St. James Park finally getting redesigned

Four finalist proposals have been selected in a competition to do a complete overhaul of St. James Park. As we all know, over the past several decades the park has become an unpleasant place. It is a shame given the park's central location and history that includes everything from presidential visits to one of the last lynchings in the US.

A finalist will be selected on October 15th, so you still have a few days to submit your opinion. The proposal will be selected based on how well the park addresses the needs for the Levitt Pavilion (year-round permanent music venue), the needs of the whole community, how original and creative it is, and how likely people are to visit it.

At least 50 free, family-friendly concerts will take place each year in the new St. James Park. Other requirements include picnic areas, greenery, and "whimsical" fountains. The cost will range from $30-60 million, but that money will be well spent if it can transform the area and add value to the community for decades.

You can view each of the four proposals over here.

Source: The Merc, huge thanks to Nick Fishler for sending this in!

More details on the Valley Fair expansion

We have been waiting a long time for the repeatedly-delayed Valley Fair expansion, but now plans are getting very real. Westfield has a video showcasing the massive 624,000 SQFT expansion. I can't give you a direct link or embed it, but all you have to do is go to this page, and scroll down to the middle of the page.

The official price tag will clock in at a whopping $1.1 billion. Given it is one of the most profitable retail centers in the world, I'm sure that investment will pay off.

The video starts off with a lot of nice things to say about us as consumers:

The heart of Silicon Valley
#1 Wealthiest Metropolitan Area in the U.S.
#1 Highest Median Home Value in U.S.
#1 Center for Technology and Innovation in the World
#1 Fastest Growing County in U.S.
Highest Concentration of Millionaires and Billionaires in the U.S.
Hyper Educated
Hyper Entrepreneurial

Then it goes into some of the details...

624,000 SQFT Expansion
Upscale Cinemas
150 New Retail Shops
New Flagship Bloominddails
Luxury Vallet and Elegant Outdoor Dining

And then you get the posh renders of what is being planned. I grabbed a few images from the video, but recommend watching it to get the full effect.

Huge thanks to Joe Meduri for sending this in!

Knight Cities Challenge 2017 kicks off today!

The Knight Cities Challenge is a battle for the best ideas to improve local communities. $5,000,000 in grants are up for grabs in 26 cities, including San Jose. We have done quite well in this competition in previous rounds. Earlier this year, $100k was given to create a Post Street Night Market and another $100k went to create MayFeria at the Mexican Heritage Plaza.

Applications will be accepted through November 3rd at knightcities.org.

Each submission should pertain to one or more of the following three themes:

• Talent - what will allow us to attract and keep talented people?
• Opportunity - how can we expand the economic prospects of our community?
• Engagement - what will spur civic connection and involvement?

Funding is provided by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Head over here and help make San Jose a better place!

Nutanix IPOs and raises $238M

Nutanix is a San Jose data tech company that had one of the most successful IPOs in recent years. The company's stock soared from $16 per share to $38 since the IPO, making the company worth over $5 billion. A huge chunk of that value will go to people that work and likely live in San Jose, adding further fuel to our economy.

The company is headquartered at 1740 Technology Drive, Suite 150.

Source: SVBJ

New Downtown San Jose Dog Park opens on October 11th!

Hart's Dog Park is located in the Downtown core at 194 W. Santa Clara Street (between San Pedro St. and Almaden Avenue). To launch the new park, there will be an opening celebration on Tuesday, October 11th at 10:30am complete with dog treats.

The Downtown PBID worked with the SJ Downtown Association to create this urban park for the rising number of Downtown residents with dogs. The 2,000+ high-rise apartments built in the last five years are all within a quarter-mile of the new park.

The park is 2,000 SQFT with a double gate, artificial turf, benches, planters, and tree stumps. A mural by local artist Tom Colla will adorn the wall and honor one of San Jose's most famous department stores. The park will also be maintained by Groundwex.

This is a fantastic way to re-purpose abandoned/vacant space. A fire destroyed the previous structure and this space has sat empty for a decade. Much like the small park next to Axis, this is a great way to enhance the quality of life for residents and visitors while also filling up the gaps in our streets.

San Jose Now-And-Then Photos

RENTCafe has 10 "Now-and-Then" photos that compare specific San Jose areas in 2008 to what they look like now. All you do is move the slider on each photo to quickly compare the two time periods. The article also has some flattering quotes such as this one:

"The downtown area in particular is transforming into a bustling live-work-play neighborhood with new residential towers bringing density to the business district." 

