Saturday, August 10, 2013

Saturday Stats: San Jose Ranked as the Best City to Work In!!!

Today we have yet another huge statistical win, Glassdoor ranked San Jose as the best city to work in! This is such a huge accomplishment that I didn't even bother with a source link, the full article is below. SF ranked #2, followed by Seattle, Salt Lake City, and Utah. NYC, the alpha city of the US (and the world) ranked #32.

San Jose Best City To Work In; Glassdoor Employment Satisfaction Report Card By City

Posted by Glassdoor Team • June 21st, 2013 • 67 Comments

You can learn a lot about a city from others’ experiences thanks to social media, whether it’s the best restaurants to eat, which neighborhoods are quietest, or even what the weather is like at any given moment. But, what about what it’s like to work in 50 of the largest cities across the country? If you’re thinking about getting a new job in a different city, you might want to consider what others have to say and where employees are most satisfied.

To help, the Glassdoor Employment Satisfaction Report Card by City¹ offers an inside look into what it’s like to work in 50 of the largest U.S. metros. Not only does this report offer a comparison of overall employment satisfaction by city, but it goes in-depth to also compare compensation and benefits satisfaction, senior management satisfaction, expectations for company outlook, and the number of employers hiring per city.

This report is based on U.S. metro population and at least 500 reviews per metro shared on Glassdoor by local employees over the past year.

Top 5 Cities for Employment Satisfaction:

The Bay Area takes the lead as San Jose, CA (3.4 average employment satisfaction rating) and San Francisco, CA (3.4) take the top two spots. Interestingly, both cities are home to five companies that made Glassdoor’s Top 50 Best Places to Work for 2013 report – San Jose (Google #6, LinkedIn #14, Agilent Technologies #30, Intel#31, Apple #34) & San Francisco (Facebook #1, Riverbed Technology #3, Chevron #13, Workday #19,Salesforce.com #22).

Rounding out the top five cities for overall employment satisfaction are Seattle, WA (3.4), Salt Lake City, UT (3.3), and Washington, DC (3.3). (Ratings based on a 5-point scale: 1.0=very dissatisfied, 3.0=OK, 5.0=very satisfied).

Check out the complete results:

¹For simplicity of reporting, ratings are rounded to the nearest tenth. To determine rank, actual ratings extend to the thousandth.

Want to know even more about jobs hiring in the ten highest-rated cities? Check out just some of the most in-demand jobs:

#1: San Jose, CA

In-Demand Jobs:

#2: San Francisco, CA

In-Demand Jobs:

#3: Seattle, WA

In-Demand Jobs:

#4: Salt Lake City, UT

In-Demand Jobs:

#5: Washington, DC

In-Demand Jobs:

#6: Orlando, FL

In-Demand Jobs:

#7: San Diego, CA

In-Demand Jobs:

#8: Boston, MA

In-Demand Jobs:

#9: Memphis, TN

In-Demand Jobs:

#10: Austin, TX

In-Demand Jobs:

Note: Job titles represent just some of the most in-demand jobs per city; Based on at least 100 job listings per job title per city on Glassdoor as of 6/10/13.

Friday, August 9, 2013

Cross Process Tonight @ Empire Seven Studios

Martha's Kitchen in San Jose

Martha's Kitchen - Meet Cheri a Volunteer from WMS media Inc. on Vimeo.

Nestled between downtown San Jose and the quaint town of Willow Glen lies a “little soup kitchen”. Founder Louise Benson began this work out of her garage when she prepared and gave away peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the poor. Then in 1981, she and her friends started Martha’s Kitchen on the premises of the Sacred Heart Church serving hot meals. The kitchen was named after a biblical figure, Martha, who unfailingly offered hot meals to Jesus and his band of followers on their frequent journeys through the community of Bethany.

Today, this “little soup kitchen” is not so little anymore. It still gives out hot meals onsite with its mission to “feed the hungry with dignity, no questions asked, no judgment made.” And its meals are hot and complete with soup, salad, roll, starch, a main dish, fruit and dessert. It also sends out over 210,000 hot and cold meals annually to more than a dozen other non-profit organizations in Santa Clara county as far south as Gilroy, and even to the dusty agricultural Merced county to support the hungry. Before the end of 2010 it served its 2,000,000th meal since its founding, and has now grown to an annual production of over 250,000 meals.

The “little soup kitchen that could” has proven it certainly could run an efficient kitchen with a lean staff of 6 employees which includes the Executive Director/Development Director, Operations Manager, two cooks and two and a half kitchen help. Edita Cruz, Executive Directors forecasts that Martha’s Kitchen will prepare 1,000,000 meals in as little as every four years.

Thursday, August 8, 2013

SJC Passenger Traffic is Up 5.4%

June 2013 saw an impressive 5.4% increase in passenger volume at San Jose International over June of last year. Traffic is undoubtedly being helped by the new ANA nonstop to Tokyo and new flights to LA from both Virgin and Delta. The economy also likely isn't hurting either. In total, 8.3 million passenger flew through SJC last year and unless something radical happens the 2013 tally is going to exceed that.

