Fighting drug use in Downtown San Jose

We absolutely cannot let Downtown San Jose turning into the hellhole that Downtown San Francisco has become when it comes to crime and drug use. I was very please to see Mayor Matt Mahan's proactive approach to this problem and I think this letter below is spot on.  Downtown must be safe for businesses, residents, and visitors. Drug use or sales in front of businesses like 7eleven is completely unacceptable. 

Some businesses are already trusting that things will improve and are coming back to life--such as the bakery Holy Cannoli on Santa Clara Street. Actions speak louder than words, so hopefully we can all work together to make San Jose a better place.

Dear Neighbor, 

Last week, Police Chief Mata, the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office and I made something very clear: San Jose has a zero-tolerance policy for drug dealing.

This collaboration and commitment to safety is how we will continue to make sure our families are safe, and those struggling with addiction get the care they need to curb their addiction. 

After this announcement, we heard some good news. Holy Cannoli, a bakery on Santa Clara St., said that they will be reopening because our message gave them hope that downtown will be safer and more customer-friendly in the days ahead. Our back-to-basics focus on safety is giving some of our downtown business owners the confidence they need to continue operating. 

But what does a zero-tolerance policy really mean? 

It means we will respond, respond appropriately and respond at once to prevent any congregation of drug use or sales. It means that those who are dealing drugs in our city will be arrested and prosecuted. It means that those who are addicted to drugs will be held accountable for getting treatment, especially when their addiction is associated with other crimes. We need to work together to make this happen. 

The Chief, Sheriff and I can’t solve this problem alone. 

We need you. We need every member of the community to be vigilant, and report illegal behavior to our police department by calling 911. Our officers can’t be everywhere at once, but our neighbors already are. 

We need the District Attorney to prosecute dealers, and those who are repeatedly committing crime because of their addiction – and DA Rosen has told me that this is a priority for him. 

We need Santa Clara County to create a secure in-patient treatment facility for those whose addiction is leading them to repeated criminal behavior so that judges can hold them accountable for detoxing and getting treatment. We also need more voluntary treatment options to reduce demand for drugs more broadly and give people the support they need to improve their lives.

We need our state representatives to support common sense reforms like SB43. This legislation will expand conservatorship laws by changing the definition of gravely disabled to include those who are unable to care for themselves due to mental illness or severe addiction. This is an incredibly important tool that will allow us to mandate treatment for those who are beyond the point at which they can make rational decisions for themselves. 

By collaborating to tackle both the supply and demand side of drug dealing, we will put ourselves on the path to being the safest big city in the country again. 

Sincerely,

Mayor, City of San José

One of my favorite quotes about Downtown San Jose

This Silicon Valley Business Journal article came out almost two years ago, yet I've kept it bookmarked all this time as it has one of my all-time favorite comments about Downtown San Jose. It comes from Gary Dillabough, a real estate investor with Urban Communities working on multiple projects throughout Downtown San Jose--including the Paseo project mentioned over the weekend.

“You need to change people’s mindsets because I think a lot of the mindset here is that ‘pretty good is OK.’ And that San Jose is, ‘we’re just a second-tier city, and for us to think of being a top-tier city is a little too aspirational.’ I think that’s absolutely incorrect. When you really look at all the infrastructure, the people, the companies, the weather — the list goes on and on — this should truly be one of the country’s greatest cities.

Jeff (Arrillaga) and I are spending a lot of time just trying to help people think about it: Just don’t be ‘pretty good’ — let’s be exceptional. I think you start with that vision, then you have a mindset, and then how do you start to create some momentum?" 

-Gary Dillabough interviewed by J. Jennings Moss

This still resonates in 2023. Despite the pandemic, the collapse of the commercial real estate market, and all of the other reasons why Downtown San Jose should have failed year-after-year... a chance at true success has never felt closer. The quality of the projects being proposed far exceeds what we were seeing 10 or 20 years ago, and something about Downtown's brand is just different. We're not trying to be San Francisco or even Palo Alto. Proprietors, artists, and restauranteurs are trying to build things that are exceptional and uniquely San Jose. It's okay to be aspirational and there is no need to be like X or Y. San Jose is a city litteraly built around innovation, all we have to do is be ourselves.

