San José was built to look like a small-sized town in the U.S., where everyone drives their cars, but now holds as many people as any big city!
What happens when there are too many people in a tiny space? That's right, traffic. San José is well known for terrible traffic. Sometimes a trip home can take three times as long as it should because buses and cars are fighting for space on tiny roads. More and more people are solving this problem by riding motorcycles, scooters and bicycles, so they can just weave around traffic!
Like a lot of Costa Ricans, transportation here is not super punctual. That means that people are late a lot, and it is a normal part of the culture. They call this "la hora Tica" or "Costa Rican time", because it seems like they run on their own time and do not always show up when they say they will. Another silly thing about Costa Rica is their sense of direction. Most people do not know the names of streets, and most buildings do not have numbers. People give directions based on landmarks, which sometimes are old or don't even exist anymore. Sometimes Costa Ricans will give directions just to be polite, even if they don't actually know them. Asking for directions in San José is like going on a scavenger hunt!
Even though the world sees Costa Rica as a green, environmentally friendly country, they still have a ways to go. The government is trying to make all public buses and eventually peoples' cars electric instead of gas-powered.
San José is unique because it is like a big city dressing up to be a small town.
