December 2018 Downtown Dimension Highlights

The DECEMBER 2018 Downtown Dimension is now available at:

https://sjdowntown.com/wp_2016/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/DTDDEC2018.pdf

In this edition:

• Dec 4 is Google Tuesday, when the City Council decides whether to sell city-owned properties to the information company.  Our feature story focuses on what the vote is all about and why it's good for San Jose.
• SJDA Board President Michael Rewkiewicz takes a walk around downtown and sees signs of the city's promise fulfilled.
• Parking systems upgrades are coming in 2019.
• Plans evolve for the Jose Theater and Museum Place.
• Have you skated Kristi Yamaguchi Downtown Ice yet?  Open through the holidays and most of January.
• Claudia's Pastes and The Hot Grill join the roster of downtown eateries -- both offering some unique menu items.
• Veggielution moves its operation offices downtown, thanks to All Good Work, an NYC-based non-profit whose mission is to keep other non-profits up and running in available co-working spaces.
• Enjoy 2018's Downtown San Jose for the Holidays!

Always available:

• Live and Local SJ supports live music in the center city.
• Traffic alerts keep up with lane and road closures and openings.
• Maps of downtown commercial property availability and development proposals.
• Boom City: SJDA's summary of new downtown building proposals and west side acquisitions.

Downtown Dimension is a leading source for information about downtown San Jose news, events and businesses.  Subscribe with a simple email to sjda@sjdowntown.com, subject line: Subscribe.

For information about downtown events, also subscribe to Downtowner Online.

Sourisseau News: New Almaden

This week's history video is about New Almaden, one of San Jose's most hidden neighborhoods. The Quicksilver (mercury) mine in New Almaden produced an incredible amount of wealth, more than any gold mine in the state. If you go to the site of the old mine today, there is actually a neat little museum there.

To watch the two minute video on New Almaden, click here.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

We hope that you and your family have a wonderful holiday season.

If you have already done the standard San Jose holiday traditions at Christmas in the Park and Santana Row, you can go on an adventure through our neighborhoods. You can find the addresses of the most decorated homes in San Jose over here. Some even have light shows synced to music--it's worth the drive.

Happy Holidays!

Tiny homes for the homeless

San Jose is exploring a novel way to house part of our homeless community, currently around 3,231 people. The city is working with Gensler to build 80 "tiny homes" that would cost as little as $6,500 each to build. The homes are 80 SQFT but have a bed, storage areas, and a sitting area. Each also come with heating and cooling and three windows.

The plan is to build two pilot communities that would each have 40 of these homes, along with communal areas for cooking. Bathrooms would be placed in a temporary structure.

It may not seem like much, but this would greatly help those that need it most get back on their feet--not to mention reduce the population of our "tent cities." The goal is for residents of these homes to move to permanent housing within 6 months.

This kind of out-of-the-box thinking is exactly what we need in order to make an impact. Just doing more of the same does not seem to be working. Fingers crossed that this will help ameliorate one of our key social issues.

Source: SVBJ

Souresseau News: Ethnic Communities

This week's history video is about ethnic communities that moved to San Jose. Even 100 years ago, San Jose was surprisingly diverse with French, German, Mexican, Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, Italian, and Filipino immigrants. At one point we even had the largest minority population in California.

To watch the two minute video, click here.

WinterFest at California's Great America

Great America's WinterFest is already in full swing. The theme park is completely decked out for the Holidays. Just like Halloween this year, they did an outstanding job with the decorations. Most of the rides are operating and there are holiday surprises around every corner--carolers, a dance troop on a trolley, costumed entertainers. The lake at the entrance of the park is now an ice skating rink and the food vendors are now offering holiday classics.

New this year are WinterFest igloos. These are cozy heated lounges that you can rent for the whole day in the park. They come with food and beverage delivery, a concierge, reserved seating at shows, and complimentary ice skating or carriage riding. I was able to test them out at a media event and was really impressed. It's a novel concept for those that want the full VIP experience and are willing to pay for it (the rental fee is $299 for a party of four).

Tickets to WinterFest start at only $19.50. For more information, click here.

Sourisseau News: Early Banks

This week's history video is about banking. Below is a drawing of the Knocks and Beans bank, San Jose's first bank which opened in 1866 at 1st and Santa Clara. Eventually it was changed to the Bank of San Jose and moved across the street. Some of the most beautiful historic buildings in San Jose were once banks, and all of them are featured in this short 2 minute documentary.

To watch the video, click here.

SJDA hosting a public year-in-review meeting this Friday

The San Jose Downtown Association always throws an amazing end-of-year meeting with an entertaining slideshow presented by Scott Knies. The event is free and open to the public. It is also early enough that many people can attend before work.

This year topics include BART decisions, the future Google campus Downtown, and election results. Oh, and there will be complimentary coffee and muffins.

The event takes place this Friday, December 14th at Hammer Theatre Center (101 Paseo De San Antonio) from 8am to 9:30am. You can RSVP by emailing sjdarsvp@sjdowntown.com