Downtown San Jose builds new parklets in the Central Business District

Work has begun on a new
downtown parket.

This morning I had a chance to witness a new parklet being constructed on San Fernando St. in downtown San Jose in front of Azucar restaurant.  The expanded sidewalk will allow for outdoor dining just in time for Spring.

What's nice is that dinners will not be subject to car fumes and noise due to the planed bike corridor on San Fernando from Diridon Station to city hall.

Show some thanks to your elected city officials and the Department of Transportation for the improvements being made downtown, by stopping to dine downtown. Council member Sam Liccardo's district includes the downtown area.


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Video: Michael Freedman speaks on revitalizing strip commerical districts

Willow Glen Town Square, an
FTS project completed 2012

Michael Freedman’s of Freedman, Tung, and Sasaki (FTS) gave a great presentation on June 20, 2009 focused on what makes a “Grand Boulevard” and how each jurisdiction in the region (San Mateo and Santa Clara counties in the San Francisco Bay Area) can interpret the concept to fit their unique community. 

Gregory Tung spoke to the Willow Glen Neighborhood Association (WGNA) last year and was also involved in the Willow Glen Town Square project that has added so much to the Willow Glen community.

To download Michael Freedman's report on corridor revitalization, click: "Restructuring the Commercial Strip" (PDF, 16.3MB).

Thanks to the Grand Boulevard Initiative, SamTrans, and PenTV

Architects Charles Kahn and Greg Tung speak to the Willow Glen Neighborhood Association

(L to R) Carlos Babcock WGNA VP, Charles
Kahn, WGTS Architect, Kevin Swanson
WGBA past pres., &
David Dearborn WGNA Treasurer

Last night, the two principals involved with the Willow Glen Town Square, Charles Kahn and Gregory Tung came to speak to the Willow Glen Neighborhood Association about how bring life to a classic business districts such as Willow Glen. Charles Kahn's firm also designed the Bikestation Building in Berkeley, CA.

Charles Kahn's (Kahn Design Associates) gateway building located at the corners of Willow and Lincoln in Willow Glen has redefined private space used as the public square with the return of the meeting place in front of Willow Glen Creamery. The newest addition to the avenue will include 1 existing restaurant (Willow Street Pizza), and three new restaurants; Crepevine, Willow Glen Cremery, and the re-opening of the historic Lou's Village. This coincides with the recent grand opening of The Table,  Executive Chef Jim Stumps newsest addition to the culinary scene.

The new plaza at Willow and
Lincoln in Willow Glen.

Gregory Tung of Freedman Tung + Sasaki has already made a local name for himself and his firm with projects such as the downtowns of Mountain View, Livermore, and Redwood City. Last night Charles and Greg spoke about how to expand the human space at the street level. With most of the ground or street level being used to move cars, pedestrians are also designed into commercial district as a second thought. By extending sidewalk pavement textures and colors out into the street parking zone and moving street trees out as well it not only provides a physical buffer but a psychological buffer as well. By moving trees out into the street, drivers now drive more carefully as they experience a narrowing of the roadway.

Mr. Kahn also talked about an early design feature that they have incorporated into their work. Known as Flexible Space, or flex space it is now used in San Francisco under the name of parklets. By merging the interior private space with the exterior public space you encourage a more vibrant commercial life, or what James Howard Kunstler calls a "permeable membrane" (5:25).

The use of trellises to define space.

In the case of the city of Livermore, that private space seems to extend into the street with addition of trellises and street trees. The additional of bulbouts (or curb extensions) helps elderly pedestrians as well as slowing traffic.

The community came out to thank Charles Kahn for reinvigorating downtown as a modern, viable traditional shopping are. Thanks Charles and Gregory.

###

Watch this excellent 10 minute video to see how downtown Livermore reinvigorated their downtown, while remembering their history.

Where have all the tables gone?

Starbucks at 3rd & Santa Clara
Says good-bye to street life.

