Knight Soul of the Community is a three-year study conducted by Gallup of communities across the U.S.  The San Jose Metropolitan Area is one of them.  This 2010 chart is all about civic attachment -- and perceived performance.  Take a look, then we'll tell you about your new neighbor, Marc.

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Marc W. lives on McKee Road.  This bright and enterprising new resident moved to an affordable apartment in San Jose.  Which district is he in?  His nearest neighbors are at Arbor Terrace Senior Apartments and the coyotes in the Sierra Vista Open Space Preserve.  His polling place (find yours here) is at the Community Room there at the Senior Apartments.  He could vote in Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese or English.

"San Jose needs to do a better job of attracting and nurturing the workforce of tomorrow - talented young college graduates and immigrants who could provide vital skills and resources to help our community grow and prosper,” said Judith Kleinberg, Knight Foundation's Program Director for San Jose and Silicon Valley. “Obviously, welcoming job-seekers and immigrants is not only important to the vitality of our community but also important to our economic growth. We need to find new ways to make the San Jose region a more welcoming and socially interesting place to live and work. I look forward to working with San Jose leaders to explore ways to translate the results of the study into new approaches to improving our community."

From 2008 to 2010, the Knight Foundation's Soul of the Community surveys show how people responded as the San Jose economy was at a high point, experienced a decline, then moved forward in recovery. This coincided with a national recession caused by the financial crisis of late 2008.  Here is a chart showing the employment statistics for that time period, in a graph of Fred Economic Date compiled by the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank. 

Even with a depressed economy, and skyrocketing unemployment, residents still felt a strong attachment to the area. Unlike the recession earlier in the decade, the population of the area did not decline, as shown by the following graph (also from the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank). It merely flattened out, only to resume its gradual increase in 2010.

This community includes many high-tech workers from East and South Asia, Eastern European immigrants, as well as poorer immigrants from Latin America, many of whom can be found in the large, multi-generational barrio Alum Rock district. San Jose has the largest Vietnamese population of any city in the world outside of Vietnam.  The people from these countries have settled in the city and across the Santa Clara Valley primarily during the last three or four decades.

Marc, an urban hipster, will be surprised to know his new congressional district includes parts of Gilroy (the Garlic capital) as well as the SJ airport.   Despite being active in Save the Bay, his environmental activism must now be redirected toward hilltop nature reserves and bird habitats, and from roof-top gardening to policies to protect the garlic industry from Chinese imports. Marc is particularly intrigued by the two Mexican bars on the corner and the bus stop with signs in every language but English.

Consistent with the conclusions of the Soul of the Community survey, Marc is working full time, taking classes, and looking forward to using his new skills in better and better jobs.  Downstream, when he marries and raises a family factors like school districts and home ownership will influence his perception of neighborhood, but for now, his attachment to San Jose will depend on affordability, commute times, good jobs and all the social fabric that makes San Jose a great place to live.