About the District

(See An Interactive Map of the District)

Local Cities

The Seventeeth Congressional District encompasses much of the central, and northern areas of Santa Clara County as well as the southern areas of Alameda County. This includes the cities of Cupertino, Campbell, Fremont, Milpitas, Newark, one third of San Jose, Santa Clara, and Sunnyvale. Formed in 1850, Santa Clara was one of the first counties in California. It is named after Mission Santa Clara, established in 1777, and still an active parish connected with Santa Clara University. Alameda County was established in 1853. The County was created from the territory of two counties created in 1850: Contra Costa and Santa Clara. It was given the local name for the region, Alameda, which is translated loosely as "a grove of poplars."

A blend of natural beauty and high technology

A quiet area set between rolling golden hills, urban marinas, hillside lakes/streams and dominated by verdant fields, lush orchards, a mild Mediterranean climate and rich, fertile soil, the Seventeeth District has earned the reputation of being one of the best places to live in the United States. Santa Clara Valley's beauty, for example, earned the area the name "Valley of Heart’s Delight." Similarly, Alameda County is characterized by its rich diversity and culture, standing as one of the most ethnically diverse regions of the Bay Area and indeed, the nation. Since World War II, the region has seen a large development of the manufacturing and high tech industries. This wildly successful change in industry resulted in a new name: “ Silicon Valley”. 

The densely developed District is home to many prominent and successful high tech corporations, among them: Advanced Micro Devices (Sunnyvale), Apple Computer (Cupertino), Applied Materials (Santa Clara), Intel Corp (Santa Clara), eBay (San Jose), Yahoo (Sunnyvale).