San Jose Via Velo "Bike Party" this Saturday!

On Saturday, May 15th from 10am to 3pm, San Fernando Street is being shut down between 3rd St. and 87 for what is essentially a huge bike party. I'll quote the flyer below: "The ViaVelo turns this otherwise busy thoroughfare into a car-free promenade to gather, bike, walk, skate, dance, or stroll on a sunny May day." This event will feature live music on 2 stages, green living demonstrations, children's activities, guided bike rides, organic food cooking demos, a high-tech scavenger hunt via bike, yoga, and some giveaways for kids. Sounds like an awesome event! Thanks to Quan for sending this in.

The San Jose Blog's 1 Year Anniversary!!!

Exactly one year ago today The San Jose Blog launched with a simple premise, and that's to incubate enthusiasm for San Jose. 200+ blog posts later, I have to say I'm extremely satisfied with how things have turned out and it's crystal clear there are people out there that feel just as passionately about San Jose as I do. In fact, over 22,000 individuals have visited this blog since launch. We have even been able to add a second writer to cover the Shark's amazing run this playoff season!

While many San Jose blogs and sites have come and gone over the past year, the overall trend is a positive one. Never has there been such an active community of people that love San Jose. Over the past year, we've seen the launch of I Heart SJ, San Jose 2030, and the resurrection of SJ21. We have some outstanding projects in the hopper like the San Pedro Square Market, Little Italy, the Earthquakes Stadium, HSR, BART, SJC Terminal B, @First, Guadalupe River Park revitalization, the A's Stadium, and at least half dozen high-rises waiting in the wings when the economy improves. Downtown San Jose--the very heart of our city--is the most active it's been in half a century and its potential has never been greater than it is today.

I think this next year will be the one where San Jose is finally recognized as a true world-class city, and we'll be here to blog about it! Thanks so much for reading and supporting San Jose, and stay tuned for a whole lot of posts today in celebration of our 1st Anniversary!

-Josh

Tomorrow is our One Year Anniversary!

One last reminder that tomorrow will be our one year anniversary, expect lots of posts! Be sure to check back throughout the day.

Campbell Trying to Steal First Fridays?

Yesterday I ran into the blog post below on San Jose Metblogs. I think I'll take Downtown Campbell's blatant attempt to rip off San Jose's widely successful South First Fridays as a compliment. I just wish they picked another day (second Friday perhaps) so that these events would not have to compete with one another. This could turn ugly.

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Spring in Campbell – Downtown First Friday

By Gary Wiens

May 7th, 2010 @ 4:34 PM Campbell, Events, Fun, Wi-Fi

Stroll tree-lined Campbell Avenue from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm the first Friday each month for late-night shopping, dinning, live entertainment, or just sit at a sidewalk cafe watching everyone else stroll the avenue.

May’s First Friday features the artwork of children 12 years old and younger displayed on Downtown Campbell shop windows as part of the Children’s Art Contest.

Downtown Campbell has a free Wi-Fi network. Wi-Fi Hot Spots providing outdoor coverage include Gelato Classico, Sonoma Chicken Coop, The King’s Head Pub, and Orchard Valley Coffee.

In 1892, Benjamin Campbell formed the Campbell Water Company, Campbell’s first utility company, and the 130-foot water tower has become a symbol for Historic Downtown Campbell. Explore over two-dozen historical landmarks with a free walking tour map available from the Campbell Historical Museum.

Downtown Campbell directory and parking map

The San Jose Blog's 1 Year Anniversary - May 11th!

Just a quick post to let you guys know that 2 days from now will be our 1 year anniversary. Expect a ton of content that day!

Free Mother's Day SJMA Admission!

San Jose Sharks Advance to the Conference Finals!

Sharks fans knew Game Five was going to be an exciting, nail-biting performance – and boy did they get a show! Congratulations to the San Jose Sharks for advancing to the Western Conference Finals, and doing so at home in front of thousands of loyal fans! This is great news for the fans not only because the Sharks have beaten the typically-dominant Red Wings franchise, but because the Sharks have shown signs of knocking away their post-regular season misfortunes in order to position themselves well for their quest towards winning the Stanley Cup.

