Wednesday Wishlist: E-paper Signs for Transit

London has become one of the first cities in the world to test out using e-paper signs to provide real-time transit information at its bus stops. The signs show how long until each bus arrives, but they can also provide additional information by using three buttons below the display.

What is really nice about e-ink is that it uses almost no power. This is the same technology that is used in the Kindle. It can display what is on the screen indefinitely without using any electricity, energy is only used when the screen updates. These signs can be solar powered and in London they will use 3G data to get updated information. The fact that you would not have to plug them in anywhere makes them relatively easy to roll out and install.

These types of signs would be great for VTA's growing bus network. Light Rail is already getting color flat-screens. E-paper signs would provide a less expensive alternative for VTA's hundreds of bus stations. They could also be used to show ads and other information to help cover their costs.

Source: Engadget

Wednesday Wishlist: BART to Santana Row

Mark from Think Bigger San Jose is proposing a different alignment for Phase 2 of the BART extension into Silicon Valley. The Santa Clara BART station is highly redundant with Caltrain service and if not for the maintenance yard nearby, it would be considered mostly unnecessary. Yes, you have SCU and large development projects like the Coleman Highline are being planned for the area, but the need for BART there is far less than the route Mark proposes--taking BART through Midtown to the Santana Row and Valley Fair area. This is a region that is booming and is in desperate need for mass transit access. At the rate "Uptown" is growing, Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) is not going to cut it. Check out the thoughtful post and discussion right over here.

Wednesday Wishlist: Downtown San Jose Bathed in Gold

We all know that San Jose is going to be a major beneficiary of Super Bowl 50 in less than three months. Every hotel room that week has been booked and several events have been planned from San Jose ranging from "Super Bowl Opening Night" at the SAP Center, an expanded Downtown Ice season, a new Guadalupe River Run, and a Super Bowl-themed South First Friday. The SB50 committee is still coming up with ideas for getting Downtown in the Super Bowl spirit. In his sports blog, Mark Purdy posted a new idea from the last SB50 briefing--lighting San Jose in gold during Super Bowl weekend.

Personally, I think this is a great idea. Residential, commercial, and office buildings would be encouraged to use gold illumination during Super Bowl week. This would create a unified theme across the Downtown core. I actually think we should take it a step further. With modern LED lighting, it is easy and relatively inexpensive to plaster any color up on a building. So why not bathe the city in teal during Sharks playoffs or blue for the Earthquakes. The city could turn red for Valentine's Day or Green for St. Patrick's day. It is a low cost way to add some more character and brand identity to the streets of Downtown.

Source: The Merc

Wednesday Wishlist: Vertical Forests

As San Jose grows, so will the need to increase building density and build up. I'm not just talking about Downtown San Jose and North San Jose, but many parts of our city. There are a few innovative ideas that can help make dense projects less intimidating, fit better into surrounding neighborhoods, and even contribute in a positive way to the environment.

Lausanne, Switzerland is about to build the world's second "vertical forest." This is a stunning residential tower that will be covered with hundreds of trees and shrubs. Besides the aesthetic benefits, the vegetation filters air pollution and produces oxygen. I can see this type of project working well in Everygreen and South San Jose as old strip malls and shopping centers become ready for redevelopment.

Source: Inhabitat

Wednesday Wishlist: Michelin Star Restaurants (2016 Edition)

Welcome to the 7th annual Wednesday Wishlist post where the topic is getting restaurants in San Jose worthy of Michelin starts. The Michelin guide is the most renowned rubric in the world for measuring culinary success. I think the foodie culture is continuing to build momentum in San Jose, especially Downtown. I'm optimistic it will only be a matter of time until we have some unique restaurants with national recognition.

Michelin has three different star categories:

• One Star - A very good restaurant in its category with cuisine prepared to a consistently high standard. A good place to stop on your journey.
• Two Stars - Excellent cuisine, skillfully and carefully crafted dishes of outstanding quality. Worth a detour.
• Three Stars - Exceptional cuisine with distinctive dishes and superlative ingredients. Worth a special journey.

