December 2011 Downtown Dimension Highlights

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

• Sadly, Music in the Park has run it's course and will be replaced by multiple smaller events Downtown as well as improved existing events (ex: Blues Festival in St. James Park, SoFA Street Markets during First Fridays, and Left Coast Live).
• The San Jose Marriott receives the 2011 Jim Fox Golden Nail Award for contributions to the character of Downtown.
• The Downtown PBID responsible for Groundwerx is up for renewal this year. Also some improvements are planned:
• New focus on helping fill up Downtown office and retail vacancies, such as helping new tenants expedite permitting with the city planning office.
• Improve Downtown Safety
• Oracle has moved 62 people into the Sobrato building with plans to move 180 more people soon.
• USF is now open for business at 125 S. Market.
• The Capital Club has just finished a $2.8M remodel and now includes an outdoor sky lounge with fire pits, private work spaces, an expanded bar, and a media room (100+ inch flat screen) with Bay Area sports memorabilia.
• Downtown's Memorial for Veterans should be re-installed very soon (the 76 white flags by Adobe).

To read the full newsletter, click here!

San Jose Jazz 25th Annual Celebration & Fundraiser

Come support a great cause on February 25th at the new Hyatt Place Downtown! For more info click here.


San Jose Jazz 25th Annual Celebration & Fundraiser from WMS media Inc. on Vimeo.

Saturday Stats: San Jose Metro Rent Increase Highest in the Nation

In 2011, San Jose apartment rents climbed a whopping 11.7%, making it the largest increase in any metro market in the country. San Francisco was in second place at 10.4%. Currently, rents in the San Jose metro average $1,783, which is actually now higher than San Francisco at $1,708.

Source: SJBJ

Miguel Machuca at the Usuals Jan. 27

from Phantom Galleries by Cherri Lakey

The Usuals present artwork by Miguel Machuca

Opening reception: Friday, January 27th from 7pm-10pm

With music provided by RS2.
Drinks by Uzuhachi Honey.
On view thru Feb. 23, 2012
The Usuals
1020 The Alameda
San Jose, CA 95126

"Hack the Future" Event at the Tech!

BAY AREA KIDS LEARN HOW TO CHANGE THE WORLD AT “HACK THE FUTURE”

Over 100 students will participate in a full day “hackathon” to learn about innovation from rock-star tech leaders like Pong creator Allan Alcorn and engineers from Facebook.

SAN JOSE, SILICON VALLEY, CA - On Saturday, January 28, 2012, the third Hack the Future will take place at The Tech Museum in San Jose, California. Hack the Future is a one-day hackathon, designed to inspire and encourage middle and high school geeks to take learning into their own hands and show them what it's like to be a hacker.

Joe Mathes, startup engineer and Hack the Future co-creator, explains, "Hack the Future is the first chance many kids will have to enter the exciting, advancing field of technology. Programming is literacy. To be great, you have to start when you're young, and you have to learn it from someone who knows the language. As professionals on the cutting edge, we wanted to teach what we know straight from the front lines."

Over 30 mentors will teach the day-long event, which consists of a series of stations where young hackers can experiment with everything from creating computer games to soldering. Lee Felsenstein, the designer of the first mass-produced portable computer, will be helping to inspire the next generation of future tech leaders. Local engineer Allan Alcorn, best known as the designer of the wildly popular 1970s video arcade game Pong, will also be on hand to share his remarkable story and to help guide students’ tech creations.

“The highlight of the day is seeing the kids accomplish something they are proud of,” says mentor Sarah Elliott. “You should see their faces when they create code that ends up moving a half million dollar robot. It’s incredibly rewarding.” 

Mentors from companies including Facebook, Twilio and other Bay Area-based startups will mentor the students. Microsoft is one of the event’s primary sponsors, as well as The Tech Museum.

Jeff Lindsay, Founding Director at Hacker Dojo, says “With a laptop, you can change the world, start the next Facebook. Nowhere is this passion more evident than at Hack the Future.”

For Willie Yee, 12, the event is like Christmas in January; it's the reason he signed up so quickly. "I like programming," says the San Jose 7th grader. "But I really want to learn more complex commands for some programming languages." 

Reporters interested in interviewing Hack the Future mentors or students should contact Daniel Jabbour at 516-642-1119 or daniel@hackthefuture.org.

For more information on Hack the Future visit http://www.hackthefuture.org/

San Jose's Varentec Raises $7.7M

Yet another San Jose green tech company has received a chunk of change to get off the ground. A VC firm specializing in clean tech has pumped $7.7M into Varentec, which is making smart grid technology. I'm really liking this niche. Building a market dominance in green/clean tech not only brings economic benefits to the area, but there is something comforting in knowing we're developing technology that will make the world a better place.

Source: SVBJ

Wednesday Wishlist: Downtown Retail (Non-Restaurant)

Okay, let me start off by saying I the love the restaurants in Downtown San Jose. The restaurant scene here pretty much exploded in 2011 (one day I'll post the stats for the number of new eateries that opened last year), and things are only going to get better in 2012. However, in order for Downtown to really succeed we need more diverse retail offerings besides just restaurants. My Wednesday wishlist for the week is to see more traditional retail and new services Downtown.

The photo below is of a new Foot & Body Massage place coming soon to 2nd Street. It's a start =). Thanks Arlene for the pic.

San Jose Three Creeks Trail Moves Forward!

Three different agencies have come together to make a critical land acquisition that allow San Jose's Three Creeks Trail project to come closer to realization. The City of San Jose, The Santa Clara County Open Space Authority, and the Parks and Recreation Department of Santa Clara County have jointly chipped in a total of $6M to acquire land and add an additional mile to San Jose's interconnected trail network. This will eventually connect the Guadalupe River, Coyote Creek, and Los Gatos Creek Trails.

There are currently 53 miles of trails in San Jose, with plans to bring the total to over 100 miles, making it one of the nation's largest jurisdictional networks.

For more info, I highly recommend checking out the press release right over here. Thanks to Yves for the tip!