Saturday Stats: San Jose has the Highest % of College Grads in the State

Here is a nice stat for you. The San Jose metro has the highest percentage of residents who hold at least a bachelor's degree in California. 86.9% of the population here has a high school degree or higher, and 45.1% of the population holds a Bachelor's or higher. We are still a bit behind nationally... the leader in the US is Boulder, Colorado where 59.1% of residents hold a Bachelor's. At least we are headed in the right direction and are leading the state.

Source: SVBJ

CONTEST: Die Hard Sharks Hoodie!

Our friends over at Die Hard Co. are so excited about the end of the NHL lockout, they are giving away a Sharks hoodie and a tee!

The contest is simple. All you need to do is follow the directions in the little widget below to enter. You can also get bonus entries from liking Die Hard Co. and The San Jose Blog on Facebook, following our Twitter feeds, etc. It's a neat little app and we will very likely be using it for future contests as well.

Good luck everyone! The contest runs until next Thursday morning. Winner announced on Friday the 18th.

Prada's Miu Miu Premiering at Valley Fair

More and more companies are choosing San Jose over San Francisco to introduce new luxury retail concepts into the Bay Area. The latest in a growing list is Prada's Miu Miu, a high-end brand for women's clothing with locations only in premier fashion destinations around the world. The store is opening up at Valley Fair in Spring 2013, around the same time as David Yurman. Other stores that have chosen San Jose over SF to launch include Hastens, St. Croix, and the Tesla Store.

As a side note, Valley Fair is also beefing up their luxury wing with new stores for Tiffany & Co, Cartier, and Louis Vuitton. Now if only they would get started on their 500,000 sqft expansion.

Source: SVBJ

Wednesday Wishlist: Michelin Star Restaurants (2013 Edition)

I do this rant every year and will continue to do so until San Jose nabs a Michelin star restaurant. For the non-foodies out there, a Michelin star represents one of the highest achievements and forms of recognition that a restaurant can get. There are three different rankings:

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 have gone ahead and made a Google doc listing all of the 2013 Bay Area Michelin star recipients as well as the recipients for each year since Bay Area restaurants started being evaluated in 2007. This data was surprisingly not that easy to aggregate since it was hard to find the lists of early recipients. If you open the doc, you will also notice a Stats tab on the bottom that shows how things have evolved over the years.

In 2007 the Bay Area received a total of 34 stars across 28 restaurants. Only 2 restaurants were in the South Bay (7% of the total). For 2013, the Bay Area received 52 stars across 42 restaurants and 5 were in the South Bay (12%). So there is definitely some improvement for the region as a whole, but unfortunately there is yet to be a single San Jose recipient. I have been to quite a few on the list below (13 of them in fact), and there are at least two San Jose restaurants that should definitely be there. Le Papillion and La Foret, which are sister restaurants and offer phenomenal food and service equal to many of the places on the list. I also have high hopes that new aspiring chefs will decide to open up restaurants Downtown that may one day qualify for a star.

You can check out the full Google doc here. The South Bay restaurants are highlighted in yellow and the Peninsula restaurants in northern Silicon Valley are highlighted in blue.

P.S. Hat tip to All Spice in San Mateo for being the first Indian restaurant to make the cut in the US as far as I know.

New Craft Beer Tasting Lounge Opening Downtown!

I have a feeling that the craft beer scene is about to explode Downtown. The Original Gravity House and Good Karma are going to have some company very soon.

Sukhjeev Singh is the owner of Bobby's Liquors on El Camino, which features an insane collection of craft brews. He's about to take things to the next level by opening up a tasting lounge called ISO: Beers (In Search Of Beers). With 1,756 sqft, he'll have enough room for 50-60 tap handles, storage for 2,000 bottled beers, comfortable sofas, and of course some tables. This is someone that really knows his beers, so I can't wait to see how this turns out.

ISO: Beers is going to be located at 81 East Santa Clara Street, near 4th Street Pizza and City Hall.

Source: Anonymous Poster, Examiner

San Jose Looking for $1B in NEW Investment

Major Chuck Reed has set a goal to nab $1B worth of new projects over the next 6 months. This will help accelerate job growth as well as generate new revenues for the city. To help achieve this he is putting together a committee to evaluate and monitor economic competitiveness and is expediting planning and building permitting for high-rise residential, office, R&D, campus projects, and retail projects that are larger than 200,000 sqft.

Some good news is that there is already a billion dollars worth of development in the queue:

• 3 million sqft of office/R&D
• 800 high-rise residential units
• 600,000 sqft of retail

Everything already in the pipeline will generate 10,000 jobs and $9M in annual revenue for San Jose.

In addition, to fill up vacant space in Downtown San Jose the city is planning to waive permitting fees and business licensing fees for properties where landlords are willing to discount rates to new lessees for a one year period. These incentives would apply to tech startups, retail stores, or restaurants.

Source: SVBJ

Wake up, fans! The lockout is over, and the Sharks are back!

“Wake up!  Wake up!”  I texted to some of my fellow Sharks fans.  “The lockout is ended!  That Sharks will have a season this year!”

