The downtown San Jose skyline may be low-lying, but that doesn’t prevent it from having a unique personality. Unlike San Francisco, its more famous and vertically inclined neighbor to the north, you could say that the capital of Silicon Valley is more of a laid back, horizontal kind of place.
One detail that stands out are architecturally interesting signs that hang off and above various buildings. Hotel DeAnza is a landmark example, sitting proudly at the end of Almaden Boulevard.
Flying in to Mineta airport provides one of the best vantage points. Even HP Pavilion has a painted logo for those not walking along Santa Clara Street.
On this particular day, though, it’s the Larkspur Sainte Claire hotel that caught our eye. Depending on the time of day, and level of cloud cover or sun, you can enjoy all manner of shadows thanks to the soaring sign set atop the rooftop of the hotel.
It’s just one more small, but tall, reason why I enjoy strolling the streets of downtown San Jose.