San Jose Inside

Because it’s summer and heat waves make me insane, I have been spending a lot of time in our lost-in-the-60s sister town to the south, Santa Cruz.  The more time I spend in the little-beach-town-that-could, the more I realize what we’re missing in San Jose.

All the talk about subsidies and too much money spent on the race will hit its peak as the Grand Prix rolls into town this weekend.  But will this oppressive heat keep spectators away from a fun, novel event that brings more new people to San Jose than almost any other event we’ve had in our city’s history? 

This summer could the busiest we have seen in a while in downtown San Jose, and that is good news for a city trying to become the cool, hip and fun place we all know it can be.  If you throw aside concerns about city subsidies and the way many events came to be here and just enjoy, this could be the summer where many people who never visited downtown San Jose before, come for the first time.  But, what will their impression be when they get here?

Reading about the Hayes Mansion brought to light the issue of city subsidies and the way San Jose has handled this important matter.  The city now spends $4.2 million per year to keep the Hayes Mansion in business. No, that is not a misprint—$4.2 million a year.  I understand that the Hayes is a historical building and in this “new” city with new buildings popping up each day (with no historical significance whatsoever) we need to protect and keep those buildings both beautiful and a part of our city’s culture. But that is not what is happening in this case; in running this hotel and conference center, we are paying for what seems to be a bottomless money pit.

When the promoters of the San Jose Grand Prix went to the mayor and vice mayor for a $4 million public handout in August, the answer should have been a quick and simple “no.” Instead, according to information uncovered by the Mercury News this week, the city administration of Mayor Gonzales, aided and abetted by Cindy Chavez, acted surreptitiously behind the scenes to do a deal like thieves in the night, deliberately keeping their colleagues on the council and the citizens of San Jose in the dark.

The single best hidden gem in San Jose has to be Japantown, our cluster of authentic Japanese restaurants and culture located right outside of downtown on Jackson Street.  I know the area well because I grew up downtown, but most residents of San Jose still haven’t discovered all that is great about this area.

Why is it that during every Mardi Gras this city is overrun with troublemakers who scare anyone decent away? 

Businessess to Relocate at Fairgrounds

Just days after the Mardi Gras melee, and in anticipation of St. Patrick’s day celebrations, several city department heads called a community wide meeting with downtown business owners, property owners, and nightclub operators to announce downtown was being converted into one big nightclub.

The mayor’s annual State of the City speech just seems to get smaller and smaller. Where will it stop? When I moved from the old Parkside Hall to the new Fairmont in 1989—for what I hoped was a new, new State-of-the-City era—I thought it was going to be a great day; and it was, for a bit. After the Unity Breakfast, as we used to call it, the fire marshal—in a fit of pique—cited the event for overcrowding; not quite the ending I had hoped for. (The citation inspired a few negative articles and cartoons, including one depicting a dog with my head on it urinating on a fire hydrant labeled “FIRE CODE.”) 

Where is a Single Gal to go if she wants to walk and shop?  I know we are a suburb—with malls and mini-malls galore—but where is our downtown shopping?  Where is our Union Square?  They have bums and homeless people there too, but they also have big-time shops and street performers and it all works together in one place.  Why don’t we try to create something like that now in San Jose?

I think we have to be concerned when the only major grocery store in the downtown core closes. Albertson’s is now gone.  It comes hot on the heels of the closing of San Jose Hospital. The proper question is: what is going on?

I took a trip this weekend to Chicago.  Not only do they have more bars per capita than any other American city, they have key components that make it one of the best cities in the United States.  Though San Jose will never be Chicago, it can try to model itself after the Windy City in a few ways:

I have to admit that I didn’t go to one Earthquakes game this year.  I like soccer, I support San Jose teams, but I didn’t make it to a single game. We support the Sharks even after a year-long lockout, but the majority of San Joseans bypass what is the most popular sport in the world.

Last weekend there was a series of shootings downtown. Much of the problem is summed up by the comments of one of the men shot: “It’s part of the bargain,” said bouncer Noel “Jaws” Chavez.  Well, the bargain is now costing far too much.