Santa Clara is a small city of big contrasts. If any city can claim to be the center of "Silicon Valley" it is this town of just over 100,000. The headquarters of Intel, AMD and National Semiconductor are all here. At the same time, Santa Clara is one of the oldest settlements (by Europeans) in Northern California. The Mission Santa Clara de Asis was established in 1777, and the Jesuit-run Santa Clara University is the oldest university in California, having been founded in 1851. Dozens of 19th century homes are well-maintained by their 21st century owners in the "old quad," the earliest residential area, adjacent to the university.

Yet another contrast is the diversity of the local population, driven by the tech boom of the 1970's -1990's. Visitors from Asia and Europe frequently   More...