San Jose Goes Virtual

Searchlight San Jose has a great post about how San Jose businesses are now providing virtual experiences. Great America has virtual rides, Happy Hollow is providing photos and Zoom backgrounds, History San Jose is posting historical artifacts (including a terrifying Chuck E. Cheese animatronic). Museums like the SJMA, The Tech, and the Winchester Mystery House are doing virtual tours.

When it comes to shopping, SJMade has put together a very cool online storefront designed like a 16-bit video game. All of the items sold here are made by San Jose craftsmen.

Head over to Searchlight San Jose to see the full list of virtual experiences to keep you entertained for the next for weeks.

"Human" by Sunny State

As the week heads to a close, let's wrap with one of the creative ways San Jose artists are coping with social distancing. The band Sunny State recorded a special version of their song "Human" in response to the COVID-19 crisis using videoconferencing software. It's a cool song with relevant lyrics, recorded locally.

For more info and to hear more of their music, head over here. You can watch the special performance of "Human" below.

Two massive 20-story towers proposed Downtown

KT Urban has submitted plans for Woz Way Offices, another epic office project in Downtown San Jose. It consists of a whopping 1.8 million SQFT split between two towers at 280 Woz Way. One of them is a giant wall similar to Adobe's 4th tower and looks like multiple high-rises combined together.

The project architect and designer stated that the only place in Silicon Valley where a tech company can physically scale their business and have access to transit is San Jose. Hopefully the momentum can survive the current crisis as it appears that developers are finally coming around to seeing Downtown's potential.

The project would also feature an impressive 30,000 SQFT of outdoor terraces across four floors, and 6,000 SQFT of retail (a bit light for a project this size). Parking will consist of four-levels both above and below ground, enough to handle 1,215 cars.

If all goes well, the project could break ground as early as 2021.

Source: SVBJ

Supporting the Downtown SJ restaurants that are still open

There are still many great Downtown restaurants (and even some bars) that are still serving customers with curbside pick-ups, to-go orders, and partnerships with delivery services like Doordash and Uber Eats. The San Jose Downtown Association has put together a handy list of the places that are still open for business. By patronizing local restaurants in these tough times, we can help ensure they will still be around later this year. Here are a few of my favorites on the list:

• Back-A-Yard - hands down one of my favorite restaurants. They are even featured in the Michelin Guide as one of San Jose's 8 Michelin Recommended restaurants. Try the oxtail, plantains, and corn festivals
• Good Karma - vegan cafe with Good Karma and GREAT beers. This was San Jose's first real craft beer hangount. Even if you're not a vegan you'll find quality food with rare libations to wash them down with.
• Pizza Flora - same owner as Good Karma--I'm a total carnivore and was blown away at how good these pizzas were. Seriously I would have never guessed these were vegan, and again the beer selection here is phenomenal. 
• Henry's Would Famous Hi Life - I don't think this needs any elaboration, one of our staple BBQ joints.
• Terke's Germania - another Downtown staple serving up quality German eats and beers by the liter.
• Hapa Musubi - one of our most popular new additions to the food scene. I have visited this place three times and they were completely sold out of everything twice. Great musubi's that go well beyond the classic SPAM musubi (although they have that too).
• Ludwig's German Table - Downtown's newer German spot. Love the Schnitzel and Pretzels here. Looking forward to sitting in their outdoor patio again one day.
• Silicon Valley Capital Club - this is a very notable restaurant on the list as it's a private club that you normally have to be a member of to dine in. They have curbside pickup and to-go orders for both members and non-members while restaurants are locked down.
• Enoteca La Storia - one of my favorite Italian spots. Great pastas and pizzas. They are a bit light on proteins but are the ultimate spot to get your fix of delicious carbs.
• HoM Korean Kitchen - inexpensive yet super delicious Korean eats, and it's open late.
• Haberdasher SJ - not only can you get cocktails to go from my favorite bar Downtown, but they also have chicken pot pies, snacks, and the best cookies I've ever had... Honey jack bacon sugar cookies. I ended up going through the entire bag of like 16 cookies in one day.
• Cafe Stritch - American comfort food classics. You'll have to supply the Jazz music yourself at home though.
• 71 Saint Peter - high-end Mediterranean grill. Great date night option.
• Miniboss - a great bar, restaurants, and arcade. You can get cocktails and Korean fusion food to go, but will have to provide your own video games these days.
• Original Gravity - aame owners as Miniboss. San Jose's first purpose-built craft beer spot with a great selection of sausages and fries accompanies by homemade sauces.

There are also some great cafes on the list like Academic Coffee, Paper Moon, and Voltaire Coffee House.

To see the list of the 70+ Downtown San Jose restaurants that are still serving up meals to go, head over here.

