I don't know if I will get many answers to this, but I was interested in conducting an informal survey. Thanks to the US military there is an internet. Thanks to the Silicon Valley you can use it in your homes, office, ect as you are now doing reading this. The Silicon Valley was instrumental in the development of the personal computer in the 70s, the micrchip in the 80s, and the internet in the 90s. Google, Sun Micrsystems, Apple, HP, Yahoo, Intel, ect... are all based there, even though the omputer you are using's components were probably made in China or India. So geographically, were is the Silicon Valley and what is its major city, citie(s). Wondering b/c people in San Diego give me interesting answers to that question. If you can tell me what drug that area was known for in the 80s you get an extra gold star.
-
-
NSADD Moderators: tryptakid
Where is The Silicon Valley?
- Thread starter jspun
- Start date
DavisK4high247
Bluelighter
San Jose is the major city of Silicon Valley ,and the others I dunno. I imagine that from what I have been told that PCP aka angel dust was know to be prevalnt there in the 80's.
AfterGlow
Bluelighter
You guys hit it right on the head. The map is an exact representation of silicon valley aka Santa Clara Valley- Basically San Jose, 3rd largest city in CA and its suburbs, thanks afterglo. Other trivia, it was a major center of PCP use in the 80s and 90s - probably a major inspiration for the concept of cyberspace as Davis correctly pointed out, had the highest per capita income among US cities more times to count- probably for the last 40 years after they cut down the orchards and vineyards to build high tech companies. Another interesting fact is that San Jose was one of the few major cities were the police chief called the drug war what it is, a sham, a big glorious failure. He was a major opponent of the drug war during his tenure from 1976-1991, during the "just say no era, when it was political suicide to do so. During that time San Jose was the safest city in the US. I attribute this to sensible alocation of resources. Tom Mckenery was mayor but this was also around the era that Dianne Feinstein- like most politicians- more worried about political expendiency than the right thing to do.
On the whole- it is a boring place, a working community but with hidden beautiful areas and arguably the greatest climates in the Bay Area.
JubJub Bird
Bluelighter
San Jose is not boring at all! Any place is as boring as you want it to be. There's a ton of stuff to do round here, locally. If you want to go a little farther you can be surfing in the Pacific Ocean in 30 minutes, skiing in the Sierra in 3-4 hours or hiking in Yosemite in 4 hours. Northern California is awesome!GrouchosMustache
Greenlighter
- Joined
- Jul 2, 2012
- Messages
- 1
I would characterize the entire drift of your post as extreme "false correlation." If you are suggesting that PCP use in the 80s and 90s contributed somehow to "Silicon Valley" becoming ground zero of the IT revolution, I think you are way off the mark! Many of the brilliant minds that contributed to the success of Silicon Valley -- William Hewlett, David Packard, the founders of Intel, scientists at Xerox, etc., etc., would never have even known what drugs were -- (except for alcohol, and, maybe, pot) -- let alone something like PCP!
Nah, Silicon Valley is what it is because of Stanford University (in Palo Alto) and the scientific and engineering talent it drew and nourished, and which then grew and took a life of its own.......fasteddie
Bluelighter
I lived there for a few years; did a lot of work there. No, it's not boring. The time I spent there was some of the happiest in my life.
There used to be a Mexican place on Santa Clara/2 nd St that had the best steak quesadilla I've ever had.
To the east of downtown, about 1/2 way to the CalTrain, there is (was? hope not) Recycle Books. Great used book store.
If you take the bus that runs along Santa Clara St all the way to the western terminus, it will bring you to Alum Rock Park. Among the attractions are a naturally carbonated mineral water spring.
Oh, and dope: all the coders I knew out there were speed heads; I knew this guy who'd hoover up a 75 mg line, then write code for 24 hrs straight. He looked like some kind of radiation burn victim.
And, just to the south, there is Santa Cruz, a lovely resort town with really excellent public transit, and places to camp.