I created a Google doc listing all of the star recipients for 2016, along with tabs for all previous years and some general statistics. Below is an image capture from the doc. This year there were a total of 50 restaurants that were awarded Michelin stars, which is up 10 from last year and an all-time high for the Bay Area. 62% of the restaurants are locating in SF, 20% in Wine Country, 16% in Silicon Valley (split evenly between the South Bay and the Peninsula), and 2% in the East Bay. There are 14 new restaurants on the list this year (see image below), as well as one significant upgrade. Manresa (Los Gatos) achieved the elusive three star rating. Manresa is not only the first restaurant in the South Bay to ever get this rating, but it is only the fifth restaurant ever to get a three star rating anywhere in the Bay Area. Several restaurants from 2015 did not make the cut, including Madera, Maruya, La Folie, Boulevard, and the All Spice in San Mateo.

There are also restaurants in the Michelin guide that do not get a star, but are considered "Michelin Recommended." This is already a significant honor. Within this category San Jose scored a total of 13 restaurants, an all-time high for our city. Here are the lucky restaurants:

• Downtown
• Vung Tau
• Back A Yard
• Swaad (NEW)
• The Alameda
• Zona Rosa
• Midtown
• Walia (NEW)
• North San Jose
• Smoking Pig BBQ
• South San Jose
• Bun Bo Hue An Nam
• Thien Long
• Lau Hai San (NEW)
• Willow Glen
• The Table
• Fratello
• Camden
• Rangoli
• Zeni

Swaad (Indian), Walia (Ethiopian), and Lau Mai San (Vietnamese) are all welcome additions and represent how amazing our ethnic cuisines are. All 10 San Jose restaurants that were Michelin recommended in the 2015 guide held on to that status in 2016. If you haven't been to the restaurants above, I can vouch that all of them are well worth visiting. 

Source: Michelin Guide

Wednesday Wishlist: Halloween in the Park! (Part IX)

UPDATED: Added a couple new ideas that were submitted this month

In what has become a San Jose Blog October tradition, today we have a Wednesday Wishlist post for Halloween in the Park. The idea is to build on the momentum that Christmas in the Park brings to San Jose each year and create something of similar scale for the month of October with Halloween in the Park! A lot of the infrastructure such as wiring, lighting, and booths might even be able to be shared between the events. The goal would be to make Downtown San Jose the epicenter of October Halloween experiences.

Below you will find brainstorming ideas we have collected for this concept so far over the years. Please have a look and provide your feedback and suggestions in the comments. Thanks!

---

The largest draw to Downtown San Jose for many years now has been Christmas in the Park. It has continued to grow year after year and brings in visitors from all over the Bay Area. It's economic impact is substantial and helps keep many Downtown businesses and restaurants alive.

What would you think about a similar event for Halloween? Picture Downtown lit up in orange and purple with elaborate Halloween displays assembled by local artists. Perhaps infrastructure could even be shared with Christmas in the Park (e.g. retail booths). A strong event in October would help maintain traffic between the summer months and Christmas in the Park. Here are the ideas we have so far:

• Animated Halloween Displays
• Created by local artists
• Analogous to the Christmas displays that attract many families during Christmas in the Park (almost half a million visitors)
• Family friendly so that everyone can enjoy it (PG/PG13, perhaps around the same level as Great America Halloween Haunt)
• Halloween Lighting
• Orange, purple, and green LED lighting on trees
• May be possible to use new programmable LED lighting that can go from Halloween colors to Christmas colors with the push of a button, allowing the lights to stay up for Christmas in the Park as well and reducing setup/take-down costs.
• Halloween Food
• Booths with candied apples, chocolates, candy, pumpkin seeds, etc.
• Food trucks
• Trick-or-treating station - a free piece of candy to anyone wearing a costume any day in October (could also be used to hand out promotional flyers for Downtown events/businesses/resources)
• Retail Booths selling Halloween items, for example:
• Artwork (paintings, glass pumpkins, etc.)
• Home decor/crafts like candles
• Light-up hats/necklaces/bracelets
• Costumes
• Zombie/Halloween make-up station 
• Halloween-themed Carnival Games
• Pirates of Emerson and Candlelighters (Fremont) do a good job of providing family-friendly games themed around Halloween
• A handful of children's rides could also be added to the Paseo and reused for Christmas in the Park
• Interactive Art
• ZERO1-style, but with a Halloween spin.
• Halloween-themed video game kiosks and/or arcades
• Pumpkins
• Instead of the sponsored Christmas trees in Christmas in the Park, how about decorated Pumpkins (can even be Styrofoam so there is no mess/decay)?
• Pumpkin carving station for families. 
• Pumpkin carving contest.
• Costumed Entertainers
• Walking around the area, not necessarily scaring people but adding to the ambiance and providing photo opportunities for families
• Haunts / Mazes
• Would be ideal if these were nearby, perhaps in vacant retails spaces, surface parking lots, the San Jose Convention Center tent, or at SJSU.
• Could partners with one of the established San Jose haunt providers such as Deadtime Dreams or The World's Largest Haunted House.
• Potential Events
• Zombie-O-Rama can be used to kick off Halloween in the Park (late Sep. / early Oct. time-frame)
• Zombie Crawl
• Dia De Los Muertos Events
• Halloween/Dia De Los Muertos Bike Party
• Horror Movie Trivia Contest
• Weekly horror movie screening (perhaps in the Circle of Palms area?)
• Costume Ball