The collective bargaining agreement negotiations finally came to a conclusion around 3AM Pacific Time, and the news spread like wildfire over Twitter and other social media sites.  Many remained hopeful a deal would be made due to the severity of the situation.  If no deal could have been made, the season was likely going to be cancelled.  It was the last opportunity.

To assist with the negotiations process as the time wound down, a federal mediator by the name of Scot Beckenbaugh was brought in.  Many believe his assistance saved the season, due to the high contention between the two sides of the negotiating table: Gary Bettman, Commissioner of the NHL, and Donald Fehr, the executive director of the players’ union, the National Hockey League Players Association (NHLPA).  The negotiations continually fell through primarily due to the players’ insistence they did not want their pay and benefits cut and the league’s insistence they implement lower salary percentage rates due to most owners losing money.

Even though hockey fans in general may be delighted to see there will be a season, many fans feel like they’ve been cheated.  There were a good number of players voicing their displeasure with the potential of having their salaries cut (and even threatening to stay with their professional level teams abroad), the players union ready and willing to cancel the season, and the league not providing realistic agreements to the table and not honoring existing contracts.  As we all love our home teams and support them through all kinds of media, and by purchasing tickets and merchandise, how should the fans feel when the players and owners are carelessly toss aside the fans because some think they’re not making enough?

With that said, however, there were a healthy amount of players communicating to fans using social media apologizing for how the situation has turned out and how they’re going to “play their hearts out” for the fans if the season is allowed to continue.  (We can only hope they deliver now.)

The new collective bargaining agreement has a ten year life (although there’s a potential “opt out” in eight years), with an eventual salary cap set between $44 million and $64.3 million.  The salaries in individual contracts cannot vary more than 35% year to year, and the final year cannot be more than 50% of the highest year.  (This acts to prevent some of the high front loaded contracts seen in the previous years, such as the contracts the Minnesota Wild signed with Zach Parise and Ryan Suter.)

Another important statistic, the revenue sharing percentage between the owners and the players, is now a 50-50 split, instead of the previous 57-43 split, in favor of the players.

As for the Sharks’ season, if play begins on January 15^th, which it very well should, the season will be 50 games long (instead of the full 82), although it is possible for play to continue a bit later, which would then result in a 48-game season.

Either way, we will have hockey this year, which means there will be plenty of opportunities to cheer on our Sharks.  Most importantly, however, is the continuation of the season puts the Stanley Cup back into play.

LET’S GO SHARKS!

Breaking: NHL Lockout is Over, Sharks Season is Coming After All!

More info to come soon from our Sharks fanatic, Jarrod!

Source: The Merc

Boston Private Bank Opening in Downtown San Jose

Another bank is coming Downtown, although most of us won't casually be walking into this one. Boston Private Bank focuses mainly on wealth management, wealth advisory and trust services, commercial lending, and private banking. The new branch is scheduled to open this quarter at 60 S. Market Street, and it will be the first location in San Jose. They already have other Bay Area locations in Palo Alto, Los Altos, Burlingame, and San Francisco. Tenant improvements are happening as we speak and I'm sure we'll all look forward to having another business Downtown.

Source: SVBJ

Saturday Stats: SJC Has the Top On-Time Performance in California

Since we're just days away from getting an international direct flight to Tokyo, I figured that this would be a good week to do an airport related Saturday stat. Last year, San Jose International was ranked as having the best on-time performance in California. This shouldn't be a huge surprise given our good weather, a streamlined airport layout, and advanced systems for handling luggage. Heck, the last few flights I have taken out of SJC ended up arriving early.

On the other side of the Bay, SFO came in dead last in terms of on-time performance for California airports.

In terms of all medium to large airports in the US, San Jose ranked 4th in on-time performance, Oakland claimed the 17th spot, Sacramento took 20th, and SFO ranked 64th. 65 airports were evaluated.

Source: SiliconBeat

Silicon Valley in the Media

For all of Silicon Valley's fame and prominence in the international business community, we have rarely been featured in the entertainment scene. So many TV shows and movies are set in New York, LA, SF, and Chicago... but Silicon Valley rarely if ever is featured even as a background location. The one exception would be the 1985 bond movie A View to a Kill, where the main plot was to prevent the annihilation of Silicon Valley. And look at what Silicon Valley was portrayed as in that movie below.



Well, things are about to change. Several new TV shows and movies are coming out where Silicon Valley is at the very least a supporting role. This actually started a couple months ago with the show Start-Ups: Silicon Valley. While I did enjoy seeing at least a dozen shots of San Jose throughout the show's 8 episode run, for the most part the show was considered a failure by the media. I'm not going to shed too many tears since I don't think it accurately portrayed Silicon Valley (and most of it was shot in SF). You can read the postmortem at SiliconBeat.

Now for what's coming up. HBO has just green-lighted a live action sitcom series called "Silicon Valley." This is a "single camera" dark comedy by Mike Judge, the creator of Office Space, King of the Hill, and Beavis and Butthead. Here is how the show is described: "Silicon Valley is set in the high tech gold rush of modern Silicon Valley, where the people most qualified to succeed are the least capable of handling success." Sounds very promising. For more info on this one check out Deadline Hollywood.

