April 2019 Downtown Dimension Highlights

The latest addition of Downtown Dimension features one of the most significant decisions in Downtown history--increased building heights. This clears the path to 300+ ft tall buildings Downtown and greater incentives for developers to invest in San Jose. In addition to the highlights below, Downtown has it's first true Persian restaurant at 205 N. Fourth St. and two new craft coffee bars. More details below:


The APRIL 2019 Downtown Dimension is now available at: https://sjdowntown.com/wp_2016/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/DTDAPRIL2019.pdf In this edition:

• Downtowners celebrate a City Council decision that allows downtown buildings to go higher than before, an SJDA advocacy initiative that took 12 years to complete and a city initiative that should provide economic boost to downtown and the airport. 

• The Successor Agency has almost completely dismantled the former San Jose Redevelopment Agency, now down to just a few remaining assets.

• Google continues to buy on the west side -- now up to 54 acres.

• Owners of larger downtown buildings must begin complying with a new ordinance meant to reduce energy and water use.

• Among the new businesses and offices opening in San Jose, say hello to AARP and Stone Stew Persian restaurant.

• Have you subscribed to the new-look Downtowner Online yet?  The Downtowner helps San Joseans make plans for the week and weekend ahead. Subscribe by sending a note to sjda@sjdowntown.com

Here's an invitation to attend SJDA's next public meeting, April 12, 8-9:30 a.m. at The Glass House. Main topic:  Mitigating homelessness downtown. Please rsvp to sjdarsvp@sjdowntown.com

Also for your information:

• 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.

Sofar Event - Singer Christina LaRocca on April 12th

Sofar is an interesting and unique concept where three-act musical events take place in secret locations including people's homes and retail stores. It's a great way to meet new people and brings a new level of intimacy to performances by aspiring musicians. Below is a short video that explains the concept.



We have one such event coming up in San Jose on April 12th featuring soulful singer songwriter Christina LaRocca. She is doing an international tour before launching her album "Whiskey Dreams."  You can preview Christina's music over here and "apply" for the San Jose event at this Sofar page.

“Adios Mama Carlota” @ The San Jose Stage Company

There’s no bad seat in the house.

Although I was sitting on the last row—also known as row 5—at The San Jose Stage Company (The Stage), it was far from a a typical nosebleed. As we sat around a beautiful and yet simple stage, the backing of the set contained picture frames that enveloped different projected images to tell us a story of each scene. From the beginning to the end, we witness the illusion and metaphors projected to us through the screens, lighting, costumes, and music on an unexpected true story of Mexico’s history with a contemporary and comical twist!

“Adios Mama Carlota, The Express of Mexico” is the world premiere production in partnership between The Stage and El Teatro Campesino in San Juan Bautista written by Luis Valdez and directed by Luis’ son, Kinan Valdez. Before opening night, Kinan shared to The San Jose Blog that The Stage was a “home away from home” especially the intimateness of the small theater. Growing up witnessing his father’s work at El Teatro Campesino, Kinan truly felt humbled and honored being asked by his father and mentor to direct this production. Kinan not only hopes that the production will help audience members leave the show as true collaborators, but rethink on the history of imperialism and abuse of power noting the layers of humor throughout the story.

Set at least 150 years ago in Mexico, we are led by Empress Carlota played by a regular cast and staff member of The Stage, Allison F. Rich, whose bold eyes and body language can rivet anyone into a storyline. Her husband, Maximilian, played by Will Springhorn Jr., whose character’s interesting life lacked the true foundation in himself both as a leader and as a lover.

Instead of being a footnote in the history books of the United States, we get to unpack the story better including the remnants of the United States Civil War (with a brief appearance of President Lincoln) to the north, the political realities of leading a country at home and abroad, and layers of relationship issues including sexual morality. We are led along other supporting characters (including the multiple ghosts) played by cast members rooted in the partnership of The Stage (Martín Rojas Dietrich, Edward Hightower) and El Teatro Campesino (Estrella Esparaza-Johnson, Noé Yaocoatl Montoya). After seeing him perform in Hand to God and Newsies, it was not surprising to see Sean Okuniewicz play another seductive character but this time wearing (or growing) a large beard. And to round it off, nothing touched my heart more than Jessica Osegueda who enhanced her character and the entire storyline with a couple of musical and dance numbers.

