Wednesday Wishlist: Halloween in the Park! (Part VII)

In honor of Halloween week, I have what is becoming a San Jose Blog tradition... a Wednesday Wishlist post for Halloween in the Park. The idea is to build on the momentum that Christmas in the Park brings to San Jose each year and create something of similar scale in October with Halloween in the Park! A lot of the infrastructure such as wiring, lighting, and booths might even be able to be shared between the events. The goal would be to make Downtown San Jose the epicenter of October Halloween experiences.

Below you will find brainstorming ideas we have collected for this concept so far. Please have a look and provide your feedback and suggestions in the comments. Thanks!

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The largest draw to Downtown San Jose for many years now has been Christmas in the Park. It has continued to grow year after year and brings in visitors from all over the Bay Area. It's economic impact is substantial and helps keep many Downtown businesses afloat.

What would you think about a similar event for Halloween? Picture Downtown lit up in orange and purple with elaborate Halloween displays assembled by local artists. Perhaps infrastructure could even be shared with Christmas in the Park (e.g. retail booths). A strong event in October would help maintain traffic between the summer months and Christmas in the Park. Here are the ideas we have so far:

• Animated Halloween Displays
• Created by local artists
• Analogous to the Christmas displays that attract many families during Christmas in the Park (almost half a million visitors)
• Family friendly so that everyone can enjoy it (PG/PG13, perhaps around the same level as Great America Halloween Haunt)
• Halloween Lighting
• Orange, purple, and green LED lighting on trees
• May be possible to use new controllable lighting that can go from Halloween colors to Christmas colors with the push of a button, allowing the lights to stay up for Christmas in the Park as well and reducing setup/take-down effort.
• Halloween Food
• Booths with candied apples, chocolates, candy, pumpkin seeds, etc.
• Food trucks
• Trick-or-treating station - a free piece of candy to anyone wearing a costume any day in October (could also be used to hand out promotional flyers for Downtown events/businesses/resources)
• Retail Booths selling Halloween items, for example:
• Artwork (paintings, glass pumpkins, etc.)
• Home decor/crafts like candles
• Light-up hats/necklaces/bracelets
• Costumes
• Zombie/Halloween make-up station 
• Halloween-themed Carnival Games
• Pirates of Emerson and Candlelighters (Fremont) do a good job of providing family-friendly games themed around Halloween
• A handful of children's rides could also be added to the Paseo and reused for Christmas in the Park
• Interactive Art
• ZERO1-style, but with a Halloween spin.
• Pumpkins
• Instead of the sponsored Christmas trees in Christmas in the Park, how about decorated Pumpkins (can even be Styrofoam so there is no mess/decay)?
• Pumpkin carving station for families. 
• Pumpkin carving contest.
• Costumed Entertainers
• Walking around the area, not necessarily scaring people but adding to the ambiance and providing photo opportunities for families
• Haunts / Mazes
• Would be ideal if these were nearby, perhaps in vacant retails spaces, surface parking lots, the convention center, or at SJSU.
• Could partners with one of the established San Jose haunt providers such as Deadtime Dreams or The World's Largest Haunted House.
• Potential Events
• Zombie-O-Rama can be used to kick off Halloween in the Park (late Sep. / early Oct. time-frame)
• Zombie Crawl
• Dia De Los Muertes Bike Party
• Horror Movie Trivia Contest
• Weekly horror movie screening (perhaps in the Circle of Palms area?)
• Costume Ball

As in previous years, please post your suggestions below and I'll merge them in!

San Jose Halloween Attraction Guide 2014

Wondering which events and haunts to go to this Halloween season? The San Jose Blog has got you covered:

Dead Time Dreams - San Jose

Back for their third year next to a pumpkin patch near Eastridge Mall. They have 2 haunts, which were quite well done despite having fewer actors than some of the places below. There is also a neat midway that connects all of the attractions and features a Halloween store.

World's Largest Haunted House - San Jose

They are known for a very long maze with seemingly never-ending black corridors that break up the scares. For me personally, this is the single scariest maze in the Bay Area.

Halloween Haunt @ California's Great America - Santa Clara

Still the largest Halloween event in Northern California. Now in its seventh year, the word has gotten out on Halloween Haunt and the park is packed even on day 1. There are now 9 haunted mazes, a single haunted ride, 3 scare zones, and various shows (3 of the mazes are new this year). Most rides worth going on are still open--including the new Goldrush--and the roller coasters are being run with all the lights turned off. I would also recommend the Academy of Villains show, which was 100 times more impressive than what we were expecting. This year there is a new option to get a front of the line pass with a skeleton key that unlocks bonus scares in 5 of the haunts. If you go for the key, do not drink the blood in Roadkill Roadhouse... spoiler alert, it tastes like blood and will make you gag.