Next up is a feature film called the Internship. This movie has two big-name stars, Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson, as a couple of 40-something salesmen who get laid off and decide to restart their careers at Google. Part of the movie is even shot onsite at Google's HQ in Mountain View. More info on this one is available at Marketing Land.



Last one for now is a new show by Simon Cowell and Will.i.am called X Factor for Tech. They are hunting for the next Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerburg. The producers are claiming that this show will generate a lot of jobs and give youth a platform to express themselves using science and mathematics. While this show is not yet confirmed to take place in Silicon Valley, it will no doubt fuel more media interest to the region which is king of entrepreneurship and technology. More info over at Venturebeat.



I'm sure this is only the tip of the iceberg. If any of these are successful, you can be sure that there will be more Silicon Valley-oriented shows to follow.

Umpqua Bank coming Downtown

Umpqua Bank should be opening their first San Jose store in pretty soon in the heart of Downtown San Jose. It has leased two floors totaling 6,874 sqft at 225 West Santa Clara, which is next to Amici's and Axis. Build out is happening right now and it should be ready sometime towards the end of the quarter.

The ground floor will have personal banking services, a computer cafe, free WiFi, and conference rooms that anyone in the community can reserve. I have never been to a bank with a cafe and community rooms before. The second floor will have commercial banking services.

Source: SVBJ

Transforming Suburbia into Eco-Utopia

Sociecity has a fantastic three part blog post by San Jose native Patrick Lydon about how we can take a city that was built around the car, and turn it into something sustainable as the population grows. The posts are based around an interview with Hans Larsen, San Jose's Director of Transportation. I can't think of a better way to start off 2013 than by looking towards where we are headed in the future.

Just a few quick tidbits. The plan is to build 70 (!) walk-able, mixed-use urban villages by 2040. These would have jobs, housing, retail, and recreation all within a compact community. I'm picturing more affordable (and much smaller) versions of Santana Row with access to mass transit and more community infrastructure (places of worship, etc.). Where would these be located you may ask?  We have an abundant supply of giant strip malls which would be ideal candidates to grow vertically into mini-downtown communities.

Land use will definitely have to change in many areas. For example, most of the housing is in South San Jose and the job centers are mostly in North San Jose. More housing needs to be added in the North and additional jobs need to be created in the South. Plans for this are already underway--the strategy for North San Jose involves bringing 32,000 new homes as well as converting 1-3 story office configurations to 10-20 story buildings.

Another interesting fact is that 80% of San Jose residents primary mode of transportation is driving alone in their cars. The plan is to change this to under 40% by 2040. The urbanization in the paragraphs above will help, as will a very aggressive bicycle program involving adding more dedicated bike lanes (great job Downtown San Jose) and bike share programs.

Anyway, this article is a very interesting read and definitely worth your time. Make sure to go through all three parts and let us know what you think in the comments below.

Click here to read Transforming Suburbia into Eco-Utopia!

Valley Verde Launching in San Jose

Guest post by Raffaella Cerruti:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



If you’ve been looking for a non-profit organization working to create access of healthy
and fresh food in San Jose, let Valley Verde be your inspiring story.

About three years ago Raul Lozano, the former executive director of the Latino theater
company in San Jose, Teatro Vision, decided to make a shift in his career by taking part
of the urban agriculture revolution movement. Soon, he realized that in main challenge
in the urban food movement was to reach out to low income communities. Low income
people in the US have less access to an affordable, healthy diet than and their health
is at greater risk from diet related illness as a result. There is a general thinking that
organic gardening is only a hobby for families with the financial means, enticing only
to those who have the time and money for it. Some think that lower-income families
simply can’t be expected to be interested in growing their own food because they lack
the resources or they are time poor because they often work two or more jobs and lack
the energy to maintain a garden. The nonprofit that Raul started in 2011, Valley Verde,
is all about making sure that people have access to good fresh food by providing the
resources and support needed to plant and maintain a home organic garden.

Valley Verde provides low income families with the knowledge and tools needed to
grow and maintain their own organic vegetable gardens. The families receive one or two
raised bed gardens, according to space and family size, an irrigation system, classes
on gardening and nutrition, seeds and seedlings, and a gardening mentor who will
give gardening support for one year. The goal of the one year program is to empower
the families with the vegetable gardening knowledge to continue their own gardens.
Families who wish to share their knowledge can participate in a future Valley Verde
project to help other families learn the same valuable skills.

Valley Verde started last fall with a group of 25 families in Gilroy and now they are
looking for new families in the community of Seven Trees, for the next Spring's planting
season. In order to support and expand the free services offered to the low-income
community, they also started selling garden installations and maintenance services as
well as "do-it-yourself" kits to residents of Santa Clara County who would like to start a
home organic garden.

To illustrate the impact of access to fresh organic vegetables, Raul likes to quote one of
the participants in Gilroy. A mother of two, her children would never eat beets, because
she could only afford to by the canned variety and they did not like the taste. Now that
they grow their own, her children love beets, and the rest of the vegetables that they
grow. We all know that fresh organic vegetable taste better and are better for you and
we believe everyone should have access to those benefits. Raul Lozano has a plan to

start a real revolution for the Silicon Valley. With the help of corporate sponsors and
donations, within 10 years, we want to provide free gardens to as many as 5,000 low
income families.

