Health Trust Hike & Bike Silicon Valley taking place this weekend

Join the Health Trust Hike & Bike Silicon Valley to raise awareness for HIV/AIDS and help fund the Health Trust's AIDS services. This is a unique event that combines a 5K walk and a 30 mile bike ride. The event begins at 9am this Sunday, May 1st at Hellyer Park in South San Jose.

For more information and registration, just heard over here.

Weimers Emerging Artists Award - Call for Artist Submissions - $5,000

Artists in a variety of fields throughout Santa Clara County are encouraged to apply for the fourth annual Leigh Weimers Emerging Artists Awards, which will present three grants of $5000 to selected artists. The award honors the legacy of late San Jose Mercury News columnist Leigh Weimers, a lifelong champion of the arts. For more information: weimersawards.com


Weimers Emerging Artists Award - Call for Artist Submissions - $5,000 from WMS media Inc. on Vimeo.

San Jose winners of the Knight Cities Challenge

The Knight Cities Challenge has announced a list of 37 winners that will share $5 million in grants to make their cities better places. The contest looks for ideas that will help cities keep talented people, expand economic opportunity, and create a culture of civic engagement. San Jose had two winners this year, each taking home $100,000:

Post Street Night Market by Justin Triano | $100,000

Expanding economic opportunity with a recurring night market that features local crafts, food and entertainment.

 

The MayFeria by Mexican Heritage Plaza | $100,000 | submitted by Tamara Alvarado

Increasing civic engagement and expanding economic opportunity in San Jose’s Mayfair neighborhood with The MayFeria, which will consist of folk life events, a community task force, and a coordinator to help identify and make better use of cultural and civic assets

Congrats to both of the winners! I'm especially excited about the new night market on Post Street. For the press release, read on.

Knight Cities Challenge awards $5 million for ideas to make cities more successful

 

MIAMI — The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation today announced that 37 innovative projects will share $5 million as winners of the Knight Cities Challenge. Each of the ideas centers on helping cities attract and keep talented people, expand economic opportunities and create a culture of civic engagement.

 

The challenge attracted more than 4,500 ideas to make the 26 communities where Knight invests more vibrant places to live and work. It asked innovators of all kinds to answer the question: What’s your best idea to make cities more successful?

 

The 37 winners proposed a host of ideas, from exploring Detroit’s untold history through monthly bike tours that blend storytelling with neighborhood discovery to using hip-hop to provide hands-on business training to members of low-income groups in Philadelphia, from developing a toolkit to create temporary pop-up social spaces at voting polls in Long Beach to creating a new cultural hub in West Palm Beach’s Northwest Historic District.

 

“At its core, the Knight Cities Challenge is about discovering and connecting civic innovators, creative interventionists who inspire positive change,” said Alberto Ibargüen, Knight Foundation president. “The winners reflect this goal. Their ideas have the potential to create stronger communities and spaces that spur learning, engagement and growth.”

Open to any individual, business, government or nonprofit, the Knight Cities Challenge has just two rules: (1) A submission may come from anywhere, but the project must take place in or benefit one or more of the 26 communities where Knight invests and (2) the idea should focus on one or more of three drivers of city success: Talent: Ideas that help cities attract and keep talented people; Opportunity: Ideas that create economic prospects by breaking down divides and making new connections; Engagement: Ideas that spur connection and civic involvement.

Winning projects are based in 19 of the 26 communities where Knight invests including: Akron, Ohio; Boulder, Colo.; Columbus, Ga.; Charlotte, N.C.; Detroit; Gary, Ind.; Ft. Wayne, Ind.; Grand Forks, N.D.; Lexington, Ky.; Macon, Ga.; Miami; Long Beach, Calif.; Milledgeville, Ga.; Palm Beach County, Fla.; Philadelphia; St. Paul, Minn.; San Jose, Calif; State College, Pa; and Tallahassee, Fla.

The list of winners is below and at: http://knightcities.org/winners2016

 

The challenge launched in October 2015. Finalists were announced in January.

 

This is the second year of the Knight Cities Challenge. In March 2015 Knight announced 32 winners of the inaugural Knight Cities Challenge. The 2015 challenge winners have created innovative solutions aimed at connecting people of all backgrounds and incomes, inviting people into active civic engagement and helping keep and attract talented people in their communities. They include: the Pop-Up Pool Project, which reimagines Philadelphia’s city pools as neighborhood assets that attract a broad range of people of all incomes and backgrounds; Re:Brand Detroit, which aims to spark reinvestment in Detroit’s neighborhoods through entrepreneurship; and Minimum Grid Maximum Impact, which improves neighborhood life by creating a network of bike and pedestrian connections between Midtown and Uptown Columbus, Ga.

