Ben Soriano, owner of South First Billiards and vice president of the San Jose Downtown Association, thinks that what San Jose needs is an intense public relations campaign, along with more redevelopment money going to already established small businesses.
“I don’t think the public at large understands that there is a thriving community downtown,” Soriano says. “That it’s not only a nightclub scene but that there are people of all generations who enjoy what goes on downtown. More needs to be done to be that 800-pound gorilla that we are, because, our reputation, as I see it today, does not reflect the vibrancy and activity that is going on downtown.”
Roger Springall, owner of Caffé Trieste, sees San Jose’s empty high-rise apartment buildings as the city’s biggest hurdle to success.
“I moved to San Jose in 1986, and I lived in the Almaden Valley. I took one look downtown and it was horrible, and I never came back,” Springall says.
“Then, three years ago, when I was looking to open up Trieste, I decided to take a look downtown, and I thought, ‘Oh wow, it’s really changed.’ But the economy is so slow, it’s like walking through quicksand. I just need more people, more people living and working downtown, but especially living downtown.”
Another bean grinder, Nick Taptelis of Philz Coffee, has helped energize the pedestrian-friendly Paseo de San Antonio near San Jose State with coffee strong enough to defibrillate a cardiac patient. The San Francisco–based operation chose downtown over competing locations because “it just felt right.”
The cafe draws a diverse crowd that ranges from students and open-mic poets with rivets and disks in their ear lobes to businessmen in suits and firefighters who park their engines in the red zone.
Despite the promises of the two most recent mayors to cut red tape, Taptelis sings a common refrain about the permit process. “The city gave me a hard time about opening up,” he says with a shrug.
Taptelis dealt with it the same way he makes drip coffee—“time and patience” and take it in stride. Business gets better every day, he says. “I feel like 10 years from now this city will be popping. There’s a lot of potential here.”
Because the city has seen numerous plans and strategies come and go over the years, many in the business community question if City Hall’s current effort will actually achieve its aim to “plant the seeds of San Jose’s economic resurgence.”
“I think it’s a good start, but much more needs to be done,” says Carolyn Allen-Samavarchian of Paolo’s. “Expediting permitting is not enough. The approval process is an expensive and convoluted nightmare, especially for small businesses that cannot afford to hire consultants to navigate it for them. It simply should not be that way.”
For his part, Sam Liccardo, who initiated the city’s new stimulus plan, says he gets it.
“There have been a lot of false starts downtown,” he says. “What I find to be most frequently the cause of those false starts is that we’ve had some wrong-headed approaches to how core urban areas develop organically.
“We’ve had approaches in the past which have focused on subsidizing large chain stores and chain restaurants. We’ve had periods where we discouraged high-rise residential development and would only insist on offices.
“I think the lesson we’ve all learned is that you have to allow development and business to grow organically in the downtown, and you can’t be choking it with regulations and interventions.”
“We’ve learned a lot of tough lessons over many years, but I think the stage is really well set now.”
This post is excerpted from this week’s Metro Silicon Valley cover story. The full version appears on SanJose.com.
Move the airport, hater hater….. lowlifes… criminals… bla bla bla…. negative negative….
How does it help to hate so much?
They pollute SJI with negative posts, personal attacks and redundant rhetoric.
Pretty sad they have made this forum their home.
What does moving the airport have to with hate? Your statement makes no sense. In order for San Jose to be truly successful and thrive, the airport needs to be relocated to a non-populated area. That is common sense, not hate.
Wanting the best for your city is not hate, no matter what convulated logic you twist in order to think otherwise.
This “move it to Hollister” nonsense is getting old. SJC’s not, repeat not, going anywhere. Terminal B and the big new garage will be opening in a couple of months and the city’s not about to piss that investment away. Besides, now that everybody’s on this “go green” bandwagon, who in their right mind would advocate taking perfectly good San Benito county farmland and paving it over?
SJC’s not, repeat not, going anywhere.
This type of negative thinking is exactly why San Jose is in as bad shape as it is. If you cannot make positive suggestions that will improve our city you should keep quiet. After all, politicians thrive on negative thinkers, backroom deals, and campaign contributions.
By redeveloping the 1000 acres currently used by SJI, San Jose will easily recoup any lost funds, and start reaping a tremendous increase in tax revenue as downtown finally reaches its potential. With SJI in its current location, downtown is just going to become a low income renter’s paradise with fancy buildings. Of course, the buildings will eventually fall into disrepair as people continue to flee downtown due to SJI.
All because of the negative thinkers who cannot see a better future for San Jose.
Don’t move the Airport. Instead extend the runways North across Highway 101. This will let SJC handle fully loaded planes for long distance flights to Europe and Asia. It will also allow taller buildings in the downtown.
And how does moving the airport to a location that a good hour drive away (and hour away when traffic is moving freely mind you) make sense?
Quit wasting our time and go be a troll on another board.
Very good point. I agree. SJI should be closed, with SFO and Oakland picking up the few flights into and out of SJI. Let other locations deal with all the negative fallout that results from an airport. Let’s allow San Jose to blossum.
I LOVE THIS SFO IDEA! I’ll expand on it later.
Why destroy Hollister farmland with an airport.
A much better location for an airport are the slopes leading to the peak of Loma Prieta. Why do airport runways have to be on level ground? Let gravity do some work in slowing the plane and aiding takeoff by building runways at 10 percent or more gradient. You pilot up slope for landing and down slope in take-off.
The radar unit on top also helps predict the weather.
Another advantage of airports atop 2000 foot mountains is the fact the plane is thousands of feet closer to cruising altitude thus saving much fuel.
Please send some funds so I can do additional research on this subject. Seems I’m the only one who thinks outside the box. Let’s hear no more about Hollister! hahaha.
It’s easy to be cynical about this given the city’s schizophrenic treatment of downtown businesses (millions in subsidies followed by iron-fisted nightclub police & strict code enforcement)—BUT the fact is this looks like a pretty good plan.
I hope the Council listens to the smart people quoted in this article. A thriving downtown is good for everyone in the Valley.
I have lived downtown for 20 years and no one cares if the airport is there. The airport has nothing to do with why people do or do not live downtown, tha’ts ridiculous. Can the anti-airport guy just find somewhere else to vent his frustration? did he get screwed out of a job by the airport or something? is he a cab driver?
Downtown to City: Wake Up and Smell the Caffeine –
Don’t spend any more tax money on downtown – it is doing ok and we have more important city services to spend our tax dollars on during a recession.
Businesses in other parts of San Jose stand on there own.
It is unfair to have Council subsidize downtown businesses with business taxes from non downtown businesses
> The cafe draws a diverse crowd that ranges from students and open-mic poets with rivets and disks in their ear lobes to businessmen in suits and firefighters who park their engines in the red zone.
This is supposed to draw me to downtown?
Open-mic poets with rivets and disks in their ear lobes?
This is exactly the reason that DDT, tasers, and gated communities were invented.
Council should get it downtown business are ok, and should like other San Jose competitive businesses stand on their own without tax subsidies in recession
Many of my friends have moved their businesses to nearby cities because of high city taxes, fees and unreasonable approval times
It is unfair to continue to take non downtown businesses taxes and give tax money to downtown businesses
“Taptelis sings a common refrain about the permit process. “The city gave me a hard time about opening up,” he says with a shrug.”
Um, could you please be a little more specific? Gave him a hard time in what ways, exactly? This does not sound very convincing. Are we supposed to believe that the City is out to “get” people who are trying to open businesses? For what reasons? The city needs all the sales tax revenue it can get, and they know it.