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 As the global model of a city fueled by innovation, creativity and opportunity, San Jose is redefining quality of life—by blending dynamic work and business opportunities with leisure, arts and entertainment that are second to none.
Ambitious, inspiring and future-oriented, San Jose is on its way to becoming the nation’s most sustainable, livable and interconnected city and is living proof that a large city can innovate, change with the times, generate solutions and, with its residents, define its destiny. A national leader in smart growth policy, San Jose’s new long-term plan will make the city even more green, urban, distinct and unified.
A forward-looking public sector leads the nation in civic innovation. Cited for its hallmark clean and green programs, San Jose lives its Green Vision with one of the highest recycling and solar adoption rates in the county. As a matter of fact, San Jose is one of the first big cities in the nation to recycle more waste than goes to landfills.
Over the past 10 years, more than $600 million was invested in parks, libraries, and neighborhoods, with business and civic leaders working together to enhance San Jose's distinctive quality of life.
More than 60% of the region's new housing stock exists in San Jose, offering a variety of quality neighborhoods and housing options, from high-rise urban living, garden suburbs and historic districts to exclusive golf communities. In San Jose’s downtown, the city’s urban core has seen a resurgence where ongoing planning and investment have developed an area to work, live and play, and where ideas and creativity are currency exchanged across all cultures of San Jose’s diverse international citizens.
The City’s diversity is reflected in the distinctive set of sports, arts and entertainment offerings—such as soccer, cycling and new media art—aligned with this growing population.
San Jose residents are consistently ranked as some of the healthiest in the nation. Much of this can be attributed to the myriad of recreational opportunities, including over 181 neighborhood parks, the nation’s largest hiking and bicycle trail network that cover 332 miles, pristine lakes and mountain terrain. The availability of outdoor activities is complemented by the more than 300 days of sunshine each year and an average annual temperature of 70 degrees.
Ranked as one of the safest big cities in U.S. and heralded for developing pioneering public safety strategies, San Jose strives constantly to ensure that visitor and residents alike enjoy a warm community welcome in America’s 10th largest city.
Civic innovation also springs from partnerships with the corporate, education, and philanthropic community. With San Jose State University, the City is launching the first joint municipal-university library in the nation. And the community is the first in the nation to ensure health care for all children. A cultural ground breaker, San Jose elected the nation's first Asian mayor of a large metropolitan city, as well as the first female mayor. |
Lee Wilcox