Inspirations:

• Candle Lighters
• Pirates of Emerson
• The Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze (photos below)

Wednesday Wishlist: Halloween in the Park! (Part VIII)

In what has become a San Jose Blog October tradition, today we have a Wednesday Wishlist post for Halloween in the Park. The idea is to build on the momentum that Christmas in the Park brings to San Jose each year and create something of similar scale for the month of October with Halloween in the Park! A lot of the infrastructure such as wiring, lighting, and booths might even be able to be shared between the events. The goal would be to make Downtown San Jose the epicenter of October Halloween experiences.

Below you will find brainstorming ideas we have collected for this concept so far over the years. Please have a look and provide your feedback and suggestions in the comments. Thanks!

---

The largest draw to Downtown San Jose for many years now has been Christmas in the Park. It has continued to grow year after year and brings in visitors from all over the Bay Area. It's economic impact is substantial and helps keep many Downtown businesses and restaurants alive.

What would you think about a similar event for Halloween? Picture Downtown lit up in orange and purple with elaborate Halloween displays assembled by local artists. Perhaps infrastructure could even be shared with Christmas in the Park (e.g. retail booths). A strong event in October would help maintain traffic between the summer months and Christmas in the Park. Here are the ideas we have so far:

• Animated Halloween Displays
• Created by local artists
• Analogous to the Christmas displays that attract many families during Christmas in the Park (almost half a million visitors)
• Family friendly so that everyone can enjoy it (PG/PG13, perhaps around the same level as Great America Halloween Haunt)
• Halloween Lighting
• Orange, purple, and green LED lighting on trees
• May be possible to use new programmable LED lighting that can go from Halloween colors to Christmas colors with the push of a button, allowing the lights to stay up for Christmas in the Park as well and reducing setup/take-down costs.
• Halloween Food
• Booths with candied apples, chocolates, candy, pumpkin seeds, etc.
• Food trucks
• Trick-or-treating station - a free piece of candy to anyone wearing a costume any day in October (could also be used to hand out promotional flyers for Downtown events/businesses/resources)
• Retail Booths selling Halloween items, for example:
• Artwork (paintings, glass pumpkins, etc.)
• Home decor/crafts like candles
• Light-up hats/necklaces/bracelets
• Costumes
• Zombie/Halloween make-up station 
• Halloween-themed Carnival Games
• Pirates of Emerson and Candlelighters (Fremont) do a good job of providing family-friendly games themed around Halloween
• A handful of children's rides could also be added to the Paseo and reused for Christmas in the Park
• Interactive Art
• ZERO1-style, but with a Halloween spin.
• Pumpkins
• Instead of the sponsored Christmas trees in Christmas in the Park, how about decorated Pumpkins (can even be Styrofoam so there is no mess/decay)?
• Pumpkin carving station for families. 
• Pumpkin carving contest.
• Costumed Entertainers
• Walking around the area, not necessarily scaring people but adding to the ambiance and providing photo opportunities for families
• Haunts / Mazes
• Would be ideal if these were nearby, perhaps in vacant retails spaces, surface parking lots, the San Jose Convention Center tent, or at SJSU.
• Could partners with one of the established San Jose haunt providers such as Deadtime Dreams or The World's Largest Haunted House.
• Potential Events
• Zombie-O-Rama can be used to kick off Halloween in the Park (late Sep. / early Oct. time-frame)
• Zombie Crawl
• Dia De Los Muertes Bike Party
• Horror Movie Trivia Contest
• Weekly horror movie screening (perhaps in the Circle of Palms area?)
• Costume Ball

As in previous years, please post your suggestions below and I'll merge them in!

