Jundiaí by Mariana C. (U3)

I grew up in Jundiaí, a city in the countryside of São Paulo and that, in my opinion is one of the best places to be raised. The name Jundiaí is a word from Tupi and comes from “jundiá”, that means catfish, and “y” that means river. From the twelfth century on the area was inhabited by indigenous peoples, and settled by the Europeans in 1615. Because of the cultivation of coffee, many immigrants came to the city, especially the Italians. Today the city has a strong Italian influence due to immigration. On 28 March 1865 Jundiaí was elevated to city.

With great force in the agricultural economy, Jundiaí stood out in cultivation of the grape, fact that today is responsible for the traditional Grape Festival. In addition, the city has a privileged geography with the “Serra do Japi”. Located southwest of the city, the mountain is a huge environmental reserve with one of the largest forest areas intact of São Paulo state. Besides, there is a beautiful new park called “ Parque da Cidade”, where we can run, do exercises, have a picnic, see the nature, the lake, and also the capybaras.
The alternatives to have fun in Jundiaí are not many compared to São Paulo. There are just one big mall, where you can find restaurants like Mc Donalds, Habbib’s, Burguer King, and other ones. Jundiaí has also just one cinema (with 9 rooms) and two theaters. There is, a main avenue where you find more places to eat, pubs, and places where you can dance too.

Nowadays Jundiaí has approximately 350,000 inhabitants and has one of the best HDI of all the state, taking the second place, after São Caetano. Because of the quality of life that the city offers, many paulistanos are moving here to have more security and for a much lower price of houses, food, rent, schools, and other things. One of the advantages is that Jundiaí is very well located between the cities of Campinas and Sao Paulo, being the perfect place to live for those working in these cities.
Knowing all these advantages, and to know much more about the city, you also should end up here sometime and see the beauties by yourself.