Pirates of Emerson - Pleasanton

The preeminent Bay Area Halloween event for almost 2 decades always provides a stellar experience. There are 5 haunted mazes this year, a Halloween Carnival, and several micro-attractions. This is MUCH MORE intense than Great America, so don't bring your young children. You'll get scares from every angle, including above and below you. The haunts are extraordinarily well done, and they only let in small groups. 

Wicked Woods - Los Gatos

This was the biggest surprise of last year and is extraordinarily well done. The groups are limited to only 2 people, there is quite a bit of acting and storytelling, you have interactive elements like hidden doors, and there are lots of surprises. 

ScareCo - Oakland

This is a brand new event for 2014. It wins the award for best ambiance hands down give it is hosted in a 102-year-old abandoned train station. Inside are 3 different haunts, all of which are very different. Contact takes place entirely in a single room, Kaiju has a prop that will blow you away, and Platform 13 was my pick for the single best haunt for this year. It is a bit of a trek to get here from San Jose, but is completely worth it.

Taylor Morrison Building 180+ Units in San Jose

Taylor Morrison has acquired 8-acres of dirt at the intersection of Monterey Highway and Montecito Vista Drive. The location is near the Plant Shopping Center and The Santa Clara County Fairgrounds. The plan is to build 184 townhomes across the land ranging in size from 1,400 SQFT to 2,000 SQFT and having 2-4 bedrooms.

This is part of a larger master-planned community called Montecito Vista, clocking in at 30-acres. Lennar is also building a 100-unit project next door called Astoria.

The Taylor Morrison project will begin construction in about a year with models opening up April 2016.

Source: SVBJ

Little Italy San Jose Sign is Up!

The Little Italy San Jose arch is finally in place and it looks amazing! Workers from S&S Welding put up the arch, which still needs to be accented with brick and marble. Completion is expected by November 14th. You can already anticipate a big celebration to mark this milestone in the neighborhood's history sometime in November.

Source: Anonymous, SVBJ

Saturday Stats: SJC Has Lowest Airport Delays in the Bay Area

According to Nerdwallet, you should definitely fly out of San Jose instead of SFO or Oakland this holiday season if you are worried about being on time. San Jose has the lowest percentage of delayed flights in the region, especially on Southwest or Alaskan. In fact, SFO is the country's 2nd worst airport during the holidays when it comes to delays.

If you factor in the amount of time you will also save getting through security and to the gate, the choice becomes even more clear assuming there is not a huge price gap.

Source: Nerdwallet

therethere Opening First Retail Location in Downtown San Jose!

therethere is a civic pride apparel and lifestyle brand (check out the Electric Light Tower in their San Jose logo below). The company hopes to help create a hub for innovation and community for San Jose that showcases local artists and nonprovies as well as augmenting the entrepreneurial spirit already growing in San Jose. They sell apparel for several different cities across the US, but they are opening their very first retail location at 15 N 2nd Street in Downtown. Each week they will be open from Wednesday through Saturday from 11am to 7pm.

Their grand opening is today and they have a reception from 5pm to 10pm! Drinks will be provided by Cafe Stritch and there will be performances by Tara Alesia, Bascom, Boboso, and Pete Munoz.

A portion of the proceeds from the grand opening will be donated to the Downtown Streets Team, which works to end homelessness by restoring dignity and rebuilding the lives of unhoused men and women. In addition, therethere gives 10% of each month's proceeds to a nonprofit (the San Jose Public Library Foundation was a benefactor of this already).

Sounds like a great addition to Downtown San Jose's slowly but surely growing retail scene. For more information, check out the therethere website over here.

Okay, cat’s out of the bag — we’re opening a store in San Jose! It’s our very first retail location and we couldn’t be more excited. Here are some of the details:

Opening: Friday, October 24th

Location: 15 N 2nd Street, Downtown San Jose

Hours: Wednesday – Saturday, 11am to 7pm

With therethere X SJ, we’re hoping to create a hub for innovation and community for San Jose that showcases local artists and nonprofits, and boosts the entrepreneurial spirit already growing in SJ. We’re also super proud to be a founding member of the San Jose Popup project, spearheaded by the San Jose Downtown Association. This popup microhood will activate the downtown corridor with a mix of retail, tech, and community spaces, and work collaboratively to support independent businesses, encourage people to explore downtown, and shop locally.

Also, we’re having a party. I mean, celebration…I mean, celebratory party!

