True to its location in the heart of Silicon Valley, San Jose is home to the headquarters of many "tech" companies such as Cisco Systems, eBay, and Adobe Systems, just to name a few.
There are many different neighborhoods in the large geographic area of San Jose to the point where you wouldn't know you are in the same city depending on where you are. Like most Bay Area towns and cities, San Jose is an expensive place to live (many basic houses easily top $1M in price). Some of the hip areas to live these days are in San Jose's downtown area, for those who prefer urban living, or Santana Row for a mixed living, shopping and dining areas. You can find vintage California charm in the neighborhoods of Willow Glen and Rose Garden. The woodsy area of Almaden Valley is known for its excellent schools, while Silver Creek is known for its subdivisions of sprawling "McMansions."
San Jose is home to one of the Bay Area's three '''international airports''', Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International (SJC) [http://www.sjc.org]. There are direct flights from many US destinations and it's located about 2 miles from the downtown area.
The two other options are San Francisco International Airport (SFO) which is located 35 miles northwest of San Jose on US Route 101 on the peninsula, or Oakland International Airport (OAK), which is 35 miles north off I-880 in the East Bay.
San Jose is also served by Amtrak's '''Coast Starlight''' [http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Amtrak/am2Route/Vertical_Route_Page&c=am2Route&cid=1081256321841&ssid=135] running daily between Seattle, Portland, Emeryville, and Los Angeles.
All rail lines stop at '''Diridon Station''', which is San Jose's central train station. It is located at 65 Cahill Street, just across Santa Clara Street from the '''H.P. Pavilion''' [http://www.hppsj.com/].
Capitol and Tamien stations serve the southern part of the city.
The 511.org website [http://www.511.org] is a wonderful resource for trip planning, whether by car or public transit (or combination of both). Its Trip Planner spans all local transit systems.
Many roads in San Jose have delineated bike lanes and/or wide shoulders. This, in combination with typically favorable local weather, makes bicycling a viable means of transportation within the city. Many public transportation options in the city also have provisions for bicycles, making mixed-mode travel a simple affair.
Downtown San Jose is a mix of offices, shopping, hotels, numerous restaurants as well as a convention center and the SoFA (South of First Area) nightclub district. Check out the San Pedro Square Farmer's Market on Fridays for local and organic produce, or visit San Jose State University campus and City Hall. The main library [http://sjlibrary.org] is a prestigious, award-winning, joint-use library combining resources of the city and San Jose State University. Get outdoors and take advantage of San Jose's invariably sunny weather on the Guadalupe River Trail or in one of the many city parks. You'll always find a wealth of cultural events at theaters, art galleries, and museums.
San Jose has two major professional sports teams, and a variety of theater and comedy acts that perform throughout the year. The city also plays host to a variety of unique conventions that focus on cartoons and anime, sci-fi as well as video games due to its proximity to several major game companies.
Nightlife in the Downtown area is a mix of lounges, clubs, and bars, which have greatly improved the scene or marked the beginning of its decline, depending on your opinion. Santana Row has a number of upscale clubs and bars and has been the new hotspot since 2005.
Less than an hour away over the scenic Santa Cruz Mountains, the small coastal city of Santa Cruz is a nice day trip out San Jose or the first stop on a longer coastal drive to Monterey and Santa Barbara in the south or the Lost Coast in the north.
Other places to see near San Jose are Scenic Drive in Saratoga Hills, numerous hill and mountain parks, Mission Santa Clara at Santa Clara University, Palo Alto and Stanford University, charming Peninsula towns, Fremont's Mission San Jose and Ardenwood Historic Farm, Half Moon Bay, and Downtown Los Gatos. A longer distance away are Capitola Beach, Carmel, the scenic Route 1 (sometimes called the Pacific Coast Highway), San Juan Bautista and its historic mission, and Monterey.
By '''car''': San Jose is about an hour from San Francisco and Oakland, but the trip is much longer during rush hour on US-101 and Interstate 880. Take Interstate 280 to San Francisco for a scenic alternative, and consider a detour westward on Highway 92 to Half Moon Bay and the coastal Highway 1, which leads northward to San Francisco and southward to Santa Cruz. For Santa Cruz, take Highway 17 southward over the mountains. For an hour-and-a-half ride to Monterey, either go to Santa Cruz and take Highway 1 southward or take US-101 through Gilroy to Highway 156, which connects to Highway 1.
For other modes, all intercity connections except private lines like Greyhound leave from '''Diridon Station''' (Cahill Station on older maps), 65 Cahill Street (near Santa Clara Street and the H.P. Pavilion).
By '''train''': Commuter rail line Caltrain [http://www.caltrain.com] runs to San Francisco. The interregional Capitol Corridor [http://www.amtrakcapitols.com/] runs to Oakland and Sacramento. The rush-hour commuter line Altamont Commuter Express [http://www.acerail.com/] runs to Stockton (Central Valley-bound trips only in late afternoon, with return trips only in morning). A trip to San Francisco on Caltrain or to Oakland on the Capitol Corridor takes about an hour-and-a-half. Caltrain also provides the Baby Bullet, an hour-long run with very limited stops to San Francisco, during commute hours. An alternative mode to both Oakland and San Francisco is Valley Transportation Authority [http://www.vta.org/] express lines 180 [http://www.vta.org/schedules/SC_180.html] and 181 [http://www.vta.org/schedules/SC_181.html] to Fremont, where riders can connect to BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) [http://www.bart.gov/], which serves Oakland, San Francisco, and several other San Francisco Bay Area destinations.
By '''bus''': Amtrak California [http://www.amtrakcalifornia.com/] runs a bus with stops in Gilroy, San Luis Obispo, and Santa Barbara. Santa Cruz Metro [http://www.scmtd.com/] provides a bus line (Highway 17 Express [http://www.scmtd.com/routes/rt17.html]) to and from Santa Cruz. Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) runs bus lines (Routes 180 [http://www.vta.org/schedules/SC_180.html] and 181 [http://www.vta.org/schedules/SC_181.html]) to Fremont and its BART station. These services leave from Diridon Station, although VTA Routes 180 and 181 and Highway 17 Express also serve Downtown San Jose directly. Greyhound [http://www.greyhound.com] runs to several locations, and its station is at Almaden Avenue and Post Street (70 S Almaden Avenue, not to be confused with Almaden Boulevard one block parallel).