November 2010 Downtown Dimension Highlights

Here are my notes from the latest edition of Downtown Dimension:

• Groundwerx is now responsible for tree trimming services Downtown, adding to aesthetics and safety.
• The City Council is leaning towards agreeing to an aerial HSR structure (instead of further pushing for an underground alignment) in exchange for the ability to make design and materials decisions on the final structure.
• Lost Gatos Brewing Company is now open in the former home of A.P. Stumps (they also added tons of HDTVs and have a huge underground banquet facility).
• The renovated Civic booked its first 2011 show and will schedule a grand opening celebration.
• Hookah Nights is moving to a new home in SoFA and is changing names to Swinging Hookah
• Subway is now open at the ground floor of 360 (meh) and is the 6th Subway Downtown (double meh)
• Paesano Ristorante Italiano, the first restaurant in San Jose's Little Italy, is set to open very soon.
• San Jose is about to take control of State Highway 82 to remove a bureaucratic step in developing or improving the historic route including Blossom Hill, Monterey Highway, and the Alameda.
• A new 3 story primary and urgent care medical clinic will be built at 17th and Santa Clara Street. It should be up and running by 2014.
• Express VTA light rail service has begun and is offered 6 times daily.
• Downtown Ice opens November 19th and will continue until January 17th. Kristi Yamaguchi will celebrate the grand opening on November the 22nd.
• Downtown San Jose Holiday Schedule
• Downtown Ice opens Nov 19
• Christmas in the Park opens Nov 26
• San Jose Holiday parade is Dec 5
• Winder Wonderland opens Nov 24
• South First Friday is Dec 3
• Harvest Festival is Nov 26-28

To read the full newsletter, click here!

Soul of the Community 2010 - San Jose

This video is more oriented towards San Jose than the last Soul of the Community video I posted. If you have seen the previous one, you can fast forward to the 3 minute mark or so.


Knight Soul of the Community 2010 - San Jose from Knight Foundation on Vimeo.

Roosevelt Radio @ Britannia Arms (South De Anza)

If you feel like a dose of some local indie rock this weekend, check out Roosevelt Radio over at Britannia Arms on De Anza this Saturday! You can preview their songs right over here, or watch the video down below.

Sat 11/20 @ 9:30 pm
Britannia Arms
1087 South De Anza Blvd, San Jose
$5 at the door, 21+

Merc: Holiday Happenings in Downtown San Jose

There is a great link in the Merc today listing all of the holiday events happening in Downtown San Jose. You have great traditions like Christmas in the Park, Winter Wonderland, Downtown Ice, The Holiday Parade (ranked one of the best in the country), the Nutcracker. Then you have several stage shows ranging from the San Jose Symphony to several Pavilion concerts including the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. Now some items that I didn't even know about: $5 family movies at the opulent California Theater in SoFA, free concerts in the Cathedral Basilica of St. Joseph, and a new museum exhibit at The Tech (okay this last one I did know about). To read the full list in the Merc, just click here. Thanks Jon for the heads up!

San Jose in 2020!

I know the San Jose Downtown Association is really pushing for an underground alignment for High Speed Rail, but I really like the design of that bridge. It looks almost like a super-sized version of the new pedestrian bridge on 280. It has potential to become an iconic structure in the San Jose skyline, especially if they are able to integrate some unique lighting into it. Plus, everyone would get a nice view of how beautiful our city is from the bridge. When watching the video, also look for the A's Stadium and new housing/office developments!

What Attaches People to Their Community? (San Jose is included in the study)

Knight Soul of the Community 2010 - National from Knight Foundation on Vimeo.

Ruffled Feathers Eatery Ugly Christmas Sweater Contest

I love this idea. Ruffled Feathers Eatery in Downtown San Jose is having a contest to see who can find the ugliest Christmas Sweater. They're going to put up all of the sweaters they receive on the walls and customers will vote on their favorite in December. The winner gets a free dinner for 2 and dessert tasting (hopefully their homemade marshmallows are included in the tasting). All sweaters need to be in by November 24th to qualify for the contest!

The Sobrato Tower FINALLY Get's a Tenant!

It has been confirmed! PWC will be moving to 209,151 sqft of shiny blue glass in downtown San Jose known to most as the Sobrato tower. This flagship AAA office space has been vacant since completion in 2002. A few years ago it was destined to become the BEA headquarters, but Oracle's acquisition of BEA put a hold on those plans. Finally, this amazing building will be utilized. I was fortunate enough to tour the top floor a couple years after it was complete, and this is easily the nicest office building Downtown, if not in all of San Jose. It is unfortunate to have such a great space empty for so long... but that's all history now. Come early 2011, at least thirteen hundred workers are going to be very happy.

For more details, just head over here.

Two Buck Tuesday Today ($2 art!) @ KALEID

TWO BUCK Tuesday November 16th

from Phantom Galleries by Cherri Lakey

Another awesome evening of creative speakers, performers, demos, live painting and $2 art!
TWO BUCK Tuesday, November 16th, 7-9pm
FREE and open to the public!