Wednesday Wishlist: More Public Art

A few weeks ago I was in Vancouver and was surprised at the amount of public art around the city. Below is one example that I really loved. This piece turns a bland, windowless side of a building into an attraction that tells a story about the the building itself. There are so many walls throughout San Jose that could use something like this.

I love all the murals going up in San Jose right now, especially Japantown. Let's take it to the next level and aim for something at the scale shown below!

P.S. Notice the green rooftop. Despite having much worse weather than San Jose, almost every high-rise had trees, shrubs, and patios on the roof.

How Downtown San Jose's Streetscapes Can Benefit From Ideas Used in Montreal and Quebec City

Mark from Think Bigger San Jose has just returned from a ten day trip to Montreal and Quebec. He has brought home some souvenirs in the form of ideas to make San Jose a stronger city. His recap of the trip includes tons of great photos as well as five main streetscape take-a-ways. Check out Mark's excellent post over here!

Wednesday Wishlist: Museum of the Future

I recently stumbled across this video showing a new Dubai museum dedicated to future technology. The entire building itself is going to be printed using a giant 20-foot tall 3D printer. Even the furniture inside will be 3D printed. If the Tech Museum ever expands in the future, there may be some interesting concepts from this project that can be incorporated (like the laser projection at the very end of the video).

Wednesday Wishlist: UC San Jose

Madison Nguyen--former San Jose District 7 Councilwoman--wrote a great article suggesting that the next UC campus should be in San Jose... and I couldn't agree more.

San Jose has more STEM jobs per capita than any other major city in the US (by far). There are so many in fact, that we rely heavily on importing talent from all around the world to fill them. Even then there are over 50,000 job openings today in Santa Clara County. The demand has never been greater for another world-class University in Silicon Valley to help increase our talent pool for highly skilled workers.

Madison Nguyen mentions new legislation to scout for a future campus that would have a specific focus on "STEAM" education: Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math. She states that it is envisioned as a public CalTech at a far more affordable price. Hello, could there be any better location than San Jose for this?

I'll even add one more interesting suggestion that would sweeten the ROI for a UC San Jose, and that would be sharing resources with SJSU. Universities are expensive to build and maintain, so what if certain resources such as the MLK Library and Spartan Stadium could be shared between two world-class educational institutions and have operating costs split between them. Perhaps even some classes could be cross-listed, giving students at both Universities a greater range of educational options and electives. If there is one thing Silicon Valley is great at besides innovation, it's collaboration.

Read Madison Nguyen's opinion piece on UC San Jose over here. 

The Silicon Valley Sign Project

I'm really excited to hear about a grassroots campaign to give Silicon Valley a new landmark. It's called The Silicon Valley Sign Project, and is being championed by Hafid Alfonso who helped build a walking tour company based in San Jose.

Here is the premise:

What if Silicon Valley had a distinguished landmark? What if we placed it somewhere everyone could see it and be reminded of the wonderful valley we live in? What if Silicon Valley thought even bigger? How would someone start such a project?

The draft proposal--which you can find here (PDF)--envisions a sign that is 200 feet wide with each letter standing 45 feet tall. LED bulbs would be use to illuminate the sign at night, potentially in a variety of colors as you can see in some of the renderings below. The sign would be visible throughout most of Silicon Valley, and help provide a sense of place for residents and visitors alike. So what do you guys think about this concept?

For all of the details and to show your support, please head over to The Silicon Valley Sign Project webpage.

Draft Rendering

Aerial View

Rendering view from Milpitas on Highway 880
 

Rendering view from Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara

Sign lit up at night in San Jose Sharks Teal

Sign lit up at night in San Jose Earthquakes Blue

Think Bigger San Jose: Convert Rooftops Downtown Into Terraces

As usual, Mark has some bright ideas on improving Downtown San Jose. His latest blog post proposes converting Downtown rooftops to terraces or gardens. This is an idea I completely agree with and it only takes one visit up to the Capital Club or Scott's Seafood to see the potential "sky terraces" can have Downtown. This is a great way of taking underutilized spaces and turning them into assets that residents can use 300+ days a year.

