The City of San José itself has a long and colorful history that began in 1777 with the founding of El Pueblo San José de Guadalupe, the first Spanish settlement in California. San José has never let go of its proud Latino heritage, and this shows in the wealth of Mexican-American heritage activities the city has to offer, including its Cinco de Mayo celebration, its midsummer International Mariachi Festival, and the newly created year-long Teatro Target performing arts project, at the Mexican Heritage Plaza.

Because San José has a rich multicultural history, there are many other yearly celebrations in Santa Clara Valley that celebrate our unique history. There are Kwanzaa celebrations in December, an annual Vietnamese Spring Festival and Parade, the Nikkei Matsuri festival in May, Santa Clara’s Hula Halau ‘O Pi’ilani summer festival, and the Chinese Moon festival in the fall.

San José is consistently ranked the safest large city (population greater than 500,000), as determined by FBI crime statistics. It is a highly livable community, with ample public transportation options that can take you anywhere you want to go, along with world-class shopping, and neighborhoods with deep community pride. For business or vacation travelers, Mineta International Airport, located three miles from downtown, services nearly 200 flights daily.

Our District also serves the city of Milpitas, located just north of San José. An ethnically diverse community, more than one-third of Milpitas’ residents have earned college or postgraduate degrees. Fifty-two percent of Milpitas’ residents are of Asian heritage, 24 percent Caucasian, 17 percent Latino and 3 percent African American, with 60 percent of residents speaking two or more languages.

Milpitas, whose name means “little cornfield” in Spanish, was founded in 1852. Incorporated as a city in 1954, Milpitas was formerly a sleepy agricultural town, with orchards, truck farms and dairies. Today, it is home to high-tech firms such as Cisco Systems, Sun Microsystems, LSI Logic and Seagate Technologies. Its 65,000 residents enjoy a small-town atmosphere, low crime rate, and plenty of outdoor recreation opportunities, with 28 parks and easy access to 1,539-acre Ed R. Levin County Park and Monument Peak.

As a resident of the Silicon Valley, you will enjoy 300 days a year of California sunshine, which gives you plenty of time to enjoy the many parks, historical landmarks and other attractions, including many unique museums the city has to offer. There is also a thriving night life scene in San José, including clubs and multi-cuisine dining, as well as world-class entertainment with offerings from the American Musical Theatre, Ballet San José Silicon Valley, the San José Repertory Theater, Opera San José and major touring artists and events at the HP Pavilion, San José State Event Center, and the Mexican Heritage Plaza.

For the sports fan, there’s the National Hockey League’s Sharks, the Arena Football League’s SabreCats, the National Lacrosse League’s Stealth, California League Baseball’s San José Giants, and in July, Champ Car’s San José Grand Prix.

Educational opportunities in San José are numerous as well, with many quality primary and secondary school districts, as well as San José State University, Santa Clara University, St. Mary’s College of California, National Hispanic University, Stanford University, University of California at Berkeley, and the University of California at Santa Cruz located just a short drive from San José.

If you lust for adventure or different scenery, San José is only 40 minutes away from the Pacific Ocean, 50 minutes from San Francisco’s big city sights and sounds, and an approximately three-to-four-hour drive to Lake Tahoe and the Sierra Nevada Mountains for plenty of winter fun.

Our mission at both San José City and Evergreen Valley Colleges is to provide a quality education for everyone in our community who wishes to pursue higher education through our quality lower division transfer programs, enter a new career or job training, or is in need of supportive Basic Skills programs like the skills provided our amazing English as a Second Language curriculum.

Our park-like Evergreen Valley College campus, which opened in 1975, is located in southeast San José, near the foot of the Diablo Mountain range, at the intersection of Yerba Buena and San Felipe Roads. This campus is experiencing an exciting development in response to the growth of the population in the area with its new housing developments.

San José City College is more metropolitan, located just minutes from downtown San José off Highway 280. Established in 1921, San José City College is enjoying a 21st century rebirth, with many newly-remodeled buildings and ambitious plans for brand-new state-of-the-art science, humanities, math and health sciences facilities. Finally, our Institute for Business Performance provides professional development for career enhancement, or to assist in starting a new career, via short, intensive programs.

Isn’t it time you checked out what Evergreen Valley College or San José City College can do to enrich your life and help build your future?