A quote by eco-chef, food justice activist, Bryant Terry, who recently said: “Unless small
start-ups, food incubators and local food movements are equipping the communities
they provide outreach to become their own leaders, directors and ultimately self-
sustaining, you're just playing games". We feel like that is our call to action!

raull@valleyverde.org
www.valleyverde.org
Follow us on facebook

Happy New Year 2013!

Happy New Year everyone! Check out the holiday lights at the Associated Students (A.S.) house near 4th and San Carlos. I should have posted this for Christmas, but New Years will have to do. Hope you all have a prosperous 2013!

New Year Predictions for 2013

2012 has been a good year for San Jose. The San Pedro Square Market has exploded, showing everyone that it is possible to have a successful new project in Downtown San Jose. The 49ers stadium and Earthquakes stadiums broke ground, both of which will contribute heavily to expanding our entertainment options and attract more tourism dollars into Silicon Valley. A flagship retailer, Muji, announced plans to come Downtown. The overall economy improved, unemployment fell, and millions of square feet of new office space are in the pipeline.

So what will 2013 bring? I think it's only going to get better, regardless of what happens with the fiscal cliff. Specifically, here are my predictions for the new year:

1.) More than two high-rise buildings will break ground in Downtown San Jose. We know about the Carlyle and One South Market, but I think we will see at least one more.

2.) A major transportation project will be greenlit: be it a BRT line, a Lightrail Expansion, or funding for the subway portion of the BART expansion to San Jose. The number of transit riders and bicyclists will rise.

3.) San Jose will have a stronger brand and identity by the end of the year. Many new cultural and art projects will happen Downtown, helping San Jose feel and look like the Capital of Silicon Valley.

4.) The Sharks will be back with a vengeance for the 2013-2014 Season.

5.) Downtown San Jose Office Vacancies will fall below 10%.

6.) The number of restaurants in Downtown San Jose will break 250 for the first time in history.

7.) We still have no decision on the A's stadium. However, you can expect a decision in 2014 before Bud Selig retires.

8.) San Jose will continue to dominate national rankings in salaries and quality of life.

9.) We will maintain our status as the safest US city with over 500,000 residents.

10.) The Golden Triangle and North First Street developments will accelerate, and we will attract at least one massive tech company to relocate to San Jose to compliment what is the largest cluster of tech companies in the world by a huge margin.

San Jose Marketing Consultant Launches Online Reality Show

15 "solopreneurs" are about to compete for $10,000 in an online reality show lead by Tea Silvestre, a San Jose Marketing Consultant. They will have to compete in weekly marketing challenges and are being mentored by a dozen industry experts. To learn more, have a look at the press release below or click here. The show premiers at the end of January.

BIGSTOCK signs on as Presenting Sponsor for Local Business Woman's Online Reality Show

If you've seen "The Amazing Race" or "Hell's Kitchen" then you're aware of how popular these reality TV competitions have become.

Welcome to "Prosperity’s Kitchen" -- a 12-week online marketing course structured like a reality TV show. Fifteen contestants will compete to win a $10,000 prize package. And BIGSTOCK, one of the world's leading royalty-free image companies, is the presenting sponsor.

PROSPERITY’S KITCHEN premieres this January and will feature 15 solopreneurs learning and competing for a $10,000 prize package. The contestants will be taught by 

Tea Silvestre, aka The Word Chef, a San Jose-based Marketing Consultant who will also be joined by 12 guest mentors including several authors and other influencers.

It is the first reality web sponsorship for BIGSTOCK, one of the leading royalty-free stock image companies serving the small biz community online.

“To have BIGSTOCK choose Prosperity’s Kitchen as their first reality web series sponsorship is an incredible tribute to our program,” said executive producer Tea Silvestre. “Their support will help us maintain the high quality mix of instruction and entertainment for the small biz audience that drew them to PROSPERITY’S KITCHEN in the first place."

“The PROSPERITY’S KITCHEN audience of solopreneurs and freelancers makes up a significant portion of the BIGSTOCK community – from the person who submits images to the designer or blogger who uses them,” says BIGSTOCK General Manager Ben Pfeifer. “Sponsoring this innovative program allows us to support both sides of this model, and encourage independent creativity through licensed visual media.”

As part of the partnership, BIGSTOCK will provide stock images to Prosperity’s Kitchen for their use in developing the series as well as prize packages of image assets for the program’s winners.

BIGSTOCK’s first “on-air” web sponsorship messages will begin on January 21st, with the broadcast of the first episode of “Prosperity’s Kitchen.” The company will also be part of an episode mid-season that talks about content creation and how to best-use stock images in marketing materials.

Funding for the Prosperity’s Kitchen series also is provided by Play-at-Home viewers, with additional support from BLUE HOST web hosting and ANYMEETING web meeting services.

Prosperity’s Kitchen is a Word Chef Enterprises production.

