Wednesday, February 22, 2017

A look inside the AC Hotel in Downtown San Jose

The AC Hotel at Santa Clara Street and Highway 87 is the first major new hotel Downtown since the Marriott. The European-styled hotel has 210 guest rooms and six suites, all with king beds (including rooms with two beds). It even has a small swimming pool, something I did not expect given the location.

This looks like a terrific addition to Downtown San Jose. On the exterior it may not look like much, but they did a great job on the interior and it will help activate a key block--especially with a tapas restaurant and cocktail lounge on the ground floor.

Vicky Thompson from the SVBJ has a dozen photos for you to check out at the source link below. For another perspective, Nathon Donato-Weinstein also has a blog post about our newest hotel.

Source: SVBJ








Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Beautiful mural on the Alameda

This is a great example of the public street art we need more of in San Jose. You can find this leading down to the "subway" on the Alameda & Lenzen that lets you cross from one side of the street to the other. While you are in the area, you might as well visit one of the best Mexican restaurants in San Jose: Zona Rosa, and follow it up with a nightcap at Wine Affairs.

Source: Linda Na-guyen from Downtown Dwellers


Monday, February 20, 2017

DASH is on the chopping block

Part of the VTA's plans for their new transit network include cutting DASH, a convenient free shuttle that circles Downtown San Jose. Scott Knies from the San Jose Downtown Association wrote a thoughtful article on how this would impact the area, which you can find below. The proposal is strongly opposed by SJSU, SPUR, and the SJDA.


VTA wants to halt DASH

Blog post by Scott Knies, Executive Director, San Jose Downtown Association 
February 14, 2017 

The free Downtown Area Shuttle (DASH) that averages more than 1,000 riders daily Monday–Friday between Diridon Station and San Jose State University (SJSU) is on the chopping block. 

Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) proposes curbing DASH and substituting a new bus route between Diridon Station and the Berryessa BART station. The new route would traverse downtown on Santa Clara Street and riders would pay regular VTA fares. 

San Jose Downtown Association (SJDA), SJSU and SPUR oppose the end of DASH and are registering concerns about the proposal to the VTA board. 

“Eliminating the DASH shuttle is another counter productive move which will affect SJSU students, senior citizens and our low-income residents who rely on this service to get around downtown,” said Ann Webb, a member of the San Jose Downtown Resident’s Association. 

DASH averaged 1,032 daily riders in 2016. Ridership peaked in September at 1,224 and dipped to 859 in June, corresponding to the SJSU semester calendar. DASH primarily operates on San Fernando Street, a route that will become increasingly important once BART subway construction starts under Santa Clara Street. 

“BART is a five-year construction project with major impacts near Diridon and First Street where stations will be built,” said Chloe Verrey, SJDA Operations Manager. “Now is definitely not the time to end DASH service.” 

SJDA helped initiate DASH in July 1996 when Adobe Systems, Inc. first moved downtown. Adobe was leasing space in Riverpark before its first office tower was completed and the free shuttle connected employees taking Caltrain to the downtown core. 

Adobe, SJDA, City of San Jose Dept. of Transportation, SJSU, VTA and regional air quality grants all contributed to fund DASH, which VTA contracted out to private shuttle vendors until taking it in-house in 2007. 

From July 2005 to January 2008 VTA changed the DASH route to Santa Clara Street, but ridership lagged as the shuttle took longer to negotiate traffic congestion. Since returning to San Fernando Street, ridership has rebounded, peaking at 1,046 average-daily riders in 2015. 

“It’s surprising VTA wants to eliminate DASH and put another bus route on Santa Clara Street again, especially with the BART construction looming,” Verrey said. 

Cutting DASH is just one of the many route and schedule changes proposed by VTA in their NextNetwork plan that aims to improve the agency’s overall fare box receipts and operations. See the plan at nextnetwork.vta.org.


