Consistently voted as one of the sunniest, safest, and overall best places to live in the country, San Jose (pop. 930,000) and the surrounding area is rapidly gaining the name recognition enjoyed by its famous West Coast neighbors. Situated at the south end of the San Francisco Bay, San Jose is one of California's oldest cities, and is the eleventh largest in the nation.

Nestled between the forested green slopes of the Diablo and Santa Cruz mountain ranges, San Jose has a year-round average temperature of 70 degrees Fahrenheit, and more than 300 annual days of sunshine. The climate has attracted thousands to visit or relocate to this amenable area. With the explosive growth, art galleries, museums, sports teams, and shopping complexes have all appeared, joining the churches, vineyards, and spectacular scenery that have made their home here for centuries.

Among San Jose's other claims to fame is the major role that "Silicon Valley" plays in the computer and Internet industry. The technological breakthroughs made at Stanford University in Palo Alto helped found one of the most significant industries of the century. Many of the most prominent computing companies, including Hewlett Packard, Intel, Apple, Yahoo, and Sun Microsystems, came out of this area.

San Jose is located about 45 minutes south of San Francisco in west central California.