Sourisseau News: Let's Go To The Movies!

In the latest installment of Sourisseau News, learn about the history of theaters in San Jose in under three minutes (embedded video below). It is unfortunate that many of these no longer exist today. SoFA used to be packed with theaters as you can see from the photo.


Sourisseau News November 2015 - Let's Go To The Movies! from WMS media Inc. on Vimeo.

Air Canada is Returning to San Jose!!!

SJC is on a tear when it comes to landing new international routes this year. Five years ago, San Jose International Airport was barely earning the right to use the word "International." The only routes outside the US were to Mexico. Then in 2012, ANA announced their nonstop to Tokyo. While that was a significant milestone, 2013 and 2014 came and went without any additional big news. Then the floodgates opened this January when Hainan announced a nonstop to Beijing. That was followed by British Airways announcing a direct flight to London in September. If that wasn't enough, SJC scored a surprise hat trick the following month when Lufthansa revealed a flight to Frankfurt. What a year for the airport, how could it get any better? Well it just has.

Air Canada just announced they are returning to San Jose with a twice-daily nonstop flight to Vancouver! The airline ceased operations at SJC shortly after 9/11 fourteen years ago. It's great to have them back.

The route will use a Bombardier CRJ705 regional jet. It is a smaller plane than what is used on San Jose's other international routes, but the flight is only two hours and 15 minutes long. It also means there are no middle seats (see second image below). The plane will have 65 coach seats and 10 business class seats. Every single one of them will have a personal video screen and a USB port. 

Air Canada flights will leave San Jose at 7:30am and 1:25pm seven days a week starting on May 9th. Flights will return home from Vancouver at 10:35am and 5:15pm. You can already book flights today.

This will become San Jose's 7th international route (Guadalajara, Cabo San Lucas, Tokyo, Beijing, London, and Frankfurt are the others). 

Source: SVBJ

New Mural in Fountain Alley

A 140-foot long mural called "Phylum of the Free" has recently been completed in Downtown San Jose's Fountain Alley. The artist is Jeff Hemming, an instructor at at UC Santa Cruz. The work blankets the side of Lido Nightclub and bring some much-needed character to the area. The $20,000 project was funded by the DA's office, Lido, the San Jose Downtown Association, and Republic Services.

Source: The Merc

Axis Honors Paris

If you look at the Downtown skyline, you might notice a tribute to Parisians on top of Axis. The lights were changed to the colors of the French Flag as a sign of respect to those in mourning.

Photo by Tom Wohlmut

Saturday Stats: San Jose is the "Richest" and Most Productive Metroplitan Area in the United States

Bloomberg analyzed the 100 largest metros in the US and ranked them by Gross Metropolitan Product (GMP) per capita. Essentially this is how much value or output the average resident contributes to the economy. The greater the GMP, the more money you are likely to be making if you live in that area.

The San Jose Metro ranked #1 on the list by a significant margin. San Jose's Gross Metropolitan Product per resident was an astounding $105,482. Bridgeport, Connecticut came in second with $94,349. In third place was San Francisco with $80,643. New York was 8th with $70,830.

Source: Bloomberg

Kaiser is Building North San Jose Medical Offices

Oakland-based Kaiser Permanente is gearing up to develop 9.7 acres in North San Jose at the intersection of Skyport Drive and Technology Drive. The healthcare provider wants to build a 153,000 SQFT medical facility with 103 medical offices. Kaiser purchased the empty plot of land almost three years ago and has just now submitted a formal development application.

While many living in San Jose choose Kaiser as their provider, there are currently zero Kaiser facilities in the North San Jose area. Fortunately, that will soon change.

Source: SVBJ

BART is Bringing Retail to Stations

Several modular retail kiosks are coming to the Bay Area's 44 BART stations. This should add extra convenience to BART's 400,000 daily users. There will even be a companion app to the retail pods that would allow passengers to run errands such as dropping off and picking up laundry as part of their trip. These types of services could go a long way in helping people get out of their cars and utilize public transit more.

Perhaps instead of using kiosks, retail can be fully baked into the design for the upcoming BART Silicon Valley Phase 2 extension--especially since the bulk of those stations will be located in the Downtown San Jose area.

The retail kiosks are already operating in Downtown San Francisco and will reach five more stations by the end of the year. Square footage is going to vary from 600 SQFT at Union City to 2,172 SQFT at Castro Valley. I imagine that San Jose's Berryessa station will likely be towards the larger end of the retail spectrum given the station's size and location.

Source: SVBJ

Wednesday Wishlist: Vertical Forests

As San Jose grows, so will the need to increase building density and build up. I'm not just talking about Downtown San Jose and North San Jose, but many parts of our city. There are a few innovative ideas that can help make dense projects less intimidating, fit better into surrounding neighborhoods, and even contribute in a positive way to the environment.

Lausanne, Switzerland is about to build the world's second "vertical forest." This is a stunning residential tower that will be covered with hundreds of trees and shrubs. Besides the aesthetic benefits, the vegetation filters air pollution and produces oxygen. I can see this type of project working well in Everygreen and South San Jose as old strip malls and shopping centers become ready for redevelopment.

Source: Inhabitat