Catch a performance playing from Wednesdays to Sundays now until April 28, 2019. You can purchase tickets online at The Stage website at www.thestage.org or at their box office at 490 South 1st Street, San Jose, CA, 95113, (408) 283-7142. Discount tickets are available for students and seniors.

Written by John Huân Vu.

Union Pacific vs. Neighbors

Starting last month, the Union Pacific railroad began running trains at 11pm and 3am through Downtown, Japantown, Hensley and Ryland neighborhoods. Apparently during some nights the trains run at 11pm, 2am, 3am, and 4am--making it very difficult for residents to sleep and potentially impacting property values. The only solution proposed so far is creating a quiet zone by installing millions of dollars worth of equipment at 19 crossings. Unfortunately, that won't be happening anytime soon.

If you are in an impacted area, you can access the petition over here asking the Union Pacific to return to regular operating hours:  https://www.change.org/p/zoe-lofgren-stop-the-union-pacific-late-night-trains-through-historic-san-jose-neighborhoods

San Jose is the 8th Happiest City in the US

WalletHub crunched the numbers and evaluated the 180th largest US cities to find the happiest people in America. There were 31 indicators of happiness including depression rates, income growth, life expectancy, rate of illness & disability, participation in sports, and overall leisure time. San Jose made it to the 8th spot on the list. The only local city that beat us was Fremont at 4th place. San Francisco was two spots below us to round out the top 10.

Source: WalletHub, hat tip to Barclay Livker for sending this in

Watch the Light Between Two Towers

You can now rent Tom Wohlmut's exceptional documentary linking the San Jose Electric Light Tower to the Eiffel Tower over here! The 56 minute film takes you through a journey of how San Jose's innovative light tower was built, how it brought San Jose international recognition, and how it was tragically destroyed. The tower was one of the tallest man-made structures in the world when it was built and it illuminated a half-mile radius.

I was fortunate to watch the premier at 3Below Theaters and hope they will feature it there regularly for the full theatrical experience. The film is so packed with San Jose history that it should be required watching for all students in San Jose schools. Please support this great project and watch it using the link below.

Click here to watch the Light Between Two Towers!

The San Jose metro is the most "equity-rich" in the county

Of all the metro areas in the US, San Jose has the highest percentage of "equity-rich" homes at 72%. Equity rich means your loan-to-value ratio (LTV) is heavily weighted towards value. For example, if you have a loan for $300,000 and the home is worth $1 million, there is $700,000 in equity there and that would be considered equity-rich.

More than 7 out of every 10 homes in San Jose now fall into this category. In comparison, the San Francisco metro came in second at 61%. California has the highest share of equity-rich homes of all states, and came in at 39%.

Even more impressive, eight of the top 10 equity-rich zip codes in the USA are in San Jose. In the top 100, 85 of the top zip codes are in the Bay Area.

Yes, this is a very expensive place to live... but for those lucky enough to own their own homes there is some reassurance that you can either tap equity as needed or move to a less expensive place and live like someone that won a small lottery.

Source: SVBJ

2019 Annual Spring Symposium

The Urban Planning Coalition at SJSU is hosting their 8th Annual Urban Planning Symposium on Saturday, April 27th at the MLK Library. The theme will be of great interest to a lot of the locals urbanists and Downtown residents reading this--personal transportation devices (PTDs). Downtown patrons have become infatuated with scooters, shared bikes, and even funky one-wheel skateboards. The symposium discusses how these devices can become more sustainable, the impact on urban planning, and the future of these devices on the SJSU campus and Downtown.

Admission is free and breakfast and lunch are provided. If you are a student you will even get some credits for attending. To learn more about each panel and RSVP, head over here.