The San Jose Downtown Residents Association (SJDRA) is holding its Summer Quarterly Meeting this Wednesday evening at the The Old Wagon Saloon and Grill in San Pedro Square. This Quarterly Meeting is also the SJDRA’s Annual Meeting to elect the 2010-2011 Board of Directors for the SJDRA. Also on the agenda for the meeting will be an update on the Urban Market, which is now being named the San Pedro Square Market, as well as a tour of the Urban Market site.

Stop by the SJDRA Summer Quarterly Meeting and meet other downtown residents. This is also a great chance to check out The Old Wagon Saloon which is quickly becoming a favorite dinner spot and watering hole. The Old Wagon has a fantastic outdoor patio space and serve their burgers with 100% buffalo meat. Not beef. Bufallo meat. Check it out!

SJDRA Summer Quarterly Meeting (Annual Meeting)
Date: Wednesday, July 21
Time: 7:00pm - 8:30pm
Location:
The Old Wagon Saloon and Grill
73 N. San Pedro Street
San Pedro Square in Downtown San Jose

For more info or to RSVP for the meeting, contact the SJDRA via email at sjdra@yahoo.com or call (408) 535-0123.

Update: July 22, 2010

Great turnout at last night’s SJDRA meeting at the Old Wagon Saloon. There were a number of people in attendance interested in the update on the San Pedro Square Urban Market project. Steve Borkenhagen, the general manager of the Urban Market, and Tom McEnery, one of the principals of the project, gave a quick presentation and update on the San Pedro Square Market. The project, originally slated to open in August, is now projected to open Phase 1 in November.

Summer season always brings out some of the best events in downtown San Jose. And best of all, many of these great events are FREE courtesy of the San Jose Downtown Association and its many sponsors. This includes the tradition of free outdoor movies, Starlight Cinemas, on Wednesday evenings from June until August. This year features another great lineup of movies starting off with the classic Harrison Ford film “Raiders of the Lost Ark” (PG, 1981) this Wednesday in San Pedro Square. Films start at dusk so bring a lawn chair and blanket.

Starlight Cinemas will again be rotating locations this year with movies showing in San Pedro Square (2nd Wednesdays of the month), Historic District on Post between First and Market (3rd Wednesdays of the month), and SoFA District at South First and William Streets (4th Wednesdays of the month).

Starlight Cinemas 2010 Lineup

June 9 – Raiders of the Lost Ark (PG, 1981, Harrison Ford) (San Pedro Square)
June 16 – It Happened One Night (Not Rated, 1934, Clark Gable) (Historic District)
June 23 – This is Spinal Tap (R, 1984) (SoFA District)

July 14 – Batman (PG-13, 1989, Michael Keaton) (San Pedro Square)
July 21 – An American in Paris (Not Rated, 1951, Gene Kelly) (Historic District)
July 28 – Rocky Horror Picture Show (R, 1975) (SoFA District)

August 11 – The Goonies (PG, 1985) (San Pedro Square)
August 18 – Creature from the Black Lagoon in 3-D (Not Rated) (1954) (Historic District)
August 25 – Zombieland (R, 2009, Woody Harrelson) (SoFA District)

For more information about Starlight Cinemas or the movies shown at Starlight Cinemas, check out the San Jose Downtown Association (SJDA) website.

The summer season is off to a rockin’ start with free concerts in downtown San Jose. The Music in the Park series returns for its 22nd year and begins tonight with alt rock band Cold War Kids and will continue every Thursday night in Plaza de Cesar Chavez located along Market Street between San Fernando and San Carlos Streets. The free concerts start at 5:30pm and last will 9:15pm.

Music in the Park is a free concert series presented by the San Jose Downtown Association (SJDA). Dos Equis and Metro Newspapers are the presenting sponsors again for this year’s Music in the Park.

2010 Music in the Park Lineup

June 3: Cold War Kids (alternative rock). Openers: Jesse Malin & St. Marks Social, plus winner of Channel 92.3 “My Music in the Park” band contest: San Jose based Ambience. Sponsored by Channel 92.3.

June 10: Lenny Williams (R&B) and Prince Damons (Hip Hop/R&B). Opener: Beaufunk. Sponsored by KBLX 102.9FM.

June 17: Skatalites (Ska/Reggae). Opener: Sarazino (Afrolatin Reggae). Sponsored by MOViN 997.

June 24: BoDeans (Rock/Pop). Openers: Dusty Rhodes and the River Band, and The Careless Hearts. Sponsored by KFOG. 97.7 and Left Coast Live.