I've been meaning to write about this for several weeks, maybe waiting for some downtown denizen to comment, but I have not heard a peep. While Mountain View and San Fransisco add street furniture to their business districts, downtown San Jose's tables and chairs have been missing faster than my mother's enchiladas at a family party.

Last year I wrote about Peet's coffee getting rid of their modest street inventory of exactly one table and two chairs with some lame excuse (Cafe Culture is for Canadiens, not Californians). Then a month ago I notice that the overly hyped up Safeway market, located in the 88 building, with its soft focus pictures of bikes with a basketsful of flowers, got rid of their street furniture as well. At the same time the store installed very inconvenient entrance turnstiles as well (see photo). Is this a sign of the times or a part of a corporate policy to start nice and "purty", and then slowly change the look and feel after the newness and grand opening publicity wears off.

There used to be tables right there.
Right behind the cyclist.

Well now the 3rd St. and Santa Clara St. location of Starbucks, one block from city hall has pitched they tables and chairs in to the trash bin. Gone are the tables that fit rather well on the west side of the building, where (you can see in the picture) the sidewalk is wide and now sits on the quiet bike lanes just installed just last month.

What makes this even worse is that the interior of this Starbucks is so small, there almost isn't a time of day when you can find a vacant chair. Bad business on your part Starbucks on 3rd St. and Santa Clara, and just as bad as the San Pedro Square Starbucks. With no restroom available to customers, employees at the San Pedro Square store instruct you to use the "porta potty" around the corner.

 In a recent Metro article titled "Dreams of Instant City" by Michael Malone, the Metro introduced the article with the following comment on downtown business;

While trendy, small, owner-operated restaurants sprout up in Willow Glen, the downtown restaurant mix leans toward seafood and steak chains and Italian restaurants for executives on expense accounts. (emphasis is my own).

Welcome to Safeway. Now try and
squeeze you and your bags through
turnstile.

To this I would add any chains. Whether its Starbucks, McDonald's, Jack-in-the-Box, or Walgreen's. Large chains do not encourage community with street furniture or actual windows when the focus is solely on the bottom line.

To show you what a real effort at invigorating street life looks like I have included a street view of Rues de Forges in the town of Trois Rivieres in the Canadian Province of Quebec. Trois Rivieres is a town of only 130,000 along the banks of the St. Lawrence river, but after you view the photo from different angles you get the feeling that its a city of over 1 million. Don't forget this is a city that has a daily average of 10 degrees Fahrenheit in the month of January and gets only a couple of months of really good weather. On midweek summer days and evenings that I have visited the street life is dense and lively; leaving me completely dumbfounded as to why we can't do that here.

Sometime you'd think we lived in Alaska instead of one of the most wonderful climates on the planet. Any comments? See any other instances of disappearing street furniture? How can we create a vibrant street life?


 I will be commenting on the article "Dreams of Instant City" in a future post.


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The new Parque de los Pobladores is ready for it's debut at tonight's Zer01 art festival

New sod was put down today
in preparation for
tonight's festival

Contractors have been moving quickly to get a newly redesigned Parque de los Pobladores (the old Gore Park) ready for tonight's Zer01 art festival. The park which consist of the sliver of property between the split of Market Street from 1st St. on the south side of downtown San Jose will be reincarnated as a pedestrian friendly park. Through traffic has been permanently block on the 1st street side of the park.



Riding through the SOFA district, along South First Street, workers were seen busily preparing for the opening night of the festival. Also evident was workers putting on a new asphalt topping to San Carlos St., in preparation of that streets new street-scape improvements which will include wider sidewalks and more pedestrian friendly street crossings.   (see "Downtown San Jose becoming friendlier for cyclists") The new San Carlos improvements will extend from 1st. Street to the west until 4th Street, the entrance to the San Jose State University campus.

San Carlos Street gets a new
asphalt topping in preparation
of improved streetscape.

A look northward from the south
side of the new Parque de
los Pobladores.

Local new urbanist architect to speak on building a successful commercial street - Willow Glen

Charles Kahn, the architect of the new Willow Glen Town Square on Lincoln Avenue will speak to the Willow Glen Neighborhood Association on Wednesday, September 19, 2012 (more info below). 

