As the home of many of the world’s major information technology companies like Apple, Intel, and Google, the Santa Clara Valley in Northern California has rightfully earned the nickname of “Silicon Valley”. This part of the San Francisco Bay Area is the source of the latest high-tech innovations and of continuing technological development in the United States.
Within Silicon Valley lies the city of San Jose. It is the largest city in the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest in California and the tenth largest in the United States, with just a little less than a million people calling it home. The headquarters of Adobe Systems, eBay, Cisco, and a few other technology companies can be found here, while others such as IBM, Hewlett-Packard, and Lockheed Martin maintain major facilities in the area. This large concentration of technology and electronics companies within the city – plus the fact that it is the largest city in the area – caused San Jose to be dubbed as “The Capital of Silicon Valley”.
Besides being the technology capital of the United States, San Jose is also home to a myriad of other attractions. Visitors may visit the Tech Museum of Innovation to get a hands-on look at the development of technology. San Jose is also home to the Dr. Martin Luther king Jr. Library, which is the largest public library in the United States west of the Mississippi River.
The city is one of the wealthiest areas in California, and this can be seen in the many large houses and sprawling mansions which dot the area. The famous Winchester Mystery House, which contains 160 rooms full of mazes and other odd architecture thanks to the eccentricity of Sarah Winchester, can also be found in San Jose. People who love the outdoors will also enjoy the many hiking trails and parks around the city.