San Jose’s quiet superpower is that the numbers back the buzz: #1 for Economic Output, #1 for Business Ecosystem and #4 for Standard of Living, which combine to power the city to #20 in our overall Prosperity index. That heft doesn’t mean that Silicon Valley doesn’t struggle with remote work. In early 2025, developer to tech titans Jay Paul began pivoting CityView Plaza from a stalled office megaproject into one of the Bay Area’s largest office-to-residential conversions: four existing towers refit as 320 homes now, with a 293-foot apartment high-rise to follow (about 680 residences in total), giving downtown a badly needed housing jolt, enlivening ground floors, and eventually, adding more commercial space.
Much-needed transit is moving via the BART Silicon Valley Phase II, with major tunneling set to follow on the six-mile, four-station extension using a single-bore tunnel. VTA’s 2025 update pegs first passenger service in the 2036–2037 window, a longer horizon, but clearer certainty for site selectors and lenders mapping Diridon-area bets. Hospitality is equally abuzz. A new TownePlace Suites just opened downtown, adding extended-stay capacity steps from the SAP Center and Convention Center, while Westfield Valley Fair’s 2025 openings (headlined by Canada’s Joey Restaurants) signal durable consumer demand on the Santana Row/Valley Fair corridor.