad for the lungs, right?). We can go out to that vegan place on the corner when you get settled.

I'm doing my best to keep housing prices low in Cupertino by making the street look lousy, but the McMansions keep springing up around me.

[quote]—Relatives who founded Harvard, don't even try to impinge my linguistic authority.

Four-dollar words from a two-dollar whore.

I have a friend who's about 45 and he moved there. I'd always ask him if he knew the way to San Jose, and he never got the joke. Too young, I guess.

A Silicon Valley Chinese tech family bought a house across the street from me for their son in the North Bay. The Silicon techies are radiating outwards from San Jose to more affordable places around the Bay Area. East bay mainly, and now the North Bay with many working from home. There is no West Bay, Ha Ha, unless you live on the Farallon Island where no one lives anyway.

I'm not complaining, the youngster is an excellent neighbor. Quiet, house well kept, nice friends, and works nearby in our own burgeoning tech industry.

The best way to slow the rise of housing cost is build. Create more density. Apartments, condos, convert single family homes to multi units.

The Bay area just did not get it's act together. You can't keep people away, you gotta increase the supply.

I believe it’s the largest city in the US that doesn’t fluoridate its water

Great airport, easy access to rental cars.

Here...it's running through everyone's head anyway.

Dunno, ain’t nobody who’s willing to help me find it! :(

I liked the way Holly Johnson made the line “I’ve got lots of friends in San Jose” sound so lewd in the Frankie Goes to Hollywood cover of Do You Know the Way to San Jose?

r44 I posted several times above but I wasn't going to mention the airport. A secret to be kept! It's the easiest airport of any similar size city in the world. Parking, access, rental cars, lack of crowds...

Well, you see, Holly is a man-hussy. That's not what friends are for.

I live on the Alameda downtown. The airport is pretty good. Theft from vehicles is common, so I rarely drive anywhere that’s not work. I haven’t made any friends though, and don’t really like the area socially. The weather is nice, but the poop on the ground detracts from the allure.

Startup culture is too intense for me. I’m burnt out and ready for layoffs, so that I can take my vested bonuses and move to the East Coast, where at least most people OPENLY hate their job. Plus living here really highlights shitty housing policy.

I can understand certain folks loving SJ and Silicon Valley in general, but it’s not for me.

Its downtown is DEAD. I laugh when I see "historic downtown district" being called out on maps. Outside of a block or two, it is a true shithole, despite pouring tens of millions of dollars into it through its now defunct redevelopment agency.

Susan Atkins born and raised

Don't forget the giant dog poo!

r15, we are practically twins. Grandparents did not have a cabin in the SC mountains (but did have one in Mendocino!) but we'd go to Santa Cruz for a weekend every Summer. Cupertino was nothing but cherry orchards. Hwy 17 was and still is terrifying. You were lucky to have been near what even I recognized as high camp at the age of six -- Santa's Village, of course. Ended up in college at UCSC. San Jose and what was becoming Silicon Valley did have quite a few gay bars back in the day. Today the whole region is just strip mall after soul-less strip mall to me, even if you can get an awesome bowl of Pho at many of them.

Part of the reason San Jose is so flat and boring is because they built the friggin' airport *directly behind* downtown. There are strict building height limits so that planes can actually take off and land.

Whose bright idea was that?

[quote]SF is just 30 minutes on the 101 if there's no traffic.

“the 101” … ? Using the definite article with a freeway number is a clear tell that someone is from LA, not the Bay Area.

Oh, and there's ALWAYS traffic.

[quote]R14 there is little (no?) reason for "tourists" to visit it.

The Winchester Mystery House is there (as r15 noted)

I’m from California, and that’s the only thing that comes to mind (well, plus the song) when I think of San Jose.

[quote]R36 I was born in Los Angeles

LA is a great big freeway…

Whoa whoa whoa whoa , etc

I lived there for three years when I first moved to California, about a block away from the mystery house.

San Jose is a boring shithole. The only good thing about it is that it's only 20 miles from Santa Cruz, where you can hang out on the beach and check out the hot guys in the summer, and about 40 miles from San Francisco.

San Jose is definitely a place you pass by on the way to something better.

A double-wide, next to the railroad tracks, will set you back $460,000.00 in San Jose.

And you don't even own the land it sits on. It'll cost you $1000.00+/mo just to rent the lot.

It's like when you put alot of computers nerds in one place and they create a city.

A bore

The Winchester Mystery House is actually a very cool tourist attraction. I visited San Fran years ago and met a friend who lived in San Jose at the time, who took me there.

The rest of San Jose was pretty uninteresting that I recall. I think our next jaunt from the mystery house was to the boardwalk at Santa Cruz, which is also worth a visit.