July 1: English Beat (Ska/New Wave). Opener: The Odd Numbers. Sponsored by Alice@97.3.

July 8: Tonic (Rock/Pop). Opener: Green River Ordinance. Sponsored by Mix 106.5.

July 15: Don Carlos (Reggae). Opener: Zili Misik (tropical/afrobeat/neo-soul). Sponsored by Live 105.

July 22: The Gaslight Anthem (Alternative Rock). Opener: New Politics. Sponsored by Channel 92.3 FM.

July 29: Pete Escovedo Orchestra (Latin/Jazz). Opener: Tortilla Soup.

August 5: Foreverland (14-piece Michael Jackson Tribute Band). Opener: Love Stoned. Sponsored by 98.1 KISS FM.

August 12: Eek-A-Mouse (Dancehall Reggae). Opener: The Hold Up. Sponsored by Live 105.

August 19: Y&T (Classic Rock). Opener: OTR Band. Sponsored by 98.5 KFOX.

August 26: Pato Banton (Reggae). Opener: Whiskey Avengers. Sponsored by Alice@97.3.

San Jose was ranked as the second best city in the country to find a job by Juju.com, an internet job search engine. The results were determined by dividing the number of umemployed workers in a metropolitan area by the number of jobs in Juju.com’s index of online jobs in the country. Based on this calculation, San Jose counted 2.68 unemployed residents for every advertised job. At the top of the list of best places to find a job was Washington, D.C. The remaining top five cities to find a job were Baltimore, Boston and New York. At the bottom of the list and ranking as the worst city to find a job was Detroit which has 20.76 unemployed individuals for every advertised job.

For more information on the Juju.com article, see this CNBC.com slideshow.

A public meeting will be held this Wednesday evening, February 10, from 6p to 8p, to discuss the proposed new family court facility in downtown San Jose. The new San Jose Family Justice Center would consolidate six currently leased facilities and house 20 courtrooms including all family-related services such as Family Court, Juvenile Dependency, and Drug Court in the proposed 193,400 square foot building. The new San Jose Family Justice Center would be located on the current court parking lot on the block from Market to First Streets and St. James to Devine Streets. The public meeting on Wednesday evening by the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) will allow the community and interested parties an opportunity to comment on the draft California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) report and the overall project.

All downtown residents and neighbors are welcome and encouraged to attend. This project espeically affects the residents in the St. James Historic District, particularly those at Park Townsend, The Plaza, St. James Place, City Heights, and One East Julian.

Public Meeting
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
6:00pm - 8:00pm
Old Courthouse
161 N. First Street
Department 17

For more information about the proposed San Jose Family Justice Center, visit the Santa Clara County Superior Court website.

So the San Jose City Council is giving the green light on loosening up restrictions on signs in San Jose and even allowing more electronic signs in downtown San Jose and certain other locations. The City Council gave preliminary approval on policies that would permit more downtown business to put up programmable electronic signs similar to the ones currently at the downtown Flames and the new Market by Safeway. The permission to install these bright, programmable signs in downtown would obviously be encouraging for current and future businesses in downtown San Jose and this is obviously one of the motivations for allowing the new policies. Plus, having these ever-changing signs that shine and display various messages throughout the day would undoubtedly help create an illusion of downtown being a vibrant and energetic destination. But before we start installing bright lights all over downtown, let’s make sure that these digital displays make sense. Afterall, we don’t want to be a cheesey version of all the signs that make Las Vegas glow. I’m sure there will lots of critics who will protest against the bright lights as intrusive, ugly, and will complain that these lights shine right into their bedrooms. And these are probably very legitimate complaints especially with more and more residents moving downtown. This is where common sense should come into play that allows appropriate signage that fits in to what the current environment of the neighborhood. We need the signs to be the right size and brightness so that its not gawdy and doesn’t change the characteristics of our downtown.

The rock band Tesla had a popular hit song with the title “Signs”. The chorus goes:

Signs, Signs
Everywhere there’s signs
Blocking up the scenery
Breaking up my mind

Let’s keep downtown San Jose scenic and clean. But go ahead and add a little bit of bright color to it.

