VTA will get $5 billion from Federal Government to extend BART to Downtown San Jose and Santa Clara

Yesterday a huge step was just taken to secure BART's subway and four station extension to Little Portugal, Downtown San Jose, Diridon (Downtown West), and Santa Clara. The Federal Transit Administration has made a commitment of $5 billion towards the BART SV Phase II project. This was the second largest financial commitment of all time to a single transit project.

The total cost is still $12.7 billion. Nearly $5 billion will be funded by taxes and the state will also chip in nearly a couple billion. The VTA believes they have now secured nearly all of the required funds and closing the remaining gap is within reach.

The estimated completion of the long-awaited project is now 2037. During construction, the project is expected to support 75,000 jobs.

Source: VTA

South FIRST FRIDAYS Art Walk + STREET MRKT - August 2024

South FIRST FRIDAYS is back with exhibits across multiple galleries in three different districts. Everything is open from at least 5-9pm. Participating venues include ANNO DOMINI, the Institute of Contemporary Art, KALEID Gallery, Works San Jose, the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles, the SoFA Market, MACLA, Art Ark Gallery, MACHU PICCHU, San Jose Jazz, and Chopsticks Alley Gallery.

It all goes down on Friday, August 2nd. As usual admission is free and all ages are welcome. Click here for a preview of featured art! Below is a map with all of the galleries to check out across all three different districts.

This month is also a STREET MRKT which overlaps with the art walk and runs from 5pm to 10pm. This bonus event features dozens of vendors and artists, turning the streets of SoFA into an outdoor art gallery. It also includes live music, food trucks, and a beer garden with local breweries (more details below).

STREET MRKT FEATURED ARTISTS:
Anthony Alva 
Rebecca Anguiano
BAGI / Bay Area Glass Institute 
Delilah Bender
The Blunt Letters
Julianne Bonnet
Emmanuel Cervantes Mejia 
Crossroads Trading Co.
Dario Cruz
Current Tattooing
Christina Del Alto
Jennifer DeChenne
Joseph Demaree
Mario Dimas
Lorenz Dumuk
Mahsa Emoventur
Flipside DJ Crew
Force129
Cynthia Gonzalez
Hand in Hand Henna
Higher Fire Clayspace
Maureen Holcomb
Jodi408
Katherine Lee
Sarah Loyola
Valentino Loyola
Joe Mandrick
Martha Gardens Arts
Mersay Mattos
David Mejia 
Karen Oeh
Leslie Perez 
Betty Proper
Ragavon
Francisco Ramirez
Steven Regalado 
Marilyn Roaf aka Purl Bailey
Mike Rogan
Ricardo Sandoval 
Rene Schilling-Sears
South Bay Ceramics
Suha Suha

–>  BEER GARDEN 
5:00 – 10:00pm Great music provided by Flipside Crew
featuring Dougie, Jswizza & Notorious P.I.G. 

Beer Garden sponsored by & featuring local & regional breweries: Clandestine Brewing Co., Fox Tale Fermentation, and Strike Brewing Co.

City of San Jose using AI to streamline government

San Jose is aiming to be an epicenter of AI innovation and development. It seems like City Hall is planning to practice what they preach and apply AI to identifying and solving problems. 

The current use cases are optimizing public transit, publishing translations, reviewing documents, and finding issues like graffiti, potholes, broken street lights, and illegal dumping. There are many more possibilities as well such as emergency response and routine city business reviews, monitoring air quality, waste management, and other services. Essentially AI is being leveraged to improve city services while at the same time reducing costs.

Given our city's goals, we should leverage AI to the maximum extent possible and set the benchmark for others. There are lot of encouraging quotes from city leaders and experts that this is the track we're on at the source link below.

Source: San Jose Spotlight

Campus Burger opens to long lines for it's $1.99 burgers in Downtown San Jose

One of Downtown San Jose's most popular new restaurants is a burger shack in a large kiosk where the Circle-A Skateboard shop used to be on Paseo de San Antonio (don't worry about Circle-A, they relocated to SoFA). 

When I first found out about Campus Burgers, the pricing is the first thing that stood out. They have just five items on the menu and the hamburgers are just $1.99. This seemed too good to be true... I've paid $7 for a Big Mac before. However, this is a legit restaurant. The owner Jim Angelopoulos previously owned and operated Scrambl'z in Almaden and Yolked in Morgan Hill. It's all about simplicity and efficiency to get the costs down to something anyone can afford.

Campus Burgers did a soft opening last week where they gave away 1,000 burgers for free. In the following days they have had long lines and have completely sold out of food well before closing time. They are ordering more meat to keep up with demand. As a side note, San Jose State University is a block away and classes don't even begin until August 19th.

