A Sneak Peek Inside The San Pedro Square Market

Latest render of The San Pedro Square Market (Photo: The San Jose Blog)

A couple of weeks ago, a few bloggers and I had the opportunity to meet with San Pedro Square Market project manager Steve Borkenhagen about the progress of one of San Jose's most ambitious projects. Set to open August 1st, 2010, the San Pedro Square Market aims to offer a unique shopping experience for the citizens of Silicon Valley. Akin to San Francisco's Ferry Building or Seattle's Pike Place Market, the San Pedro Square Market will offer a variety of local products ranging from baked goods to fresh produce to artisan chocolates. And taking advantage of the city's amazing weather, the market's Peralta Plaza (surrounding San Jose's oldest building, the Peralta Adobe) will offer San Joseans a place to congregate every day of the week, from a morning coffee to an evening cocktail.

If it can be pulled off—and all indications are that Steve and his team are just the people to do it—San Pedro Square Market will quickly take its place amongst the great public markets of the world. What particularly impressed me about meeting Steve was his thirst for new ideas. He is genuinely committed to creating a unique public space—not just unique to San Jose, but unique to public markets. That's both very encouraging and refreshing. But most importantly, Steve is interested in the opinions of the citizens of Silicon Valley, so much so that there is even a sign hanging from the the site's fencing, on the corner of San Pedro and St. James, soliciting for ideas with Steve's own work number (which, by the way, is 408.813.5984).I don't recall Santana Row ever doing that. But what that sign really speaks to is the philosophy driving the project: San Pedro Square Market is a homegrown effort designed to showcase the best of the valley. And your input is invaluable.

It was chilly and rainy the night when we met Steve. He updated us on the progress, as well as gave us a tour. Han Solo famously quipped, "She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts, kid." And indeed, San Pedro Square Market may not look like much now, but she certainly has it where it counts. Here are some photos I took of the two of the three retails spaces (the third to be erected soon). I'll keep you updated with news and photos as work furiously progresses toward the August opening.

All About Kiosks, Pt I

Let's talk about kiosks. Not the cell phone or lemonade or sunglasses kiosks we've all become accustomed to seeing in malls, but the urban kiosk found on city streets.



I was recently in downtown Santa Cruz and was impressed by their use of kiosks along Pacific Avenue. There are only a few, but they are well-placed and offer a variety of services, such as flowers and food.

It's not surprising that European cities have made great use of kiosks. Taking their cue from the Ottoman Empire over 700 years ago, many European cities have integrated kiosks into their urban landscapes. And, in turn, their citizens have integrated kiosks into their everyday lives.





Paris, for example, lines its great avenues with kiosks selling everything from newspapers to tobacco to crepes. London, too, has a vibrant mix of kiosks in its urban core. In these cities and others, citizens visit regularly, places they gather. Tourists also have come to rely on kiosks for food, souvenirs, even theatre tickets, as with TKTS' famous discount ticket booths around the world.





Stateside, several cities have have taken advantage of what kiosks have to offer. Washington DC, Atlanta, San Francisco, and Seattle, amongst others, have dabbled in kiosks throughout their downtowns.









But unquestionably, the American city that has most embraced kiosks is New York City. Gotham is liberally sprinkled with kiosks throughout. New Yorkers and tourists alike have come to expect kiosks as part of the New York experience. One thing New York City has done particularly well is strategically placing their kiosks in the city's heavily-used parks.









Now back to Santa Cruz, their Pacific Avenue is an ideal location for kiosks, it's a long street with heavy traffic and a solid retail mix. Now, "heavy foot traffic" and "solid retail mix" aren't typically used to describe downtown San Jose. However, kiosks could be an interesting, and relatively inexpensive, part of the revitalization of certain areas of the city core.

In an upcoming post, I'll identity some areas of downtown San Jose I think would benefit from kiosks.

When Irish Eyes are Smiling ... in San Jose

The new Irish Innovation Center in San Jose (Photo: The Irish Times)

Just in time for St. Patrick's Day, San Jose welcomed the Irish to town today for the opening of the Irish Innovation Center. The center, with help from the Irish government, is designed to give Celtic companies a leg up in Silicon Valley. Read the Mercury write-up here.

And as the Irish say:
May your pockets be heavy and your heart be light.
May good luck pursue you each morning and night.

San Jose: The Rainbow Tour

The Alameda @ Race Street (Photo: the phunktOGraphist)

San Diego's gay district is called Hillcrest. Los Angeles' is West Hollywood. San Francisco has The Castro.

And San Jose?

Well, for years San Jose has quietly had ... The Alameda.

