As I mentioned earlier, Silicon Valley is contained by the boundaries of Santa Clara County. It also includes Scotts Valley of Santa Cruz County , Fremont of Alameda County, and some of San Mateo County.
The County of Santa Clara is located at the southern end of the San Francisco Bay and encompasses 1,312 square miles. The fertile Santa Clara Valley runs the entire length of the county from north to south, ringed by the rolling hills of the Diablo Range on the east, and the Santa Cruz Mountains on the west. Salt marshes and wetlands lie in the northwestern part of the county, adjacent to the waters of San Francisco Bay.
Today, the County is a major employment center for the region, providing more than a quarter of all jobs in the Bay Area. It has one of the highest median family incomes in the country, and a wide diversity of cultures, backgrounds and talents. The County of Santa Clara continues to attract people from all over the world.
The County is home to three major universities – Stanford University, Santa Clara University and San Jose State University – as well as excellent community colleges.
Local museums and art galleries include The Tech Museum of Innovation, the Rosicrucian Museum, the Children’s Discovery Museum, the San Jose Museum of Art, the Triton Museum of Art and many others. There are also abundant performing arts venues including opera, symphonies, musical theatre, repertory theatre, concerts, and children’s musical theatre.
Additionally, there are many other cities and one town – Los Gatos – that occupy Santa Clara County. West San Jose, South San Jose, Blossom Valley, Evergreen, North San Jose, Robertsville, Santa Teresa – to name a few!
Cities and Towns in Silicon Valley
1. Palo Alto, home to Stanford University, is on the northwest edge of Santa Clara County. Great schools, fabulous downtown, and lovely old neighbourhoods make Palo Alto perhaps the most desired (and most expensive) part of the county.
2. Mountain View –
3. Los Altos Hills.
4. Los Altos
5. Sunnyvale
6. Cupertino
7. Santa Clara, which is home to the beautiful Mission Santa Clara and Santa Clara University. The city prides itself on running its own utiliites and keeping the cost low to residents.
8. Milpitas rests between North San Jose and Fremont. Many consider it an ideal commute location.
9. San Jose – Within Santa Clara County, the largest city is San Jose.
Some Districts in San Jose
The Rosegarden and Shasta-Hanchett neightbourhoods lie between the city of Santa Clara and downtown San Jose. The streets, large trees, and lovely architecture from the 1920s can be seen here.
From these neighbourhoods, it’s about 2 miles to downtown San Jose in one direction, and Santa Clara University in the other. There is almost every style of historic housing here: Victorian, Mediterranean, Tudor, Craftsman, Ranch, Cape Cod, and many more.

Downtown San Jose includes many districts, such as Japantown, Naglee Park, and the Vendome District. Each of these three downtown communities enjoys a close-knit community spirit, nicely maintained and updated historic homes, and a distinctive sense of place in history. Naglee Park is very near to San Jose State University.
The Berryessa district was once well known for farms and ranches along the scenic east foothills of San Jose.
Alum Rock is an area of “old San Jose” where the monied folks would set up homes along a lovely golf course and near the once exceedingly popular hot springs. There was a trolley line from San Jose’s downtown to Alum Rock Park and people used to picnic and enjoy the hot springs for the day. The area remains a destination even now, with the expansive park, attracting hikers and picnic groups. The areas into the foothills, and near the San Jose Country Club, are older and include many historic homes as well as views.
The Cambrian Park area sits between Willow Glen, Campbell, Almaden Valley, and Los Gatos.

Almaden Valley made a name for itself as a mine for quicksilver or Mercury. At one time it was the largest quicksilver mine in the world. Mercury was an important element in getting gold out of the rock that contained it, so the mine bustled in the gold rush era. Almaden Valley is a high-end suburb with safe neighborhoods and great schools.
Willow Glen stretches from downtown San Jose to Cambrian Park and Campbell. The downtown area, Lincoln Avenue, has many unique shops and restaurants and is a popular place for people to mill about and window shop on weekends. The Christmas season draws many people to Willow Glen as the residents tend to go all-out in lighted decorations for December. The Willow Glen district is one of the most beautiful in San Jose.
10. Saratoga has a classy town area with fine dining and interesting shops, and a distinct personality. Saratoga is also home to the Mountain Winery and Villa Montalvo.
11. Campbell like many parts of Silicon Valley, was once a farming community full of fruit orchards. Campbell has an downtown area that is older and nicely updated, so it attracts a lot of traffic on foot and bike as well as by car.
12. Monte Sereno
13. Los Gatos is the gateway to Silicon Valley from the coastal cities of Santa Cruz and Scotts Valley.

The middle of the county is held by
“The South County” areas include Gilroy (best known for garlic and The Garlic Festival each July) and Morgan Hill, once very popular for ranches and horse country, but now largely suburban.