 

The challenge will reopen for submissions in fall 2016.

 

For more on the Knight Cities Challenge, visit knightcities.org and knightcities.org/winners2016. For information and updates follow @knightfdn and #knightcities on Twitter.

 

 

2016 Knight Cities Challenge Winners

 

San Jose, Calif.

 

Post Street Night Market by Justin Triano | $100,000

Expanding economic opportunity with a recurring night market that features local crafts, food and entertainment.

 

The MayFeria by Mexican Heritage Plaza | $100,000 | submitted by Tamara Alvarado

Increasing civic engagement and expanding economic opportunity in San Jose’s Mayfair neighborhood with The MayFeria, which will consist of folk life events, a community task force, and a coordinator to help identify and make better use of cultural and civic assets

 

...

[Josh: to see the list of winners from other cities go to http://knightcities.org/winners2016]

 

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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 www.knightfoundation.org.

High-speed rail will add Merced and Bakersfield to initial service to San Jose

San Jose scored another win when high-speed rail comes to our city in 2025. The initial operating segment will now likely include both Merced and Bakersfield, two cities originally omitted from the first phase. Merced would require a spur track from the main operating line that will eventually go from San Jose to Los Angeles (and perhaps San Diego). Bringing Bakersfield into the network would involve choosing a different terminus station with connections to Amtrak services.

This would give even more people easy access to Downtown San Jose and further stimulate the demand to locate more jobs in or near Downtown. The main risk in adding more cities into the initial segment would be the potential for delays and funding issues. If this ends up happening in 2025, it will give us a substantial economic boost and can perhaps help to correct our jobs and housing imbalances.

Source: SVBJ

Air China is coming to San Jose International!

SJC is on fire when it comes to landing new international routes. In 2012, ANA announced their nonstop to Tokyo. Then 2013 and 2014 came and went without any additional big news. The floodgates opened January of last year when Hainan announced a nonstop to Beijing. That was followed by British Airways announcing a direct flight to London in September. Then SJC scored a surprise hat trick the following month when Lufthansa revealed a flight to Frankfurt. In November, Air Canada announced they are returning to San Jose with a twice-daily nonstop flight to Vancouver. 

While 2015 was incredible, 2016 has been off to a slow start. That all changed last week when Air China officially got the green light to launch flights between San Jose and Shanghai. The direct flight will take to the skies three times per week on an Airbus A330, bringing two of the most innovative cities in the world closer together.

Shanghai will be San Jose's 8th international route (Guadalajara, Cabo San Lucas, Tokyo, Beijing, London, Frankfurt, and Vancouver are the others). This ties us with Oakland International in terms of international routes. However, Oakland's flight to the Azores is seasonal (summer-only and it requires a refueling stop) and five of its international routes are in Mexico. If we look at unique countries, San Jose is up 6 to 4.

Source: The Merc

SVSJ Chamber hosting San Jose business tax modernization meeting

On April 27, from 7:30-9 a.m., the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce is hosting a City of San Jose Business Tax Modernization proposal meeting. The city of San Jose's business license tax has not been updated since 1986. Business owners throughout San Jose are invited to join us at this 60-90 minute morning session, where there will be a presentation by City of San Jose staff who are charged with implementing recent City Council direction to recommend how to double the amount of revenue generated by San Jose’s business tax and make it more progressive, for a November 2016 City-initiated ballot measure.

City staff will present their draft recommendation and seek feedback from business owners.

Who:  Any business that operates in the city of San Jose
When:  Wednesday, April 27th at 7:30 am to 9:00 am  (30 min networking, 60 minute presentation/Q&A)
Where:  San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce, 101 W. Santa Clara St, San Jose (parking is available at 45 N. Market St. Garage)
Cost:  FREE
Please pre-register here: http://web.sjchamber.com/events/City-of-San-Jose-Business-Tax-Modernization-Outreach-2300/details

Coffee and pastries will be provided.

CROWNS presented by The Tabard Theatre Company

CROWNS is playing at the Tabard Theatre in San Pedro Square until May 1st. For a little preview or to purchase tickets, head over to The Tabard Theatre Company website.


CROWNS presented by The Tabard Theatre Company from WMS media Inc. on Vimeo.

SoFA Street Fair is bringing tons of live music to San Jose today

2016's SoFA Street Fair is much larger than last year's event. Over 100 live bands will play on two outdoor stages and multiple indoor stages (15 total). There will even be vendors and wrestling matches. The event is completely free and runs from 2pm to 7pm. For more information check out their Facebook page over here.