Temporary Update to Posting Schedule - 2x Daily

These is too much going on right now in San Jose! I'm going to temporarily boost the post schedule to twice daily, at 7am and noon for at least the next couple weeks (including weekends). Between the crazy World Cup watch parties at San Pedro Square, new store openings like Sakura Market and nonstop summer events, there's never been a better time to hang out Downtown. 

Happy Mother's Day and Happy Anniversary to The San Jose Blog!

Below was the very first post 17 years ago. It's been a wild ride, but I'm just as optimistic about San Jose as I was back then. I hope everyone has a wonderful Mother's Day with family and friends today!

San Jose to Erect Giant Burrito Statue and Transform Downtown into Food Truck Paradise

In a jaw-dropping announcement that has set tongues wagging and stomachs rumbling, San Jose has unveiled plans to construct a massive burrito statue smack in the middle of Downtown. But wait, there’s more! The city isn’t stopping at a tortilla-wrapped monument—they’re turning the entire Downtown San Jose area into the world’s largest food truck park.

According to a totally legitimate press release from the city, this burrito behemoth will tower over 260 feet high, adorned with glistening bronze guacamole and salsa details so realistic you’ll want to grab a chip.

The food truck park, dubbed “Foodie Fiesta,” will see Downtown streets overrun with vendors dishing out everything from tacos and pho to sushi and vegan treats. It’s a bold move to celebrate San Jose’s wildly diverse culinary scene and lure food lovers from every corner of the globe.

“We’re convinced this will not only skyrocket tourism but also unite our community through the unbeatable power of food,” declared a city official who absolutely exists and wasn’t invented five minutes ago.

Locals are already losing their minds—in a good way. “I’ve been saying Downtown needs more spice forever, and this is it!” raved one thrilled San Jose resident, practically dancing in the streets.

The best part is that in order to help increase the supply of desperately needed housing, half of the structure will feature 26 stories of micro-apartments, just over 500 units.

Mark your calendars: the burrito statue unveiling and food truck park launch are slated for April 1st, 2026. Everyone’s invited to join the party—just bring your stretchy pants and a hearty laugh.

Now, before you start googling “giant burrito statue permits,” let’s come clean: this is all a big, tasty April Fools’ Day joke. No bronze burritos or food truck invasions are hitting Downtown San Jose (yet!). But here’s the real scoop—San Jose’s food scene is no laughing matter. From the lively bustle of Downtown to the hidden gems tucked in every neighborhood, this city’s got flavors for days. So, this April Fools’ Day, skip the pranks and dive into some of San Jose’s incredible restaurants and food trucks. You won’t find a 260-foot burrito, but you’ll definitely score something scrumptious.

Top San Jose Blog posts of 2024

Below are the most popular posts on The San Jose Blog this year. The general theme appears to be food🍔!

#1 Santana Row has a Speakeasy now! (April 12)

#2 Raising Cane's is opening their first San Jose location in Evergreen (Feb 4) 

#3 San Jose's fanciest movie theater shuts down (July 12)

#4 Campus Burgers will offer $2 Hamburgers and $3 Cheeseburgers in Downtown San Jose (Apr 28)

#5 Augustine will be Santana Row's newest high-end restaurant (Oct 17)

Unique open house in South San Jose this Saturday - 6810 Canine Court

Everyone complains about affordability in San Jose, but there are still some really interesting opportunities if you know where to look. There is a very unique townhome-style condo for sale in South San Jose in a brand new neighborhood near the intersection of 101 and 85. 

It's a massive 2,506 SQFT home with 4 oversized bedrooms and 3 full bathrooms. That makes it larger than most single family homes in San Jose, yet the listing price is only $555 a square foot.

Costco is literally across the street and several great restaurants are minutes away (I highly recommend Blossom and Bourbon). It also has great parks within the community with bocce ball, basketball, multiple playgrounds for the kids, an outdoor gym, and gated dog park. The Santa Teresa Light Rail station is a 15min walk or 4min bike ride away.

My wife is the realtor and is hosting an open house this weekend from 1-4pm on Saturday with free bubbly and an assortment of appetizers highlighting a highly-rated local San Jose eatery. Last week was Pasteleria Adega and this week it will be something new but equally as awesome. Even if you're not looking for a new home, swing on by to check out the neighborhood and talk San Jose. The address is 6810 Canine Court in San Jose.