Friday, October 24th, from 5pm to 10pm, come down to the shop to check out the new space and hear some live music. Stay tuned for artist info, coming to you soon!

Santana Row Welcoming Two New Stores: Letarte Swimwear and Pressed Juicery

Two new premium stores are coming to Santana Row before the end of the year. Letarte Swimwear is a Maui-based premium swimwear line and Santana Row will be their first Northern California location. The 1,080 SQFT store will be next to Guicci and opens this month.

Pressed Juicery features fresh fruit, vegetable, and nut-based juices made using a hydrolic press. This will be their first San Jose location and the 893 SQFT store will be near Urban Outfitters. The opening is slated for December.

For all the details, scroll down to the press release below.

San Jose, CA – Fresh, new-to-the-area stores are coming to Santana Row in the coming weeks. Letarte Swimwear, based in Hawaii, offers stylish bathing suits and cover-ups perfect for tropical travel as we head into resort season. For those searching for healthy hydration, Pressed Juicery just might be the pick up needed to get through holiday shopping sprees or counteract a cookie binge.

 Letarte Swimwear, opening October 2014
The Maui-based brand, created by sisters Lisa Letarte Cabrinha and Michele Letarte Ross, is opening a 1,080-square-foot store on Santana Row, next to Gucci. The label, started in 2000, includes swimwear, coordinating cover-ups and sportswear.
The Hawaiian authenticity and exclusivity of the Letarte label blends a bohemian island essence with chic global aesthetics that the duo have made recognizable around the globe. Lisa is the sister who designs and lives in Maui. She infuses her jet-setting island lifestyle and the spirit of Aloha into Letarte's signature trademarked prints, intricate adornments and lavish detail.
 
Pressed Juicery, opening December 2014
Offering juice cleanses and cold-pressed juices, Pressed Juicery opens its first San Jose location on Olin Avenue, near Urban Outfitters. The 893-square-foot store features drinks that are blended daily and personalized to your lifestyle. The juices are made with a hydraulic press, a machine that squeezes an entire fruit or vegetable into a pulp, extracting three to four times more than an average juicer. Founded in Southern California, its top juices include Greens 2 (a blend of kale, spinach, romaine, parsley, cucumber, celery, apple and lemon); Detox 2 (pineapple, green apple and mint) and Almond Milk (almonds, dates, vanilla bean, sea salt and filtered water).



About Santana Row

Santana Row, a 647,000 square foot mixed-use development in San Jose, CA, is Silicon Valley’s premier destination for shopping, dining, living and working. Santana Row features over 70 shops, 20 restaurants, a boutique hotel and movie theatre. In addition to the dynamic retail & restaurant collection, Santana Row offers 615 luxury rental homes, 219 privately owned condos and 65,000 square feet of Class A office space. Santana Row is a property of www.federalrealty.com (NYSE:FRT), headquartered in Rockville, Maryland. For more information, please visit www.santanarow.com.


About Federal Realty

Federal Realty Investment Trust is an equity real estate investment trust specializing in the ownership, management, development, and redevelopment of high quality retail assets. Federal Realty's portfolio (excluding joint venture properties) contains approximately 20 million square feet located primarily in strategically selected metropolitan markets in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and California. In addition, the Trust has an ownership interest in approximately 1.0 million square feet of retail space through a joint venture in which the Trust has a 30% interest. Our operating portfolio (excluding joint venture properties) was 95.3% leased to national, regional, and local retailers as of June 30, 2014, with no single tenant accounting for more than approximately 3.2% of annualized base rent. Federal Realty has paid quarterly dividends to its shareholders continuously since its founding in 1962, and has increased its dividend rate for 47 consecutive years, the longest record in the REIT industry. Federal Realty is an S&P MidCap 400 company and its shares are traded on the NYSE under the symbol FRT.

Wednesday Wishlist: Mass Transit Upgrades From London

While it was just recently that I posted about the planned upgrades to BART that will come just in time for BART's expansion to San Jose, there are already some other great ideas out there that would be nice to have in our mass transit system. London is going to start getting next generation trains for several of its lines in 2022, and there are three great ideas that I would love to see incorporated into BART.

1.) Autonomous Trains - Improved safety, reliability, and a permanent end to BART strikes.
2.) Continuous Trains - Instead of having a series of connected cars, the new tube trains will be one single super-long cabin that can bend. This substantially increases capacity and access.
3.) Safety Doors - There will be no chance of falling onto the tracks since there will be a second set of door that are synced with the trains and only open when there is a train parked at the station.

See the video below for a sneak peak at what is coming next decade to London. Note several elements of the new London trains are incorporated into the new BART trains like more doors and digital signage.