July 2009 Downtown Dimension Highlights

The latest issue of Downtown Dimension is now available! Here are the the items that stood out for me:

• Dine Downtown was a huge success! Restaurant week will certainly be back next year and there are even talks about having it twice per year.
• Broadway San Jose will occupy the San Jose Center of the Performing Arts and already has a dozen Broadway-caliber performances booked.
• The Civic Auditorium is receiving a $13mil upgrade.
• Ross is spending $1mil to prepare their 27 S. First Street store for opening this fall.
• $6.8mil has been approved for converting St. James and Julian from one-way streets to two-way streets. This will slow down traffic and should provide for a more "walkable" experience.
• La Vic's expansion at the Santa Clara St. location is on track.
• There is a new hot dog stand at the corner of Market & Santa Clara.

Downtown Safeway Photos

It looks like the upscale Safeway called "The Market" in downtown San Jose is really coming along. I managed to sneak a few photos while walking by and you can make out a sushi bar (the Rivermark Safeway in Santa Clara has one of these) and a Tully's coffee stand.  Also, it looks like 4 different elevators will service the store. Two of them are off to the side and are the main elevators for the public parking structure at The 88, and the other two are in the store itself and are still under construction.  My guess is that the additional two elevators will go directly from reserved Safeway parking into the store, and perhaps are the reason why the public garage has not opened yet.

Happy 4th of July!!!

(And yes, this picture is from San Jose... link to the photographer's site here!)

New San Jose Airport Is Taking Shape

I swung by the airport a few days ago and have to say that it's really coming along. The new concourse looks phenomenal!  It has a very modern, open, and welcoming feel to it. The mostly-glass facade lets you peek inside at what's to come, and it puts the ancient terminal A to shame.

The new taxi/bus stands are already operational and it looks like the monolithic parking structure is just receiving finishing touches. One of these weekends I'll have to head over there with the cameras and snap a few shots!

Traffic Relief Coming to the 280/880 Interchange

How many time have you driven to/from Santana Row or Valley Fair and found yourself sitting in massive amounts of traffic? The good news is that some relief is on the way. Several additional lanes and direct highway connectors are being planned that should reduce congestion substantially. So the bad news?  You'll have to wait until 2013 to test out that new asphalt.

For more details on this $130-150 million project, click here.

The Market Street Blues

I recently spent a week in a hotel on Market Street in San Francisco. Market is easily the busiest street in San Francisco and features retail, hotels, theaters, and a whopping 3 levels of public transportation stacked on top of one another. You have trolleys and buses at the ground level, a light rail subway below that, and if that wasn't enough you also have a BART line below the subway system. In addition, every light rail and BART line has multiple stops along market.

Naturally I assumed that this would be the place to be in SF. I envisioned nice walks with my wife to late night restaurants and bars with lot's to see and do. What a tremendous disappointment! This has to be the most inconsistent street in the world. You can be walking outside of Bloomingdales on one block and a porn megaplex in the next. Much of the retail spaces were vacant, far more than in the streets of downtown San Jose. Few places were open past 10pm besides Burger King, and most of the street is a homeless encampment (smells exactly like you would expect a homeless encampment to smell as well). Also unlike San Jose, the homeless people are very agressive and will sometimes follow you.

I have never seen a live robbery in my life, and yet during this week I saw two. First I saw someone steal a teenager's iPhone while waiting for the subway, then I saw a small group of people stealing a BMW's wheels while I was looking for parking (a nightmare in and of itself). What the heck SF? Market Street should be the nicest in the city. It's access by public transit rivals every other street I've been to besides a few in Tokyo. Market St. should be a showcase of everything San Francisco has to offer, not a sprawling homeless shelter.

We should try to learn from whatever mistakes were made leading to this Market Street cluster-mess. That way, when BART strolls through Santa Clara Street in the year 2087, we can provide an enjoyable experience to our residents and visitors!

Outdoor Movies @ Starlight Cinemas!

Want to watch a movie under the stars this summer? The Downtown San Jose Association has a great event going on called Starlight Cinemas. For the remaining showings, keep on reading or head on over to the Startlight Cinemas webpage!

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Wednesdays, June 10-Aug 26 (no show July 1)
movies begin at dusk, come early for the best seat

BYOCB(or A)- Bring Your own Chair, Blanket or Air Bed

Take advantage of San Jose's warm, summer nights and enjoy a movie under the star-studded sky with good company. Explore one of three downtown neighborhoods each week and meet the people and businesses that give downtown its character.

Find the complete movie line up for each district below:

San Pedro Square every second Wed (Jun 10, Jul 8, Aug 12). New restaurants stand side by side veteran eating establishments; European-style café seating beckons. Come early, have a seat, and stay awhile.

• July 8 – Caddy Shack (1980/ Rated R / 107 min) Starring Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield, Bill Murray; directed by Harold Ramis. Harold Ramis's breezy, laugh-a-minute comedy features some of the most inventive and hilarious men in contemporary film. Bushwood Country Club, bastion of the well-to-do, becomes a free-for-all when a mischievous rodent and Al Czervik (Rodney Dangerfield) arrive! Pre-movie entertainment: Comedian kicking off the mood and wear your most outrageous plaid and/or golf outfit and compete for prizes!
• August 12 – Monty Python and The Holy Grail (1975/ Rated PG/ 91 min) Starring Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin; directed by Gilliam and Jones. Considered the first "proper" film by the Monty Python troupe and mainstream audiences. The film spoofs the legends of King Arthur's quest to find the Holy Grail. Idle used the film as inspiration for the 2005 Tony Award-winning musical Spamalot, using songs such as “Knights of the Round Table” and “Brave Sir Robin.” Pre-movie entertainment: TBD – local performance group to perform Monty Python themed entertainment.

Historic District every third Wed (Jun 17, Jul 15, Aug 19) on Post Street between Market and First streets. Discover unparalleled entertainment and dining options tucked inside some of downtown's oldest and grandest buildings, plus transit services steps from the front door.

• July 15 – Casablanca (1942/ NR/ 102 minutes) Starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman; directed by Lawrence W. Butler. One of the most memorable of all film experiences. Wartime refugees gather in Morocco to obtain scarce exit visas to Lisbon. The final airport scene is not to be forgotten. Pre-movie entertainment: Rene Solis & Lucky 13 (rockin blues) and Bogart impersonation contest.
• August 19 – A Streetcar Named Desire (1951/ NR /122 minutes) Starring Vivien Leigh, Kim Hunter and Marlon Brando; directed by Elia Kazan. Blanche Dubois moves in with her sister, Stella, and Stella’s husband, Stanley. Blanche refuses to come to terms with the death of her Southern aristocratic background, causing her to conflict with her lower-class brother-in-law. Stanley harshly forces her to face the facts, driving her to a complete personality breakdown in this cinematic version of the classic Tennessee Williams play. Pre-movie entertainment: Jimmy Dewrance Blues (Delta style blues) and Brando impersonation “Stella” shouting contest.

Click here to go to the Starlight Cinemas webpage.

Famous People From San Jose

Were you just wondering about famous people that were either born or ended up moving to San Jose? ... No? Well, I bet you are now.

Click here to see the Wikipedia list of people that were born here, moved here, and just for kicks there's even a list of popular bands started in San Jose.