What does AI think of Downtown San Jose?

As I delve more and more into AI for my day job, I thought it would be interesting to see what the latest algorithms think about Downtown San Jose. Remember these systems are trained by gathering the collective knowledge and sentiment from a wide range of sources with billions of virtual neurons reaggregating the data to form cohesive answers.

So I asked Google's Bard to write me a poem about Downtown San Jose and here is what I got:

Downtown San Jose

The streets are wide and open,

The buildings tall and proud.

The people come and go,

A never-ending crowd.

The sun shines down on all,

The rain falls soft and free.

The wind blows through the trees,

A gentle melody.

The city is alive,

A vibrant, beating heart.

It is a place of dreams,

A place of hope, a start.

Here, anything is possible,

The future is unwritten.

So come and join us now,

In Downtown San Jose.

Okay, that's not bad. Very debatable but at least there is no negative subtext. Well done Google. Now let's go to the market leader in this space, ChatGPT:

Here’s a poem about Downtown San Jose:

The heart of Silicon Valley, Downtown San Jose is the place to be, A tech cluster with a cultural vibe, It’s where the city comes alive.

The SoFA district is where it’s at, Arts, culture and entertainment that’s a fact, Located behind the Convention Center, It’s the perfect place to unwind and enter.

The Poetry Center San Jose is here, A place for poets and poetry lovers near, With events and workshops all year round, It’s where creativity can be found.

Love it! Especially since SoFA is one of my favorite places to hang out Downtown. Again, the sentiment is very positive. Nothing about empty streets or any other negative stereotypes that may or may not be true about Downtown. Now for the ultimate AI challenge... Midjourney, please draw me a picture of Downtown San Jose.

Okay, I'll give it an A for effort. It did capture the mountains in the background and our color scheme. Now let's step it up just one more notch. "What will Downtown San Jose look like in 50 years?"

Interesting--especially the autonomous pods and the extra height on that one tower. I think Downtown will actually look a look more interesting that this, but it still blows my mind that these types of requests can be answered in less than a minute and be drawn from scratch without repurposing or reusing any existing images. 

Petiscos and LeYou added to the Michelin Guide

Two San Jose restaurants were recently added to the Michelin Guide for the first time. Just being mentioned in the guide means the restaurants are worthy of a visit.

The first is none other than Petiscos in SoFA. This restaurant comes from a very special pedigree since the owners are the same as ADEGA, the first and only restaurant in San Jose to ever get a Michelin Star. Petiscos has a wide variety of Portuguese small plates designed for sharing with family and friends and some seriously delicious and unique cocktails you can't find anywhere else. The interior features a hand-painted mural of Five Wounds Portuguese National Church, a San Jose landmark off of Highway 101. It's well worth a visit and is reasonably priced given its background. At Petiscos I would highly recommend the flaming chouriço, shrimp turnovers, green bean tempura, duck rice (my favorite), octopus, peas & eggs, the pica pau, and the chocolate mouse. The Sangria and Gintuga won't disappoint if you're looking for a libation.

The second restaurant is LeYou Ethiopian off of First Street. While I haven't been there in person, it was one of the best Doordash meals I've had. With a newborn it's become a challenge to get out to new restaurants in person. I would recommend the platters and extra injera bread so you can try as many flavors as possible. I'm a total carnivore, but the vegetarian dishes blew me away. Definitely get the Four Vegetarian Sampler and the Beef Tibs. If you can handle some spice, the Katenga (toasted injera) was something I've never had before at an Ethiopian restaurant.

After a rough few years, it's great to see that the San Jose food scene is still alive and well! Bon Appétit.

The Future of St. James Park

One of San Jose's most underutilized resources is St. James Park. It has such a great location and historical significance, yet it has become little more than a bastion for the homeless. The SJDA is doing their best to activate it with movies and yoga, but the park itself needs to change. This is especially needed with several high-density housing projects planned for the immediate area.

Now, plans to transform St. James into a modern flagship community amenity are coming together.

Below are illustrations of the new spaces that are being planned that will offer a variety of experiences. These includes a live music venue, children's park, dog park, and plenty of open spaces. All this while keeping the original trees, fountains, and statues. The ETA to see this to fruition is 2028. It sounds like an eternity, but this could be St. James Park in less than 5 years.

Source: SVBJ

Santa Clara Parks Summer Program

It's amazing that you can live someplace your entire life and still not have visited all of the local amenities. I have yet to visit the Almaden Quicksilver Mining Museum, that is the last major museum in San Jose on my list.