This is not only good for the airport, but it is good for the city of San Jose as well since it owns and operates the airport. Now if we could just get a few more of those international flights!

Source: SVBJ

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

No Walls Between Us - An Exhibit of Jazz Photographs by Kathy Sloane

August 2nd to September 29th

ARTISTS RECEPTION:
Saturday, August 10th, 3pm-60m

San Jose, CA—San Jose’s Cafe Stritch, formerly Eulipia Restaurant, continues its heritage of presenting cutting-edge jazz and art by mounting a show of famed jazz photographer Kathy Sloane’s powerful, atmospheric portraits of jazz greats.

In 2011 The University of Indiana Press published Sloane’s book Keystone Korner: Portrait of a Jazz Club, now in its second printing. The book was recommended by The Library Journal, Downbeat and JAZZIZ magazines, and was awarded Book of the Year Award: Gold (Performing Arts) by ForeWord Reviews. The photos in the exhibition are drawn in part from her acclaimed book and also include other jazz photos from her 30-year career.

The exhibit will coincide with Cafe Stritch’s Rahsaan Roland Kirk Tribute Week (August 7 – August 11). Kirk’s “Theme for the Eulipions” gave Eulipia its name in 1977, and the restaurant’s owners (as well as their children, current owners of Cafe Stritch) carry on the tradition of reverence for Rahsaan Roland Kirk and jazz. Trombonist Steve Turre, who played for many years with Kirk, will be playing at Café Stritch on August 8, 9, and 10, and Kirk’s widow Dorthaan will attend all of the activities during Cafe Stritch’s weeklong tribute to her late husband.

About Kathy Sloane:
Sloane began her life as a self taught photographer in San Francisco’s Keystone Korner Jazz Club in 1976, drawn to the music of improvisation, beauty and resistance that for her became a metaphor for the struggles of the 1960s in which she had participated as a literature and writing teacher. For 37 years she has committed herself to photographing the multicultural life of the Bay Area with the task of understanding and depicting the myriad ways in which various communities give meaning and value to all our lives.

She has exhibited in New York, San Francisco, Grenada, West Indies and France, and has won numerous awards for her still photographs, five of which were part of the Ken Burns television mini-series “Jazz.” Her work is in the permanent collections of the de Saisset Museum in Santa Clara, CA, the Smithsonian Institution Jazz Oral History Program, The East Bay Community Foundation, Alameda County Hospital and the Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr. Fund. She has also produced photo essays for UNICEF in Grenada, West Indies; Global Deaf Connection in Jamaica, West Indies; and Head Start in New York City. http://www.kathysloanephotographer.com/

About Cafe Stritch:
Opened in March, 2013, Café Stritch was named for an iconic saxophone used by Rahsaan Roland Kirk, the jazz great whose composition “Theme for the Eulipions” gave rise to the name Eulipia, the white tablecloth restaurant and jazz club that preceded Cafe Stritch in the same location in the heart of San Jose’s SoFA arts district at 374 South First Street, (408) 280-6161.

Cafe Stritch presents live entertainment a minimum of five nights each week including jazz, indie, folk, and DJ’s. Beverages include a variety of craft beer, specialty cocktails, and a full service coffee bar serving offerings from recently founded local coffee roaster Chromatic Coffee Company. The food menu features large and small plate affordable offerings including fried chicken & waffles, hamburger sliders, jambalaya, salads and a variety of house-made soups.

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Video of the New Samsung US Headquarters in San Jose

The new Samsung HQ broke ground several weeks ago and we have all seen the photo mock-ups of what the final product will look like. However, the video below gives a much better feeling of what it will be like to walk through the new buildings and drive around them. I think it is pretty safe to say that when complete, this will be the most impressive office building in San Jose and perhaps even Silicon Valley. Can't wait to see the end result!

Source: San Jose Development Forum

Monday, August 5, 2013

2013 San Jose Jazz Summer Fest Lineup

One of the largest Jazz festivals in the world is returning to San Jose this weekend (Aug 9-11). It's going to feature over 1,000 artists across 11 different stages, including Pink Martini, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, and Cameo! Music genres include all sorts of Jazz, Blues, Salsa, Latin, New Orleans, and R&B.

To see the lineup in an awesome promo video highlighting Downtown San Jose, click here. For more info, schedules, and tickets, click here.

One South Update!

One of our readers sent in the below photo and information, showing the excavation for Downtown's One South hi-rise. The really interesting part is that there is now an archaeological component to the project! Read below for the details, and thanks so much Jordan for sending this in!

"A coworker sent me this picture. From her office, she is able to see into the construction site. Apparently, the construction site has partially become an archaeological dig! According to a reference, that area was the original market that gave Market Street it's name - so it's probably a basement or some interesting foundation of the forgotten market.

