Saturday Stats: San Jose is the 2nd healthiest city in the US

San Jose ranked as the second healthiest city in the country thanks to very low rates of premature death rate, adult obesity rates, and uninsured adults. Our life expectancy is also 82.7 years, the highest in the country.

1st place went to Rochester, Minnesota while our neighbor San Francisco came in 14th place.

Source: 24/7 Wall St., Hat-tip to Barclay Livker for sending this in!

Blues Traveler visits Music in the Park on July 20

SAN JOSE – Blues Traveler, one of America’s favorite jam bands, headlines the second Music in the Park show of the summer on July 20.  The show starts at 5:30 p.m. at Plaza de Cesar Chavez, off Market Street in the center of downtown San Jose. 

Blues Traveler, which has recorded 12 albums and sold millions of records, including a cache of top-40 hits such as “Run Around” and “Hook,” and a six-time platinum blockbusting album Four.  This is their 30^th year in music.  Front man John Popper calls the band’s latest album, Blow Up the Moon “a misguided homage to The Beatles,” featuring a slew of guest artists.  Go to www.bluestraveler.com.

Openers include Ben Henderson and Friends plus special guest Socorra, both from San Jose.

August Music in the Park dates:

• Aug. 3:  Brenton Wood brings his chest of R&B hits up from Los Angeles to perform for his South Bay audience.  twitter.com/brentonwood Wood will perform in lieu of Bootsy Collins, who was previously announced but had to cancel for medical reasons.
• Aug. 25:  WAR, self-described as “The Original Afro Cuban Jazz Rock Blues band.”  Hit parade includes “Why Can't We be Friends,’ “Low Rider,” “Cisco Kid,” “The World is a Ghetto” and more classics.  Eric Burden of the Animals co-founded the band in 1969. www.war.com

Advanced tickets are $10 per adult and free for 12-under when accompanied by an adult.  Tickets and information are available at www.musicintheparksj.com.  Day-of-the-event admission will cost $15 per adult.  Special VIP seating area access is available for $25 in advance and $30 day of the show and includes a drink ticket. 

Music in the Park, presented by Metro, is produced by the San Jose Downtown Association and supported by the City of San Jose office of Cultural Affairs.  Other major sponsors include:  Deloitte, Coors Light and Ballast Point, plus a host of media partners.

July 2017 Downtown Dimension Highlights

Here are my notes from the latest edition of Downtown Dimension:

• The potential for Google to bring up to 20,000 workers to the Diridon area across 8 million SQFT of new development is the most exciting news Downtown has had in the last 30 years.
• Imwalle Properties and real estate investor Gary Dillabough have partnered to acquire Camera 12 and are looking at some form of entertainment use for the space.
• Twenty of Downtown's best restaurants will celebrate Dine Downtown with prix fixe meals until July 16th, check dinedowntownsj.com for more info.
• Starlight Cinemas is bringing multiple free outdoor movies to St. James Park in August:
• Aug 5: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
• Aug 12: Disney-Pixar's Cars
• Aug 19: Nacho Libre
• Aug 26: Star Wars - The Force Awakens
• Mayor Sam Liccardo has asked for an economic study of the economic trade-offs Downtown has faced due to the airport height restrictions. The goal would be to raise Downtown height restrictions as much as possible.
• Two residential towers on the former Greyhound bus site at 70 S. Almaden are on track to be built by 2020. The 708-unit project would also include 14,000 SQFT of retail.
• Local Color and the City of San Jose were awarded Knight Cities Challenge grants of $180k and $150k respectively. Local Color will use the funds to hire a program manager while the city has used it to hire a principal city designer.
• San Jose is looking for new technology to replace its Parking Access and Control System in eight Downtown garages. New features couple potentially expedite entry and exit into city garages.
• Uproar Brewery is now open at 439 S. First St. in SoFA.
• Enso dance and night club opened June 17th in the former Freddie J's space at 97 E. Santa Clara St.

To read the newsletter, click here!

The Insider's Guide to Little Portugal in San Jose

As I am hopping on a plane later today to visit family in the Azores, I thought it might be a great day to link to a great guide to San Jose's Little Portugal neighborhood just east of Downtown.