Using case studies, Charles will illustrate how several local business districts and businesses have been transformed and revitalized in recent years. His talk will focus on the importance of developing a cohesive vision as well as the role of developers, small business owners, city and county agencies and local residents in implementing that vision. He will also provide ideas and lead a discussion about possible improvements to Lincoln Avenue.

Charles is the founding principal of Kahn Design Associates (KDA) an award-winning architecture firm located in Berkeley, California and specializing in commercial and residential architecture as well as “placemaking” through planning and design. KDA was the designer for the Berkeley Bike Station on Shattuck Ave.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012 | 7-9pm
Willow Glen High School Library
2001 Cottle Avenue, San Jose, CA 95125

Willow Glen Business District on Lincoln Ave.

April Economides returns to the Silicon Valley to talk about Bike Friendly Business Districts

April Economides of
Green Octopus Consulting
photo:womenonbikessocal.org

Last week Thursday, April Economides of Green Octopus Consulting returned to the Silicon Valley to speak to a packed house (the house being the Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce) of about 50 attendees. I last saw April at the Grand Opening of 359 State Street, a new cycling lifestyle shop in Los Altos.

For the last two years April has been bringing the concept of bike friendly business districts to the four districts of Long Beach California. Working with Bike Long Beach, the districts draw cyclists to the area with events, promotions, ample bike parking, along with valet bike parking for some events.

BikeLongBeach.org
Twitter

Since cyclists who are either car-free or car-lite tend to have more disposable income $6,000 to $9,000 per car depending on the car, the districts have been focusing on attracting those customers locally. Attracting those customers would bring an intensity and vitality that is lacking from many cities traditional business districts.

What's amazing about the City of Long Beach however isn't just the Bicycle Friendly Business District promotion but the way the city not only has embraced cycling as a practical, alternative form of transportation but the way in which it promotes and delivers information related to cycling in the city.

To a cyclist (or transit user, or pedestrian) new to a city it is difficult to find information on cycling in one place, delivered in a straight forwards style. Try this: type in _________ Department of Transportation filling in the blank with you city name. Go to their "Transportation" page, usually a public works or traffic page. Look carefully and see how prominently a cycling subheading is displayed if, at all. Here are some examples

San Jose
Long Beach
New York
Portland
Santa Barbara
Denver

As you can see most city webpages contain little if any information. Bicycle and Pedestrian Advocacy groups are of little help as well, and really are not set up to provide a quality user experience while in the city. Tourism agencies or councils are geared towards traditional sightseeing as well. In the case of San Jose, there is no tourism organization, the bicycle coalition focuses mainly on advocacy, and the city transportation page focuses mainly on their wonderful safety program for school age children.

One city does stand out (and I'll write about this later) and that is Santa Barbara, with their Car-Free Santa Barbara program, one of the only programs that I am aware of.

BikeLongBeach.org

Although there is a very vague connection between the city of Long Beach's official web page and BikeLongBeach.org, the city has done an amazing job of making cycling information accessible to tourists and residents alike, as well as to experienced cyclists and novice cyclists. If anyone knows of any other webpage as in-depth as this one please contact me.

The website is broken down into basic bicycling categories such as Biking 101 which includes topics such as bike laws, bike security and safety, commuting, riding at night, and many other topics but also as an area devoted to bicycle planning which covers the more wonky, policy related topics. There is also a blog to keep readers up to date on rides, tours, and events. The get involved section has topics on bicycling community, volunteer opportunities, and bicycle friendly workplaces.

Many cities could benefit from a close collaboration with the city transportation staff, the city's economic development departments, business and business districts, transit and train lines, cycling and other alternative transportation groups to provide information on cycling in the city to help answer questions on bicycle parking, bike routes, bicycle promotions, as well as travel packages.

I'm sure cyclists would be excited to have special deals at hotels if they arrived by bike or if events will have valet parking, or if their favorite restaurant is offering a cyclists special. Long Beach has been at the forefront on promoting local business to cyclists. Let's just hope this is the start to many more city initiatives.

