Atlas Obscura is an interesting site that show unique or historical spots within a city. Their mission is "to inspire wonder and curiosity about the incredible world we all share." It is often used by travelers when planning trips to new places.
Atlas Obscura has a section for San Jose, but it has only 14 entries. This is compares to 168 entries for San Francisco or 324 for Manhattan. Heck, even Sacramento had 13 attractions listed. So what can we do about it? At the very end of the page, we can submit more suggestions for unique places and things to do in San Jose. Just head over here to see the current list and add your suggestions.
Hat tip to Kyle O'Dea for sending this in.
Tuesday, April 30, 2019
Monday, April 29, 2019
Google expanding to North San Jose
Google has a long term vision of building an epic 8 million SQFT campus in Downtown San Jose near Diridon. That project that will probably take a decade to come to fruition. Fortunately, there is another Google project in North San Jose with a much shorter horizon.
Google has just secured leases on three buildings totaling 611,535 SQFT that have yet to be constructed at 60 North Brokaw (near Casino M8trix). Peery-Arrillaga, the developer, has already requested permits to start construction. Two of the buildings would be eight stories tall, while the third is four stories.
The buildings could accommodate up to 4,900 employees, and they could start moving in as early as 2021. That sounds like ages from now, but is less than two years away. Since Mountain View real estate is completely tapped out, this is the first step in a long journey for Google to move the majority of their Silicon Valley operations to San Jose. Without major changes in building policies up north, San Jose is without a doubt Google's future.
Sources: SVBJ, San Jose Inside
Google has just secured leases on three buildings totaling 611,535 SQFT that have yet to be constructed at 60 North Brokaw (near Casino M8trix). Peery-Arrillaga, the developer, has already requested permits to start construction. Two of the buildings would be eight stories tall, while the third is four stories.
The buildings could accommodate up to 4,900 employees, and they could start moving in as early as 2021. That sounds like ages from now, but is less than two years away. Since Mountain View real estate is completely tapped out, this is the first step in a long journey for Google to move the majority of their Silicon Valley operations to San Jose. Without major changes in building policies up north, San Jose is without a doubt Google's future.
Sources: SVBJ, San Jose Inside
Thursday, April 25, 2019
Future Motion opening 60,000 SQFT facility in San Jose
Future Motion makes a one-wheel electric skateboard that is becoming increasingly popular. The self-balancing skateboards retail from $950 to $1,800. I see a bunch of them every time I'm in Downtown San Jose.
While the company is currently headquartered in Santa Cruz, they are opening a new manufacturing outpost in North San Jose at 2250 Zanker Road. Future Motion expects to employ 150 people at the new facility.
For additional information on Future Motion and the industrial market in general, check out the source link below.
Source: SVBJ
While the company is currently headquartered in Santa Cruz, they are opening a new manufacturing outpost in North San Jose at 2250 Zanker Road. Future Motion expects to employ 150 people at the new facility.
For additional information on Future Motion and the industrial market in general, check out the source link below.
Source: SVBJ
Wednesday, April 24, 2019
San Jose has fastest growth in international visitors to US cities
Of the 40 US cities attracting the most overseas visitors, San Jose was the fastest growing. We had 611,000 international visitors in 2017, which is a 25% increase from 2016. Note that these do not include visitors from Canada and Mexico. This compares to a nationwide increase of only 0.7% over the same period. That makes us the 19th metro in the US for international tourism.
San Francisco comes in 5th nationally with 3.4 million international visitors, but they actually saw a decline of 3.6% in the same period.
International visitors have a major impact on the economy measured in the thousands of dollars per single visitor. In fact, one full international flight can contribute a million dollars to the San Jose economy. While we do not rank very highly overall right now in terms of international visitors, the fact that the number is growing rapidly is a good sign.
Source: SJ Economy Blog
San Francisco comes in 5th nationally with 3.4 million international visitors, but they actually saw a decline of 3.6% in the same period.
International visitors have a major impact on the economy measured in the thousands of dollars per single visitor. In fact, one full international flight can contribute a million dollars to the San Jose economy. While we do not rank very highly overall right now in terms of international visitors, the fact that the number is growing rapidly is a good sign.
Source: SJ Economy Blog
Tuesday, April 23, 2019
"Will a Vibrant New Skyline Finally Give San Jose a Sense of Place?"
There is a great article about San Jose in Redshift, a publication about the future of "making" that specializes in architecture and design. Silicon Valley is growing up, and creating a sense of place will become a very important part of our future. The article mentions the multitude of projects coming our way in the near future. Over 5.5 million SQFT of projects are in the works, including MIRO (two 28-story high-rise apartments), Modera, and Invicta. The new projects will connect Downtown and are more about placemaking than facades. The long term architectural strategy for one San Jose architect, Stenberg Hart, is creating buildings that impose an architectural point of view on San Jose and catalyze the community. The end goal is helping San Jose create a unique local culture that will eventually shape the overall aesthetic of the city.
To read the article, head over here.
To read the article, head over here.
