South FIRST FRIDAYS Art Walk Today!

from Phantom Galleries by Cherri Lakey

February 3rd is the 7th Anniversary of the South FIRST FRIDAYS Art Walk in downtown
San Jose! Come help us celebrate!

Phantom Galleries has two new exhibitions:

Blessed Are the Beasts, For They Shall Inherit the Earth by Katrina Marie Loera at Good Karma Vegan Cafe


and Catchwork in Rhythm paintings by Ricky Gumbrecht at Pho69.



KALEID Gallery has two featured solo exhibits:

Lunar Phases a new photography series by Centa Schumacher


and Brutal / Tender recent works by Al Preciado


with special performances by Cellist Freya Seeburger

Check out the full schedule of all 18 art venues and print out your own art walk map: www.southfirstfridays.com





Stop by the TOTEM booth during the SOUTH FIRST Friday Art Walk for your chance to win a free pair of tickets, pick-up a special limited time discount card and check out the local Cirque-inspired performer! TOTEM by Cirque du Soleil opens March 2nd at the Taylor Street Bridge.
For more information on TOTEM, please visit: http://tinyurl.com/TOTEM1stfriday

Amazing Valentine's Day Cirque du Soleil Promo

This is likely the best deal you are ever going to find on tickets to Cirque du Soleil's Totem in San Jose. For the next two days you can get two tickets for the price of one right over here. You can also get a $35 discount on VIP Rogue tickets, which are pricey but worth it (full dinner, free wine, parking, gifts, desserts during the intermission, and the best seats in the house). It's the perfect event for Valentine's day! More info below.



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This Valentine’s Day say “I love you” with a gift from Cirque du Soleil.

With exciting offers on show tickets and a wide selection of gift items in our boutique, Cirque du Soleil is where you’ll find spectacular ways to show how much you care.

Buy the one you love a show ticket for TOTEM in San Jose and get your ticket for free*! TOTEM opens on March 2 at the Taylor Street Bridge in San Jose.

DISCOVER THE OFFERS by heading to http://tinyurl.com/SJBlogTOTEMVday. Please note this offer is only valid for 72 hours and tickets must be purchased by 11:59pm EST on Saturday, February 4.
*Some restrictions apply. Must become a Cirque Club member, with free subscription, to take advantage of offer. Service and delivery fees apply to all tickets during the purchase process.

B2 Coffee

I just wanted to highlight a great little coffee stand tucked in an empty corner of the San Pedro Square Market. While it may not look like much from the photo, their mocha was the best I've ever had. They also have killer scones and muffins. If you're looking for something more substantial in terms of food, the other Market vendors are in the adjacent room. I highly recommend checking this place out. I'll even go so far to say it give Philz some solid competition (I love Philz too).

The plan is to build out a permanent space for B2 using a large chunk of the vast room it is in now, right at the corner of St. John and San Pedro. I can't wait to see what the final shop will be like.

The B2 coffee stand is currently open from 7:30am-7:00pm Monday through Saturday and 9:00am to 4:00pm on Sunday.

RE: San Jose Weighing Business Tax Increase

An article appeared in last week's San Jose Business Journal about San Jose considering a tax increase for businesses. Surprisingly, the city collects only $10-11 million of business tax revenue a year, much less than other cities in the bay area (Oakland collects $51.5M, SF collects $391.1M). The proposal currently being discussed is a way to double the amount of revenue that San Jose collects from the 54,800 businesses, the largest number of any city in the Bay Area.

I actually have to strongly disagree with this idea. Right now there are many regions of San Jose with office vacancies hovering around 25%, dramatically higher than many other Santa Clara County cities like Palo Alto and Mountain View. Raising business taxes in any way, will simply provide another reason for businesses to not come to San Jose. This isn't a possibility, this is an economic fact. You cannot raise taxes without a negative consequence.

The are two possible exceptions to what I said above:
1.) If San Jose is considered a luxury "product or service" where increasing the price makes it more attractive instead of less (think Bentley, Gucci, etc.). I don't think this is the case.
2.) If the money raised from businesses can be used to provide an improvement to those businesses greater than the additional cost they are paying (think Downtown's PBID)... this is unlikely since the money will likely go straight to the deficit.

Okay, now that I bashed this idea let me offer 2 suggestions:
1.) Use supply and demand to determine when to raise taxes. For example... when office vacancies hit 5%, then slowly increase the tax while lessening the negative impact. Don't do it when we desperately need these spaces to be filled.
2.) Sell additional services to businesses that companies would gladly pay a premium on. A great example is permitting, which has been a San Jose weakness for some time. Let a large company pay substantial extra fees to expedite the permitting process and move a project along faster (have nightshift and weekend employees if needed). The additional money those companies will get by opening the door faster will easily justify whatever extra amount they have to pay. We also want a brand image where San Jose is the best possible city for leading companies; enabling them to execute and build faster is perfectly inline with this image.

Source: SJBJ

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