408 Race to the Row

Get fired up for the second annual 408k Race to the Row, which blasts off on March 10th. The race starts in Downtown San Jose, goes down The Alameda, and then winds its way to Santana Row. At the finish line you can earn back all of those calories by partying at the Row, hop on a free luxury bus back to Downtown, and continue partying and saving up calories for the next run!

For more information, click here. Hat tip to Joie for sending this in.
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RACE INFO
Downloadable Race Instructions (just some light reading):
2013 Race Instructions (pdf)

UPS SWEAT CHECK: The fine folks in brown will again be at the starting line to accept your sweats, gear, and unmentionables. Ensure you have time to check your goods, so show up early and look for the beautiful line of UPS trucks adjacent to the starting line.

START: The race starts at HP Pavilion in Downtown San Jose. If you don’t know where this is then just google it. You’re likely from the great Silicon Valley area and you should know all about the google.

COURSE TIME LIMIT: You will need to maintain an 18 minute/mile pace to make the course time cut-off.  All participants remaining on the course beyond this time limit will be asked to use the sidewalk, abide by traffic laws, and continue to the finish line.

FINISH: The finish line is at Santana Row (We’ve mentioned that multiple times because we view as a bit of a selling point. It’s near Stevens Creek Blvd…again try the google)

BUSING: You’re probably wondering, “if it starts downtown and ends at Santana Row then how do I get home?” First off, nice work detective. Now, three options:

(1) Get dropped off at the start and tell your mom to meet you at the Row.
(2) Cool down and run back
(3) Party at Santana Row and take the free shuttles buses back to the pavilion. Our Official Transportation Provider, Royal Coach Tours, will be ready to roll after the race.

Santana Row Adding 690,000 SQFT of Office Space

The market for office space is really heating up in Silicon Valley, and Federal Realty (owners of Santana Row) are about to make a substantial speculative investment involving three new office buildings. The first was already announced--a 220,000 sqft six-story building that would face the Winchester Mystery House. The second would be a 250,000 sqft building sitting on top of new retail that would cap the very end of Santana Row and also feature a "town square" area. The last would be a 220,000 sqft building on a brand new site that they are trying to acquire fronting Tisch Way and Dudley Avenue.

The entire project makes perfect sense. Modern companies want to be located near amenities like quality restaurants and housing. Add in retail, a hotel, movie theater, luxury gym, and various parks... well you have the ultimate destination for a corporate headquarters. The only thing missing is mass transit, and that should come very soon when a bus rapid transit (BRT) line is built from Downtown San Jose to Stevens Creek.

To add the the good news, the ginormous parking lot around Century Theaters across the street may one day be developed into a project at the same level of density as Santana Row.

Source: The Registry

San Jose Sizzles Videos

2 Minute Version

7 Minute Extended Cut

Saturday Stats: San Jose Ranks Among the 15 Happiest Cities

A team of mathematicians at the University of Vermont collect over 10 million tweets from 373 different urban areas across the US and scored both "happy" and "sad" words. Sad words included things like "hate" or "wrong" while happy words included "lol" and "funny." After aggregating all of the data they came up with the list of happiest and and saddest cities in the US based on tweets. The results are below (hat tip to Barclay).


The 15 Happiest Cities in the United States:

Napa, Calif.
Longmont, Colo.
San Clemente, Calif.
Santa Fe, N.M.
Santa Cruz, Calif.
Green Bay, Wis.
Santa Rosa, Calif.
Simi Valley, Calif.
Lafayette, Colo.
Asheville, N.C.
Spokane, Wash.
Boulder, Colo.
Fort Collins, Colo.
Santa Barbara, Calif.
San Jose, Calif.

The 15 Saddest Cities in the United States:

Beaumont, Texas
Albany, Ga.
Texas City, Texas
Shreveport, La.
Monroe, La.
Memphis, Tenn.
Battle Creek, Mich.
Flint, Mich.
Lima, Ohio
Houma, La.
Waterbury, Conn.
Alexandria, La.
Port Arthur, Texas
Montgomery, Ala.
Dothan, Ala.

Source: Live Science

South First Friday Tonight!