Monday, April 22, 2019
Viva Calle 2019 Part 1 - "Downtown and Eastbound" on May 19th
One of my favorite events of the year returns is returning in a big way. During Viva Calle SJ, miles of city streets will be completely shut down to let people walk, run, bike, or skateboard down the streets of San Jose. For 2019, the event will take place twice! The first event is on May 19th and the second will take place sometime in September.
Viva Calle features multiple activity hubs which are basically festivals-within-a-festival that highlight the local area. For part 1, the activity hubs will be at St. James Park, Parque de los Pabladores in SoFA, and Emma Prusch Farm. You can expect live music, vendors, food, activities, bike parking, and good times at all three hubs. In between the activity hubs you will still find all sorts of interesting stops, hydration stations, and stores. Last year over 100,000 people attended the event.
The route will extend from Emma Prusch to near Willow Glen. At the intersection of Keyes St. (Story Rd.) and 1st St., you will be able to take 1st/Market St. all the way to the St. James Park area.
Viva Calle 2019 "Downtown and Eastbound" takes place on Sunday, May 19th from 10am to 3pm (streets are closed until 4pm). It is completely free and has no designated beginning or end as it's not a race. It is not clear yet if PokemonGo will be integrated into the event like the previous two years. You can use the handy map below to locate the routes and festivities. For more info, head over here. Hope to see you there!
Viva Calle features multiple activity hubs which are basically festivals-within-a-festival that highlight the local area. For part 1, the activity hubs will be at St. James Park, Parque de los Pabladores in SoFA, and Emma Prusch Farm. You can expect live music, vendors, food, activities, bike parking, and good times at all three hubs. In between the activity hubs you will still find all sorts of interesting stops, hydration stations, and stores. Last year over 100,000 people attended the event.
The route will extend from Emma Prusch to near Willow Glen. At the intersection of Keyes St. (Story Rd.) and 1st St., you will be able to take 1st/Market St. all the way to the St. James Park area.
Viva Calle 2019 "Downtown and Eastbound" takes place on Sunday, May 19th from 10am to 3pm (streets are closed until 4pm). It is completely free and has no designated beginning or end as it's not a race. It is not clear yet if PokemonGo will be integrated into the event like the previous two years. You can use the handy map below to locate the routes and festivities. For more info, head over here. Hope to see you there!
Thursday, April 18, 2019
San Jose Wayfinding Project
The SJ Economy Blog has some interesting information on a Wayfinding Project for San Jose. The goal is to provide block-by-block guidance to Downtown visitors.
One of the big challenges Downtown faces is that there are many districts that are poorly connected with dead space in between them--empty store fronts, parking lots, etc. Thankfully, the Knight Foundation funded a project to help overcome this key issue and city staff is working on implementing some of the proposals.
The first phase of the program will focus on delivering navigation totems throughout Downtown at key intersections. It will cover a ten-minute walking radius and the first totems will be placed along San Carlos between the convention center and SJSU. It will help visitors and students branch out into other parts of Downtown.
The totems for now will unfortunately be static, which is inconvenient as Downtown is changing very rapidly. I was hoping for interactive screens that would be better suited for the "Capital of Silicon Valley" and perhaps direct people to events happening that day or allow for integrating creative art or even location-based games. At least there will likely be a mobile way-finding element at some point.
For more info, check out the link below or check out the Knight Foundation report.
Source: SJ Economy Blog
One of the big challenges Downtown faces is that there are many districts that are poorly connected with dead space in between them--empty store fronts, parking lots, etc. Thankfully, the Knight Foundation funded a project to help overcome this key issue and city staff is working on implementing some of the proposals.
The first phase of the program will focus on delivering navigation totems throughout Downtown at key intersections. It will cover a ten-minute walking radius and the first totems will be placed along San Carlos between the convention center and SJSU. It will help visitors and students branch out into other parts of Downtown.
The totems for now will unfortunately be static, which is inconvenient as Downtown is changing very rapidly. I was hoping for interactive screens that would be better suited for the "Capital of Silicon Valley" and perhaps direct people to events happening that day or allow for integrating creative art or even location-based games. At least there will likely be a mobile way-finding element at some point.
For more info, check out the link below or check out the Knight Foundation report.
Source: SJ Economy Blog
Wednesday, April 17, 2019
Santana Row Summer Fashion Show
Below is the press release for Santana Row's most popular event of the year. Tickets often sell out, so if you are interested it would be a good idea to buy them early.
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On Saturday, June 8 at 2 p.m. Santana Row’s most popular annual event, the Summer Fashion Show, returns to showcase the coolest looks for a hot summer in the most summery of spots – Santana Row Park. This professional runway show will benefit The Princess Project, an organization that collects dresses and gives them to teens all over California to make sure everyone feels like a princess at prom. Participating retailers include:
- Free People
- Kendra Scott
- Tea Collection
- Ted Baker
- Anthropologie
- Everything But Water
- …and more Santana Row retailers!
Tickets are $50 and include seating at the runway show, access to the on-site style boutique, champagne and wine, light hors d’oeuvres, a Passion for Fashion shopping card with exclusive incentives and post-show soirees. Tickets are now on sale online, and inside the Santana Row Concierge.
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