According to the developers, the eagerly anticipated San Jose Public Market at San Pedro Square is set to open this summer. At a meeting with potential vendors, local business owners, and residents, the devleopers of the Urban Market described plans for the project which would be located at the north end of San Pedro Square. The new San Jose public market, which has been previously compared to other public markets such as The Ferry Building Marketplace in San Francisco and Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle, will feature a wide assortment food establishments, shops and entertainment. At the top of the list are a coffee shop, fish market, deli, and locally grown fresh produce. Steve Borkenhagen, general manager of the project, said that Barefoot Coffee of San Jose has already signed up to be the anchor tenant with a cafe and coffee bar. Produce market Veggielution is also slated to open up shop in the downtown San Jose Public Market. The Urban Market will have a distinctly “mom and pop shop” feel to it as no chain stores or restaurants are planned to be in the mix.

The public marketplace will be a gathering destination for residents and visitors of San Jose. Plans for the project include over 18,000 square feet of retail space. For more information, check out the San Jose Public Market website.

San Jose ranks in the top 10 cities for young professionals according to an article in the Wall Street Journal. According to Sue Shellenbarger’s article, “The Next Hot Youth-Magnet Cities,” San Jose ranked #6 on the list of “hottest, hippest destinations for highly mobile, educated workers in their 20s when the U.S. economy gets moving again.” Falling just behind other metropolitan big cities, San Jose appealed to the panel of experts because of the region’s economic strength and popular cultural activities. Being the capital of Silicon Valley, San Jose’s strong entreprenuerial spirit and smart venture capitalism has the ability to draw bright, young talent to the area and be a source of employment for any hot job fields. In addition, young professionals also are attracted to the region’s restaurants, cultural life, and access to outdoor activities. With the recent downturn in the real estate market and economy, housing is also more affordable and viable in San Jose.

The panelists based the rankings on criteria that was important to the hip and mobile young professionals including economic diversity all the way to lifestyle. The experts noted that the young professionals are now placing more emphasis on locations where they are more likely to find high-quality, high paying jobs. San Jose placed sixth on the list behind other big city metropolitan areas. Washington, DC and Seattle tied for first while New York City, Portland, and Austin came in just ahead of San Jose. According to the article, young adults between 18 to 29 are the most mobile age group, and their past migration patterns have defined the future of regions.

Top 10 List Hot Youth-Magnet Cities

1. Washington, D.C. (tie)
1. Seattle (tie)
3. New York
4. Portland, Ore.
5. Austin, Texas
6. San Jose, Calif.
7. Denver
8. Durham, N.C.
9. Dallas
10. Chicago

Source: The Wall Street Journal, “The Next Hot Youth-Magnet Cities,” Sue Shellenbarger (9/30/09)

Convention Sports and Leisure International’s (CSL) economic impact analysis will be one of the main topic’s of discussion at tonight’s Diridon Good Neighbor Meeting. The meeting, which is held by the San Jose Redevelopment Agency (SJRDA), will include a presention by CSL discussing other major league ballparks that have been built in urban areas as well as detailing the economic impact report that was accepted by the San Jose City Council and RDA at the September 15 Council meeting. Find out more about the potential Major League Baseball stadium in downtown San Jose at tonight’s meeting.

Diridon Good Neighbor Meeting
San Jose City Council
City Hall Wing
September 24, 6:00 pm

The agenda and other related documents for the Diridon Good Neighbor Meeting can be found on the RDA website.

If you are looking for a great happy hour destination or a new favorite watering hole in downtown San Jose, then check out Firehouse No. 1 in San Pedro Square. This place is hot. Literally. With drinks that are practically up in flames and firefighter equipment on the walls, this is a favorite local destination for many downtown dwellers. From the cool firehouse decor and theme to the friendly bar staff, Firehouse No. 1 is always a fun and relaxing atmosphere. In addition to the traditional bar drinks, Firehouse No. 1 is also a fantastic place to stop in for a bite. The menu at Firehouse No. 1 is bar food with a gourmet twist. Throw in a $3 happy hour menu with items such as cubed New York steak bites and tiger prawns (for only $3!) and you’ve got an awesome meal. Amy Pizarro writes a great review about Firehouse No. 1 in a recent San Jose Mercury article. Stop by and visit Firehouse No. 1.

Firehouse No. 1
69 N. San Pedro Square
Downtown San Jose
(408) 287-6969

Happy Hour: Monday - Saturday 3:00pm - 7:00pm; Sunday 5:00pm - 7:00pm

Firehouse No. 1 $3 Happy Hour Menu includes:

Wings: beer battered with a sweet chili glaze or traditional wing sauce
Steak Bites: New York steak cubed and sauteed with ginger and horseradish sauces
Tiger Prawns: chilled tiger prawns served with Firehouse cocktail sauce
Double Shot: two slider-style burgers