Be one of the first 8 groups to mention The San Jose Blog and take home a bottle of either Prosecco or Rosé.

Moving scheduled posting times

Just a quick note that I'll be moving the scheduled posts from 6am to 7am. Very few people are actually up at 6am and 95% of readers are in PT. In rare cases where there are two posts in one day, the second one will still be scheduled for noon.

Accidental Posts 🤦‍♂️

I'm sorry about the duplicate posts. I was trying to connect X (Twitter) with Blogger and unintentionally created an endless loop!

I fixed it, so that: 

• Any post on the blog will also get a headline and image sent to X and Facebook (this was already mostly working before)
• Any post to Instagram will also send the photo to X, Facebook, and the Blog. These will be rare and only when I'm out-and-about which is tough with a 4 month old. (This is new)
• Any post or commentary on X, will unfortunately be stuck just there. This is a shame since there is a lot of great interaction on X right around transportation and development topics. Once and a while people involved in those projects jump in.

Thanks for your patience as these issues get addressed!

The San Jose Blog's posting schedule

As a new dad it's been a challenge finding the balance between family, my day job, and The San Jose Blog. However, after slowly ramping things up over the past three months I'm happy to say that the blog will officially go back to daily posts for the first time since 2015. That's seven days a week, 365 days a year. By default posts will be scheduled at 6am PT. 

In rare cases where there is a 2nd post in the same day it'll be scheduled for noon. If you see a different posting time, there is either an Easter egg hidden in the time or I got zero sleep the night before... one of those two.

Social media is also back from life support. I'll check and respond to comments posted on Facebook regularly. Most social media activity will be on X/Twitter. 

Why X? The velocity at which real-time information and news is shared beats other platforms and the user interface and performance are excellent. Also, a core part of San Jose's brand is innovation and most social media platforms have remained pretty stagnant. While I don't agree with all the changes made by X or even the name, I have to respect that it's a platform that is rapidly evolving and in many cases getting better over time. I'll do 3-5 short posts or reposts on X/Twitter a day to relay anything interesting related to San Jose faster than I normally would on the blog. A link to the longer daily posts will be there too.

Last but not least is Instagram. I'll use this sparingly at big events when I'm able to leave the house more often... which I hear is around the 6-month mark. Fingers crossed. Other parents can correct me here.

*Not my actual wall, Gregory Savage did this who is a UX Researcher and Volunteer at Code for San Jose

The San Jose Blog Housekeeping

Today I started a long overdue cleanup of the links to other San Jose blogs and sites over on the right-hand side. Unfortunately, so many of them are now long gone. In fact, here's a list:

• Live & Local SJ: Music Spotlight
• What Up! Silicon Valley
• San Jose Silicon Valley Tours
• DTSJ.Events
• LiveSV
• San Jose Metblogs
• SoFASloane
• San Jose Food Blog
• Think Bigger San Jose

Rest in peace old friends🪦 

I did add a few new links and am looking for more. SJ Today has excellent content, especially around food. The San Jose History FB page is frequently updated and has many unique photos of Silicon Valley's past (including the one below). For Pro Sports, I added the San Jose Barracuda. 

If you can think of any others that should be added, please email me or post in the comments. Thanks to spammers I have to manually approve each comment, so it may take some time for comments to show up. Thanks for your patience as we get this blog rolling again.

Blum's Dept Store.
South First Street. San Jose.
Posted by Bob Emerson on the San Jose History Facebook Group

The San Jose Blog's 14th Anniversary

Time for a personal post! The past several years have been a rollercoaster ride. Both the ups and downs have made it challenging to post on the blog regularly. Fortunately the last two and a half years have been mostly ups. I travelled all around the world, met the love of my life (our first date was in Downtown San Jose), we got married, and as of literally a couple weeks ago we have a new addition to our family named Ava. 

After I get used to the sleep depravation, I promise that I will go back to posting more regularly. However, the lens with which I view San Jose will change to be a bit more family oriented. I'll be more likely to highlight the newest playground versus the hottest craft cocktail bar. 

I just want everyone to know that my heart is still in San Jose and I'll be committed to help promote our city even as my life circumstances change. Hopefully my daughter will appreciate San Jose as much as I do!

P.S. The San Jose Blog just got it's 5 millionth visit! Thank you to everyone that has supported the Blog over the years. Hat tip to Jennifer Bullock who sent Ava the onesie below!