Cardboard Box Theatre Project is a a South Bay theatre company, founded in 2009 by Santa Clara University alumni, dedicated to the creation of new works and the presentation of old works in new ways. The driving force behind our productions is the desire to make theatre more accessible and engaging in all respects. We concern ourselves not only with the material we present and our audiences’ financial access to our productions, but also with the mode of presentation. Instead of creating distance between the world of the audience and the world on stage, we continuously blur such lines and allow the audience to see parts of our process that other companies try to mask.
CBTP will perform Act Like Trees and Leaf - Written and Directed by Maren Lovgren
In true CBTP style, Act Like Trees and Leaf pokes fun at -- and has fun with -- the conventions of theatre as two actors audition for an amazingly unique (and probably unstable) director.


KALEID Gallery artist Josh Marcotte will speak about his current featured exhibition Insomnia. Lost San Jose Nights.


Singer/songwriter, Veronica Malki performs soulful, acoustic music resonating inspiration from nature and traveling. Her timeless style is comprised of Folk, Blues, Flamenco, and World Music qualities.


Musical Saw Workshop by DeatHat musician Kate Saturday - students, bring your saw!
Plus live painting and face painting by Mariya Milovidova

TWO BUCK Tuesday, November 16th, 7-9pm
FREE and open to the public!

KALEID Gallery
88 South 4th Street
San Jose, CA 95112
http://www.KALEIDgallery.com
(408) 947-1785

Reminder: Walk to Fight Childhood Cancer!

 

Event: 2010 Give thanks. Walk. - San Jose, CA
Location: San Jose, CA
Date: 2010-11-20

Join us on Saturday, November 20, as St. Jude supporters in the San Jose, CA community, and more than 60 other cities nationwide, come together to participate in the Give thanks. Walk. to raise money for the children of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

• Event Venue: Great Mall
• Address: 447 Great Mall Dr, Milpitas, CA 95035
• Registration Starts: 7:00 AM
• Walk Starts: 8:00 AM

Registration for this family-friendly event is FREE. Simply click "Register" from the links above to sign up and create your own personal or team fundraising Web page. From there, you will be able to send e-mails to your friends and family to ask them to join your walk team and make a donation to support the lifesaving work done at St. Jude.

Walkers who reach the following fundraising totals will receive exciting Give thanks. Walk. prizes.

• Walkers raising $35 will receive a 2010 Give thanks. Walk. t-shirt
• Walkers raising $100 will receive a t-shirt and a Give thanks. Walk. water bottle.
• Walkers raising $250 will receive a t-shirt, water bottle and a St. Jude tote bag.

To donate on behalf of a walk team or participant, select "Sponsor a Participant" from the links above and search for the person or team you would like to sponsor. Your generous donation will help St. Jude fight childhood cancer.

A special thank you to the Give thanks. Walk. National Platinum Sponsors:

Also, thank you to our local sponsors and supporters:

Questions about our local event? Interested in volunteering or getting more involved in the event planning? Please contact your local St. Jude representative:

- Laura Cuellar

- (510) 595-2100

- laura.cuellar@stjude.org

PRESS RELEASE:

San Jose residents are encouraged to register for national Give thanks. Walk. to be held November 20.

San Jose walk will be one of more than 60 events nationwide to benefit St. Jude.

ALSAC/St. Jude Contact:

Laura Cuellar

510.595.2100

Laura.cuellar@stjude.org

SAN JOSE, CA (10/05/10) – San Jose residents can join walkers across the country in taking

steps in the fight against childhood cancer by participating in the national Give thanks. Walk.™ to

be held Saturday, November 20 at the Great Mall starting at 8:00 a.m. The San Jose event is one of

more than 60 Give thanks. Walk. events held on the Saturday before Thanksgiving benefiting St.

Jude Children’s Research Hospital®.

While registration is free, participants are encouraged to ask friends and families to sponsor

them with a donation to St. Jude. All registrants who raise a minimum of $35 will receive an

official Give thanks. Walk. T-shirt. Those who register to walk by October 23 will be entered to

win a $100 gift card.

“The Give thanks. Walk. is a great opportunity for San Jose to start off the Thanksgiving

holiday healthy by participating in our event that benefits St. Jude and thousands of children who

are battling cancer and other deadly diseases,” said Laura Cuellar, St. Jude Representative.

This national event helps kick off the seventh annual St. Jude Thanks and Giving® campaign,

which encourages consumers to “Give thanks for the healthy kids in your life, and give to those

who are not.” National sponsors for the Give thanks. Walk. are New York & Company, Brooks

Brothers, Window World, AutoTrader.com and Breitling. Local sponsors for the event include La

Kalle FM, Recuerdo FM, Estereo Sol FM, El Avisador Magazine, and Great Mall.

For more information about the Give thanks. Walk. and to register, visit

www.givethankswalk.org.