I live in a suburb, I'm around people all the time (though, mine is oldish, and the city council made a huge effort last year to revitalize our small Main st. with success. Plus, Boulder County has controlled growth).
Again, outside of sunbelt cities like LA, Phoenix, Houston, Jacksonville, etc. I don't see that as being true. Of course, I have a Colorado-centric view of these things.
In a sense you're totally right. Denver and especially Boulder have handled their growth extremely well compared to the rest of the west. Unfortunately, most people don't live in a place as conscience as Colorado is about its growth. It's funny that you list those cities, because I have been touting a very similar list of the country's worst cities. Mine are Charlotte, Jacksonville, Houston, Phoenix, and San Jose. I give Atlanta and Los Angeles the benefit of the doubt because they at least have major business centers or a specialized purpose. The others were and are blank, vapid, and woefully ill-prepared for growth. They've also been hit exceptionally hard by the recession because they were in the extremely fickle business of growth. They over-did it and now they're paying for their poor planning. I don't see them having very bright futures beyond this recession unless big things change.
I don't necessarily disagree with you putting San Jose on the list (but why not put LA as well, SJ also has a downtown area with culture like LA does), but most of the things you wrote at the end of your paragraph don't relate to San Jose. San Jose grew up in the 60s, 70s and 80s. It is not currently in the business of growth, like places in Nevada or Arizona (and there are similar places in California but no way is San Jose one of those).
And you exclude Atlanta because it is a major center of business, but you still include San Jose? Were you being serious there? San Jose (and surroundings) are much more important for business and contain way more headquarters for various high tech companies than San Francisco. If you are looking for a good job in the bay area, it's much more likely you will end up working near San Jose than in San Francisco.
There are also others on your list, like Houston and Charlotte, that have a good economic base and just aren't in the business of growing.
Edit: Just read the rest of the thread. While it is true that there isn't anything "necessary" about San Jose, it seems like you were putting down the economy of the region, when in reality it's stronger than most places in America. Same could be said of Houston and Dallas. Charlotte is a little down due to the banking crisis, but I have no doubts they will be an important city in the future. I can't say the same for Phoenix (it will be important, but will diminish in stature).
