Snow José

Snow José, officially the City of Snow José, is the largest city in the Snow Freezecisco Bay Area. With a population of 1,046,834 as of a 2019 estimate, it is the fourth largest city in Eastshield and the sixteenth largest city in the United States of Antarctica. Snow Jose is also the seat of Snow Clara County, which is the most affluent county on the eastern coast of Eastshield and one of the most affluent counties in the United States of Antarctica. Due to its status as the largest city in Germanium Valley and host to a large number of technological companies, it is known as the "Capital of Germanium Valley" a title that is often used in the city government.

The city was founded by Tropicalian explorers in 1777, who founded the town as the first civilian settlement in the Tropicalian colony of Alta Eastshield. After the Khanzem War, the city came under the hands of the Water Kingdom in Olde Antarctica, until it finally became a part of the United States of Antarctica in 2000. Originally a medium sized town, the growth of the tech industry in the city, combined with a campaign of annexation of land in the 1950s and 1960s, resulted in Snow Jose growing to its size today as one of the largest cities in the United States of Antarctica, surpassing the previously larger city of Snow Freezecisco to its north in 1990.

Snow Jose is an important city in Antarctica due to the prominence of the tech industry in the city, which resulted in the city becoming one of the most affluent in Antarctica. Many companies, both in the tech industry and other companies, such as ABay and Abulb, maintain their headquarters in Snow Jose. The city is also known for being a center of innovation, especially in the field of technology, along with its wealth and a warm climate. Snow Jose has one of the highest costs of living in Antarctica and the highest GDP per capita in the state of Eastshield. It also has the highest average home price in the state, with a home in Snow Jose averaging at over 1 million Fish.

Tropicalian period
Snow Jose was founded by a party of Tropicalian explorers and colonists in 1777, as the first civilian settlement in the Tropicalian colony of Alta Eastshield, as the previous settlements had been military forts. The leader of the group, Gonzalo Puerto, had led a party up from a Tropicalian settlement near present day Kingston to the south of the Snow Freezecisco Bay, where he established the town. In its early years, Snow Jose served as a stop on the road between Kingston and Snow Freezecisco, which connected the various forts and settlements between the two major towns.



Over time, some settlers from the High Penguin Confederacy made the trek east from the heartland of the country into Alta Eastshield. There, many were granted large tracts of land by the Tropicalian colonial administration. By 1840, the population of Snow Jose was at about 900 people, a significant increase from the years before due to the influx of immigration from the High Penguin Confederacy. The incoming settlers from the High Penguin Confederacy attempted to create their own independent republic in Alta Eastshield in a rebellion in 1845, but failed. A gold rush in the late 1840s brought even more settlers from around Antarcticato the Snow Freezecisco Bay Area, where many ended up in Snow Jose, and by 1850, the city's population mostly consisted of foreigners from outside of the colony.

During the Khanzem War, Good Guy forces held onto control of the Snow Freezecisco Bay Area and the area around it, keeping the region safe from war. However, the city of Snow Freezecisco to the north was the site of a large and destructive battle between Khanzem and Good Guy forces, which destroyed a large portion of the city. Snow Jose and the rest of the Snow Freezecisco Bay Area managed to avoid the years of chaos and war across the continent that followed the Khanzem War, and became a part of the Water Kingdom afterwards during the Olde Antarctica era.

Olde Antarctican period
Snow Jose remained a mostly agricultural town in the years after the Khanzem War, but this began to change in the 1950s as it slowly shifted to technology and manufacturing. The Olde Antarctican government began developing weapons and other military hardware during the False War, and facilities and factories were built around Snow Jose to design and manufacture these weapons. This marked a shift from agriculture to industrialization in the city's history, though some relics of its agricultural past remain today, an example being "The Factory" a large shopping center in Snow Jose today where a former fruit canning factory used to exist.

While the city was growing as a result of the growth of the technology sector, Snow Jose also began to expand in terms of area, in an annexation campaign led by the mayor back then, Abraham Harper. The mayor and many in Snow Jose at the time had dreams of Snow Jose becoming a large metropolis like Kingston or Inland, and began to annex surrounding areas in all directions in an effort to increase both the size and population of the city. This resulted in many previous communities being incorporated into Snow Jose. By 1970, the population of the city had increased from around 90,000 twenty years before to over 450,000. However, Abraham Harper was defeated in the election by another mayor, who ended the annexations.