You can see workers carefully sifting through dirt on the right hand side of the picture. Hopefully, it's all something that can be photo documented. Any discovery of human bones can possibly delay the project for a bit. Otherwise, the rest of the site is still pushing forward in construction!"

Sunday, August 4, 2013

New Eateries Coming to Valley Fair

Here is a quick update on the new places to eat at Valley Fair that should be opening soon (thanks to an anonymous poster):

Dining Terrace Eateries

Super Duper Burger
Chipotle (Replacing Rubios)
Youji
Old Port Lobster Shack

Other Eateries Opening in Valley Fair

Coffee Bean
Pompolo Restaraunt & Lounge
Bar Code Cafe

Source: Anonymous on Older Blog Post

An artist's rendering of what the new dining terrace at Westfield Valley Fair will look like.

Saturday, August 3, 2013

Saturday Stats: Downtown San Jose Ranked as the Second Most Affordable Neighborhood with a High WalkScore in the Bay Area

We all know that the Downtown San Jose region has an excellent WalkScore, and it is likely to only get better in the future as more retail, residential, and transit options are brought Downtown. In this latest study, Downtown ranks as the second most affordable region in the Bay Area with a high WalkScore. Emeryville came in 1st and Albany came in 3rd. I also think they looked at the greater Downtown region and not the core. There are many places Downtown (like around The 88) that have a WalkScore of 99 or 100. See below for the full press release.

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ZipRealty Ranks the Most Walkable Cities
With the Most Affordable Homes Near San FranciscoEmeryville tops the list with median home sales prices averaging less than $400,000.

EMERYVILLE, Calif., July 23, 2013 – ZipRealty, Inc. (http://www.ziprealty.com) (NASDAQ: ZIPR), the leading online residential real estate brokerage and technology provider, has teamed up with Walk Score to rank the most walkable cities with the most affordable homes near San Francisco. To create the list, ZipRealty analyzed data provided by WalkScore.com for each city in the nine-county Bay Area combined with ZipRealty’s own knowledge of current median home sales prices to produce a walkability/affordability ratio. All three of the communities ranked by ZipRealty have a Walk Score of 70 or higher, which means they are “Very Walkable,” according to Walk Score. The Walk Score ratings used in this study are calculated by assessing the walkability of approximately every block across a city or neighborhood, and may vary slightly by specific addresses.

“One of the allures of living in San Francisco is the city’s beautiful and convenient walkability, and that appeal is well-reflected in its lofty real estate prices. With that in mind, we wanted to provide interested home buyers with more affordable options with great walkability beyond the city’s borders,” says CEO and President Lanny Baker. “According to our partner Walk Score, San Francisco is the second-most walkable large city in the United States, behind New York City,” he notes. “In the local study we conducted, the most walkable and affordable communities were quite surprising alternatives to the high average price in San Francisco, which currently exceed $1 million.”

“Walk Score helps people find walkable places to live across the country and throughout the world,” says Walk Score CEO Josh Herst. Walk Score is a number between 0 and 100 that measures the walkability of any address, whether it’s a single-family home or rental apartment. To calculate city- or neighborhood-level scores, the company calculates the Walk Score of approximately every block across a city or neighborhood (points spaced roughly 500 feet apart) and then weights the Walk Score of each point by population density. Therefore, the walkability ranking reflects where people actually reside, so that cities don’t have lower scores due to green spaces or bodies of water, for instance.

The top three most walkable cities outside of San Francisco with the most affordable homes are:

City Median Price Walk Score
1) Emeryville (City Center) $388,888 80

2) Downtown San Jose $508,450 74

3) Albany $622,500 86

While median home prices of $380,000-625,000 in Emeryville, San Jose and Albany are high relative to average U.S. prices, which stood at $280,500 in the 24 metro areas surveyed by ZipRealty as of June 30, those local home prices are relatively affordable compared to the Bay Area median home price of $620,000. “You can buy a home priced well under the Bay Area median home price average in the cities we ranked, and these places are all very walkable,” Mr. Baker adds.

“There is a natural and strong affinity between Walk Score and ZipRealty, which is why we have long been partners,” says Mr. Baker. “At ZipRealty, we are committed to delivering all the information, tools and expert advice serious real estate consumers need, including an accurate and comprehensive database of homes listed for sale, all the tools within our Seller Center and easy and direct access to well-informed local real estate agents. Meanwhile, Walk Score helps people make informed choices about the walkability and commutability of the neighborhoods in which they might reside. In fact, on all of the homes listed for sale on ZipRealty.com, we have published each home’s Walk Score just below the home’s ‘Go See This Home/Request More Info’ call-to-action buttons,” Mr. Baker says.

“The trend in urban areas is moving toward less dependency on cars and a greater commitment to live more sustainably,” says Mr. Herst. “Furthermore, people in walkable neighborhoods weigh six to 10 pounds less than those who don’t. Walk Score has also done extensive research showing that walkable places make people happier and healthier. Finally, short commutes reduce stress levels and give people more free time to be involved in their communities.”

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www.ziprealty.com