Starlight Cinemas

Outdoor movies are heading back to St. James Park this summer staring July 1st with Mean Girls. This event is free, just bring a chair or blanket to the park. July 15th will feature Ferris Bueller's Day Off, then Moana on July 29th and Back to the Future on August 5th will close out the series.

Showtime is around 8:30pm. There are also pre-movie activities like lawn games at 7:30pm on July 1st and July 15th and 7pm on July 29th and August 5th.

For more info head over here.

"NUDES" designed a rainwater harvesting tower for San Jose

A company called NUDES created an insane looking concept for the Guadalupe River Park. This was one of the design competition entries for Urban Confluence's project to bring a new landmark to San Jose.

The general idea is that the 200ft tower would catch and transport water into a shallow rainwater harvesting pool which would also somehow be connected to the neighboring Guadalupe River. It would also serve as a public space and event venue focused around water conservation and climate change.

While the chances of this coming to fruition are close to nil, it's a great example of how you can create a stunning structure while staying within San Jose's height requirements do to the airport.

Source: Jawz, Designboom

The San Jose Blog Housekeeping

Today I started a long overdue cleanup of the links to other San Jose blogs and sites over on the right-hand side. Unfortunately, so many of them are now long gone. In fact, here's a list:

• Live & Local SJ: Music Spotlight
• What Up! Silicon Valley
• San Jose Silicon Valley Tours
• DTSJ.Events
• LiveSV
• San Jose Metblogs
• SoFASloane
• San Jose Food Blog
• Think Bigger San Jose

Rest in peace old friends🪦 

I did add a few new links and am looking for more. SJ Today has excellent content, especially around food. The San Jose History FB page is frequently updated and has many unique photos of Silicon Valley's past (including the one below). For Pro Sports, I added the San Jose Barracuda. 

If you can think of any others that should be added, please email me or post in the comments. Thanks to spammers I have to manually approve each comment, so it may take some time for comments to show up. Thanks for your patience as we get this blog rolling again.

Blum's Dept Store.
South First Street. San Jose.
Posted by Bob Emerson on the San Jose History Facebook Group

Long-vacant Market by Safeway space finally finds a tenant

The 88 high-rise is finally getting a new anchor tenant! When the condo tower was first built, there was a lot of excitement to have a Safeway in the middle of downtown San Jose, even though it was a scaled back "Market" concept. Safeway struggled with parking, which most Safeway customers in Silicon Valley were accustomed to getting for free. Once they started charging for parking it was game over.

Now, four years later, OneMedAll will be taking that vacant 24,000 SQFT space at the corner of 100 S. Second. This location will focus on oral and general medical care. You can learn more about the company at the OneMedAll website.

I would have loved to see another grocery store here on this key corner spot, but who couldn't use a bit more health and wellness.

Source: SVBJ

Urban Putt and Unofficial Logging coming to Paseo Project in Downtown San Jose

Paseo is getting more the super cool looking bar "Eos & Nyx" mentioned yesterday. Also planned is a 13,300 SQFT Urban Putt miniature golf course a 6,800 SQFT ax-throwing and restaurant space called Unofficial Logging.

Below is one of the first renders of Urban Putt. As far as I can remember, this will be the first miniature golf place in Downtown San Jose. As for Ax-throwing... well, that is starting to get pretty popular. We already have Axe-Men on 14 South Second and AxeVentures just outside Downtown. 

This will be Unofficial Logging's 2nd locations, with the first being in Bend, Oregon. Urban Putt has two other locations: San Francisco and Denver.

Source: Silicon Valley Joe from the San Jose Development Forum

New Downtown SJ bar "Eos & Nyx" looks stunning!

The proprietors behind Original Gravity, Paper Plane, and Miniboss have yet another Downtown San Jose project in the works and it may be their most ambitious one yet. They leased 3,800 SQFT in Paseo which is a mixed-use office, restaurant, and entertainment space in the former shell of Camera 12 Cinemas Downtown.

The two-story, indoor/outdoor bar and restaurant will serve brunch, lunch, dinner, and of course the craft cocktails this team is famous for. It will be a welcome addition to the area when it opens later this year!

Source: Dirk_Birkin from the San Jose Development Forum