With a final score of 2-1, the Sharks defeat the Detroit Red Wings at four games to one, where they face off against either the Chicago Blackhawks or the Vancouver Canucks (as their series is currently three games to one, in the favor of the Blackhawks) in the next stage of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Sharks’ victory was by no means easy, as the Red Wings displayed their complete range of skill with their extremely talented roster of all-star players, and pulled no punches. Both of the Red Wings’ offense and defense were strong, not allowing the Sharks much opportunity to either score or defend their net from getting scored on, but the Sharks worked very hard and kept all that from happening.

The first period proved to be a real battle for both teams as the game remained scoreless for both teams the entire period. Fans were instilled with confidence, however, for their Sharks had been able to keep the puck in the Red Wings zone for most of the period, having many opportunities to score. Additionally, Sharks coach Todd McLellan knew from the prior game that there needed to be some added focus on some of the Red Wings offense, namely Johan Franzen, who had six points last game, and the usual suspects Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk. Neither Zetterberg nor Datsyuk had a point the whole game, although Franzen had been able to eek out an assist for the Red Wings’ lonely goal.

Although the Sharks got off to a good start the second period, the tide turned in the favor of the Red Wings as they had been able to keep the puck firmly inside the Sharks’ zone for most of the period. The Red Wings were able to strike first as defenseman Brian Rafalski slapped it past Sharks goaltender Evgeni Nabokov to make the game 1-0 Detroit. It did not take long for the Sharks to strike back, as a power play allowed fan favorite power forward Joe Thornton to bury it in front of a crowded net, making it 1-1 only two minutes later.

Since it was anyone’s game the third period, as it had been a tie game, both teams battled very hard. During an exciting moment when Joe Pavelski had poked the puck past the feet of the Red Wings defensemen to go against netminder Jimmy Howard, after which he was thwarted when he was hindered from behind, the referee granted him a penalty shot. With the San Jose crowd cheering wildly, Joe Paveski knew he was on the spot and had to score. Unfortunately, his shot only missed the mark by a little bit as it careened over Howard’s shoulder and into the crossbar. Sharks fans were quickly relieved, however, after forward Patrick Marleau released a wicked one-timer from the mid slot using a Joe Thornton feed to put the Sharks at a 2-1 lead. As this happened with ten minutes to go, this had been perhaps the most nail-biting portion of the game. While the Red Wings needed to score, the Sharks needed to only keep them from doing so, with smart plays in the defensive zone and well-timed puck dumps into the Red Wings’ zone from the red line.

Although the Red Wings had put up a very good fight, their efforts were unsuccessful. The Sharks kept the puck out of their net to grant them their victory in Gave Five.

Congratulations, Sharks! Now keep on going!

Staturday Stats: San Jose fastest-growing among California's big cities!

Posted by xThomasTroublex in the San Jose Development Forum:

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The largest numeric growth was in the expected cities: Los Angeles grew by 44,037 people, San Diego by 17,041 and San Jose by 16,237. But in percentage growth, the three that exceeded 5 percent were Colfax, Beaumont (Riverside County) and Sand City (

Monterey County). Sand City, near the former Fort Ord, grew from 312 to 329.

In the Bay Area, the fastest-growing cities by percentage were Oakley, Sebastopol, San Ramon and Millbrae. The only Bay Area city reporting a drop was Fairfield, in Solano County.

The state's population was put at 36,648,000, with Los Angeles at 4,094,764 by far the largest city. San Jose, at No. 3, had 1,023,083 residents, and was the fastest-growing city by percentage among the top 10.

No. 5 Fresno reached the milestone of 500,000, and Oxnard surpassed 200,000 for the first time.

Of 480 cities in the report, 445 reported gains. The four counties that reported a loss are all in the Sierra: Plumas, Sierra, Alpine and Mariposa.

The population estimates do not incorporate the 2010 Census counts.