Del Carlo Documentary

Tom Wohlmut from WMS Media has a special holiday treat for everyone today, a full-length documentary on one of San Jose's most famous photographers. Arnold Del Carlo photographed San Jose from World War II to the Valley of Heart's Delight to Silicon Valley. There are very few people in the world that have been alive throughout all three of these eras, let alone photographed them. The story is told by Del Carlo himself though interviews conducted when he was 93 and 94 years old.

At one point Del Carlo even purchased his own plane and became skilled at taking aerial photos across the valley. He has shot iconic photos of people, buildings, landscapes, and even some of the first electronics made in Silicon Valley (especially IBM products).

The photos and stories are incredible. Every San Josean should watch this!



Del Carlo - Professional Photographer from WMS media Inc. on Vimeo.

San Jose State University

Hart's Department Store in Downtown San Jose

Downtown San Jose Aerial

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Visit San Jose Promo Video

I just ran across this 90 second video below that highlights a lot of local (mostly San Jose) attractions in a very short period of time. Check it out for yourself!

Saturday Stats: San Jose is the 7th Best Place to Own a Home in America

A new survey conducted by Porch and Redfin ranked San Jose as the 7th best city in the US to own a home. They looked at a variety of factors such as health, education, economy, walkability, safety, and traffic. Note that this study is based on people's opinions and not objective metrics.

San Jose scored very highly in healthy living (#2), climate (#5), educational opportunity (#8), and walkability (#4). All of those sound about right to me except for walkability as there are only specific neighborhoods that have high walk scores.

The lowest scores were commute (#22), and I expected lower on this one, real estate confidence (#65), and security & safety (#29). Again these are people's perceptions. I would disagree with the safety ranking as statistically San Jose is one of the safest large cities in the world.

The biggest surprise was that economic opportunity only ranked #15. By any objective criteria this should easily be #1 for the country.

Overall, San Francisco ranked #47 on the list while New York can in at #26. For the full list hit the link below.

Source: Porch

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

We sincerely hope that you and your family enjoy the holidays this year!

For a fun little adventure, you can check out the most decked out holiday decorations in San Jose along with a map and addresses over here. The site even allows you to plan a route to visit multiple homes.

May all your holiday wishes come true this year!

San Jose Downtown Association 2015 Year in Review

The video below is an excellent recap of what has happened in Downtown San Jose this past year, current challenges, and what we have to look forward to in the near future. The speaker is Scott Knies, the Executive Director of the San Jose Downtown Association. There is no question that 2015 was a banner year for Downtown San Jose, and it is just the beginning!

Source: Cardinal2007 from the San Jose Development Forum


Scott Knies - San Jose Downtown Association 2015 in Review from WMS media Inc. on Vimeo.

December 2015 Downtown Dimension Highlights

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

• The St. James Park Management District is going to provide new funding for additional security, maintenance, and programming at St. James Park. Potential improvements include adding a cafe, dog run, or music venue.
• Downtown Ice is open at the Circle of Palms through February 7th. Hours are 11am until midnight on most days. Across the street is Christmas in the Park and Winter Wonderland.
• Jade Leaf Eatery is now open at 170 S. Market Street, specializing in Japanese noodles. It also has a stage large enough to accommodate bands and Jazz concerts.
• Deluxe is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner at 71 E. San Fernando.
• Sushi Confidential is coming soon to 31 N. Market, Social Policy (same owners at B2 Coffee) is coming to the former Blackbird Tavern Space, and Pieology is coming to the former Fahrenheit space.
• Petzi is the latest startup to set up shop Downtown. They make a smart camera and treat dispenser for pets.
• Corterie has remodeled a 5,000 SQFT space behind Whole Foods into an urban wine cellar and tasting room.
• SiliconSage Builders broke ground last month on a 100-unit condo project at 180 Balbach Street in SoFA, replacing an old used-car lot.
• A new 140-foot-long mural has been finished in Fountain Alley on the side of the Lido Nightclub.
• DASH ridership has had its strongest ridership month in seven years (this is the free shuttle that circles Downtown and Diridon station).