###

ABOUT PROSPERITY’S KITCHEN

Prosperity’s Kitchen is a 12-week reality web edutainment series that aims to teach solopreneurs and micro business owners how to market themselves effectively online. Structured like a reality TV competition, 15 contestants will tackle weekly marketing missions in order to showcase what they’ve learned. The contestants are divided into teams of three and will be advised and mentored by Tea Silvestre, aka The Word Chef, as well as 12 other high profile marketing experts. The contestant who outperforms their cohorts will take home the $10,000 prize package (a mix of cash and prizes). Learn more at prosperityskitchen.com

ABOUT WORD CHEF ENTERPRISES

WCE is wholly owned and operated by Tea Silvestre of San Jose, CA. Tea is widely regarded as one of the top marketers in the world of small business. She’s the author of “Attract and Feed a Hungry Crowd: How Thinking Like a Chef Can Help You Build a Solid Business,” as well as the founding producer of the ground-breaking web series, “Prosperity’s Kitchen.”

Tea’s writing is often seen on some of the biggest blogs on the Internet, including Copyblogger, Problogger and MarketingProfs. She’s also a frequent speaker at entrepreneurial events across the globe. Learn more at thewordchef.com

Saturday Stats: San Jose is the 2nd Best City for Men

San Jose has been ranked the 2nd best city for men by Men's Health Magazine. Over 38 different criteria were used such as air quality, unemployment, cost of living, death rates, commute hours, property crime, and even the ratio of single men to women (which we did not do well in). After all was said and done, we got the silver medal with SF a step below at 3rd place. One other notable comment, out of all 100 cities evaluated San Jose had the lowest percentage of smokers.

Top 10 List

1 Boise, ID 
2 San Jose, CA 
3 San Francisco, CA 
4 Plano, TX 
5 Seattle, WA 
6 Burlington, VT 
7 Austin, TX 
8 Salt Lake City, UT 
9 Madison, WI 
10 Portland, OR

Read more at Men's Health: http://www.menshealth.com/best-life/best-cities-men/page/3#ixzz2Fp7z0mtI

Samsung Expanding New San Jose HQ to 1,100,000 SQFT?

Unless there is a typo in Samsung's press release below, it sounds like they have expanded their plans for a flagship campus in North San Jose! Instead of clocking in at 650,000 sqft, they are now aiming for over a million square feet. I'm not sure if all of that will arrive in the first phase or if they are planning to do another building in the future, but reading this sure was a nice surprise today.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd, a global leader in digital media, digital convergence technologies and advanced semiconductor solutions, continues to expand its operations in Silicon Valley by investing more resources in its existing R&D centers and establishing new innovation centers.

Samsung Semiconductor, Inc. (SSI) announced plans to build a 1.1 million square foot sales and R&D headquarters on the current site of its semiconductor and display panel businesses, north of downtown San Jose. The building, designed by global architecture firm NBBJ, will be comprised of a 10-story tower, an amenity pavilion and parking garage. The design seeks to encourage interaction among staff, foster connections with the community and provide a space to attract employment in the highly competitive tech market, which is growing at a faster pace than overall employment.

Source: Engadget

Trumark is Building 94 Townhomes in East San Jose

Trumark and Resmark are building out 4.4 acres of land at 1328 North Capital Avenue. The project is called Centered on Capital and will feature 94 townhomes. The overall density is 21 homes per acre, which is pretty high. The project sits right between the North Capital and Berryessa Lightrail stations, both of which are less than a 5min walk away. The Berryessa Corners Shopping Center is also within walking distance.

Source: SJBJ

Joint Venture Index of Silicon Valley 2012

It turns out I never posted stats from the 2012 Joint Venture report evaluating the current status of our region. Here are a few of my favorite bits from the report:

• 42,000 jobs were added in the past year (2011)
• Silicon Valley employment increased 3.8% in 2011, versus 1.1% nationwide
• All major areas of economic activity experienced growth from 2010-2011, except for the "Other Manufacturing" category which includes space and defense manufacturing
• Patent registrations increased by 30%. Silicon Valley accounts for 49% of statewide patents and 12% of all patents in the country
• Venture investment in cleantech doubled over the previous year. Silicon Valley has 34% of the total California investment in cleantech
• 46% of 2011 IPOs were from Silicon Valley
• Half of the SV population speaks a language other than English at home.
• Between 2010 and 2011, Silicon Valley population increased by 1% (it was 0.7% for California)
• High school graduation rates increased by 1% to 88% (versus 81% in California)
• 43% of all Silicon Valley households now have household income over $100k (compared to 26% in California and 20% in the US)
• The regions solar capacity increased by 41% from 2010 to 2011 (versus 21% statewide)
• Transit ridership per capita increased 4.9% in 2011

Click here to read the entire report (Warning: PDF link).

Downtown San Jose is Getting Illuminated!

Here is a nice little Christmas present for all those that live, work, or play in Downtown San Jose. Two highway underpasses are about to get painted in LED artwork, which you can see below. The first is the main gateway to the Downtown San Jose core--where 87 passes over Santa Clara Street. This important area connects the HP Pavilion and Diridon Station with the rest of Downtown. Right now, it's pretty gloomy and can feel less than inviting if you are walking by yourself. However, that is about to change. Tons of LED lights donated by San Jose-based Philips Lumileds are going under the overpass along with colorful paint that will pop when hit by the lights.

The second underpass is the where 87 passes over San Fernando Street. This project is a bit more modest but the effect is the same. Artists are taking a gloomy overpass and turning it into an attraction. The photo shows blue and green lights, but with LEDs there is always a possibility of making the lighting dynamic.

