New Downtown San Jose site for events (including NYE options)

It is difficult finding a one-stop shop for all of the great events in Downtown San Jose. Matt Spergel has taken a shot with a new site called DTSJ.Events. The website currently pulls from the 70 different Facebook pages of Downtown venues and is still a work in progress.

The Site lists several New Years Eve options that cater towards all budgets. Now is a great time to go check out the site and make plans!

Saturday Stats: 2016 Meta Post!

It's that time of year again to look back and see the top "Saturday Stats" of 2016. The list is yet again quite impressive. San Jose ranked as the top city for salaries, jobs, life expectancy, and economy. Even Trick-or-Treating got a shout-out this year. Below are my favorite rankings for the year.

You can also see the full list of "Saturday Stats" (including previous years) with article links over here.

Rank

Stat

Source

Year

Notes

#1	Longest Life Expectancy in the US	SVBJ	2016
#10	Best Place to Live	US News & World Report	2016	SF #9
#1	Fastest Growing Private Economies	Headlight Data	2016	SF and NY not in top 10
#2	Best City for Young Professionals	Forbes	2016	SF #1
#10	Best Place to Live	U.S. News	2016	SF #9
#3	Best Places for STEM Grads	Nerdwallet	2016	SF #6
#1	City for Jobs	Glassdoor	2016	SF #2
#2	Best City for Jobs	Forbes	2016	SF #1
#1	Top City for Small Business	CNBC	2016	NY #2, SF #3
#3	Best Metro for Entrepreneurship Growth	Kauffman	2016	SF #6
#2	Healthiest City in America	24/7 Wall St.	2016	SF #14
#3	Most Educated City in the US	WalletHub	2016	SF #7
#1	Fastest Growing Economy in the US	CNBC	2016	SF #5, NY #23
#1	Best City to Trick-or-Treat In	Zillow	2016	SF #3
#1	Best City for Web Developers	Zippia	2016	SF #5
#1	Best Performing City in the US	Milken Institute	2016	SF #3

World Cup qualifying match coming to San Jose in March

On March 24th, the US Men's National Team will face off with Honduras in Avaya Stadium for a shot at the 2018 World Cup. The US lost its first two qualifying games, so it is pretty much do or die for the team. It should be a great game and it's a huge honor for San Jose to host it.

Source: SVBJ

San Jose is the #1 city for web developers

I'm sure this will surprise no one--San Jose is the top city in the US for web developers. A Zippia study looked at web developer salaries, available jobs, and cost of living to determine the best spot for a job. Despite our astronomical cost of living, San Jose still came in first with 2,930 available jobs, an average entry-level salary of $63,320 (#1), and an average salary of $107,500 (#1).

The runner up was Seattle followed by Framingham (?), Austin, and San Francisco.

Top 10 List
San Jose, CA
Seattle, WA
Framingham, MA
Austin, TX
San Francisco, CA
California, MD
Columbia, MO
Dallas, TX
Durham, NC
Atlanta, GA

Source: Zippia

Two great options in play for the Camera 12 Cinemas site

Change is always an opportunity to improve, even when the change initially seems bleak. When Camera 12 closed last September, it was a shock to the Downtown community--especially given how much livelier Downtown has become over the past several years. Now, there are two options on the table that actually would be a significant improvement to the area.

Option #1 - Luxury Movie Theater

This is exactly what Downtown needs, a destination theater that does not exist elsewhere in San Jose to draw more visitors to the area as well as provide a great local amenity for residents. It sounds like something similar to an Alamo Drafthouse is being floated as a possible suitor for the space. The theater would have luxury seating, food, and alcohol. This was the first thought that came to mind when we first heard Camera 12 was closing.

Option #2 - SJSU Student Housing Tower

San Jose State is interested in building a 20-story student housing project on the site. The building would be a mixed-use as it gets with 14 floors of housing, 4 floors of offices, a Sky Terrace, retail/restaurant space on the ground floor, and underground parking. This would bring a large number of students into the Downtown San Jose core and further intertwine the University with the community.

There is also a 3rd option, and that is to do both Option #1 and Option #2. Based on the first rendering, the tower can accommodate a luxury theater on the ground floor, which can even be used for SJSU events and classes during off-peak hours. If it comes together, it will not only fill the hole left by Camera 12's departure, but be a new amenity for all San Joseans to enjoy.

Source: The Merc, hat tip to Josh Russell for sending this in

San Jose Downtown Association 2016 Year in Review

The video below is an excellent recap of what has happened in Downtown San Jose this past year, current challenges, and what we have to look forward to in the near future. The speaker is Scott Knies, the Executive Director of the San Jose Downtown Association. While we did not have many new projects move forward in 2016, there are a large number queued up for 2017. Overall it was a great year and I highly recommend watching the video.

Scott Knies Year in review 2016 from WMS media Inc. on Vimeo.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

We hope that you and your family enjoy the holidays this year.

For a fun little adventure, you can check out the most decked out holiday decorations in San Jose along with a map and addresses over here.

May all your holiday wishes come true!

Merry Christmas!

We hope you and your families have a very merry Christmas this year!

Below is a delightful holiday card from our friends at WMS Media featuring Christmas in the Park.


Holiday Card from WMS media Inc. on Vimeo.