I enjoyed the Winchester Mystery House. I also like the Santana Row shopping area--nice restaurants, shops, spas in a beautiful outdoor setting.

R65 I though the mystery house was one of the most boring tours I ever took.

"And here's where the crazy lady built stairs that go nowhere."

"Now come into this room where you'll find more stairs that go nowhere."

"Look at these 'easy riser' stairs that the crazy lady had built to make it easier for her to walk up them. They go nowhere."

Zzzzzzz

San Jose isn't a city, it's just a mass of suburban sprawl with oddly generous city limits. But it is almost entirely suburbs and not a city, there's a small downtown but it's barely a speck on the city map, the vast bulk of San Jose is residential neighborhoods and shopping plazas. By all rights it's share of the Bay Area Urban Sprawl should have been 5-10 more individual suburbs, not a huge area of sprawl pretending to be a city.

I lived there for 7 years, and I can't say I feel any nostalgia for the place, not when I had to drive 30-60 minutes to get anywhere of interest within San Jose. And yeah, Santa Cruz and the ocean were close as the crow flies, but Highway 17 is a bad news even if you have a better car than I did back then.

R58 Ha, exactly. Born and raised in LA but have been living in the bay area for 28 years. When I first moved up I was amused that everyone here responded "ooo, you are from LA, our enemy and rival!!" Being from LA, I'd always thought of SF as a nice weekend trip, not an arch rival.

Ok, not "the" 101, how about "Bayshore Freeway" for the old farts.

[quote] Why is it so anonymous?

Because no one knows the way there!

That's fascinating, R67. Thanks for sharing.

"It really is a snooze, OP. It's perfectly pleasant, but it's just a HUGE, nondescript, middle-class feeling suburb at the armpit of San Francisco Bay. "

This. My sister lived there for 10 years - first downtown by SJSU and then in Japantown. It's nice, but just not that exciting. Maybe it's upside is that it IS nondescript and you have the option of going up to SF, Oakland and other places in the Bay Area for cultural, dining, social and other options. Plus, you can get to Monterey and other areas on the coast fairly quickly. My sister lives in Monterey now. Honestly, SJ wasn't terrible in big-city terms. I had a good time going out - there were some cool bars and restaurants. But, it's really lacking given the size. Oddly (or not), when listing biggest metros in the US, SF-Oakland and San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara are separate. Combined I think it would be the sixth largest metro in the US. As is, SF-Oakland is 13th, and SJ area is 36th.

No no, r69, we just take101 to SF, or drive up 880 to Oakland. Numbers, but without the “the”.

I know, though, the supposed SF/LA feud was entirely one-directional. Think it’s disappeared by now.

OMG R56 you just opened a memory flood gate for me. Santa's Village! Do you remember the ice-covered North Pole they had? Santa in a redwood forest. Loved it. As we rounded the curve past Mount Hermon we kids would yell "I see Felton!" There used to be a big tannery in Santa Cruz, huge leather covered pools where they processed leather. So antique, old school, and charming.

Yes, 17 was terrifying (still is, to me). Alternate route: Devil's Slide on Hwy 1, then the dusty town of Davenport. I had nightmares as a child about Devil's Slide. Lots changed after UC Santa Cruz came in and Silicon Valley spilled over to the coast.

Mendocino, being more remote, is still relatively unscathed compared to Santa Cruz. All of us Bay Area-ers really got around back in the day, didn't we? Our main destination was Santa Cruz but we also got up to the Russian River pretty often, and less often Mendocino as teens and young adults. Great memories.

Re the tannery, I meant to say "leather colored" pools, where they dyed the leather in opaque water of various colors.

Great cultural diversity. Despite this it remains pretty soulless culturally. If you enjoy perpetual traffic and intense road networks with housing crammed between them you will love it there. Of course this situation is normal to most.

It exists solely because of Silicon Valley—so it’s hasn’t really developed any character yet.

R79 Silly Bean. It was Garden of Heart's Delight with orchards and mines and early Californio ranchos and then it was the home of Neil Cassidy and the Beats, and one of the most welcoming spots for Mexican immigrants way before Silicon Valley. Craftsman houses in Santa Clara and Los Gatos... a character that has nothing to do with chips and circuits,

Western US cities seem so spread out and clearly built for cars. They need more density and establish a real urban center. The sprawl is hideous and a waste of energy and resources. But NIMBYs won't hear this...

Valley of Heart's Delight, no, r80?

At low tide the South Bay smells like sulfur.

You can really breathe in San Jose.

Milpitas and that area does have a garbage dump and just a horrible overall smell. It’s a shame, because it’s a beautiful area, with much more manageable traffic.

DL fav Farley Granger is from San Jose.

Put 100 down and buy a car. In a week, maybe two they’ll make you a star.