Thursday, February 16, 2017

Playful People Productions Presents: Willy Wonka Jr


This delicious musical is guaranteed to delight everyone's sweet tooth! Roald Dahl's Willy Wonka JR follows enigmatic candy manufacturer, Willy Wonka, as he stages a contest by hiding five golden tickets in five scrumptious candy bars.  The lucky winners will get a free tour of the Wonka factory, as well as a lifetime supply of candy. Four of the five winning children are brats: the fifth is a likeable young lad named Charlie, who takes the tour with his equally amiable Grandpa Joe. This scrumdidilyumptious musical is guaranteed to  take the audiences on a fantasy ride into the land of pure imagination!

Our shows often sell out prior to the show weekend. Be sure to buy your tickets early, you won’t want to miss out on this fantastic production.

All Shows at the Historic Hoover Theater, 1635 Park Ave  San Jose, CA 95126

Show Times:
Friday, February 24th at 7pm
Saturday, February 25th at 11am, 3pm and 7pm
Sunday, February 26th at 11am, and 3pm

Tickets available at www.playfulpeople.net
$12 attendees 12 and up, $8 children 11 and under,  and $6 Children’s floor seating

Tickets at the door (30 minutes prior to curtain)
$15 attendees 12 and up, $10 children 11 and under, and $6 Children’s floor seating

For questions: barb@galiotto.com

Founded in 2010, Playful People Production’s mission is to provide a quality, caring environment where children, teens and their families can have positive theater experiences. We strive to involve all family members in the many aspects of on stage and backstage theater in a safe and fun environment and offer participation in theatrical productions, classes, summer stock and camps for ages 3-103

Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Content Pick-Up Party tomorrow (Issue 9.1 - Find)

Content subscribers can enjoy a memorable night of food, drinks, music, and art at the AFKgg Gamer Lounge tomorrow to celebrate the release of Issue 9.1. This issue features: Russell Powell, Kyle Harter, AFKgg Gamer Lounge, Roads and Kingdoms, The Running Shop and Hops, Cat & Cloud Coffee, Good Karma Bikes, Bay Maples: Wild California Gardens, Park Station Hashery, Bylines, pangaean studios, Open Source, Airfield Supply Company, Anjee of MACLA / Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana and Eric Bausewell of SurfaceInk.

Content Magazine subscribers receive one complimentary beverage and appetizer. AFKgg Gamer Lounge has surprisingly good food for a gaming venue and were even listed as one of the top 25 cocktail bars in Silicon Valley.

The event goes down tomorrow (Feb 16th) from 7pm to 9pm at 163 W. Santa Clara Street in Downtown San Jose.

If you are not already a subscriber, you can find out more information over here.

Tuesday, February 14, 2017

San Jose Valentine's Day events

If you are still searching for ideas on what to do today (a bit last minute don't you think), there are still plenty of events available via Eventbrite including a few for singles. Head over here for the full list.


Monday, February 13, 2017

San Pedro Squared

At long last it looks like the San Pedro Square parking structure is getting retail along San Pedro Street. New boutique shops will take a small number of parking spaces on the first floor while "curb cafes" will extend the experience along the street itself. This should help make the area even more lively and pedestrian friendly.

In 2015, the SJDA was awarded a Knight Cities Challenge grant towards making this project a reality. Construction is scheduled to begin this July and will hopefully be done by September. For more info, check out the Downtown San Jose Construction Brief.


Friday, February 10, 2017

7th Annual "Feathers of Fury" pillow fight this weekend

In honor of Valentine's Day, the 7th Annual San Jose Pillow Fight is this Sunday at noon. This year, it will be located at the old Camera 12 Plaza at 201 South 2nd Street. The event is free and has always been a lot of fun in previous years. For more details and photos of past events, head over to one of the links below!

Web: https://pillowfight.blogspot.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pillowfightsj/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/pillowfightsj
Craigslist:  https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/eve/5995110121.html
Bike Ride: https://www.facebook.com/events/172505129908607/