Last Call for 2016 Knight Cities Challenge

Knight Cities Challenge opens in San Jose for applications

Submissions are open from Oct. 1 to Oct 27

SAN JOSE, Calif.— What’s your best idea to help your city succeed? The Knight Cities Challenge opens today calling on innovators of all types in San Jose to answer this question.

Now in its second year, the national challenge is an initiative of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. The challenge seeks new ideas to make San Jose and the 25 other communities where Knight invests more vibrant places to live and work.  Winners will receive a share of $5 million and become part of a network of civic innovators; funding will be granted at all levels from small to large amounts. Applications will be accepted through Oct. 27 at knightcities.org. The challenge has two main guidelines:

1. A submission may come from anywhere, but the project must take place in or benefit one or more of 26 Knight communities.

2. The idea should focus on one or more of three key drivers of city success:

·      Talent: Ideas that help cities attract and keep talented people.

·      Opportunity: Ideas that expand economic prospects by breaking down divides and making new connections.

·      Engagement: Ideas that spur connection and civic involvement.

The challenge is open to anyone from anywhere: neighbors, architects, activists, artists, city planners, entrepreneurs, students, educators, city officials, as well as governments and organizations. More information is available on knightcities.org.

The initial application will be easy to complete. You don’t have to be a professional grant writer, but you should be ready with a plan to make your idea a reality.

“Through the challenge we want to find new voices and new ideas that capture the three key ingredients of city success—talent, opportunity and engagement. We see these as essential to the challenge and to building stronger futures for all of our cities,” said Carol Coletta, Knight Foundation vice president for community and national initiatives.

If you have questions about the challenge, you can join us for virtual office hours or in-person events in many of the 26 Knight communities to learn more. The schedule, which is regularly updated, can be accessed here.

Community members and entrepreneurs, as well as experts in urban planning, design, academia and government will help Knight review entries. Knight will announce finalists and winners in early 2016.

The 26 Knight communities include eight that have a resident program director: Akron, Ohio; Charlotte, N.C.; Detroit; Macon, Ga.; Miami; Philadelphia; St. Paul, Minn.; and San Jose, Calif. In 18 cities community foundations guide Knight’s grantmaking: Aberdeen, S.D.; Biloxi, Miss.; Boulder, Colo.; Bradenton, Fla.; Columbia, S.C.; Columbus, Ga.; Duluth, Minn.; Fort Wayne, Ind.; Gary, Ind.; Grand Forks, N.D.; Lexington, Ky.; Long Beach, Calif.; Milledgeville, Ga.; Myrtle Beach, S.C.; Palm Beach County, Fla.; State College, Penn.; Tallahassee, Fla.; and Wichita, Kan.

In March 2015 Knight announced 32 winners of the first Knight Cities Challenge. Last year’s winner from San Jose was:

·         San Pedro Squared- bringing life to deadened public space and healing the streetscape fabric by stitching retail into the ground floor of parking structures.

Have an idea? Visit knightcities.org to apply. The challenge closes on Oct. 27, 2015, at 12 p.m. ET.

About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation

Knight Foundation supports transformational ideas that promote quality journalism, advance media innovation, engage communities and foster the arts. The foundation believes that democracy thrives when people and communities are informed and engaged. For more, visit knightfoundation.org.

New Rendering Video for Museum Place!

The most ambitious high-rise proposal in Downtown San Jose is getting a bit more real. Insight Realty has created a simulation of what some of the spaces in the massive project could look like. "Museum Place" includes a 60,000 SQFT expansion of The Tech Museum, 210,000 SQFT of office space, twelve floors of condos, a boutique hotel, and a floor of luxury penthouse condos. Watch the two minute video below to get a sense of what the area around The Tech might look like in a few years!

Source: Hillrise from the San Jose Development Forum

Lufthansa is Coming to San Jose!

When it rains it pours! SJC has landed another major international flight, this time to Frankfurt, Germany. Lufthansa is the largest European Airline and Frankfurt is their largest hub. Not only will this give San Joseans easy access to Germany, but every major city in Europe. This is the third international route San Jose has landed in 2015!