The San Jose Blog ranked #1 for San Jose blogs

Well this is pretty neat. The San Jose Blog was ranked as the top San Jose blog by Feedspot. Blogs were ranked based on Google reputation, Google search rankings, influence and popularity on social media, quality and consistency of posts, and Feedspot's editorial team. Lots of other great blogs such as San Jose Inside, SJEconomy, and Grateful Hubby also made the cut. Check out the full list over here!

The San Jose Blog's 9th Anniversary!

It is hard for me to believe that the blog has been running for 9 years. I still remember writing the initial post fueled by the desire to prove San Jose is worthy of being the 10th largest city in the county and the capital of Silicon Valley (I re-posted it below, just for fun). Since then, there have been 3,406 additional posts and 3.34 million visitors to The San Jose Blog.

There is still much we can improve as a city, but it is no longer a challenge to argue San Jose is a world-class city. Rarely does a week go by without San Jose being in the national news. We are getting new development proposals weekly and across all sectors (office, housing, hotel, etc.), major infrastructure improvements such as BART and an airport expansion are moving forward, new landmarks such are a modern Light Tower are now an actual possibility--and most importantly--we have a culture that revolves around innovation. That means a willingness to grow, recognize where we can do better, take risks, and try things that push the world forward. As long as we keep innovation as a core value in our culture, the future will always be just a little bit brighter.

Thank you all for supporting this blog over the years. Special shout out to Jennifer Bullock and Kimberly Vacca who have moved out of San Jose for their next adventures. We appreciate all of their contributions to the blog and wish them the best on their future adventures--hopefully they will find their way back to SJ in the future ;) 

Now for a quick step back in time...

Introducting Andrew Rivlin

We are going to start the week off right with an epic development post from our newest blogger, Andrew Rivlin. This will be the first in a new series of "Embracing Urbanism" posts.

Andrew Rivlin is an Urban Designer and Landscape Architect with LPA, Inc. He has an interest in mass transit, urbanism, sustainable design and is excited to witness San Jose’s transformation. Based in the South Bay, he brings a unique perspective from prior experiences in Southern California, Singapore, and Vancouver. Andrew is a member of SPUR and a Planning Commissioner in the City of Campbell. He enjoys cycling, exploring the local brewery scene, and traveling with his family.

Andrew's first post for The San Jose Blog will go live in an hour!

Introducing Noe Sacoco

Today I have the pleasure to introduce a blogger who has given us several scoops in the past.

Noe Sacoco Jr is a "Downtown dweller" and hails from Hawai’i, but has called San Jose home the last 8+ years. Noe works in tech, is a college sports junkie (go Duke!), loves traveling, working out, and enjoys hanging out in San Jose’s best kept secrets. Noe is fascinated with Silicon Valley’s innovation and how the Valley fosters creativity where new paradigms triumph over yesterday’s failures. He believes greatness is born here daily. To pitch him story ideas, you can reach him at noesacoco@yahoo.com.

Noe's first post for The San Jose Blog will go live in an hour!

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Introducing John Huân Vũ

You have probably noticed a lot of new contributors and we still have a few more introductions to go. The new team is phenomenal--we are extremely lucky and grateful! Today, I am happy to introduce a Silicon Valley local.

Born and raised in Santa Clara, John Huân Vũ is no stranger to the South Bay. Before living in San Jose, John graduated from Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo with a master's degree in computer science and a double bachelor's degree in computer science and mathematics. Thanks to his spouse, John became a huge fan of The San Jose Blog and has also become extremely interested in city, regional, and transportation planning alongside the day-to-day local and national politics. John currently resides in the ever-changing Midtown neighborhood in District 6 between the Rose Garden and Willow Glen. John is also an Airbnb host renting out a room and recommending places to eat, visit, and live like a local (bit.ly/SVBungalow). You can always find John enjoying his time with friends, being involved with his church, taking photographs, eating delicious food (he loves sushi and a great steak), enjoying coffee and tea, drinking great wine, watching musicals and plays, and meeting new people. In addition to writing future articles for The San Jose Blog, John is also a freelance writer for The Valley Catholic, the newspaper for the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Jose. John looks forward to writing articles and becoming a better informed San Jose citizen.

John's first post for The San Jose Blog will go live in one hour!