All of this is made possible by a program called Illuminating Downtown, which received a $600k grant from ArtPlace America and other contributions from the SJDA. These first two lighting projects should be complete by fall 2013. I believe there will be two other areas that are getting lit as well, but am not 100% certain about that. In addition, they are also talking to high-rise residential apartment owners that are looking to illuminate their buildings (The 88 did a GREAT job with this and Axis isn't too shabby either).

I think this is a big step towards making San Jose look like the capital of Silicon Valley. Personally, I can't wait to see these two projects completed. This is showing that Downtown San Jose is moving in the right direction when it comes to public art and creating a more inviting atmosphere. Growdwerx is also doing a great job when it comes to lighting up parts of Downtown.

2013 is going to be a great year!

Source: SVBJ

Highway 87 & Santa Clara Street


Highway 87 & San Fernando Street

Merry Christmas!

Everyone at The San Jose Blog warmly wishes you and your family a great Holiday Season! Don't forget to check out our tree at Christmas in the Park =)

The VTA Holly Trolly is Back!

From the VTA Website

Feel it all over again on VTA's Holly Trolley! VTA will roll-out its Holly Trolley uniting the nostalgia of the past with the young and young at heart! Whether your plan is to visit Christmas in the Park, ice skate under the palms or dine in downtown San Jose's many restaurants, the Trolley will get you there and...the ride is FREE!

Operating between the Civic Center and San Jose Diridon light rail stations, the Trolley will surely get you and your family into the spirit of the season. The Holly Trolley will make its magical journey only during the holiday season, so be sure to Hop Onboard Today!

You can catch VTA's Free Holly Trolley every weekend*, from November 30 through December 30; Fridays from 6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. and weekends from 2:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.

To get on board, stop by a Holly Trolley light rail station nearest you!  The Holly Trolley will travel through downtown San Jose with stops at the Civic Center Station through the San Jose Dirdon Transit Center. For a complete schedule, click on Schedule Information or call 408-321-2300.

VTA Holly Trolley Service Hours*

Fridays                             6:30 p.m. - 10 p.m.

Saturdays & Sundays       2:30 p.m. - 10 p.m.

Look for more details on VTA's Facebook page and celebrate the season with VTA!

*Weather permitting.

Top San Jose Christmas Decorations 2012

This holiday season, be sure to check out Lights of the Valley to see the most decked out homes in San Jose. These are really something to visit in person and many even have light shows synchronized to music. The website has a handy map that lets you check which ones you want to see and prints out directions hitting all of those spots. Again, the Lights of the Valley website is right over here.

Happy Holidays!

Adobe Codebreaking Contest v2.0

Do you enjoy cryptography as a pastime? If so, this is the contest for you. Adobe has reset their "San Jose Semaphore" art project with a brand new contest. There are 4 rotating discs with LEDs on top of one of the Adobe towers. Every 7.2 seconds they spin to a specific orientation representing a piece of the code. In the 2006 contest, each rotation was a letter from the 1966 novel: "The Crying of Lot 49." For 2012, I imagine this may be an even greater challenge. They also have an online version of what is being displayed on the tower over here.

The winner gets a one-year subscription to the Adobe Creative Cloud. However, after seeing what was involved in cracking the 2006 code, I think a lifetime subscription and a job offer at Adobe would be more appropriate.

Source: Adobe

Saturday Stats: 2012 Meta Edition

I recently started a new Google doc to track Saturday Stats posts. I did not get all of them in there yet, but will be using this spreadsheet going forward. I thought it might be nice at the end of each year to look back and see what has been achieved. For 2012, I can tell you that reading all of the stats below back to back sounds pretty darn impressive.

You can either click on the image below to enlarge or access the Google doc directly over here.

The Civic Gets Branded

Remember when sports stadiums started selling naming rights? That same revenue stream is coming to an entertainment venue near you. City National Bank (CNB) is offering $1.2 million to add their name to the historic Civic auditorium across the street from the convention center. Most of this money would be used to continue to develop San Jose's key entertainment venues, which also include the Performing Arts Center.

A new name and logo will have to be crafted, and there are even plans to put that logo on the roof of the building for the overhead planes and Google Maps satellites. The names of the California Theater, the Montgomery Theater, and the Center for the Performing Arts may also be up for sale.

Source: SJBJ

Santana Row December 2012 Happenings And A Look Ahead to Early 2013

 

San Jose, CA – Holiday happiness and the spirit of giving can be found at Santana Row in December with events and celebrations that include the Menorah lighting ceremony and shopping specials that benefit local charities. 49ers star Vernon Davis opens Gallery 85, an art gallery, with a fundraising event on Dec. 10.

 

Shop, Enjoy and Give: Holiday Wine & Dine Around

A Benefit for Second Harvest Food Bank, Dec. 4, 11 and 18

Help those in need while you complete your holiday shopping during Santana Row’s “Shop, Enjoy & Give” event that benefits Second Harvest Food Bank. Purchase a $10 ticket on SantanaRow.com or at the Concierge center and receive complimentary food and wine tastings in Santana Row shops and restaurants between 6 and 8 p.m. Also included: a signature Santana Row wine glass and exclusive holiday shopping discounts. Bring a donation of canned food when you purchase your ticket and receive $2 off the ticket. (Customers must be 21 years or older.)