We have this going for us.

There are no tall buildings in San Jose. All are under 300 feet.

I did like the airport. For a major airport, it seemed like you could drive right up to it without the normal "airport approach" leading into most big-city airports with a stretch of lots of lanes, interchanges and traffic before you get to the terminal. My sister knew some back way, and it's like you were driving down a bland suburban street, turned the corner and you were at the terminal.

"Great cultural diversity. "

I'm blond/blue and went to college in San Jose, and used to joke with a black classmate that we were the only two people in our group whose race you could tell at first glance. Everyone else had brown or golden skin, whether they or their ancestors came from the Americas, Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, or some mix of the above.

[quote]It exists solely because of Silicon Valley—so it’s hasn’t really developed any character yet.

Hardly. It was a major city well before anyone ever heard of Silicon Valley.

[quote] they built the friggin' airport *directly behind* downtown. Whose bright idea was that?

Uh......

[quote]“the 101” … ? Using the definite article with a freeway number is a clear tell that someone is from LA, not the Bay Area.

[quote]No no, [R69], we just take101 to SF, or drive up 880 to Oakland. Numbers, but without the “the”.

TRUE old-time Bay Areans take "the Bayshore" and "the Nimitz." We didn't need no stinkin' numbers. (And pre-880, it was all '17.')

Where Miss Warwick left her hymen.

My first job out of college was in San Jose-1974. My 1BR apt. north of downtown was $125/mo. The building was old even then, and it's still there. I can't imagine what it goes for now. The light rail stops right in front (it didn't exist back then) and it's close to the airport (which was nothing back then.)

In keeping with the "if you don't have a reason to go there, why go there?" theme... whether it was airport or just urban planning in general, the limit on the height of buildings downtown is part of the low key, humble nature of the place. Coming back from the Sierras or north, coming over the Sunol pass, looking across the valley to the other mountains where I live... there is no collection of skyscrapers piercing the sky... humble, zen, quiet, Valley of Hearts Delight. No urban ego assertion allowed to pierce the quiet sky.

Not interested? Of course you're not. Don't go.

Do you know the way to San Jose? Tra la la la la.

R95, flapping in the hot California wind, baby.

[Quote] It was Garden of Heart's Delight with orchards and mines and early Californio ranchos

Yes, but Silicon Valley geeks made it a city

I gather that the venerable Water Garden (bathhouse) is closed.

R101 It's still there, though now it's assisted living...

What do the seniors think about the nacreous layer of permacum?

They’ve installed grip bars throughout the facility.

R104 With just a "frisson" of S&M hardware on the grip bars in the bathtub. Ah, memories... nurse... nurse?

r79, at age six, it seemed perfectly logical to me that the North Pole would be "up in the Redwoods" and so that was where Santa lived. Only have a vague memory of artificial snow/ice, but for some reason, I remember giant Toadstool or Mushroom structures at the park. Because of course giant fungi had everything to do with Christmas! Or was that at Fairyland (now "Children's Fairyland") in Oakland? Eldergay brain gets its cheesy amusement park synapses crossed... Off-topic, but once took shrooms with dorm mates and hiked into the Redwoods behind UCSC at night in the foggy drizzle and professed that The Capitalist Myth of Santa Claus originated as someone's hallucination at that very spot.

In the early 70's, San Jose was all about Frontier Village, and then Marriott's Great America when it opened. Traffic and smog were becoming horrible back then.

Took a tour of that leather tannery at the edge of Santa Cruz at some point in my life. I only remember the horrid smell of hair-removal chemicals. Haven't thought of that in 50 years! More memories: my oldest brother once owned one of the two gas stations in Davenport. He became a Surfer For Jesus, lost the business, and ended up working at the cement plant. Whether Hwy 1 (to avoid SJ) or 17, to Santa Cruz, or up to Mendocino, my alcoholic father would drive the family wagon on those winding roads along sheer cliffs packed with screaming, puking kids and the dog as if it were his Porche. Pure terror.

Yeah, getting around Northern California was so much easier and faster back in the day. And yet perhaps at half the current Bay Area population, without regulations, the smog was horrible. And it all seemed to blow down to San Jose in the Summer, making it the ugly armpit of the Bay.

BTW, SJ/South Bay/Silicon Valley brought to the world the birth control pill, transistors, radar, modern aircraft technology, computers/personal computing, the internet, advanced medical and imaging instruments, Pong, and pizza parlors with singing robots. So, that should be remembered as one passes through the area to get to somewhere more interesting and enjoyable.

I remember Santa's Village in the SC mountains too. We always took our family vacations in SC. There was also a Santa's Village in southern Calif. -- in the San Bernardino Mountains.

