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San Jose
The capital of Silicon Valley, in the Santa Clara Valley
San Jose lies at the southern end of San Francisco Bay, in the broad, flat Santa Clara Valley framed by the Santa Cruz Mountains and the Diablo Range. Founded in 1777 as the first civil town in Spanish California, it was long an agricultural center — the valley was famous for its orchards, the "Valley of Heart's Delight" — before the electronics industry transformed it into the heart of Silicon Valley.
The mild Mediterranean climate and flat, buildable valley floor that once grew fruit now hold the sprawling suburbs and tech campuses of the world's leading technology region. The third-largest city in California, San Jose sits at the bay's southern tip, with the Coast Ranges rising on either side of the valley. It anchors the southern end of the booming Bay Area.