View from the Downtown San Jose Marriott

This is a perspective you don't often see of Downtown San Jose from the top of the Marriott. It's really the only way to get the long view of Plaza de Cesar Chavez without being in an office building.

Updated lighting on the Adobe Pedestrian Bridge in Downtown San Jose

It looks like Adobe has further improved the lighting on their pedestrian bridge which now features a long gradient instead of a solid color. I also didn't notices the metal dragonflies the last time I was there (3rd photo).

In the very last photo, the main entrance to the free Adobe Museum is next to the A sign. I highly recommend going there if you are into tech nostalgia. It's open during business hours Monday through Friday and also has a slick interactive art room hidden in a corner.

Source: aphelion2100 from Skyscraper City

Another great photo of San Jose

Below is quite a stunning perspective of Downtown San Jose that I have never seen before. This shows how population density is quickly increasing.

Source: Forbes, Dirt Patch from the San Jose Development Forum

Downtown San Jose from Backesto Park

I love this photo from gillynova on the San Jose Development Forum. This was taken using a drone and provides a unique perspective of Downtown San Jose.

If you are curious about the exact location, Backesto Park is bound by 13th St., 15th St., Jackson St., and Empire St. It is perhapse best known as the location for the Luna Park Chalk Art Festival.

Photo of the San Jose City Hall Rotunda

Check out this great photo of one of our most significant landmarks from Paul. The photo is entitled Citadel San Jose 02.

Source: cardinal2007 from the San Jose Development Forum

Time-lapse photo montage of Downtown high-rises

What happens when you piece together dozens of photos taken from City Heights between 2012 and 2016? You get a really neat 33 second montage showing the construction of One South, Centerra, and Silvery Towers. Check out the video below!

Big thanks to David Cheung for sending this in.

Silvery Towers at Sunset

This beautiful photo from C2K Architecture shows off the Bank of America building and both cranes from the Silvery Towers project in Downtown San Jose. It looks like both high-rise buildings are going to get a stunning sunset view when completed next year.

Source: Hillrise from the San Jose Development Forum

Photo by Edward Nowak: www.edwardnowakphotography.com

New Aerial Photo of Downtown San Jose

A Flickr user that goes by bior snapped a surprisingly good photo of Downtown San Jose from an airplane earlier this month. The shiny blue One South building really pops in the photo. Besides the Tech Museum, it is easily the building that stands out the most in the skyline. Click the image below to enlarge.

Source: Frostys from the San Jose Development Forum

Photo of Downtown San Jose From Groesbeck Hill Park

Check out this rare view of Downtown San Jose from the east that Cardinal2007 posted on the San Jose Development Forum. The photo was taken from Groesbeck Hill Park and shows Raging Waters and Lake Cunningham in the foreground. Rancho San Antonio and the Lehigh Permanente Quarry are in the background. I thought this was a drone photo until I read the description on the Flickr page.

Downtown San Jose CA by mcrider, on Flickr

"A different view of downtown from almost perfectly east near Lake Cunningham shows downtown and behind it the mountains around Rancho San Antonio and the Lehigh Permanente Quarry."

Edward Nowak's Downtown San Jose Photos

Edward Nowak is a talented photographer that lives in Downtown San Jose. I stumbled upon his work thanks to a post by Cardinal2007 in the San Jose Development Forum. I absolutely love his photos! He captured some perspectives of our city that I have not seen before. Below are a few of my favorites, but he has many over here.

Stormy San Jose Sunset - Oct. 31, 2014 

Evening Arrival at San Jose International Airport

Downtown San Jose from City Heights

Blue Sunset over San Jose - Mar. 14, 2015 

Downtown San Jose from the Taylor Street Bridge

Historic Photo: Downtown San Jose at 1st and San Antonio

Check out this photo that is nearly 100 years old! Cardinal2007 from the San Jose Development Forum gives a great description below of what you see in this image and what exists today.

