With 1.8 million residents, Santa Clara County is the most populous county in the Bay Area. Over the past five decades, Santa Clara has been transformed from a major agricultural area into Silicon Valley-birthplace of the computer and electronics industry. Over the next 25 years, Santa Clara County can expect a population increase of over 591,000 persons and 202,197 households.

Nearly two thirds (64 percent) of the county's household growth will occur in San José. Containing more than half of the county's population, San José surpassed San Francisco as the Bay Area's most populous city in the 1990s.

Development Pattern

Once a poster-child for suburban sprawl, San José has made enormous progress in recent years through revitalization of its downtown and the construction of new housing near the county's new and expanding light-rail system. San José's urban growth boundary sets a clear limit to growth-protecting hillsides, Bay lands, and the Coyote Greenbelt at the south end of the city.

Projected Growth in Santa Clara County

Since the adoption of policy-based projections, Santa Clara's population forecast is based on a conceptual growth pattern that may be different from existing local general plans and zoning. Santa Clara County's future household and employment growth will be focused around existing Caltrain stations and new BART stations-from Palo Alto and Milpitas south to Gilroy-as well as adjacent to Valley Transportation Authority light-rail stations.

Significant employment growth is expected along a new light-rail corridor between Milpitas and Mountain View. The City of San José will have substantial employment growth in its downtown urban core, as well as increased mixed-use development in the downtown's surrounding areas. The cities of Mountain View and Sunnyvale will have moderate employment and household increases stemming from intensified mixed-use development in each city's urban core areas. A new Caltrain station will serve as an adjacent employment center in Blossom Hill, with more employment opportunities expanding farther south to the Morgan Hill Business Park.

The development of a high-density town center with a mix of residential and commercial buildings oriented around the City of Morgan Hill's Caltrain station will create a substantial mix of household and employment growth in the city's downtown. Sunnyvale, as well as some of the county's smaller cities such as Gilroy and Los Gatos, are expected to add moderate household growth in their downtown centers, creating compact neighborhoods centered around core commercial areas.