To read the newsletter, click here!

Knight Foundation Donating Over $1 Million to San Jose Projects!

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation has decided to donate over $1,000,000 to projects that will benefit San Jose. The top priorities were projects that will help with branding and identity, transforming public spaces, and helping the next generation of emerging leaders.

A total of 15 projects were funded. Some are quite interesting such as a new prototyping festival along Paseo de San Antonio, a pop-up park at Plaza de Cesar Chavez, and a new food and community hub at the Taylor Street urban farm. Below is the full list of projects.

Grant Recipients

• California Walks ($30,000): Encouraging deeper resident attachment to San Jose by launching San Jose Walks, a program that encourages urban exploration and celebrates neighborhoods through walking.
• City of San Jose, Department of Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services ($150,000): Helping to improve public spaces in San Jose through a "Parks Activation and Prototyping Fund" that will allow people to experiment with new ways to use parks.
• City of San Jose, Office of Economic Development ($125,000): Launching a branding and marketing campaign to attract talented workers, create jobs and bring new opportunities to the city.
• Exhibition District ($20,000): Creating a more vibrant and connected San Jose by expanding the Exhibition District, a public art project.
• Garden to Table ($60,000): Creating a food and community hub at Taylor Street Farm that will include events, workshops and market days, while supporting local food producers and suppliers.
• Groundswell Design ($75,000): Creating a pop-up park at Plaza Cesar Chavez that aims to transform an underused space into a vibrant and engaging public area.
• Local Label ($48,958): Launching a citywide competition to create and promote new branding opportunities for San Jose developed by teams of local artisans and makers.
• National Arts Strategies ($30,000): Supporting a group of San Jose Creative Community Fellows through a nine-month fellowship program focused on creative placemaking.
• Opportunity Fund ($75,000): Helping Downtown San Jose's small businesses (particularly restaurants and retail) comply with EMV chip requirements, a standard for credit card and debit card payments, through a merchant equipment subsidy program.
• San Jose State University ($240,000): Developing a more vibrant and connected San Jose with the launch of a prototyping festival along Paseo de San Antonio, a series of Ed talks, an artists-in-residence program and new activities at the Hammer Theatre.
• School at Mexican Heritage Plaza ($10,800): Connecting people and increasing civic participation by launching ImagineSJ, a monthly event and panel discussion focusing on San Jose's arts and cultural scene.
• Silicon Valley DeBug/NEEBA ($30,000): Creating a "We are San Jose" video series to share the dynamic and diverse neighborhoods and communities of San Jose.
• Sustainable Agriculture Education ($35,000): Supporting research, analysis and reporting focused on developing ways to connect and grow the city's food ecosystem.
• Somos Mayfair ($21,280): Helping people get more involved in shaping their community through Mayfair Community Mini-Grants that will invite local Mayfair residents to develop innovative ideas to make their community better while introducing them to local decision-making and budgeting.
• Transform ($100,000): Supporting more affordable and transportation-friendly housing by creating tools and traffic reduction strategies as part of GreenTRIP, a green building certification program for new residential, mixed-use development.

Source: The Merc

Google Signs Another North San Jose Lease!

Google is finally stepping up to the plate and joining Apple in acquiring commercial space in North San Jose. The company leased two buildings at the corner of North First Street and Trimble (2600 North First Street and 75 E. Trimble Road). This will give Google 174,000 SQFT, a rounding error compared to their Mountain View Campus.

This is actually their second San Jose lease. Google's first San Jose location was 40,000 SQFT at 2460 North First Street. That was just a dipping their toe in the water. Now they have both feet in and could potentially jump in for a swim. Google is going to need far more space than what Mountain View can provide. If San Jose proves to be a good partner for them, it will mean much larger investments in the future.

Keep in mind that Google is just one piece of parent company called Alphabet. There are many other great companies under that umbrella that could use offices located in the Golden Triangle with easy access to manufacturing facilities and semiconductor fabs (Nest, I'm looking at you).

Source: SVBJ