6 ms·

I don't know what exactly you're looking at, because from my perspective "everyone" is an insane exaggeration on your part. I know countless people who run, cy

I don't know what exactly you're looking at, because from my perspective "everyone" is an insane exaggeration on your part. I know countless people who run, cycle, ski, mountain bike, play soccer, go backpacking, play board games, travel, partake in live music, and so on and so forth. Sure there are disproportionately more workaholics in the area. There are also disproportionately fewer people who work 9-5 then go home and veg out on their couch. To me, the lifestyle here is rich and amazing. Where I grew up, which was in an equally large and cosmopolitan city, it's too cold or too hot for 4-6 months of the year to do much outdoors, salaries weren't high enough for people to routinely go to expensive restaurants or travel, and the geography is nowhere near as beautiful or interesting. Maybe you should look inward more and take charge of your life; it may be that you're hanging around people who focus entirely on work, and so your perception is skewed.

jartelt 10y ago
I totally agree. If people want to gripe about high rent/COL or lack of public transit that is fine and legitimate. But complaining about lack of things to do just doesn't add up. You can go hiking in Marin or in the open space preserves on the peninsula. You can drink great beer at several breweries or go to Napa/Sonoma to wine taste. You can go skiing in Tahoe. You can go to Yosemite or Sequoia. You can ride your bike in the mountains/hills on the peninsula. You can go to several different beaches. There is a good restaurant scene (albeit expensive). There are NBA, NFL, and NHL teams if you are into sports. As someone who moved here from Illinois, I think the variety of things to do in the Bay Area is huge.
- chrisper 10y ago
  But all the places you mentioned are at least 1.5 hours drive from San Jose. You can't expect me to drive 1.5 hours just to not have to sit at home every time I want to have some fun? I love day trips, but I don't want to have to to a day trip every weekend or every day I want to have some fun. Compare that to LA or San Diego where you don't have to drive far to have fun (nightlife for example) or awesome beaches. All I see in San Jose is empty streets after 9pm. There is nothing going on in this town besides work.
  - temp20160423 10y ago
    Sounds like you're simply living in the wrong place. Within 30 minutes, I can drive from SJ to a number of great hiking trails or take my road bike to some super fun hills. Of course the streets are empty after 9pm... people want to be able to get outside when the sun is up!
    - chrisper 10y ago
      I guess that could be true. South San Jose seems to be much better.
  - pixelp3 10y ago
    Nightlife in the south bay is rather lame. But here's one thing I've found: People who really want to have fun find a way. There are small pockets all over the bay. SJ downtown is a little lame but it is getting better
  - geoelectric 10y ago
    We do have hiking trails in the area too, particularly up in the Santa Cruz Mountains, and Henry Coe State Park is a little less than an hour away. There are a number of wineries in Los Gatos and Saratoga, around half an hour away. I'm less familiar with the microbrew scene around here, but I know there's mead in Sunnyvale (~30m) and a handful of larger "micros" like Rock Bottom in Campbell and Lazy Dog in Cupertino. NHL is downtown, NFL is ~30 min away in Santa Clara, etc. You're overstating the issue. It's not New York or San Francisco, for sure, and we sure do need better rapid transit but you're definitely not an hour and a half from everything cool. You're more like half an hour or so. You just need to look for it.
chrisper 10y ago
Well, everyone around me pretty much determines what is available to me. No one is going to build a zoo in San Jose if no one is coming. San Jose does not even have something like University Ave in Palo Alto. SJ Downtown is horrible and certainly not a place I'd like to go to have fun. What I am saying is, that compared to other cities such as LA or San Diego, San Jose is dead. Nothing besides working is happening. Considering how much I am paying to live here, that is disappointing.
- geoelectric 10y ago
  Santana Row or Lincoln in Willow Glen would be the analog to University Ave. Both are pretty nice to hang out in. Campbell also has a nice downtown; while it's not San Jose, it's surrounded by San Jose and is basically the same metro and is VTA-accessible. There's also Saratoga and Los Gatos, but those are further out. Downtown, I'll grant you, though. San Pedro Square can be OK, and the area nearer the University has some quirky stuff, but it has a ways to go. It's gotten somewhat better over the years, though, and I think BART coming to the area may accelerate that a bit since it can actually be a destination.

jartelt 10y ago

I totally agree. If people want to gripe about high rent/COL or lack of public transit that is fine and legitimate. But complaining about lack of things to do just doesn't add up. You can go hiking in Marin or in the open space preserves on the peninsula. You can drink great beer at several breweries or go to Napa/Sonoma to wine taste. You can go skiing in Tahoe. You can go to Yosemite or Sequoia. You can ride your bike in the mountains/hills on the peninsula. You can go to several different beaches. There is a good restaurant scene (albeit expensive). There are NBA, NFL, and NHL teams if you are into sports. As someone who moved here from Illinois, I think the variety of things to do in the Bay Area is huge.

chrisper 10y ago
But all the places you mentioned are at least 1.5 hours drive from San Jose. You can't expect me to drive 1.5 hours just to not have to sit at home every time I want to have some fun? I love day trips, but I don't want to have to to a day trip every weekend or every day I want to have some fun. Compare that to LA or San Diego where you don't have to drive far to have fun (nightlife for example) or awesome beaches. All I see in San Jose is empty streets after 9pm. There is nothing going on in this town besides work.
- temp20160423 10y ago
  Sounds like you're simply living in the wrong place. Within 30 minutes, I can drive from SJ to a number of great hiking trails or take my road bike to some super fun hills. Of course the streets are empty after 9pm... people want to be able to get outside when the sun is up!
  - chrisper 10y ago
    I guess that could be true. South San Jose seems to be much better.
- pixelp3 10y ago
  Nightlife in the south bay is rather lame. But here's one thing I've found: People who really want to have fun find a way. There are small pockets all over the bay. SJ downtown is a little lame but it is getting better
- geoelectric 10y ago
  We do have hiking trails in the area too, particularly up in the Santa Cruz Mountains, and Henry Coe State Park is a little less than an hour away. There are a number of wineries in Los Gatos and Saratoga, around half an hour away. I'm less familiar with the microbrew scene around here, but I know there's mead in Sunnyvale (~30m) and a handful of larger "micros" like Rock Bottom in Campbell and Lazy Dog in Cupertino. NHL is downtown, NFL is ~30 min away in Santa Clara, etc. You're overstating the issue. It's not New York or San Francisco, for sure, and we sure do need better rapid transit but you're definitely not an hour and a half from everything cool. You're more like half an hour or so. You just need to look for it.

chrisper 10y ago

Well, everyone around me pretty much determines what is available to me. No one is going to build a zoo in San Jose if no one is coming. San Jose does not even have something like University Ave in Palo Alto. SJ Downtown is horrible and certainly not a place I'd like to go to have fun. What I am saying is, that compared to other cities such as LA or San Diego, San Jose is dead. Nothing besides working is happening. Considering how much I am paying to live here, that is disappointing.

geoelectric 10y ago
Santana Row or Lincoln in Willow Glen would be the analog to University Ave. Both are pretty nice to hang out in. Campbell also has a nice downtown; while it's not San Jose, it's surrounded by San Jose and is basically the same metro and is VTA-accessible. There's also Saratoga and Los Gatos, but those are further out. Downtown, I'll grant you, though. San Pedro Square can be OK, and the area nearer the University has some quirky stuff, but it has a ways to go. It's gotten somewhat better over the years, though, and I think BART coming to the area may accelerate that a bit since it can actually be a destination.