Below is a visitor center in Coyote Creek that wasn't even on one of my lists--I never even knew it existed. It sounds like Coyote Creek Visitor Center has all sorts of family friendly activities throughout the summer and is located close to Anderson Lake. For the adults out there, I see quite a few wineries in the area as well.

Dates and times for the events are listed below, all ages are welcome and no reservations are needed. It looks like a neat place to visit with family even when no events are going on. The address is 19245 Malaguerra Ave, Morgan Hill, CA 95037 (it's literally at the border of San Jose).

Father's Day in San Jose

As a new father, I was curious what sort of events were happening this weekend but I thought I would put a twist on a standard post. For the first time I would ask AI what's happening for Father's Day in San Jose and see exactly how good the results are. I tested both Google's Bard and ChatGPT, and this was the best result (ChatGPT):

"Father’s Day is a special day to celebrate fathers and father figures. San Jose offers many weekend events to celebrate Father’s Day and pay homage to dads everywhere in the Silicon Valley. From free admissions to auto shows and foodie brunch or dinner, there are a lot of fun things to do in San Jose on Father’s Day that are sure to bring on the smiles to their face and create lasting memories! 

Here is a list of fun events and things to do in San Jose on Father’s Day

• Father’s Day Car Show at Bernal Church: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. June 19, 160 Bernal Road, San Jose. Celebrate Father’s Day at this spectacular car show complete with barbecue, live music.
• San Jose Giants vs. Modesto Nuts: 5 p.m. June 19, Excite Ballpark, 588 E. Alma Ave., San Jose.
• Father’s Day Brunch at The Fairmont San Jose: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. June 19, The Fairmont San Jose, 170 S. Market St., San Jose.
• Father’s Day Brunch at the Winchester Mystery House: 10 a.m. to noon June 19, Winchester Mystery House, 525 S Winchester Blvd., San Jose.
• Father’s Day Brunch at the Tech Museum of Innovation: 10 a.m. to noon June 19, The Tech Museum of Innovation, 201 S Market St., San Jose."

Damn, that was actually pretty good! Could I push my luck and generate an image for this post using AI as well? The answer to that is... not really. The image below is entirely AI generated and is almost convincing until you realize it's not San Jose, something funky is happening with the streetlights, and what's up with everyone's arms? Is that a claw? Is the father grabbing the girl by the head? Oh, the humanity... On that note, Happy Father's Day =)

San Pedro Square 2.0

One of the best changes to San Pedro Square during the pandemic was closing San Pedro Street to foot traffic. This greatly expanded outdoor seating and helped the neighborhood come alive. Now just about every single restaurant space on the street is leased and there are some great new comers like Gyukaku, Serious Dumpling, and Dr. Funk.

The next step is to create a permanent outdoor dining zone and pedestrian area. Last month the City Council approved a design that would provide 20 feet on both sides of the street for restaurant seating with a pedestrian walkway in the very middle that is about 20 feet wide.

The project would take 2-3 years and cost about $9.5 million, but given it is one of the most vibrant parts of Downtown San Jose today I think that's well worth it.

New Speakeasy coming to San Jose!

Another speakeasy bar could be coming to center of Downtown San Jose! Based on the render it looks like the underground bar could have a second area hidden in an old bank vault. 

The location is exceptional as it's close to other nightlife and is a short walk from everything. You have MINIBOSS, Paper Plane, 55 South, Temple Bar, and Five Points within two blocks--not to mention the whole Qmunity district and new spots like Goodtime Bar and the excellent Fox Tale Fermentation Project.

Below is the description from the sign. You'll have to zoom in quite a bit to see the layout. What a great way to make use of an underground space!

Project Description: Conditional Use Permit to allow a bar with late night use until 2:00am in the basement of an existing commercial building on an approximately 0.28-gross acre site.

Source: jgordo32 from the San Jose Development Forum

Naglee Park PorchFest returns June 17th, 3-7pm

The Naglee Park PorchFest brought together the neighborhood during the pandemic and is now returning on June 17th. This event turns porches, driveways, and lawns into stages for bands. The Campus Community Association and Messenger events organizes the bands, food trucks, and bathrooms but the real party is being hosted by the neighbors of Naglee Park.

In it's inaugural year--Summer 2020--bands were loaded onto trucks and paraded through the neighborhood while neighbors watched on their lawn. This year they have grown to 10 bands in 10 different locations which you can find on the map below.

It all does down this Saturday from 3-7pm on 12-14th Streets just south of Santa Clara Street.