I was at Great America's opening day -- still have the commemorative Frisbee. And I remember Children's Fairyland at Lake Merritt. I'll bet I still have the plastic "key" that unlocked some of the features. (There was a similar one for the SF or Oakland Zoo, IIRC.) And I remember Frontier Town, as well as SF's Playland-at-the-Beach.

For context: I'm 70; born in San Mateo and grew up in Contra Costa Co.; lived there through 1970, then college, then San Jose 1974-1976, then Sacramento for two years, then no more northern Calif.

Hi r107. If you live out towards the Inland Empire, I think, we communicated a few years ago when I was considering retiring in Palm Springs vs. Sonoma County. And/or a thread on driving route advice from the Coast to PS. You were considering moving back up to NorCal, if that's you. Hope you are doing well!

BTW, we called them "Storybook Keys". Oakland Zoo was then called the "Knowland Park" Zoo.

You know, I think my family went past Santa's Village a bazillion times when I was younger, and never once went in.

Was that because the place was awful, or because my parents were just too cheap to go? Why pay for Santa's Village when beaches were free!

There's very little housing stock that's old or interesting, and what little there is is ridiculously overpriced.

Yeah, the cruddy little houses that were built for blue-collar families are now being sold for over a million, if they're near the tech companies! And that's why I no longer live in San Jose, even though I went to college there.

Tell me, is the downtown really revived? It was scuzzy as hell when I was a kid, and then around 2000 it was semi-gentrified... but still scuzzy around the edges.

That is San Diego R12. San Jose is more a bungalow town.

It's pronounced 'Sanna Zay'.

Is there any place more overrated than Santana Row? I mean it's nice enough when it isn't crowded, but it's really just a couple of blocks of shops surrounded by mile after mile of gray suburbia calling itself a city.

And the big mall across the street offers better shopping.

Find out for yourself knucklehead. Lordy what a stupid post!

R116 It's a couple of steps up from a strip mall. A couple... but it's a strip mall.

The Lick Observatory discovered Jupiter's fifth moon. There's a nice steak house up there on Mt. Hamilton

Miss Warwick should start offering guided tours.

R119, what steakhouse? I lived on the slopes of Mt. Hamilton for five years, but of course I didn't have a steakhouse budget at the time (see the "broke-ass food" thread). But I did go up to the observatory a couple of times, and had a look around, they have a bit of science stuff for tourists. They also said that there were little concerts for the staff in the observatory once a month, and if anyone wanted to come up and enjoy the concert they'd let the public have a look through the mega-telescope when the music finished.

And I also walked through a troop of feral pigs while I was hiking at Joseph Grant park on the way there, one of the stupider things I've done. But Alum Rock Park was the best place to hike in those hills, anyone else love that weird place?

Is it like a suburb built around an old intersection?

[quote] San Fran

Such a faggy way to say San Francisco.

Easy to tell that you were just a visitor.

[quote]San Fran

[quote]Such a faggy way to say San Francisco. Easy to tell that you were just a visitor.

Like people who call Provincetown "P-Town."

r125, that is a false equivalency.

As my Dad used to say, living in LA in the 50s and 60s: Frisco.

I enjoy reading the San Jose Mercury News online. I live in the North Bay but like to know what's happening on the Peninsula where I have family. It's good coverage of the Bay Area.

R129 Mercury News might be the best paper in CA, given the decline of the LA Times over the years.

r129, in other words, the SF Chronicle absolutely SUCKS!

R131, I didn't say that. I grew up on the SF Chronicle, still read it, too, but lately I prefer the Mercury News for regional coverage. It's great!

The Chronicle is a terrible newspaper.

The Mercury News and LA Times are the best papers in CA.

Yeah, #133, the old Chron is much shittier than it used to be. I still read sometimes to peruse the overpriced real estate and view the obituaries. Sometime people from my past turn up.

This is the kind of hard hitting journalism you get in the Chronicle these days.

Aren’t these just big puddles that will evaporate?

I've seen articles saying that San Jose has the richest population in the world. Here's one.

r132, I grew up reading it too. Fond memories of reading "Tales of The City" and Herb Caen's columns starting in the 6th grade. Would read The Examiner in the evening, which is long gone. The Chronicle has sadly gone down hill. I live in SF, so I still read it online for local stories.

"I've seen articles saying that San Jose has the richest population in the world."

Since the world also contains places like Singapore and Dubai, I don't believe it. San Jose has a population of a million, most of them middle class now that the working class has been priced out, and while I'm sure the average income is very high, billionaires aren't exactly thick on the ground. Millionaires yes, an unusually high proportion of those, but since it takes a million dollars to buy a 2-bedroom house on a tiny lot, being a millionaire doesn't get you far in San Jose.

A city full of people who owe a million dollars on their mortgages can't be the richest in the world.