San Jose is the capital of Costa Rica, but unlike most capital cities, it does not have a grid like road system or “normal” street addresses. When Costa Rica was recently independent and deciding on where their capital city should be San Jose was not the original choice. They had created a system so that ever four years the capital would change to one of the different provinces in the central valley. However, this became complicated because not only is changing the capital city complicated but the people of different provinces live differently, so the government did not always run efficiently. Eventually they decided to have the capital in San Jose. With this being after San Jose had been established and roads have been made, the grid like structure of other capital cities was not seen. San Jose is set up with no grid and streets with no addresses. This can make it difficult to find your way around unless you have a guide or someone local to show you around. This is difficult for tourists as all directions are given in relation to other buildings, that they will not know unless they have been there before. Logistically it would also be difficult to send packages and mail, as there is no address on where it is coming from or who it is going to like there is in the United States. It would have to be addresses in relation to landmarks in the area. This means that not only will locals have to deliver the mail as they will now where the landmarks are, but a local would have to give the directions needed to “address” the mail or package. For a foreigner this seems rather complicated and inefficient. It would be much easier for tourists and for a mailing system if there were addresses, so that one could be sure of where they were going. I think their system is definitely holding them back on a global and tourism scale. For the locals they grew up or have lived in this system and are used to it, so it must be easy for them. However, for any tourists, specifically, it is much harder to get around. With tourism being their biggest economic sector, I think it is holding them back from the convenience most tourists want. If Costa Rica and specifically San Jose had street signs and actually addresses, it would not only be easier for the locals but also for the tourists, which could increase their efficiency.
San Jose may not be one of the main provinces that coffee and bananas are grown, however, as it is Costa Rica’s capital their presence can be seen in many different ways. One of the ways we were able to actually experience today, is the train system. There is a train that used to run throughout the majority of the country, from the mountains to the coast and ports. While this train is not used for coffee bean and banana transportation anymore, it is still used by the locals in the central valley of Costa Rica. The train is quite old but still efficient during rush hours in Costa Rica, specifically to get into San Jose. The traffic causes a trip into San Jose in the morning and evening during rush hour to be tedious and long, so the train is much more efficient. With in San Jose, you can see the coffee bean and banana influence in the architecture, specifically in the Teatro Nacional de Costa Rica. The painting on the ceiling of the theater depicts what is supposed to be a scene of historic Costa Rica, with coffee bean and banana harvesting. I say supposed to be as the Italian painter that was hired to paint the scene had never been to Costa Rica, so the people look like Europeans and the accuracy of the painting is not true to Costa Rica coffee bean and banana economy. While the painting may not be accurate, it is still a piece of the Costa Rican coffee bean and banana influence in San Jose.
San Jose and Pittsburgh do not have much in common, however there are characteristics that can be seen in both cities. They both have a large public transportation system. Both San Jose and Pittsburgh have a lot of city buses that take you within the city and to the surround areas. While the buses in San Jose are not as easily transported as the ones in Pittsburgh, they are still similar. San Jose and Pittsburgh are somewhat similar is the way their roads are set up. They both have a large amount of one way streets. Another similarity is that Pittsburgh isn’t set up exactly like a grid. There are aspects of the city that have a very grid like system, but some of the main and larger roads do not follow a grid like system, similar to San Jose. While San Jose and Pittsburgh are very different cities they do share these few things in common.