Read the blog post over here!

Wednesday Wishlist: Google's New Office Concept in San Jose

Not content with just transforming advertising, mobile computing, and cars, Google has set its sights on completely changing the environment in which people work. The 10 minute video below is a bit lengthy for my attention span, but completely worth watching.

Google is proposing a massive renovation of its suburban and generic Mountain View offices that would turn them into one of the most innovative office campuses in the world. Instead of creating fixed structures, the spaces would be very easy to reconfigure (like Lincoln Logs)... making them able to accommodate future office innovations decades from now. The offices space is then draped in a transparent solar-power absorbing canopy that makes you feel like you are outside. Bike and pedestrian paths are completely inter-weaved with the buildings as you can see from the photos below, and unlike Apple will be accessible to the public.

Given the tens of millions of suburban-style office space we have in San Jose, I'm hoping that local companies will find some inspiration and really think about how to design future office buildings that are not just generic boxes. Samsung is doing a great job with their new building, but Google just took it to a whole new level.

Source: SVBJ

Think Bigger San Jose: "Retail... in Downtown San Jose?"

Think Bigger San Jose has a great post about creating a continuous retail district in central Downtown San Jose. Commercial vacancy is below 10% and several high-density housing projects are about to come online... is now the time to turn Downtown into a retail destination? Mark proposes creating a retail paseo in the area outlined below where parking spaces could be turned into unique retail parklets, perhaps using shipping containers. It's a must-read for visitors of this blog, so please check out the post over here.

On a slightly related note, we may soon have drawings for a temporary retail project consisting of multiple shipping containers that is being proposed for Downtown.

Wednesday Wishlist: Interactive Pedestrian Games

Some innovative Germans have come up with a pretty creative way to entertain pedestrians that are waiting at a crosswalk. Instead of just hitting a button and waiting for the walk sign, you can play a game of Pong with someone across the street. It's a slick idea that is being used in at least two different intersections in Germany and I think it would fit well in Silicon Valley's culture.

I think the urbanists that read this blog would agree that ideally there would be no crosswalk buttons and all the streetlights would be optimized for pedestrians. However, there are several intersections where that just won't work such as Market and San Carlos... which also happens to be in front of the Marriott, St. Claire, Plaza de Cesar Chavez, and a stones-throw away from the Convention Center. With so many visitors coming to this intersection, what better place to show a little digital creativity in our public infrastructure?

Source: Autoblog


STREETPONG from HAWK Hildesheim on Vimeo.

Wednesday Wishlist: 2024 Bay Area Olympics

San Francisco has officially put in a bid to host the 2024 Summer Olympics  at an estimated budget of $4.5 billion. However, given SF does not have the resources or space to host this alone, the plan includes utilizing facilities all around the Bay Area including Levi's Stadium and Avaya Stadium (the new Earthquakes Stadium). So in a nutshell, SF would take on all of the risk and financial costs while San Jose would benefit from locally hosted events, economic impacts, and having easy access to all Summer Olympic games. It sounds like a win to me, similar to having Levi's stadium in Santa Clara.

What would you guys think about a 2024 Bay Area Olympics?

Source: SVBJ

Wednesday Wishlist: Michelin Star Restaurants (2015 Edition)

Just in time for Thanksgiving, I'm going my 6th annual rant on needing to get some internationally recognized Michelin-starred restaurants in San Jose! The Michelin guide is the most renowned rubric for measuring culinary greatness, and for the most part San Jose restaurants have been excluded from its pages. However, I think the foodie culture is continuing to build momentum in San Jose, especially Downtown. I'm continuing to be optimistic for the future!

Michelin has three different star categories:

• One Star - A very good restaurant in its category with cuisine prepared to a consistently high standard. A good place to stop on your journey.
• Two Stars - Excellent cuisine, skillfully and carefully crafted dishes of outstanding quality. Worth a detour.
• Three Stars - Exceptional cuisine with distinctive dishes and superlative ingredients. Worth a special journey.

