"San Diego is a city next to the Mexican-American border on Southern California's Pacific coast. With a population of more than 1.4 million, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States and the second most populous in California. Meanwhile, the San Diego metropolitan area, which has more than 3.3 million inhabitants, is the 18th largest metropolitan area in the country. The county seat of San Diego County is San Diego. It is well-known for its wide beaches and parks, moderate Mediterranean climate, long history with the US Navy, and its recent rise to prominence as a hub for the development of biotechnology, electronics, wireless, and healthcare. Tourism, international trade, manufacturing, research, and military and defense-related businesses make up the biggest sectors of San Diego's economy. Numerous universities, such as UC San Diego, San Diego State University, and the University of San Diego, are located in the city. With an expected five million residents as of 2022, San Diego serves as the economic hub of the San Diego–Tijuana region, the second-most populated transborder metropolitan area in the Western Hemisphere. The San Ysidro Port of Entry, the main border crossing between San Diego and Tijuana, is the busiest international land border crossing outside of Asia and ranks fourth overall. The busiest single-runway airport in the US is San Diego International Airport (SAN). As the first spot that Europeans visited and inhabited on what is now the U.S. West Coast, San Diego, which has historically been home to the Kumeyaay people, has been dubbed the Birthplace of California.[18] Alta California was settled 200 years later after Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo claimed the region for Spain in 1542. The first European settlement in modern-day California was established in 1769 by the Presidio and Mission San Diego de Alcalá. San Diego joined the newly established Mexican Empire in 1821. After the Mexican-American War, California was given over to the United States in 1848, and it became the 31st state to join the union in 1850. Given the city's location on the border between Mexico and the United States, its sizable Chicano population, and its past as a part of both Mexico and Hispanic America, San Diego's culture is greatly impacted by the blending of Mexican and American cultures. San Diego's culture is also influenced by its longstanding ties to the US military. Balboa Park is home to the San Diego Zoo and a number of well-known museums, including the San Diego Museum of Art, the San Diego Natural History Museum, the Museum of Us, the Museum of Photographic Arts, and the San Diego Air & Space Museum. The Santa Fe Depot downtown is home to a branch of the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (MCASD), which is based in La Jolla.

A hub for politics, business, and culture in Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area is San Jose. It has a population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area of 1.95 million, making it the most populated city in Northern California and the Bay Area and the 12th most populated city in the US.San Jose is the county seat of Santa Clara County and occupies 179.97 square miles (466.1 km2) on the southern shore of San Francisco Bay, in the heart of the Santa Clara Valley. With a GDP of $1.03 trillion in 2018, the CSA San Jose, which it shares with San Francisco, was the third-largest urban economy in the nation. At $106,757, this CSA has one of the highest GDPs per capita among the more than 500 major statistical areas in the United States in 2018. There is a height restriction for structures in the downtown area of San Jose Mineta International Airport, which is located beneath the airport's final approach corridor (as shown in the panoramic above). Local ordinances set the height limit, which is determined by the distance from the runway and a slope specified by FAA rules. The maximum height of core downtown buildings is at 300 feet (91 meters), though they can rise higher as they move away from the airport. The city's architecture has been much criticized in recent decades. Residents have voiced their displeasure about San Jose's dearth of visually appealing architectural designs. This lack of architectural "beauty" might be attributed to the downtown area's redevelopment starting in the 1950s, which involved demolishing entire blocks of old residential and commercial buildings. This is not the case for the Downtown Historic District, the Hotel De Anza, and the Hotel Sainte Claire, all of which are recognized for their architectural and historical value and are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Numerous institutions and colleges can be found in San Jose. The largest is San José State University, the original site of the California State University (CSU) system and the California State Normal School, established by the California government in 1862. The institution, which has been in downtown San Jose since 1870, offers more than 250 bachelor's, master's, and doctorate degree programs to about 35,000 students. Because San Jose is a charter city under California law, it has the authority to pass municipal regulations that, within the bounds of the charter, may be in violation of state law.Under the city's council-manager system, the mayor nominates and the city council elects the city manager.