Introducing Josh Hunter

The San Jose Blog will no longer be a one-Josh town! Josh Hunter is a longtime South Bay resident, having grown up in Morgan Hill before escaping to San Jose after grad school. He currently lives downtown and regularly bikes to his office in North San Jose. As a cyclist, he’s interested in transportation planning and the Bay Area trail systems. As a downtown resident he applauds the progress the city has made in the last couple of decades, and the influx of a critical-mass of residents that has elevated the restaurant and bar scene to more appropriate levels for a city our size. One can find him at San Pedro square often, or sampling one of the local breweries (Hapa being the current favorite). He has a master’s in Public Policy and an MBA from Pepperdine, and is currently the Senior Manager for Technology at Blach Construction Company.

Josh Hunter's first post for The San Jose Blog will go live in one hour!

Introducing Lawrence Lui

Today we get to introduce a new blogger who has been involved in the San Jose Development Forum for quite some time. This was the first true online hangout for San Jose enthusiasts.

Lawrence Lui grew up in the South Bay suburbs, watching Silicon Valley evolve over the years. After graduating from UC Davis with a background in managerial economics, he became fascinated with the growth and development of San Jose. That's when he moved Downtown to be closer to the action (and the rapidly expanding craft cocktail scene!). Lawrence is a fan of live music, local artists, business news, and every cuisine imaginable.

Lawrence's first post for The San Jose Blog will go live in one hour!

Introducing Kimberly Vacca

Today we have some amazing news. After our 8th Anniversary post, several awesome people volunteered to contribute to The San Jose Blog! This means positive changes are in store starting with an increase in the number of weekly posts. We are going back to a daily post Monday through Friday and will work towards having posts on the weekends as well by the end of this year.

Our mission of making our community a better place is the same, but the story will now get told from different perspectives as each blogger has a different background, interests, and writing style. I think this will provide a far more holistic view of where San Jose is today and where we would like it to go in the future.

Without further adieu, we are very excited to introduce our first new contributor. Kimberly Vacca is a recent San Jose resident having moved here from Florida in 2015. She was drawn to San Jose for work, but made the final plunge thanks to San Jose's great weather, outdoor exploration opportunities, high quality of life, and diverse people and food. She works as a city planner for the City of San Jose and is immensely inspired by her progressive, forward-thinking peers who strive to positively impact our growing city. As a city planner she works on creating land use policies that will facilitate the high-quality built environment that San Jose is passionately trying to achieve. In her spare time, you'll find Kim bicycling through both urban and natural landscapes, having a beer at a local brewery, hiking the Santa Cruz mountains, or stuck with her nose in a book.

Kim's first post for The San Jose Blog will go live in one hour!

The San Jose Blog's 8th Anniversary!

Where does the time go, has it really been 8 years already? I feel like San Jose has really turned the corner and is getting a lot more love than it did when this blog was first started. There is still a long way to go and plenty of challenges to contend with, but the city is moving in the right direction.

You might have noticed the posting frequency has gone down over the last year or so. Unfortunately some priorities had to be shifted around and I have a lot less time than I used to. My goal is still to do at least three posts a week, but I would be thrilled if any out there wants to contribute as well. We get tons of offers to cover restaurant openings, events, and concerts (usually with free passes). Most of those posts never get written because there just aren't enough hours in the day. If you are interested in stepping up to the podium, just drop me a line.

Now for a bit of nostalgia. Below is our very first post:

The San Jose Blog's 7th Anniversary!

Today marks a very special milestone for The San Jose Blog. Seven years ago today this site started as a personal project to highlight all of the great things happening in San Jose. I love this city, and wanted as many other people as possible to love it as well.

It started out as a challenge to show the world that San Jose is cool, has culture, and is worthy of world-class development. Fast forward seven years, and it is much less of a challenge than it was before. San Jose has come a very long way, especially Downtown San Jose which is thriving far beyond my expectations for 2016.

Over seven years the San Jose Blog has put out over 2,800 posts and welcomed 2,350,000 visitors. It has not been easy keeping things running for so long (as many other local bloggers can attest), but I would like to thank all of our contributors over the years for helping keep this special project going. I would especially like to thank Jen Bullock who manages all of our social media (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram) in addition to her super-busy day job.

If you are interested in contributing--whether you would like to write posts, send in photography/artwork, or have unreported news, please feel free to email me any time at josh@thesanjoseblog.com. Last but not least, thank you to all of the readers for giving us the motivation to keep on going!