I created a Google doc listing all of the star recipients for 2015, along with tabs for all previous years and some general statistics. Below is an image capture from the doc. This year there were a total of 40 restaurants on the list, which is up 2 from last year and down from the peak of 47 in 2012. 53% of the restaurants are locating in SF, 25% in Wine Country, 20% in Silicon Valley (split evenly between the South Bay and the Peninsula), and 3% in the East Bay. There are two new restaurant on the list this year, Kusakabe and Maruya (both Japanese) as well as three upgrades: Saison and Benu now have the elusive 3-star rating and Acquerello was upgraded to 2 stars. No restaurants from 2014 were dropped.

I will also mention that there are some restaurants in the Michelin guide that do not get a star, but are considered "Michelin Recommended." Within this category San Jose scored a total of 10 restaurants:

• Downtown
• Vung Tau
• Back A Yard
• The Alameda
• Zona Rosa (NEW)
• North San Jose
• Smoking Pig BBQ
• South San Jose
• Bun Bo Hue An Nam
• Thien Long
• Willow Glen
• The Table (NEW)
• Fratello
• Camden
• Rangoli
• Zeni

Zona Rosa and The Table are two well-deserved additions. Unfortunately, there were some restaurants from 2014 that did not make the cut this year: SJ Omogari in Japantown, La Costa in East San Jose, LB Steak in Santana Row, and Pizza Antica which is also in Santana Row. If we don't get some stars, at the very least we'll hopefully get more Michelin Recommended or Bib Gourmand restaurant ratings in 2016. If you haven't been to the restaurants above, I can vouch that all 9 are well worth checking out.

Source: Michelin Guide

Knight Cities Challenge opens in San Jose for Applications

Have an idea that will make San Jose a better place? The inaugural Knight Cities Challenge is giving away $5 million to civic innovators that will help cities attract and keep the best and brightest, create economic prospects, and spur connection and civic involvement. The contest is open for only two more weeks (sorry for not posting sooner) and all the details are below!

Knight Cities Challenge opens in San Jose for applications

Submissions are open from Oct. 1 to Nov. 14

SAN JOSE— What’s your best idea to make cities more successful? The first-ever Knight Cities Challenge is calling on innovators in San Jose of all types to answer this question.

The national challenge, which seeks new ideas to make San Jose and the other 25 communities where Knight invests more vibrant places to live and work, is an initiative of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.  Winners will receive a share of $5 million and become part of a network of civic innovators working to make our cities more vibrant places to live and work. Applications will be accepted through Nov. 14 at KnightCities.org.

“No project is too small — so long as your idea is big,” said Carol Coletta, Knight Foundation vice president for community and national initiatives. “Our hope is to inspire people—even those who have not previously thought of themselves as civic innovators—to get involved in shaping the future of their cities.”

The challenge has just two rules:

1) A submission may come from anywhere, but the project must take place in or benefit San Jose or one of the other 25 Knight communities.

2) The idea should focus on one or more of three key drivers of city success:

• Talent: Ideas that help cities attract and keep the best and brightest
• Opportunity: Ideas that create economic prospects and break down divides
• Engagement: Ideas that spur connection and civic involvement

The challenge is open to anyone from anywhere; neighbors, architects, activists, artists, city planners, entrepreneurs, students, educators, city officials, as well as governments and organizations are encouraged to apply. More information is available on KnightCities.org.

The brief application is designed to make the submission process easier, and asks for two primary pieces of information about your project:

1)    Describe your idea and how it will advance talent, opportunity or engagement.

2)    Describe what you intend to learn.

For those who want to learn more, virtual office hours are being held Oct. 1 from 3 to 4 p.m. ET online (using ID 448711858), or via phone at 1-888-240-2560; and Oct. 14 from 3 to 4 p.m. ET online (using ID 829368066), or via phone at 1-888-240-2560.

We are also hosting community Q&A sessions in many of the 26 Knight communities, to provide an overview of the challenge and answer any questions you may have, including tips on applying. Take a look at the current schedule of events and check back for updates.

The application period for the Knight Cities Challenge will close at 5 p.m. ET Nov. 14, 2014. Community members and entrepreneurs, as well as experts in urban planning, design, academia and government will help Knight review entries. Knight will announce finalists and winners in early 2015.