So far their Yelp rating is an impressive 4.5 stars with 30 reviews in the past week. This is despite people often waiting more than half an hour in line to get their burgers, which are cooked to order. Initial reviewers are really impressed with the quality, value, and are even comparing it to In & Out. I can't wait to try this for myself, but if you're in the area it certainly seems worth swinging by.

Source: SVBJ (photos by Tomas Ovalle from the SVBJ)

Six new retail shops opening in Downtown San Jose in the Qmunity District!

A third MOMENT retail project is coming to Downtown San Jose on August 9th. Their first project was in San Pedro Square on the ground floor of the parking structure. Next was a project along Paseo de San Antonio by San Jose State. Now they are brining six (maybe seven) new retailers to the very center of Downtown San Jose at 21 & 23 Post Street. This is in the relatively new Qmunity District and near the Velvet House, another new retail location.

These two retail spots on Post street have been vacant for a long time in what is arguably San Jose's best bar and nightlife area. The new stores are the Tiny Keyboard Shop, Neko-oi, Rose Gold Jelly, It's Kleine, Cub N' Cony by Malisa Suchanya & Sudibear.

More info including details on the grand opening weekend (Aug 9-11) and store hours will be released over here in the coming days.

Source: The Downtowner Email Newsletter & 408Nate

Starlight Cinema - free outdoor screening of The Goonies Aug 3rd

Starlight Cinema is a beloved Downtown San Jose tradition featuring popular movies along with accompanying activities in Saint James Park. This weekend the movie is The Goonies starting at dusk (~8:35pm) on Saturday, August 3rd.

The pre-movie activities include a scavenger hunt at 7pm hosted by Secret San Jose, photo-ops with themed props, and Goonies trivia with prizes. Other free activities include:

• Henna body art with Henna Fairyy
• Build Your Own Boobie Trap activity with Children’s Discovery Museum
• Raffle hosted by The Tech Interactive
• Canvas painting activity with Guadalupe River Park Conservancy
• Bocce ball with Volo Sports
• Lawn games, rock wall by Climb On, & t-shirt press designs by Mobile Screen Printing Party, provided by Viva Parks

Things get more fun if you are 21 and over. From 5-7pm you can mention you are on the Goonies Bar Crawl and get discounts at Fox Tale Fermentations, Dr. Funk, Five Points Cocktail Bar, O'Flaherty's Irish Pub, and Tiki Pete (all excellent options I must say). Dr. Funk is perhaps the most appropriately themed for The Goonies.

If you swing by the SJDA Info Booth, you can also enter for a chance to win a #DTSJ treasure pack that include $100 in gift cards, 4 San Jose Earthquakes game vouchers, 2 Music in the Park tickets, and a Goonies tote bag. Taking a survey at the same location will get you a t-shirt and a chance to win a $25 Dr. Funk gift card, 2 Music in the Park tickets, and a #DTSJ tote.

The last Starlight Cinema for 2024 will be To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar on August 17th.

New mixed-use project with a beer garden opening soon near Levi's Stadium

Finally, 49ers fans will have a place in easy walking distance to hang out before and after games. A new mixed use project on Tasman will feature a Food & Beverage Garden that repurposes an old Carl's Jr. into an indoor bar with local beers, wines, and cocktails. The indoor/outdoor concept will feature food trucks and outdoor games like bocce ball and corn hole.

The residential building behind the beer garden will have 311 luxury apartments in an eight-story building, 100 of which come fully furnished. It also features a two-story fitness center, yoga studio, bike share, a resort-style pool, fire pits, and gaming lounges. 15,000 SQFT of retail will also be available in the ground floor of this building which are separate from the 14,000 SQFT beer and food garden with games.

The beer and food garden is set to open in a few months, just in time for the 49ers season.

Source: LinkedIn, Ensemble

 

San Jose's Little Saigon now has a Night Market

San Jose has the largest Vietnamese population of any city in the United States, which helps explain why we have the best Vietnamese food in the country. Little Saigon in East San Jose consists primarily of both an indoor and outdoor mall with dozens of and restaurants, many of which specialize in very specific Vietnamese dishes. Now you can add a monthly night market to a list of attractions there.

Officially called the "Story Road Night Market" it will be a Vietnamese-focused event in the Grand Century Mall parking lot. It'll features multiple food and retail vendors along with cultural performances. Not all of the vendors will be Vietnamese, they'll also have Mexican birria tacos, Nashville hot chicken, and Portuguese/Asian fusion egg tarts.

If you've never been to Little Saigon, this is the perfect opportunity to explore the area. The night market takes place today from 4-10pm at 1111 Story Road. Parking and Admission are free. The next events will be on Sep 6, Sep 7, Oct 11, and Oct 12.

Source: KQED