 

Santa Paws, a Benefit for Humane Society Silicon Valley, Dec. 9

Bring your canine and feline friends to Santana Row's Park Valencia for a keepsake photo with Santa Claus. Photos are $20 and a portion of the proceeds will benefit Humane Society Silicon Valley. Registration begins at 10:30 a.m. in Park Valencia. Photos are taken from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

 

Menorah Lighting at Santana Row Park, Dec. 9

Santana Row celebrates the first night of the Jewish Festival of Lights with Kosher treats, entertainment and activities that include decorating dreidels, Jewish story time, arts & crafts, giveaways and the lighting of the Menorah. The evening is co-hosted with the Jewish Federation of Silicon Valley and The PJ Library. The celebration will take place from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. at Santana Row Park.

Musical performances by Congregation Shir Hadash's Cantor Felder Levy and youth, Temple Emanu-El's children with Rabbi Magat and Cantor Simerley, Yavneh Day School choir, Congregation Beth David Religious School and Rabbi Ohriner, Congregation Sinai's children and Rabbi Berkenwald.

Grand opening of Gallery 85, 49ers Vernon Davis’ art gallery, Dec. 10

Top-ranked 49ers football player Vernon Davis introduces his new gallery with a private, grand opening event on Dec. 10. Gallery 85 will feature work by Davis as well as work by emerging visual artists. The grand opening party is a benefit for The Vernon Davis Foundation for the Arts (http://www.vernondavis.com/foundation/) which promotes arts education and art appreciation for at-risk youth and awards college art school scholarships to inner-city youth.

Best known as one of the NFLʼs elite pass-catching tight ends, Davis is also a talented, trained visual artist who majored in studio art at the University of Maryland.

Gallery 85 is located at 377 Santana Row, Suite 1180, San Jose.

 

Mommy & Me invite children to “Celebrate the Season,” Dec. 11

The last Mommy & Me for the season includes live entertainment from Andy Z, story time with Mrs. Claus, sampling from Happy Baby Brands, mini manicures from Lavande nail salon, a raffle from The Container Store, arts and crafts with Action Day Primary Plus, Balloon Animals and Face Painting and more!

When: 10 a.m. to noon on Tuesday, Dec. 11 in the lobby of CineArts Theatre. Mommy & Me is a free kids’ club held on the second Tuesday of every month from May through December. For more information, call 408.551.4611 or visit www.SantanaRow.com.

 

Rainy Day Rewards, now through March 31, 2013

When there’s a 70 percent or greater chance for rain, shoppers and diners braving bad weather will be rewarded with discounts that include 15 percent off purchases at participating shops and restaurants, a free signature Santana Row golf umbrella for customers who spend $150 anywhere on The Row and a $20 gift certificate to a participating shop or restaurant for customers who spend $300 on a designated Rainy Day.

No need to get wet: On all rainy days, customers can pick up a complimentary umbrella to use while shopping and dining and then return it before leaving. The yellow umbrellas are conveniently located throughout The Row - outside Concierge, Via between Village California Bistro and Lark Creek Blue and the valet parking lot in the Winchester Parking

Garage.  

 

“One Warm Coat” Drop-off at Santana Row Continues Through Dec. 31

Donate a new or gently used coat and it will be given to a needy family this winter.  Drop-off locations include CineArts Theatre, Crate & Barrel, Sur La Table and the Santana Row Concierge. The charity coat drive continues through Dec. 31.

For more information: call 408.551.4611 or visit www.santanarow.com.

 

Santana Row holiday hours:

Christmas Eve: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Christmas: Closed

New Year’s Eve: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

New Year’s Day: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

 

New Year’s Eve Overnight Package at Hotel Valencia, Dec. 31

Ring in the new year with elegance and style at Hotel Valencia with a package for two that includes Piper Heidsieck champagne upon arrival, the Valencia Gala party with a live band, DJ and party favors, champagne toast and dessert at midnight, a deluxe breakfast on the first day of 2013 and a late 2 p.m. checkout. Rates begin at $350. Call 408.423.5405 for more information. The New Year’s Eve package requires advance reservations, pre-payment and is non-refundable after December 28, 2012.

 

New Year's Eve: Savor the Night Dinner Package, Dec. 31

Celebrate New Year’s Eve at Citrus restaurant with a five-course experience created by Executive Chef Robert Sapirman.

Dinner package also includes admission to the New Year’s Eve Valencia party, which features a live band, DJ, party favors, champagne toast & midnight dessert. 

Price is $125 per person and non-refundable after Dec 21, 2012. Reservations required, call 408.423.5405.

 

Wine & Dine Around Benefit for the American Heart Association, Feb. 16

More than a dozen Santana Row shops and restaurants host exclusive in-store events with complimentary wine and food pairings and incredible one-time discounts available only to ticketholders, all to benefit the American Heart Association.  From 2-3 p.m. the Wine Stroll will begin on Olin Avenue Drive.  Tickets are $30 and include access to all in-store events, Heart Card shopping pass, wine bottle tote bag and a signature Santana Row wine glass.  Tickets available in person at the Santana Row Concierge or online at santanarow.com.

