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| What you can't see is the intense light and heat being reflected off the curtain of windows from up above. |
I say this becuase as I was walking down the street, I passed Taza Coffee (street view). In the years I have been downtown I haven't ever seen anyone sit outside with their cup of coffee. It doesn't take long to figure out why. But here are some reasons I came up with which defy all logic in regards to placemaking in cities.
- The store sits on the south side of a building on the north side of Santa Clara St. which is in full frontal view of a southern solar exposure.
- There are no street trees on this side of Santa Clara St. to filter the sunlight.
- The sidewalk is wide, expasive, and highly reflective with no shade. It even gets relected sunlight and heat from the buildings windows above street level which reflect the southern exposure right to the wide sidewalk. During the summer the light and the heat is intense.
- Given the nature of the streetscape, and the lack of commercial buildings, this part of Santa Clara gets few pedestrians, and rember half the fun of sitting in an outdoor setting is to watch the people go by.
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Hi Carlos, your blog has quickly become my favorite San Jose blog.
ReplyDeleteI agree that downtown lacks as much outdoor seating as it should have, but I don't think the situation is quite as bleak as you portray it. Most of the restaurants on San Pedro have outdoor seating (whether they're worth eating at is another story...). The San Pedro Square Market has some wonderful outdoor seating in the plaza. Not on the sidewalk, true, but it's quite busy, so fun for people watching. I believe that at least a couple places on South First have sidewalk seating that I have seen heavily used. And as far as cafes go, Roys in Japantown has the best patio and people-watching in town, @YC around the corner 's outdoor tables are pleasant on warm summer evenings, and Crema on the Alameda's front patio is always completely packed.
Thanks for your comment.
ReplyDeleteI try to stay out of the whole San Pedro Square Market thing (well maybe not, I have an upcoming post about bike parking). The owner has had the property for several generations in the family. Used to be the mayor. Sold the property to the city. Had the two facilities redone (read the plaque) while on the commission. Then uses the space as part of a private commercial space. So the seating is actually on the city's historical asset known as the Peralta Adobe.
However, for seating on San Pedro St. I don't find it appealing to look across the street at a multi-story parking garage; not my idea of a pedestrian or lively street environment.
As for SOFA, I love what they've done by creating streetside dining or sitting opportunities but the restaurants and businesses in the area come and go so quick that the vacancies tend to create temporary centers of dullness.
As for Roy's, I'm a huge fan. When I'm at Roy's in the morning or riding trough I say hi to Frank, the owner of the shop. He is a tremendous asset to Japantown and spends about four hours every morning sweeping and maintaining the area around his shop along with other business on the block. His dedication to maintaining the look and feel of the business district reminds me of when I lived in Tokyo as a college student and the owners of local business would spend a considerable amount of time cleaning the streets.
Thanks again.