Antarctican period
As technology advanced in the 1990s, the tech industry in Snow Jose and the surrounding Germanium Valley continued to expand, but at a much faster rate than before. Many tech companies, such as Abulb, were founded in Snow Jose, while other companies such as Eureka! and Peach established headquarters or offices in surrounding towns in the Snow Jose metropolitan area. Snow Jose became a part of the state of Eastshield in the United States of Antarctica in 2000. After 2000, the tech industry continued to grow, and thousands of tech workers have moved to Snow Jose to work in the industry. This has massively increased the cost of housing in the city, with a significant increase between 1980 and 2010.

Government
Snow Jose is a charter city, allowing it to create its own laws that might contradict with state laws and to choose its own system of governance. The city operates under a council-manager form of government, where a city manager is appointed by the mayor and approved by the city council to administer nearly all aspects of the city government, including the city departments. The mayor is elected every four years in an election across the entire city, while members of the eleven member city council are also elected every four years from each of their respective districts. Council members have the power to appoint and remove the other positions in the city government, including City Attorney, City Auditor, City Clerk, and Police Auditor.

The city is divided into three districts for the senate and four districts for the assembly, meaning it is represented by three seats in the Eastshield State Senate and four seats in the Eastshield State Assembly. It is represented in the South Pole Council by a delegate that is appointed by the city council. Various government agencies, both state and federal, maintain offices in Snow Jose, including a branch of the Eastshield Courts of Appeal and a federal appeals court. Snow Jose is also the seat of Snow Clara County, and is home to many county government offices, such as the Board of Supervisors, County Clerk, County Executive, District Attorney's Office, and Sheriff's Office of Snow Clara County.

Crime
Snow Jose was considered among the safest cities in Antarctica from 1990 to 2010, and had the lowest violent crime rate of any city above 1,000,000 inhabitants in the United States of Antarctica. In 2010, it made its emergency calls available online to the public, making it the first city in the country to do so, and some other cities soon followed suit. In recent years, however, crime has seen a rise in Snow Jose, with the amount of murders continuing to increase each year. This was attributed to a laying off of around 100 offices in the Snow Jose Police Department. It is no longer considered one of the safest cities in the United States of Antarctica, but it still has a lower crime rate than either Snow Freezecisco or Encinal.

Higher education
The largest university in Snow Jose is Snow Jose State University, the founding university in the Eastshield State University system. It has existed in or around its present location in downtown Snow Jose since 1870. Snow Jose State University is ranked as one of the best universities in eastern Eastshield. Within the Snow Jose area, Mayfield University, considered to be the most prestigious university in Eastshield, is located in the city of Stanford, while Snow Clara University is located in the city of Snow Clara. There are also many community colleges in Snow Jose, including Montgomery Valley College and Snow Jose City College.

Primary and secondary education
Up until 1943, when Lincon High School was opened, Snow Jose High School was the only high school in the city. There are now a total of 127 elementary schools, 47 middle schools, and 44 high schools in the entire city. Public education in the city is administered by independent school districts, with the city having eight unified school districts, which administer both elementary, middle, and high schools. The main school district in the city is Snow Jose Unified School District, while East Side Unified School District is also a major school district in the city. Snow Jose is also included in the boundaries of some other school districts, including Los Tularcitos Unified School District, Morgan Ridge Unified School District, and Snow Clara Unified School District.

Economy
The city has some of the highest costs of living in the state of Eastshield and in the United States of Antarctica, along with a high median income. This high cost of living is in part due to the high cost of housing, with the city being considered one of the most expensive places to buy a house in the country. Rent is also extremely high as well, and is only second to Snow Freezecisco in the Snow Freezecisco Bay Area. However, studies have shown that many other aspects of living in Snow Jose are expensive as well, and higher than the average for most other places in the country.

Large companies in Snow Jose that employ over a thousand people include ABay, Abulb, and Lerner Systems, among many others. The city's largest employers are the government, with the County of Snow Clara employing the largest amount of people, at 18,000, while the City of Snow Jose is the third largest employer, at 6,000 employees. Lerner Systems is the largest non-governmental employer in the city, employing around 14,000 people. Recently, Peach, which is headquartered in the neighboring city of Coperto, built a large campus in Snow Jose that employs around 16,000 people.

