Downtown with a Capital D

Some people noticed that when I refer to Downtown San Jose, I write the word downtown with a capital "D" instead of a lowercase letter. I started doing this years ago and it is entirely intentional.

When you write it as "downtown" you are referring to a type of place... such as a street, a block, or an alley. It's a generic descriptor to can refer to a downtown anywhere. It's nothing more than a common noun.

However, when you write "Downtown" it becomes a proper noun and means a place in and of itself. It's a destination or district, such as Willow Glen, Japantown or Santana Row and it gives our urban core some respect. Instead of "a" downtown it becomes "the" Downtown, our Downtown.

It may seem like a small difference, but I feel like it changes the context of the word entirely. Its just something to keep an eye out for when reading what other people write about Downtown San Jose. How the word is written will already give you a lot of information on what their opinions are. I hope to see more people using the capital D in the future!

January 2015 Downtown Dimension Highlights

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

• Raul Peralez became the new City Council representative for District 3 (Downtown San Jose), replacing Sam Liccardo who is now our Mayor. He has served as a San Jose police officer for 8 years and has 10 years of experience as a teacher. His top priorities are improving public safety, economic vitality, rebuilding relations between the city and unions, public transit, ending homelessness, and affordable housing. If he could change one thing about Downtown it would be to see taller buildings and having a "skyscraper" downtown [Josh: I'm starting to like this guy].
• The San Pedro Square Market and SJSU earn Golden Nail awards which are given to projects that add character and delight to Downtown.
• The City is offering a construction tax waiver to the first developer to build a non-hotel commercial high-rise more than 150 feet tall (this incentive can be valued between $800,000 to $1.5 million). Office vacancy Downtown plummeted from 23% to 13% in 2014.
• The City Council has banned bikes on sidewalks in order to make Downtown safer for pedestrians.
• Broadway San Jose is enjoying a record-breaking season. The final week of "WICKED" in San Jose brought in $1.7 million, which was the highest grossing Broadway show in the country that week. More records are expected to be broken this summer with "Book of Mormon."
• Dice.com is going to move its headquarters from Santa Clara to 16,000 SQFT at 225 W. Santa Clara Street, accommodating up to 100 employees.
• Groundwerx is going to trim 874 sycamore trees lining First and Second streets over the next month.

To read the full newsletter, click here!

BART or Automated Transit Network?

The Merc had an article last week entitled "Affordable transitt will help close gap between rich, poor in South Bay." I think that title may be a bit misleading since it is actually a proposal to completely change the plan for BART to Silicon Valley - Phase 2. Instead of spending $4 billion to tunnel underneath Downtown San Jose, the article points out that running BART west from Milpitas to the San Jose Airport and then Diridon above ground would only cost $1.6 billion. However, that is not the interesting part. The real fascinating proposal is not building the BART extension at all and instead building using $1.6 billion to build a 100 station Automated Transit Network (PRT system) that would blanket a huge portion of San Jose and be placed above roadways.

While I am a huge advocate for BART Downtown, I strongly believe that automated systems will be the ideal transportation of the future and would be willing to sacrifice BART for it if given a choice. Check out the article over here and let us know what your thoughts are.

Many thanks to Francisco Gonzalez for sending this in!

Hawaiian Poke Bowl Coming to the SoFA Market!

A vendor specializing in Hawaiian Poke Bowls (spicy ahi tuna salads) will be opening up next to the Falafel Bar and Vero's Coffee in the SoFA Market. This should be ready sometime in the next few months and I can't wait for this place to open up. To follow more news related to Downtown's newest urban market, follow the SoFA Market Facebook Page.

Santa Clara Family Justice Center Photos

There are some new photos of the Santa Clara Family Justice Center by "Cardinal2007" at the San Jose Development Forum. It looks like it just hit full height and you clearly see that it will have a decent impact on the skyline when completed! The new court building will consolidate multiple other courthouses around San Jose and open up new opportunities for development Downtown.

Downtown Ice with Google Glass

What happens when you mix Google Glass and Downtown Ice? Check out the video below to find out. The unique ice rink in Downtown San Jose is open until January 11th, so you still have a full week to enjoy it for yourself!

Saturday Stats: San Jose One of the Top 10 Happiest Cities!

Our first Saturday Stat of 2015 is a big one. National Geographic has placed San Jose in the Top 10 Happiest Cities... not in the US but in the World! Also included in the list is the Gold Coast of Australia, Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, Auckland in New Zealand, and Dubai. Don't ask me what the criteria was because it was not disclosed in the article. However, it did mention two dozen community gardens in San Jose, plenty of organic produce, and lots of sunshine.

Source: National Geographic, hat-tip to Todd Horvitz!

Univision Moving from SF to San Jose

In a move that probably should have happened decades ago, Univision has decided to move its Bay Area headquarters from San Francisco to San Jose. Not only will this allow the Spanish media network to be closer to most of its audience, but it will also substantially reduce costs.

Univision will be moving its studios and radio stations to 1940 Zanker Road in North San Jose. It is expecting 60-65 people to work from the new location after the move is completed in the fall. For more info, hit the source link below.

Source: The Merc