The 26 Knight communities include eight that have a resident program director: Akron, Ohio; Charlotte, N.C.; Detroit; Macon, Ga.; Miami; Philadelphia; St. Paul, Minn.; and San Jose, Calif. In 18 cities community foundations guide Knight’s grantmaking: Aberdeen, S.D.; Biloxi, Miss.; Boulder, Colo.; Bradenton, Fla.; Columbia, S.C.; Columbus, Ga.; Duluth, Minn.; Fort Wayne, Ind.; Gary, Ind.; Grand Forks, N.D.; Lexington, Ky.; Long Beach, Calif.; Milledgeville, Ga.; Myrtle Beach, S.C.; Palm Beach County, Fla.; State College, Penn.; Tallahassee, Fla.; and Wichita, Kan.

Have an idea? Visit KnightCities.org to apply. The challenge closes on Nov. 14, 2014, at 5 p.m. ET.

About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation supports transformational ideas that promote quality journalism, advance media innovation, engage communities and foster the arts. The foundation believes that democracy thrives when people and communities are informed and engaged. For more, visit www.KnightFoundation.org.

Wednesday Wishlist: Halloween in the Park! (Part VII)

In honor of Halloween week, I have what is becoming a San Jose Blog tradition... a Wednesday Wishlist post for Halloween in the Park. The idea is to build on the momentum that Christmas in the Park brings to San Jose each year and create something of similar scale in October with Halloween in the Park! A lot of the infrastructure such as wiring, lighting, and booths might even be able to be shared between the events. The goal would be to make Downtown San Jose the epicenter of October Halloween experiences.

Below you will find brainstorming ideas we have collected for this concept so far. Please have a look and provide your feedback and suggestions in the comments. Thanks!

---

The largest draw to Downtown San Jose for many years now has been Christmas in the Park. It has continued to grow year after year and brings in visitors from all over the Bay Area. It's economic impact is substantial and helps keep many Downtown businesses afloat.

What would you think about a similar event for Halloween? Picture Downtown lit up in orange and purple with elaborate Halloween displays assembled by local artists. Perhaps infrastructure could even be shared with Christmas in the Park (e.g. retail booths). A strong event in October would help maintain traffic between the summer months and Christmas in the Park. Here are the ideas we have so far:

• Animated Halloween Displays
• Created by local artists
• Analogous to the Christmas displays that attract many families during Christmas in the Park (almost half a million visitors)
• Family friendly so that everyone can enjoy it (PG/PG13, perhaps around the same level as Great America Halloween Haunt)
• Halloween Lighting
• Orange, purple, and green LED lighting on trees
• May be possible to use new controllable lighting that can go from Halloween colors to Christmas colors with the push of a button, allowing the lights to stay up for Christmas in the Park as well and reducing setup/take-down effort.
• Halloween Food
• Booths with candied apples, chocolates, candy, pumpkin seeds, etc.
• Food trucks
• Trick-or-treating station - a free piece of candy to anyone wearing a costume any day in October (could also be used to hand out promotional flyers for Downtown events/businesses/resources)
• Retail Booths selling Halloween items, for example:
• Artwork (paintings, glass pumpkins, etc.)
• Home decor/crafts like candles
• Light-up hats/necklaces/bracelets
• Costumes
• Zombie/Halloween make-up station 
• Halloween-themed Carnival Games
• Pirates of Emerson and Candlelighters (Fremont) do a good job of providing family-friendly games themed around Halloween
• A handful of children's rides could also be added to the Paseo and reused for Christmas in the Park
• Interactive Art
• ZERO1-style, but with a Halloween spin.
• Pumpkins
• Instead of the sponsored Christmas trees in Christmas in the Park, how about decorated Pumpkins (can even be Styrofoam so there is no mess/decay)?
• Pumpkin carving station for families. 
• Pumpkin carving contest.
• Costumed Entertainers
• Walking around the area, not necessarily scaring people but adding to the ambiance and providing photo opportunities for families
• Haunts / Mazes
• Would be ideal if these were nearby, perhaps in vacant retails spaces, surface parking lots, the convention center, or at SJSU.
• Could partners with one of the established San Jose haunt providers such as Deadtime Dreams or The World's Largest Haunted House.
• Potential Events
• Zombie-O-Rama can be used to kick off Halloween in the Park (late Sep. / early Oct. time-frame)
• Zombie Crawl
• Dia De Los Muertes Bike Party
• Horror Movie Trivia Contest
• Weekly horror movie screening (perhaps in the Circle of Palms area?)
• Costume Ball

As in previous years, please post your suggestions below and I'll merge them in!