It might come as a surprise to some that the center of San Jose gay life is that idyllic neighborhood west of downtown. The Alameda is not as flashy as other gay hubs, but it still serves an important function. It's home to The Billy DeFrank LGBT Community Center, a mainstay in the Silicon Valley gay community for close to 30 years. The Alameda is also home to the folks who produce San Jose Pride (a festival, by the way, older than San Francisco's), Out Now Magazine, and The Watergarden, said to one of only two remaining bath houses in the Bay Area. Other establishments in the neighborhood include Cafe Crema (950 The Alameda), 5 Color Cowboy (1445 The Alameda), Renegade Theatre Experiment (1635 Park Avenue), Schurra's Candy Factory (840 The Alameda), Cafe Rosalina (1077 The Alameda), Greenlee's Bakery (1081 The Alameda), Recycle Bookstore (1066 The Alameda), and of course, the iconic (though sadly soon to close) Andy's Pet Shop (1280 The Alameda).

In recent months, there have been significant changes to the neighborhood, including the opening of the historic Plant 51 residential development and stately renovations to some buildings, including 865 The Alameda. (Whole Foods still plans on opening a store at Stockton Avenue in the spring/summer of 2011.)

Meanwhile, thanks to funds from Caltrans and the SJRDA, the Alameda is also in the midst of long over due upgrades. (You can read the latest progress report here.) The project is largely geared toward improving issues such as traffic flow, pedestrian crossings, and bike lanes; there's even an intriguing roundabout proposal. But I hope that in all the revitalization efforts, the gay community the Alameda has served for so long isn't lost. I think it's an important identity to preserve. The city would do well to protect as it would for Little Portugal or Japantown. The Alameda's proximity to Diridon Station will put it in the shadow of the largest transportation hub in Northern California—as well as a potential A's stadium—so I hope the city keeps this unique community in mind as it proceeds. The loss of the gay culture of the Alameda, however subdued it may be, would be a shame.

Campbell's Dupe

The Campbell Water Tower (Photo: /\/\ichael Patric|{)

The Mercury just ran a story about Campbell being "The New Hot Spot in Silicon Valley." It's an interesting enough piece about the town's recent renaissance, particularity in its downtown.

But what caught my attention was not the gushing over Campbell, but the jabs at San Jose. Like the citizens of an unincorporated area bordering San Jose who hope to be incorporated into Campbell because it's the "anti-San Jose." Or Gabrielle Medrano, of Gabrielle's Bridal Atelier, who said "Downtown San Jose is yukky ... I wouldn't walk there by myself at night. I like being in a really safe place." Even Campbell Mayor Evan Low boasts: "It's a small community, and we look out for each other ... San Jose has different districts with competing interests. In Campbell, we care about everyone; it doesn't matter which side of town you live on."

All of this left me a bit puzzled.

First, of course Campbell is the anti-San Jose. Why wouldn't it be? Campbell has a population of about 40,000 and occupies an area of less than seven square miles. San Jose, meanwhile, has a population just over a million and covers about 180 square miles. Hot spot or not, by all accounts Campbell is a suburb of San Jose. So, why compare the two? I don't have anything against Campbell per se, I actually think it is a nice place. I just don't understand the tendency, especially by The Mercury, to compare apples and oranges. It's like saying, "Chicago lacks the charm of Aspen."

As for Ms. Medrano's comment, I can't speak to what does or doesn't make her feel safe, but I do know this—downtown San Jose is hardly Gotham City. The truth is San Jose has routinely held the annual distinction of being named the nation's safest large city by the FBI. In fact, for its size, San Jose, including its downtown, is remarkably safe. Yet, there persists in the valley a certain mythology that downtown is crime-ridden and dilapidated. That's a shame because many people are missing an emerging and exciting city center. You want truly "yukky" downtown? Try Detroit.

To Mayor Low's point, maybe he should spend time amongst the diverse crowds that flock to one of downtown San Jose's many festivals. There, San Joseans, of all walks of life, come together peacefully year after year. It may be a big city, but we often put aside "competing interests" to have some fun.

Yes, much of San Jose doesn't have that small town feel anymore, but that's okay. Let the suburbs be the suburbs, it's time for San Jose to move to the big leagues.

A Public Market in Downtown San Jose?

Hmmm, tell me more...

San Jose, You're Having the Worst Week Ever!

It's been a deadly week in San Jose, especially if you're Living Tomorrow or The San Jose Grand Prix.

