Plaza de Caesar Chavez
San Jose, California
May 28, 2005 | 5:07 p.m.

Though San Jose is one of the most booming and wealthy cities in America, its downtown is mostly lifeless. But admittedly, the views outside my hotel to Plaza de Caesar Chavez, where California's first state capitol once stood, weren't that bad when I was there on a recent business trip.

Of course the historic seat of government that once stood on the downtown square has been replaced by a fountain, but who cares, right?