How Is San Jose The Most Expensive Major City In The United States?
I want to get this out of the way: I don’t hate San Jose. The ‘Capital of Silicon Valley’ has plenty of cool things going for it. Can I name them? No. But I’ve been told that there are certainly things in San Jose. I haven’t spent a ton of time in that part of the Bay Area, so my knowledge is inherently limited, but one thing I know is that San Jose is not a city in the same caliber as NYC, SF, or LA.
That’s not me being mean, that’s just a fact, and if you argue that SJ is somehow directly competing with them in city-ness, you’re fucking insane.
Like San Jose isn’t bad by any stretch of the imagination, but it isn’t really good either. It’s suburban sprawl. I mean real sprawl, like LA level sprawl, but LA has the ocean, Hollywood and a real skyline. San Jose looks like Concord, California on steroids.
One of the benefits of living in an expensive major city is that there are plentiful public transportation options. That is not the case in San Jose. San Jose’s public transportation system is like a unicorn sighting—a mythical creature that rarely appears. If you want to get around, be ready to sacrifice your life savings for a tank of gas or mortgage your future for a monthly parking pass. But don’t worry, the traffic will keep you entertained while you contemplate your financial demise. I understand you guys have the VTA, which is very cute, but it’s not MUNI and you guys just got BART like a week ago.
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In terms of nightlife San Jose does have stuff to do, but it’s not in the same way as SF or Oakland. You know, historic bars with crazy histories. It’s Santana Row— which is basically Union Square with clubs, but instead of it being in San Francisco, it’s in San Jose.
So one has to wonder how the fuck did this happen?
San Jose’s astronomical rent prices have little to do with San Jose’s cultural amenities, but to the power of the tech industry to artificially inflate the cost of everything it’s near.
If you’re from San Jose, before you get mad at me, think about this: I’m doing you a favor. If everyone thinks San Jose is cool, people will want to move there, and when people want to move there, the landlords will start increasing your rent even more, and I assume you don’t want that.
Is San Jose worth living in? Absolutely. Is it worth $3500 for a one bedroom apartment in a city with poor public transport and limited cultural attractions. No, not in the fucking slightest.
San Jose is safe, but that’s because it’s kind of the suburbs, it’s supposed to be safe.
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Howdy! My name is Katy Atchison and I'm an Associate Editor for Broke-Ass Stuart.
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