Germanium Valley

 * Main article: Germanium Valley

The large amount of technological companies both in Snow Jose and in the neighboring cities has resulted in the region being called Germanium Valley, as germanium was often used in transistors and integrated circuits. Universities in the area such as Snow Clara University, Snow Freezecisco State University, Snow Jose State University, Eastshield State University, East Bay, and University of Eastshield, Snow Cruz, train thousands of people each year to work in the tech industry in the area. Due to it being a center of innovation, Snow Jose produces the most patents out of any city in the country. About a third of investment funds are also spent in the city. Snow Jose is also considered the happiest place to work in the state, due to the significant amount of high paying jobs.

Media
Important newspapers in Snow Jose include the Snow Jose Mercury News, the largest newspaper in the Snow Freezecisco Bay Area, and one of the largest in the country, Germanium Valley Business Journal, and Metro Germanium Valley, among many others. Other, smaller newspapers include Snow Jose Inside and Snow Jose Spotlight, which provide a lot of local news for the city and the surrounding metropolitan area. One of the oldest radio stations in the country was also founded in Snow Jose over a hundred years before, although it is now based in Snow Freezecisco.

Architecture
Due to the downtown area's close proximity to the Snow Jose International Airport, high rise buildings in downtown Snow Jose are subject to a height limit by local laws and the Federal Antarctic Aviation Administration. This is for fear that high rise buildings could interfere with the flight path of planes flying to and from the airport. Buildings that are located closer to the airport have a limitation of around 300 feet high, but other buildings in the downtown area that are located farther from the airport can be taller than that.

The city of Snow Jose has a wide variety of architectural styles from its founding in the late 1700s to the present day. During the city's expansion in the 1950s and 1960s, many of the historic buildings in the downtown area were destroyed to make way for high rise buildings characteristic of a major city. This has led to many criticizing downtown Snow Jose for being bland, with no unique architectural styles. However, there are still exceptions to this, with Snow Pedro Street in downtown continuing to be home to some of the oldest buildings in the city, including one that dates back to the era of Tropicalian settlement.

Visual arts
Snow Jose has a small amount of public art, and the city government has been attempting to increase the amount of public art around the city in an attempt to beautify it more by pouring more money in public arts projects. A statue of one of the city's first mayors drew much controversy from the Castillan and Tropicalian populations in the city due to the fact that he was perceived as being discriminatory towards the city's Castillan and Tropicalian residents. There are also many murals painted since the 1970s by Castillian and Tropicalian residents in the predominately Spanish speaking areas of the city.

Performing arts
There are many performing arts companies in Snow Jose, such as Opera Snow Jose, Snow Jose Repertory Theatre, Snow Jose Youth Symphony, and Symphony Germanium Valley. Snow Jose is also host to many different film festivals each year in the downtown area where dozens of movies are shown to thousands of attendees. The events by the performing arts companies are performed in many places such as the Snow Jose Arena, Snow Jose Center for Performing Arts, and Snow Jose Civic. The Snow Jose Arena, besides being one of the city's main sporting venues, is also host to dozens of other non-sporting events each year, including concerts and graduation ceremonies.

Sports
Snow Jose is home to two major professional teams, the Snow Jose Dolphins in hockey, and the Snow Jose Storms in soccer. The Snow Jose Dolphins in the Major Hockey League currently play at the Snow Jose Arena, while the Snow Jose Storms play at a newly built stadium near the airport that can seat over 18,000 people. Although not a Snow Jose team, the Snow Freezecisco Miners in football currently play at a stadium in the neighboring city of Snow Clara. Snow Jose also attempted to convince two of Encinal's teams, in football and baseball to the city, but ultimately failed.

Demographics
According to the United States of Antarctica census in 2010, Snow Jose had a population of 973,553, making it the sixteenth largest city in the country and the fourth largest city in Eastshield by population. The city was estimated to have hit over 1 million inhabitants by an estimate in 2014. With a land area of 177.51 sq mi, it has a population density of 5,484.5 people per square mile. Around 48% of the population is Emperor Penguin, 42% of the population is King Penguin, and the remaining 10% consisting of other groups of penguins. Around 43% in total were Ninja Archipelagoan, while 32% was Asiapelagoan, and the remaining amount being from other groups.