SoFA Music Festival: Shelter in Place Edition

One of San Jose's top music festivals is going on with the show this weekend. The special "SIP" edition of the SoFA Music Festival will feature 7 hours of live music across 15 different channels with over 100 bands. Instead of dancing in Downtown San Jose, you'll be dancing in your living room. At least the beer and wine will be slightly less expensive than your typical festival ;).

The SoFA Music Festival organizers aren't holding anything back. There will somehow be virtual vendors, merch tables, and a live painting stream to bring the artsy vibe of SoFA into your home. Music will range from jazz, alternative, hip hop, pop, folk, metal, punk, ska, reggae, funk, soul, blues, and mash up DJs. Check out the full set list over here. It's also a true community event built by the community (and it's free). As just about every other live music event in San Jose has been cancelled this year, let's give them our full support!

The party starts on Sunday, April 26th at 2pm and continues until 9pm. Participate over at sofamusicfestival.com.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sofastreetfair

Event Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/2894760980602555

Instagram: @sofastreetfair #sofastreetfair 

Day-of Schedule: https://sofamusicfest2020.sched.com

Silicon Valley rush hour in 2020

There is a new drone video floating around showing what rush hour traffic looked like in March. I can only describe it with one word... chilling.

I never thought I'd see the day where I actually miss traffic. It's a very odd time, not at all what I pictured 2020 to be like. Hopefully this will be over soon and we'll have some normalcy again this year.

Source: Gillynova from the San Jose Debelopment Forum

2020 Silicon Valley Index

The Joint Venture Silicon Valley Index has been providing insights on our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for over 20 years. It provides an honest and holistic view of life in Silicon Valley, with the obvious exception that it was published before COVID-19. It's worth reading for a reminder of where we were at the start of 2020. We can use today's events as a chance to reflect on what we can do differently when we hopefully return to normalcy sometime later this year.

You can download the 2020 Silicon Valley Index over here.

Below are a few items that stood out for me:

• We have had nine continuous years of expansion since the last recession, adding 821,000 jobs in the Bay Area.
• Over that same time period, we only permitted 173,000 new homes and have 100,000 megacommuters [Josh: hopefully the option to work remotely continues for many post-COVID].
• Labor productivity reached a record $241,000 per worker, a 53% increase from 2001.
• Unemployment hit 2.1%, a 19-year low.
• More people are leaving the region than coming in.
• Home prices declined 6% in 2019, yet median home sale prices are still the highest in the country (over $1 million).
• Income inequality hit a historic high with 13% of households holding 75% of the region's wealth.
• Internet speeds are slow compared to SF, California, and the country as a whole [Josh: this is shocking for living in the middle of Silicon Valley].
• Individual median income is $117,000 and 82% of the population is above 150% of the poverty level.
• Silicon Valley's ethnic breakdown is 35% Asian, 33% White, 25% Hispanic/Latino, 5% Multiple/Other, and 2% Black/African American.
• 24% of Silicon Valley residents have Graduate or Professional Degrees.
• 51% of families speak a language other than English at home (vs. 41% for SF, 45% for California, and 22% for the US).
• The Bay Area has by far the largest number of tech jobs and greatest % of people employed in tech out of any region in the US.
• 9% of Silicon Valley Residents lack access to adequate food and nutrition
• San Jose generates more patents than any other city in California (11% of all CA patents in fact).
• In 2019, traffic delays cost as much as $3.4 billion in lost productivity for Silicon Valley workers.

Free private screening of "The Light Between Two Towers"

An excellent documentary that juxtaposes the San Jose Electric Light Tower with the Eiffel Tower will be available for free, starting immediately. "The Light Between Two Towers" is a great watch, especially if you live in the San Jose area and know some of our local history (and if you don't, this is a great place to start). You can start watching over here.

Below is the full announcement by the creator of the documentary, Thomas Wohlmut.

In this terribly disruptive time of the Coronavirus outbreak we are required to isolate ourselves. Each and every one of us who are shut-in feel alone and disconnected. We are living in a type of darkness.

Sometime in the future we will emerge from the darkness into an enlightened world. The documentary "The Light Between Two Towers" drives home a powerful inspirational message of enlightenment and what people can do to emerge from darkness. The film describes how people from all walks of life were motivated to achieve and did achieve a better life.

The story of the building of the San Jose Electric Light Tower by immigrants and its relationship to the Eiffel Tower is a story worth remembering in this time. It's a story that reminds us of how the people of Silicon Valley are innovative leaders and trend setters.

Now may be the time for us to begin to imagine and prepare for a future that brings us back into the light.

As a special gift during this challenging time, we are offering a free private screening of “The Light Between Two Towers”. Share the above link with your family and friends - our gift to you. We hope it will give you a lift and be an inspiration to what we can achieve together and individually when we set our hearts and minds to it.

With best wishes ...

Thomas Wohlmut


You can watch the entire film for free over here.