Here's word from LT's San Jose website:

Living Tomorrow San Jose concept (Source: Businessweek)

Living Tomorrow has been generating a lot of excitement, positive reactions from potential participants ever since announcing its upcoming Silicon Valley project. Living Tomorrow has always been proud of the sponsorship returns it is able to provide its participants. However, due to construction issues, pricing and the resulting timeline consequences, Living Tomorrow couldn't guarantee its potential participants a return on investment that would be at the levels we typically provide to our participants in Europe. Because of this, Living Tomorrow has decided not to develop a Silicon Valley project at this time. Living Tomorrow thanks you for your support and continued interest, and if your company would like to explore participation in Europe, we would be happy to welcome you as a participant in our second Living Tomorrow project currently in development in Amsterdam. Peter Bongers and Frank Beliën - Chairmen & Founders Living Tomorrow

Merc story here.

Vis their site, the SJGP says:

Racing on Park Avenue (Source: Logographer.org)

After three years as one of Bay Area's largest sporting events, organizers of the San Jose Grand Prix announced today they are ceasing operations, citing the ongoing development taking place in the downtown area.

Commercial and residential developments in and around the 1.5 mile downtown track continue to limit the options available to the Grand Prix for revenue growth and expansion. In addition to new housing developments on Balbach Street (which served as the back straightaway) and the impact to its residents, race organizers were faced with the loss of its main grandstands on Almaden Boulevard due to upcoming construction in the Boston Properties lot.

"The reality of racing on a temporary street circuit is that change happens continuously and this is especially true in a dynamic and growing city center like downtown San Jose," said Grand Prix President Dale Jantzen. "Development is good for San Jose but in this case, bad for the Grand Prix. We have not found a way to replace the loss of one of our primary revenue sources, the Gold Grandstands on Almaden Boulevard," stated Jantzen. "Boston Properties is set to undertake some major developments in the area and that means the San Jose Grand Prix is no longer viable in its current location and will not operate in 2008 or beyond."

The Grand Prix provided the City of San Jose with world-wide exposure as part of the Champ Car World Series. Broadcast nationally and internationally, in each of its three years the race attracted well over 100,000 fans for each event. In addition, the City of San Jose estimated that the economic impact to America's 10th largest city was approximately $70M over the three year period.

Grand Prix organizers wish to thank the fans and other supporters who came to the event and participated in all of its festivities. In addition, race organizers thank those companies that supported this event in their community, specifically Redback Networks, Taylor Woodrow, Bottomley Distributing (Budweiser) and the Northern California Toyota Dealers. Finally they would like to thank the City of San Jose for being a good partner and host.

Merc obit here.

Sigh...

Trainspotting Silicon Valley

Help Silicon Valley's efforts to route California's high-speed rail through San Jose! Voice your support at 4 p.m. today (Friday, August 24) in the council chambers of San Jose City Hall (200 E. Santa Clara Street).

If you cant make it, drop the California High-Speed Rail Authority a line @:

California High-Speed Rail Authority
925 L Street Suite 1425
Sacramento, CA 95814

(916) 324-1541

or use their comment line.

Its either Silicon Valley or the Easy Bay (via the Altamont Pass). You'd think it be an easy decision...but you'd be wrong.

"San Jose, tear down this wall!"

The San Jose McEnery Convention Center (Photo: Natasha Lloyd)

Tales of the Blue Monkey

I was sad to see that the great Blue Monkey on San Fernando recently shut its doors . As reported by Metro's The Fly:

Owner Jorge Sanchez, who also owns Chacho's in downtown San Jose, blames the city's bureaucratic hall of mirrors, which he was forced to enter when the police flagged him for noncompliance for an assembly permit (not to be confused with an occupancy permit, which was in order. How anyone can have occupants who are not assembling remains a mystery). With no grace period in which to comply, Sanchez's occupancy was reduced from 149 to 49 people. Thus hamstrung, he then embarked on a four-month epic paperwork journey full of hand drawings, fire inspectors, engineers, more hand drawings, building inspectors, planners, parking assessments, an address change, fees, more fees and time. Lots of time. Hemorrhaging money while on the cusp of renegotiating his lease, Sanchez made some last desperate calls to the city. "It wasn't a priority for a lot of people I was making comments to," says Sanchez, "so I just decided to close."

Now comes word that the city is leaning on Angels Ultra Lounge in the SoFA for underage drinking. Obviously, underage drinking shouldn't be tolerated, but it seems like any police citation, big or small, means a bureaucratic quagmire for downtown businesses. I don't think I've ever seen a city so actively try to kill its successful entertainment establishments. Meanwhile, San Jose Convention & Visitors Bureau's SanJose.org website proudly proclaims "The fun never stops." What a joke.