Head over to the source link to read the article and go through all of the photos!

Source: RENTCafe

JetSuiteX is launching a new route to Carlsbad (San Diego)

JetSuiteX is a public charter airline that flies out of San Jose's swanky private terminal on the opposite side of Terminals A and B. They already have two routes, one to Burbank and another to Bozeman, Montana. Their third route will be a nonstop to Carlsbad that launches on October 17th.

The flight will depart Carlsbad at 7:45am and arrive in San Jose at 9:10am, with the return flight leaving San Jose at 5pm and arriving at 6:25pm. Fares are $499 each way, but hey you are basically flying on a private plane.

For more info, head over to the JetSuiteX website.

Source: SVBJ

Wednesday Wishlist: Halloween in the Park! (Part X)

Keeping with San Jose Blog tradition, in October we have a Wednesday Wishlist post for Halloween in the Park. The idea is to build on the momentum that Christmas in the Park brings to San Jose each year and create something of similar scale for the month of October with Halloween in the Park! A lot of the infrastructure such as wiring, lighting, and booths might even be able to be shared between the events. The goal would be to make Downtown San Jose the epicenter of October Halloween experiences.

Below you will find brainstorming ideas we have collected for this concept so far over the years. Please have a look and provide your feedback and suggestions in the comments. Thanks!

---

The largest draw to Downtown San Jose for many years now has been Christmas in the Park. It has continued to grow year after year and brings in visitors from all over the Bay Area. It's economic impact is substantial and helps keep many Downtown businesses and restaurants alive.

What would you think about a similar event for Halloween? Picture Downtown lit up in orange and purple with elaborate Halloween displays assembled by local artists. Perhaps infrastructure could even be shared with Christmas in the Park (e.g. retail booths). A strong event in October would help maintain traffic between the summer months and Christmas in the Park. Here are the ideas we have so far:

• Animated Halloween Displays
• Created by local artists
• Analogous to the Christmas displays that attract many families during Christmas in the Park (almost half a million visitors)
• Family friendly so that everyone can enjoy it (PG/PG13, perhaps around the same level as Great America Halloween Haunt)
• Halloween Lighting
• Orange, purple, and green LED lighting on trees
• May be possible to use new programmable LED lighting that can go from Halloween colors to Christmas colors with the push of a button, allowing the lights to stay up for Christmas in the Park as well and reducing setup/take-down costs.
• Halloween Food
• Booths with candied apples, chocolates, candy, pumpkin seeds, etc.
• Food trucks
• Trick-or-treating station - a free piece of candy to anyone wearing a costume any day in October (could also be used to hand out promotional flyers for Downtown events/businesses/resources)
• Retail Booths selling Halloween items, for example:
• Artwork (paintings, glass pumpkins, etc.)
• Home decor/crafts like candles
• Light-up hats/necklaces/bracelets
• Costumes
• Zombie/Halloween make-up station 
• Halloween-themed Carnival Games
• Pirates of Emerson and Candlelighters (Fremont) do a good job of providing family-friendly games themed around Halloween
• A handful of children's rides could also be added to the Paseo and reused for Christmas in the Park
• Interactive Art
• Subzero/ZERO1-style, but with a Halloween spin.
• Halloween-themed video game kiosks and/or arcades
• Pumpkins
• Instead of the sponsored Christmas trees in Christmas in the Park, how about decorated Pumpkins (can even be Styrofoam so there is no mess/decay)?
• Pumpkin carving station for families. 
• Pumpkin carving contest.
• Costumed Entertainers
• Walking around the area, not necessarily scaring people but adding to the ambiance and providing photo opportunities for families
• Haunts / Mazes
• Would be ideal if these were nearby, perhaps in vacant retails spaces, surface parking lots, the San Jose Convention Center tent, or at SJSU.
• Could partners with one of the established San Jose haunt providers such as Deadtime Dreams or The World's Largest Haunted House.
• Potential Events
• Zombie-O-Rama can be used to kick off Halloween in the Park (late Sep. / early Oct. time-frame)
• Zombie Crawl
• Dia De Los Muertos Events
• Halloween/Dia De Los Muertos Bike Party
• Horror Movie Trivia Contest
• Weekly horror movie screening (perhaps in the Circle of Palms area?)
• Costume Ball

Inspirations:

• Candle Lighters
• Pirates of Emerson
• The Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze (photos below)