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> As a Londoner visiting San Jose - I was appalled at how difficult it was to simply cross the street to go from one section of strip malls to the other. The p

> As a Londoner visiting San Jose - I was appalled at how difficult it was to simply cross the street to go from one section of strip malls to the other. The problem is that the strip malls are designed for access by car. That means being close to multi-laned expressways, at least in most of the suburbs. San Jose proper actually has a decent (for the US) public transit system, including Caltrain, the VTA light rail, and a bunch of buses. They're optimized for commuter service, though, and will only take you few interesting places. The downtown area of San Jose, though, is pretty walkable and isn't too dull (sure, it's no San Francisco or London, but what is?) San Pedro Square has some nice restaurants, and you can head from there to the park and then up Paseo de San Antonio to the university and cute coffeeshops. If you're up for more of a trek (or a few more stops on the light rail) there's a decent little Japantown a little ways to the north as well.

anpk 11y ago
I disagree that San Jose has a decent public transit system. Even if you have to use caltrain, you have to drive to the caltrain station which makes it incredibly difficult for tourists and non car owners.
andreyk 11y ago
When I moved to the Bay Area I got a little (not terribly priced!) studio apartment walking distance from downtown San Jose. As you say it certainly is no Big City downtown district like SF, but I must say I feel very happy with the decision - there are quite a few good places packed into the small downtown that I can just walk to whenever I feel like it, and the light rail is right there to take me to work. Having a reason to walk every day is actually great, I far prefer it to being stuck in traffic instead. I don't even have a car, but just using buses+light rail+caltrain has worked really quite well thus far for the times I want to go to nearby towns/SF.

anpk 11y ago

I disagree that San Jose has a decent public transit system. Even if you have to use caltrain, you have to drive to the caltrain station which makes it incredibly difficult for tourists and non car owners.

andreyk 11y ago

When I moved to the Bay Area I got a little (not terribly priced!) studio apartment walking distance from downtown San Jose. As you say it certainly is no Big City downtown district like SF, but I must say I feel very happy with the decision - there are quite a few good places packed into the small downtown that I can just walk to whenever I feel like it, and the light rail is right there to take me to work. Having a reason to walk every day is actually great, I far prefer it to being stuck in traffic instead. I don't even have a car, but just using buses+light rail+caltrain has worked really quite well thus far for the times I want to go to nearby towns/SF.