 

Chinese New Year Celebration, March 2

Santana Row welcomes the Year of the Snake with an afternoon of Chinese New Year festivities, including the exciting drumbeats and crashing cymbals of the Dragon and Lion dances, other traditional Chinese performances, Korean dance, martial arts, fashion shows and more. 

 

408K Race to the Row, a Benefit for the Pat Tillman Foundation,-- March 10 

The eight-kilometer road race that benefits the Pat Tillman Foundation and its Team Tillman initiative is winding through the streets of San Jose for the second year. It starts at HP Pavilion and ends at Santana Row. The inaugural event last year sold out with more than 3,000 runners, the country’s largest 8K run.

For information: www.run408k.com. Sponsors and volunteer groups can make inquiries at sponsors@the408k.com.

 

On The Horizon at The Row

Madewell, an iconic American retailer as well as a brand coveted by fashion conscious women and men, is scheduled to open in Spring, 2013. The 3,500 square-foot shop will occupy a portion of the space that was the former H&M store before its recent move to a larger building. Madewell, established in 1937 as a dry goods emporium, will offer a wide range of effortlessly cool pieces. Chic yet comfy apparel includes soft chambray shirts, broken-in tees, leather boots, accessories and bags..

Splendid, another label noted for its informal stylishness, is slated to open a 2,000 square-foot boutique next to Madewell in late spring. Known for its luxuriously soft tops and T-shirts, the offerings for men, women and children are a perfect fit for Silicon Valley: richly casual.

 

Renovations Coming to The Row

Gucci, the luxury brand which recently marked a decade at Santana Row, will undergo a complete interior remodel along with façade enhancement beginning in the summer 2013. The work will be completed in time for the 2013 holiday season.

 

Also undergoing a renovation next year is Tommy Bahama, purveyor of island lifestyles and maker of clothing and accessories that reflect island ambiance.

10 Almaden Pulls a Hat Trick

After PriceWaterhouseCoopers moved to the shiny blue Sobrato tower, it left a 160,000 sqft vacancy in the 10 Almaden building. While it was good news that the Sobrato tower finally got a tenant, I remember a few people commenting that they would rather have kept foot traffic in the central part of Downtown instead of having it relocate to the outskirts. Well, it looks like 10 Almaden is quickly filling back up again.

Over the last few weeks Equity Office signed 3 major tenants which will gobble up 70,000 sqft in the high-rise:

• Move Inc. (32,405 sqft) - operates Realtor.com and other real estate sites
• Malewarebytes (21,924 sqft) - anti-malware solutions provider for both businesses and consumers
• Rosetta (11,640 sqft) - a brand within the global ad group Publicis

With these leases, Downtown San Jose will likely close out 2012 with office vacancies below 20% (in 2011 they were 27%). If we can get down to about 10%, we may start seeing some speculative building of office space Downtown.

Source: SJBJ

Content Magazine's 4.5 "Ritual" Issue on Newsstands December 21st, Party on December 20th

The latest version of Content Magazine is going to be out this month and they are hosting another Pick up Party in a couple days. You can swing by, enjoy $5 Martinis and meet some of the people featured in the magazine. There aren't many publications of there that would consistently do events like this, so let's make sure to support Content and help promote San Jose culture!

~~~~~~~

Pick Up Party for Subscribers and General Public at TANQ on December 20, 6-8PM

Content Magazine’s 4.5 “RITUAL” Issue of 2012 is hitting the newsstands on December 21, featuring interviews with local skateboarding legend Steve Caballero, SJ Earthquakes’ goalkeeper Jon Busch, NBC news anchor Laura Garcia Cannon, storyteller Nancy Duarte of Duarte Design, Ballet San Jose dancer Damir Emric, "the man behind Christmas in the Park" and more.

It’s become a tradition for Content Magazine to host a Pick Up Party for subscribers to collect the latest issue, and this one is no different. Issue 4.5’s Pick Up Party will be held at TANQ on December 20 from 6-8pm. Located on the corner of Market and San Carlos, TANQ is offering $5 martinis to all magazine subscribers. TANQ and the Pick Up Party are open to current subscribers as well as anyone interested in buying the latest copy, meeting the staff behind Content Magazine, or meeting the people featured in this issue. Members of the press are invited to RSVP and will receive a complimentary magazine.

Content Magazine can be found at Zanotto’s in Willow Glen and Rose Garden, Saint Clair Newsstand, La Lune Sucree, The Usuals, Satori Tea Company, Art Boutiki, and the San Pedro Square Market Gift Shop. Content Magazine can also be downloaded in electronic form from their website. Annual subscriptions are $42; available online.

Content Magazine is a bi-monthly publication devoted to the creative and innovative culture of San Jose. Started by fashion photographer Daniel Garcia in 2008, the magazine strives to showcase and promote individuals and businesses that are making San Jose a dynamic and vibrant place to live and play.  

For more information about Content Magazine, Issue 4.5, or to schedule an interview with Daniel Garcia, please email Flora Moreno de Thompson at flora@content-magazine.com or call Flora at 408.643.9975.