Joint Venture Index of Silicon Valley 2012

It turns out I never posted stats from the 2012 Joint Venture report evaluating the current status of our region. Here are a few of my favorite bits from the report:

• 42,000 jobs were added in the past year (2011)
• Silicon Valley employment increased 3.8% in 2011, versus 1.1% nationwide
• All major areas of economic activity experienced growth from 2010-2011, except for the "Other Manufacturing" category which includes space and defense manufacturing
• Patent registrations increased by 30%. Silicon Valley accounts for 49% of statewide patents and 12% of all patents in the country
• Venture investment in cleantech doubled over the previous year. Silicon Valley has 34% of the total California investment in cleantech
• 46% of 2011 IPOs were from Silicon Valley
• Half of the SV population speaks a language other than English at home.
• Between 2010 and 2011, Silicon Valley population increased by 1% (it was 0.7% for California)
• High school graduation rates increased by 1% to 88% (versus 81% in California)
• 43% of all Silicon Valley households now have household income over $100k (compared to 26% in California and 20% in the US)
• The regions solar capacity increased by 41% from 2010 to 2011 (versus 21% statewide)
• Transit ridership per capita increased 4.9% in 2011

Click here to read the entire report (Warning: PDF link).

Downtown San Jose is Getting Illuminated!

Here is a nice little Christmas present for all those that live, work, or play in Downtown San Jose. Two highway underpasses are about to get painted in LED artwork, which you can see below. The first is the main gateway to the Downtown San Jose core--where 87 passes over Santa Clara Street. This important area connects the HP Pavilion and Diridon Station with the rest of Downtown. Right now, it's pretty gloomy and can feel less than inviting if you are walking by yourself. However, that is about to change. Tons of LED lights donated by San Jose-based Philips Lumileds are going under the overpass along with colorful paint that will pop when hit by the lights.

The second underpass is the where 87 passes over San Fernando Street. This project is a bit more modest but the effect is the same. Artists are taking a gloomy overpass and turning it into an attraction. The photo shows blue and green lights, but with LEDs there is always a possibility of making the lighting dynamic.

All of this is made possible by a program called Illuminating Downtown, which received a $600k grant from ArtPlace America and other contributions from the SJDA. These first two lighting projects should be complete by fall 2013. I believe there will be two other areas that are getting lit as well, but am not 100% certain about that. In addition, they are also talking to high-rise residential apartment owners that are looking to illuminate their buildings (The 88 did a GREAT job with this and Axis isn't too shabby either).

I think this is a big step towards making San Jose look like the capital of Silicon Valley. Personally, I can't wait to see these two projects completed. This is showing that Downtown San Jose is moving in the right direction when it comes to public art and creating a more inviting atmosphere. Growdwerx is also doing a great job when it comes to lighting up parts of Downtown.

2013 is going to be a great year!

Source: SVBJ

Highway 87 & Santa Clara Street


Highway 87 & San Fernando Street

Merry Christmas!

Everyone at The San Jose Blog warmly wishes you and your family a great Holiday Season! Don't forget to check out our tree at Christmas in the Park =)

The VTA Holly Trolly is Back!

From the VTA Website

Feel it all over again on VTA's Holly Trolley! VTA will roll-out its Holly Trolley uniting the nostalgia of the past with the young and young at heart! Whether your plan is to visit Christmas in the Park, ice skate under the palms or dine in downtown San Jose's many restaurants, the Trolley will get you there and...the ride is FREE!

Operating between the Civic Center and San Jose Diridon light rail stations, the Trolley will surely get you and your family into the spirit of the season. The Holly Trolley will make its magical journey only during the holiday season, so be sure to Hop Onboard Today!

You can catch VTA's Free Holly Trolley every weekend*, from November 30 through December 30; Fridays from 6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. and weekends from 2:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.

To get on board, stop by a Holly Trolley light rail station nearest you!  The Holly Trolley will travel through downtown San Jose with stops at the Civic Center Station through the San Jose Dirdon Transit Center. For a complete schedule, click on Schedule Information or call 408-321-2300.

VTA Holly Trolley Service Hours*

Fridays                             6:30 p.m. - 10 p.m.

Saturdays & Sundays       2:30 p.m. - 10 p.m.

Look for more details on VTA's Facebook page and celebrate the season with VTA!

*Weather permitting.

Top San Jose Christmas Decorations 2012

This holiday season, be sure to check out Lights of the Valley to see the most decked out homes in San Jose. These are really something to visit in person and many even have light shows synchronized to music. The website has a handy map that lets you check which ones you want to see and prints out directions hitting all of those spots. Again, the Lights of the Valley website is right over here.

Happy Holidays!

Adobe Codebreaking Contest v2.0

Do you enjoy cryptography as a pastime? If so, this is the contest for you. Adobe has reset their "San Jose Semaphore" art project with a brand new contest. There are 4 rotating discs with LEDs on top of one of the Adobe towers. Every 7.2 seconds they spin to a specific orientation representing a piece of the code. In the 2006 contest, each rotation was a letter from the 1966 novel: "The Crying of Lot 49." For 2012, I imagine this may be an even greater challenge. They also have an online version of what is being displayed on the tower over here.

The winner gets a one-year subscription to the Adobe Creative Cloud. However, after seeing what was involved in cracking the 2006 code, I think a lifetime subscription and a job offer at Adobe would be more appropriate.

Source: Adobe

Saturday Stats: 2012 Meta Edition

I recently started a new Google doc to track Saturday Stats posts. I did not get all of them in there yet, but will be using this spreadsheet going forward. I thought it might be nice at the end of each year to look back and see what has been achieved. For 2012, I can tell you that reading all of the stats below back to back sounds pretty darn impressive.

You can either click on the image below to enlarge or access the Google doc directly over here.

The Civic Gets Branded

Remember when sports stadiums started selling naming rights? That same revenue stream is coming to an entertainment venue near you. City National Bank (CNB) is offering $1.2 million to add their name to the historic Civic auditorium across the street from the convention center. Most of this money would be used to continue to develop San Jose's key entertainment venues, which also include the Performing Arts Center.

A new name and logo will have to be crafted, and there are even plans to put that logo on the roof of the building for the overhead planes and Google Maps satellites. The names of the California Theater, the Montgomery Theater, and the Center for the Performing Arts may also be up for sale.

Source: SJBJ