Busy Day Downtown Tomorrow

If you happen to be Downtown tomorrow, brace yourself for tons of activity. Rick Jensen posted the following list of events on the Downtowner Online (subscribe by emailing Rick):

• Cinequest Film Festival 23 at the California Theatre, San Jose Rep and Camera Cinemas.  Park at Second-San Carlos Garage.
• Sharks vs. Predators at the HP Pavilion.  Game starts at 7:30 pm.  Estimated attendance 16,200. Park at Market-San Pedro Garage, or at the arena.
• La Cumbre Public Dance at the Convention Center.  Event starts at 7pm.  Estimated attendance 18,000.  Park in SoFA-I-280 lot, Convention Center and lots on Almaden Boulevard and across from Children's Discovery Museum.
• Nederlander presents Aaron Lewis at the Civic Auditorium.  Event starts at 7:30 pm. Capacity 3,000. AndChildren's Musical Theatre's performance of “Godspell” next door at the Montgomery Theatre.  Three performances with the last scheduled to start at 8pm.  Civic /Montgomery attendees may want to park at the city's Third (and St. John) and Fourth Street (and San Fernando) garages and stroll downtown.
• "Red" at San Jose Stage, 8pm Park at Second and San Carlos or Under I-280 at South First.
• Carlos Mencia at The Improv at 7pm and 9 pm – best parking bet would be Fourth Street Garage or Third Street Garage.
•  Plus Live&Local music venues and Cinequest Afterparties

February 2013 Downtown Dimension Highlights

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

• The San Jose/Evergreen Community College District bought and will populate the seven story, 41,500 sqft former American Bank and Trust building at 40 S. Market.
• A new Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system is going to run down Santa Clara Street and will ultimately connect to Eastridge Mall, Palo Alto, and DeAnza College. They will provide a similar level of service to light rail and have better seating, stations, and travel times than normal buses.
• Umpqua Bank has started building out its ground-floor space at 225 W Santa Clara (next to Amici's), which will include a computer cafe and free WiFi.
• Vyne Bistro is now open and has specials like mushroom risotto and caviar. Visit the new wine bar and restaurant at 110 Paseo De San Antonio.
• Hibiscus Stodio is open where City Salon & Spa used to be at 136 E. Santa Clara.
• Curb cafes are coming to five locations in San Jose this year, including Chacho's.
• A 10ft-tall working model replica of "Organograph" is available for viewing at the City Hall lobby. Eventually this will be a 75ft-tall interactive work of art near Diridon.
• Zipcar is now available Downtown and in Midtown. 17 public spaces have been re-purposed for Zipcar.

To read the full newsletter, click here!

DOSE OF REALITY Premiering at Cinequest

Cinequest is well underway in San Jose with an insane array of movies to chose from. I tend to prioritize the premieres since you get the very rare opportunity of watching a film before anyone else. DOSE OF REALITY is one the films kicking off their world premiere at Cinequest, and the very first showing is tomorrow. More info below!

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Can you solve the mystery at  CINEQUEST film festival?

Get your tickets for DOSE OF REALITY the movie and give it a shot.

We're proud to World Premiere at Cinequest.

DOSE OF REALITY movie

Intriguing keeps you guessing mystery thriller with dramatic performances at:

CINEQUEST Film Festival

San Jose, CA

Camera 12  theaters
201 S 2nd St, San Jose, CA 95113

2-28-13 at 7:00 p.m
3-2-13 at 9:30 p.m.

3-5-13 at 4:00 p.m.

Read more about it

When the bar doors closed one evening, the night was far from over. After Matt, a handsome, young bartender, discovers an attractive, bloodied woman passed out on the bathroom floor, the descent into utter chaos begins. He and his arrogant manager, Tony, frantically argue about what to do when she wakes up and hysterically accuses them of attacking her. Taking matters into her own hands with irresistible charm and manipulative mind games, she discovers their deepest, innermost weaknesses. What started out as a quest to uncover the identity of her attacker quickly evolves into a scheme to reveal the secrets of everyone involved. But some secrets will remain hidden, others will identify a new victim, but one will turn everything you thought you knew upside down – Sharon Gonzales  - CINEQUEST

Film stars: Fairuza Balk award winning actress (Gas Food and lodging and The Craft), Rick Ravanello (The Cave), Ryan Merriman (Final Destination and soon to be released "42" starring Harrison Ford).

Order Tickets here:

http://payments.cinequest.org/WebSales/pages/info.aspx?evtinfo=6913~78899376-35a9-4153-8303-e1557be2dc32&epguid=70d8e056-fa45-4221-9cc7-b6dc88f62c98&