The Sixteenth Congressional District takes in most of San Jose, in the Santa Clara Valley. Formerly known as the Valley of the Heart's Delight due to its lush agriculture, the Santa Clara Valley has become the incubator and home for the nation's foremost high-technology companies. It is now known around the world as Silicon Valley.
Over the last half centurty, the Sixteenth District and the Santa Clara Valley where it is situated have been the focus of most of the innovative technologies which have changed our world. The area has been a leader in the development of the integrated circuit, chip manufacturing, defense technology, software, personal computers, communications, the internet, and most recently, biotech. It is home to many of the world's great high-technology companies.
The home of Stanford University, the Santa Clara Valley area has attracted or raised many of the best technologists, inventors, and entrepreneurs. Stanford is not in the Sixteenth District, but has a warm spot in Zoe's heart since she took her undergraduate degree there in 1970 and because it has been such a wellspring of innovators and entrepreneurs. Along with the Santa Clara University, where Zoe took her law degree, and San Jose State University, Stanford has helped to produce and attract the technical and managerial capital that has fueled the tech revolution. Silicon Valley is also a center for the venture capital industry, which finances the development of products from the new idea stage to the marketplace.
Partly as a result of technologists and engineers who have been drawn here by the high-tech opportunities, partly as a result of historic immigration trends, Santa Clara Valley and the Sixteenth District are highly diverse communities. Nearly half of Santa Clara County's residents speak a language other than English at home. The County has the largest Latino and Asian populations in the San Francisco Bay Area, and is home to the second largest Vietnamese community in the United States. Cesar Chavez, the world renowned leader of the farmworker's union, did his first organizing in a community service organization in a neighborhood that is currently in the 16th Congressional District and lived here for many years.
The melding of cultures and ideas makes the Sixteenth District one of the most vibrant areas of the United States. Congresswoman Lofgren's focus in Congress on high-tech and immigration issues makes her an ideal representative for the area.