Luftansa will fly five nonstops each week on an Airbus A340-300 carrying 298 seats. Flights to Frankfurt will leave San Jose on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturday, and Sundays. The flights depart at 3:20pm and arrive at 11:35am the next day. Tickets will start around $977 round-trip and flights start on 4/29/2016--beating British Airways to market by a week.

This will become San Jose's 6th international route (Guadalajara, Cabo San Lucas, Tokyo, Beijing, and London are the others). There are rumors that a nonstop flight to Seoul, Korea will be next. 

In 2016, San Jose will surpass Oakland International Airport in terms of international countries served and will have more international routes than at any other point in SJC's history.

Sources: SVBJ, The Merc

Anthony Bourdain Visits San Jose's Japantown for an Episode of "Parts Unknown"

Parts Unknown is an emmy-award winning show hosted by celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain. Last June he swung by the Bay Area to learn more about our changing food scene and ended up at Japantown's Minato chomping on chicken katsu with curry sauce and cod cheek. The show airs tonight at 9pm on CNN. The San Jose segment appears just before the 30 minute mark.

Source: SanJose.com

The Chardonnay Run Comes to San Jose on October 24th

A 5K wine racing series called "The Chardonnay Run" is coming to Downtown San Jose on Sunday, October 24th. The untimed run will begin and end in the Arena Green near the SAP Center and the finish line has a festival featuring food, live music, and as the name implies--plenty of wine. For more information, check out the event website over here.

San Jose Bike Share is Planning a Huge Expansion!

Two years ago, Bay Area Bike Share officially launched in San Jose. The program allows residents and visitors to rent bikes 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. Membership is inexpensive, costing only $88/year or $9 for a 24-hour rental. The bikes are pretty nice and feature LED lights, a 7-speed grip shift, and drum brakes. You can pick up a bike at any station and drop that same bike off at any station, you do not have to return it to the original destination.

The program has been quite successful, especially in Downtown San Jose where there are 14 stations. There is also a station in Japantown and another near the Civic Center on First Street. Now the Bay Area Bike Share program is growing ten-fold and San Jose will have well over 100 stations by the end of 2017! Combined with dozens of miles of new bike lanes that are currently being planned, this will make San Jose one of the most bike-friendly cities in the nation.

Bay Area Bike Share is looking for suggestions on where to locate their new San Jose stations and bikes. To suggest a new station, just head over here. To learn more about the program or become a member, head over to the Bay Area Bike Share website.

The 7th Annual San Jose International Short Film Festival

Next weekend the 2015 San Jose International Short Film Festival kicks off at Santana Row's CineArts Theater. This will be the largest event in the film festival's history. Over 180 short films will be screened over the four-day festival, grouped into 30 different categories. Film makers across 20 different countries will be represented this year.

Tickets range from $12 for a 90 minute collection of films to $125 for a VIP all-access plan (includes all screenings, special events, after-parties, access to the VIP lounge in Santana Row, and a T-shirt). The festival runs from October 22nd to October 25th.

For more information and to buy tickets, head over here.

The 88 Interactive Art Codes - "Show Your Stripes" v2.0

My favorite art project Downtown is still the LED light installation at The 88. Few people realize that the lights are completely interactive and can be controlled by anyone. Where else can you completely change four stories of a high-rise facade with nothing but a cell phone?

All you need to do is dial (408) 287-0128, wait for the tone, then enter any 3 digits (including # or *), then press 0 and hang up. I recommend saving this number on your phone and impressing your friends whenever you walk by The 88.

Last month, the artist Jim Conti significantly expanded the number of codes available. When "Show Your Stripes" launched in 2008, there were only 129 possible combinations. Now there are 318!!! During SubZERO last June, Jim asked festival-goers for feedback and ideas. The new additions are a direct result of that feedback.

Below you can find a full list of all public codes and a rough description of the effect. There are also some secret codes that are not on the list such as *14, *25, *69, *88, ***, and my personal favorite *#*. If you find any other "Easter Egg" codes that are not on the list below, let me know and I'll add them to this post!