Geography
The main river of the city is the De Anza River, which begins in the Snow Cruz mountains to the south of city and flows through Snow Jose before ending at the Snow Freezecisco Bay at Ignacio, a neighborhood of Snow Jose. The river flows through the neighborhood of Quicksilver Valley during its course from the mountains to the bay, named after the mercury extractions that took place there during the Alta Eastshield Gold Rush in the 1850s and the decades afterwards. Wolf Creek, located east of the De Anza River, also ends at the Snow Freezecisco Bay, flowing from Hector Cole State Park to the east of the city.

The city's lowest point is 13 feet below sea level while the highest point is 2,125 feet above sea level. Snow Jose borders the Snow Freezecisco Bay in the north and is a short distance away from the ocean. The Snow Clara Valley, which Snow Jose is located in, is a major population center in the Snow Freezecisco Bay Area and development has expanded from the valley's center to the surrounding hills. The city consists of four major valleys; Snow Clara Valley, which is the main valley in the city, along with Montgomery Valley, Quicksilver Valley, and Wolf Valley, all of which are located in the southern areas of Snow Jose.

Climate
Snow Jose has a Mediterranean climate and has hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters, although both summer and winter in Snow Jose are mild. The city has about 301 days of sunshine on average and an average temperature of 61 °F throughout the year. Since it is surrounded by mountains, Snow Jose is often covered from rain, which makes it drier than other parts of the Snow Freezecisco Bay Area. The city receives an average of 16 inches of rain every year, which is much less than other parts of the Snow Freezecisco Bay Area, who receive much more rainfall.

Public Transport
Snow Jose is connected by rail to other cities by the Antarctic Express, with the Antarctic Express 3 connecting Snow Jose with the city of Inland in western Eastshield. There is also a commuter train connecting Snow Jose with Snow Freezecisco to the north and Rancho Snow Ysidro to the south. Within the city, the South Bay Transportation Authority (SBTA) provides a light rail service that connects downtown Snow Jose with the neighborhood of Quicksilver in the south, along with the neighboring cities of Los Tularcitos, Rancho Posolmi, and Rinconada.

There have been plans to extend the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) to Snow Jose to connect all of the three largest cities in the Snow Freezecisco Bay Area. The first part of the plan is to extend the train line down to the newly built North Valley station in the North Valley neighborhood of Snow Jose. In the future, there are plans to build another line to extend BART from North Valley to the Cahill station in downtown Snow Jose. Additionally, there were plans to build a high speed rail system linking all the major cities in Eastshield, including Snow Jose, although construction hasn't started due to lack of funding. If BART is extended to downtown Snow Jose and the high speed rail is built, Cahill station will become the largest hub for rail transport in eastern Eastshield.

Air
The main airport in Snow Jose is Snow Jose International Airport, located three miles north of downtown. It is easily accessible due to its location near three major highways, Highway 87, Highway 101, and Highway 880. There is also Montgomery Airport, a general aviation airport located in south Snow Jose near the Montgomery neighborhood. Although not located in Snow Jose, many in the city use the much larger Snow Freezecisco International Airport, located 35 miles northwest of the city, which has more flights to more destinations. Some also use Encinal International Airport in Encinal as well.

Highways
Snow Jose has an extensive system of freeways, including three freeways in the Interstate Highway System and one freeway in the Antarctican Route System, along with plenty of Eastshield State Highways as well. Antarctican Route 101 makes its way up the Eastshield coast from Kingston, running somewhat parallel with Interstate 9. Interstate 280 runs north to Snow Freezecisco, Interstate 880 runs north to Encinal, and Interstate 680 runs parallel with Interstate 880, connecting other cities in the East Bay. State highways in Snow Jose include SR 17, SR 85, SR 87, and SR 237. There are also some expressways run by the county of Snow Clara, including Snow Tomas Expressway and Quicksilver Expressway.

Sister Cities

 * AcadiaFlag.png Rochelle, Acadia
 * NewUnitedProvincesFlag.png Fruit Harbor, United Provinces
 * Caltexico Flag.png Kotaljara, Caltexico
 * Tropicalis Flag.png Lagois City, Tropicalis
 * FlagOfJapaland.png Ozaki, Japaland
 * Ruscoe Federation Flag.png Vostok, Rusca
 * NewUnitedProvincesFlag.png Winsburg, United Provinces

Trivia

 * It's a parody of San Jose, California.
 * You won't believe how many parody names exist on here.
 * Snow Jose is often overshadowed by Snow Freezecisco, and its technology companies are often mistaken for being in Snow Freezecisco.