South First Street, San Jose, c.1920 by Bennett Hall, on Flickr

"1st St, and San Antonio. The Montgomery Hotel on the left was moved south to make way for the Fairmont Annex, currently Muji is at that location. The entire block to San Fernando was redeveloped on both sides, the Fairmont Hotel is on the south end, and the building that says Pacific was replace by the Knight Ridder Building. On the right is a 2 story office/data center with retail on the first floor, a reuse of the failed Pavilion Mall. The building to the right south of San Antonio is still there, currently apartments, the movie theater wraps around it. Between San Fernando and Santa Clara on the right is most of the same buildings on the left some where redeveloped, one burned down, and is now an empty lot owned by the Archdiocese. 

The light rail tracks are roughly between the tracks and where the cars are parked on the right. The old tracks are long gone."

Photo of Hart's Department Store

Below is a photo of Hart's Department Store from the 1950s. It was one of the last department stores to shut down, closing its doors for the last time in 1968 after a 102 year history in Downtown San Jose. You can also see the Basilica poking its head in the background of the photo.

Source: cardinal2007 from the San Jose Development Forum

Aerial Photo of Downtown San Jose

This photo was posted in the San Jose Development Forum by cardinal2007. Amazingly, it was taken from a plane window on an early morning flight leaving SJC. Ken Sweezey took the photo in 2013. It's already missing several buildings (One South, Centerra, Courthouse, etc.). It would be interesting to see the same shot in 2018 after Silvery Towers, the Pierce, the Gateway Tower, the St. James Park Towers, Symphony Hall, AC Hotel, and the SJSU projects are complete.

Another Slick City Hall Photo

Cardinal2007 from the San Jose Development Forum has found yet another cool Downtown San Jose photo. This one is by Alejandro Gomez:

San Jose Historic Photos

Check out this amazing collection of photos put together for History San Jose. Thanks to Arturo from the Skyscraper City Community for finding this. I have posted some of my favorites below (check out what St. James Park used to look like in 1890!).

Couple of New One South Market Shots

Below are a couple of new wide angle One South Market shots courtesy of Jeff Arko. Most shots of One South are taken from Santa Clara Street, but these were taken just north of Santa Clara in the parking lot between Market and 1st. One South is really helping fill the skyline from this angle and still has at least six more floors to go before being topped off. I can't wait to see this building when it's done, especially at night when the LEDs are on. I added a couple of renders for reference on what this will end up looking like.

2014 PAC*SJ Historic Photo Contest

In celebration of Preservation Month this May, the Preservation Action Council of San Jose (PAC*SJ) is hosting their 2014 Historic Photo Contest. In order to participate, all you have to do is send photos of historic structures or artifacts in San Jose to Contest2014@SJHistoricalPhoto.com. The name, category (student or adult) and a description of the photograph must accompany each photo submission. Also, photos must have been taken in 2013 or 2014 and should be in a jpg format. The deadline for submission is April 27th. The winners reception with awards and prizes will take place on June 5th at the Southern Lumber Company, 1402 Monterey Highway, San Jose.

"The mission of this contest is to promote historic preservation by raising awareness of San Jose's historic resources, to celebrate the efforts to preserve our city's history, and to recognize the irreplaceable historic resources that are threatened."

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Amazing Downtown San Jose Photos

Check out these two awesome photos taken recently of Downtown San Jose during the holiday season! These were shot by lastlightbender on Instagram (thanks to Robertee from the San Jose Development forum for the link). I think these are among my top ten favorite Downtown San Jose photos taken of all time... stunning.

Source: Lastlightbender (Instagram), Robertee from SSC

Instagrammers Silicon Valley Meet-up & Night Walk: Friday May 3rd

Are you on Instagram? Do the words amaro, valencia, earlybird, or hefe mean anything to you? Do you find yourself stopping every few feet while walking around Downtown (or another part of the city) snapping photos and telling people to "Hold on, I gotta share this!"

Well good news, you're among friends!

This Friday, at the South FIRST FRIDAY event, Instagrammers Silicon Valley is holding a meet-up and night walk.

Just make sure your cell phone is charged and ready to snap photos. The group meets at 6pm at McCormick & Schmick's for Happy Hour and then will start the walk at 7pm.

Meet up with fellow Instagram enthusiasts and photographers while enjoying the evening's FIRST FRIDAY event.

Instagram Accounts to follow:

Instagrammers Silicon Valley
@igerssv

The San Jose Blog
@thesanjoseblog


See you there!