Monday, January 10, 2011

January 2011 Downtown Dimension Highlights

Here are my notes from the latest edition of Downtown Dimension:
  • The City Council asks the California High Speed Rail Authority to continue evaluating an underground option for High Speed Rail and approves a $200,000 visual guidelines study for the aerial bridge option.
  • The San Pedro Square Market construction is preceding nicely (should be open late Spring, one of the key buildings is already up).
  • To recruit more businesses to San Jose, the city and RDA have launched www.choosesanjose.com, a site filled with success stories and tips for business owners.
  • Good Karma now serves Barefoot Coffee at the "Barefoot Karma Bar"
  • Parking after 6pm is now $4 (up from $3 last year) for most city owned garages. The lot under 280 in SoFA continues to be the only city lot that is completely free after 6pm every night. It is also easy to get validation for any of the other lots.
  • The second generation of downtown residential buildings is coming soon, starting with a 3 high-rise 736 unit project in North San Pedro.
  • Downtown Doors is now open for competition and plans are to install new local art on 25 doors such as the ones on the Fairmont.
  • Koalas are coming to Downtown San Jose =). To help beautify the area and surprise downtown patrons, 13 metal koala sculptures are being placed on eucalyptus trees. You can already see 4 of them on San Carlos between 2nd and 4th.
To read the full newsletter, click here!

5 comments:

  1. 12-15 stories? YAWN!

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  2. Unrelated, but Soula closed. That's so shady and lane and disappointing and typical.

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  3. Great info! Yeah I remember all the parking lot use to be free after 6 o clock.

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  4. Barefoot was sold and they closed their little satellite stores. Not a good sign for what was a great local roaster. I loved the coffee bar at Good Karma.

    The parking lot increase is so typical. The lots used to be free after 6 and on weekends. When they proposed charging they sold it as only being $2, as if anybody had a say in the outcome anyway. Not too long after it was implemented most of the lots went up to $6. Of those remaining $2 lots, they went up to $3, and now $4. The parking situation is such a scam already and everybody downtown knows it. You know those no parking between 3-6am signs that are virtually everywhere? They're a leftover from the 80s in an attempt to cut down on prostitution and other fun things, and serve no purpose anymore except to make sure nobody parks overnight anywhere downtown (for... *gasp*... free!) and to make a lot of money off those that do. I know people who have tried to get them removed and the city basically said that they've been there so long it would be hard to part ways with them. It's a love affair with screwing people. Sometimes it feels like they don't believe people live down here.

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