While not very large, the area has a rich history and is well worth a visit. Little Portugal is located on Santa Clara Street/Alum Rock Avenue between 28th and 34th street. Five Wounds National Church is the primary landmark for the area, but ADEGA--San Jose's first and only Michelin Star restaurant--is quickly becoming the top attraction.

You also have some really nice bakeries, cafes, and grocers that offer Portuguese treats throughout Little Portugal. Bacalhau Grill is another staple of the area that is part grocery store and part restaurant. You can try a number of Portuguese and Brazilian specialties here without breaking the bank.

To check out the guide and see a map of the attractions, head over here.

Sourisseau News: Let’s Shop!

If you want to learn more about the history of shopping in San Jose, look no further than the latest two-minute Sourisseau News video below. It begins with HART's department store in Downtown San Jose and then provides a glimpse into the history of what we now know as Valley Fair mall. Can you guess which department store is in the photo below? (Hint: I had never heard of it before watching the video).

To see an archive of past videos, head over here.

Sourisseau News June 2017 Let's Shop! from WMS media Inc. on Vimeo.

Valley Fair Expansion and Remodel

Last week the Silicon Valley Business Journal got a sneak peek at Westfield Valley Fair's epic $1.1 billion renovation. For perspective, that is nearly the same cost as Levi's Stadium and is more than the original budget for all of Santana Row.

The 650,000 SQFT expansion will add 160 new stores, 10 outdoor restaurants, a luxury ShowPlace ICON movie theater, outdoor event space, and a flagship Bloomingdale's. It also includes a design refresh for the entire interior of the mall as well as double the amount of current parking. The end goal is to build something that is iconic and draw shoppers from the whole Bay Area.

The renovation of the existing mall, the movie theater, and Bloomingdale's should be completed by Summer 2018. The rest of the expansion will open around April 2019.

Below are a few photos of the new sections. The outdoor area is a bit reminiscent of their neighbor--not a bad idea given Santana Row's success.

Source: SVBJ (subscription required for this article)

San Jose Beer & Wine Tours

It is amazing how many great wineries and breweries we have within a 30 mile radius of San Jose. One of the best ways to experience these places right in our backyard is with a tour led by a knowledgeable designated driver. I just came across Tommy John's which specializes in both wine and beer tours.

The beer tours caught my eye since most of them are located in San Jose proper. Potential tour stops include Hermitage Brewing Company, Gordon Biersch Brewery, Strike Brewing Co. and Warehouse Tap Room, Santa Clara Valley Brewing, Rabbits Foot Meadery, Golden State Brewery, Taplands, and JP Das Brew Tasting Room. Each tour features four different stops with multiple tastings at each one, behind-the-scenes tours, a picnic boxed lunch, snacks, refreshments on the bus, and discounts for "souvenirs" to take home and drink later. The epic 5.5 hour tour runs Wednesday through Sunday and costs $139 per person. It isn't cheap, but sounds like a worthy excursion for beer lovers.

Their wine tours are similar four-stop excursions that last 5 to 6.5 hours and feature as many as 23 (!) varietals to try. The wineries are mostly centered around Los Gatos and Santa Cruz, providing scenic drives to compliment the tastings. The wine tours range from $149-189 per person and include the tastings, lunch, and snacks.

For more information and to see all of their tours, head over to the Tommy John's website.

A^3 is developing flying cars in San Jose

It is starting to feel a lot like the future. Not only is every major auto manufacturer testing self-driving cars in the San Jose metro, but some companies are even starting to think beyond what we traditionally call a car. A^3, a division of Airbus, is working on an electric flying car called Vahana using very similar technology to the self-driving cars being tested today. It's equipped with 360 degree cameras, radar, lidar, and encrypted communications systems. The flying car also comes with redundant motors and a parachute should anything go wrong.

Vahana has 62 miles of range and transportation should cost somewhere around $2/mile, which is similar to today's taxi's (keep in mind self-driving cars will bring this cost down dramatically in just a few years).

It may seem like we are not going to see this type of technology anytime soon, but Dubai will already have an autonomous taxi system in place this year. Using flying cars to zip across the Bay Area and leave gridlock traffic behind might be realistic within a decade. The icing on the cake is that the technology is being developed right here in San Jose.

Source: SVBJ

Vahana - Future of Urban Air Mobility from Vahana on Vimeo.