Thanks again for stopping by April.

New building going up in the heart of downtown Campbell

New commercial/rest. bldg
going up in Campbell.

The last bit of work is being done on a new mixed use building to replace the old I.O.O.F., or the Independent Order of Odd Fellows building. The building located at 1st St. and Campbell Ave. right in the heart of the bustling downtown corridor is different than adjacent buildings for a few reasons.

First, the design is such that the building is actually adheres to traditional design. It is replacing a 50 year old building which was set back from the both streets and allowed for at least 20 parking spaces adjacent to the street (see Google Maps Street View link).

Second, if you also look at the Street View map and the photo below you'll notice that the City of Campbell already has done some great work on softening the streets scape by placing bulbouts, textured sidewalks, large radii corners, and nice street furniture (benches, lamps, and trash cans).

Attractive streetscape adds
 to the developer's
building improvements.

Third, the restaurant space has a courtyard on the north side of a building on the south side of Campbell Ave., which with the ample street trees will keep this space well shaded when the sun rises higher in the sky in the summertime. This will add even more outdoor dining options to downtown Campbell (compared with a decline in outdoor dining options in downtown San Jose).

And lastly, what is really nice and rarely seen in the Silicon Valley outside of Palo Alto or maybe Mountain View is the folding accordion doors. In James Kunstler's now famous TED talk (James H Kunstler dissects suburbia), he speaks of restaurants and other commercial establishments of possessing a permeable membrane, in which strollers passing by can see activity within the restaurant, pub, or shop.

Well done, Campbell. This project brings many improvements to an already successful downtown.

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Related posts.

Cafe Culture is for Canadiens not for Californians

Day 9 Trois Rivieres to Quebec City  While bike touring through Quebec, Canada I was amazed that in a smaller town on a Thursday eveing the streets were alive with people eating, walking and just generally enjoying themselves outdoors.

A new stardard for civility. How about liveability?

Cafe Culture in Romania

They make great coffee, just not great places

 

Installing sliding accordian doors.

From Blight to Bright in Willow Glen

Dallas of Bay Area Cargobikes meets
with some community volunteers
before the event start.

A dedicated crew came out yesterday morning to show community support for the northern half of Willow Glen. The goal was to create a pedestrian and bicycle connection from the growing residential community near Lincoln Ave. just north of Freeway 280 to the increasingly popular Willow Glen Business District (see map below).

I put this event together to get more residents to walk or bike to Willow Glen instead of taking the light rail to downtown Campbell. If residents don't feel that it is safe, clean, or health to walk the mile long route the won't be spending their money in the Glen.

This first event was modest but there will be others this summer. We will be asking volunteers from the cycling community to lend a hand in the future.  Thanks to all those that came out.

88 containers of trash and garbage
 were cleaned up in addition to
containers of oil, and mattresses

View Willow Glen - Lincoln Ave. From Blight to Bright in a larger map

From Blight to Bright - A Cycle Centered Community Cleanup morning in Willow Glen

Willow Glen Neighborhood Association to launch “from Blight to Bright”; a series of community led beautification projects

Community Cleanup to encourage local residents to walk to “The Avenue”

Photo:BikePortland.org

The Willow Glen Neighborhood Association is hosting the first in a series of community cleanup days this summer on June 9, at 9:30 am until 12:30 pm. This event seeks to highlight the importance of the growing residential communities to the north, along with the increased need for safe and clean areas to walk and bike. From Blight to Bright will include residents from the Elements Apartment Community along with participants in San Jose’s monthly Bike Party rides; helping to move tools and debris by bike.

“With budget cuts severely limiting city services, we felt the Willow Glen community should help out” said Richard Zappelli, Vice President of the Willow Glen Neighborhood Association and tireless community advocate. “We have received tremendous support from our members, the Elements Apartment Community, and our District 6 City Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio.

The bicycling community has also responded by offering some of their ‘work” bikes to help move food, tools, and debris. As many residents and visitors of Willow Glen are aware, “The Avenue” is clean and well landscaped due to the efforts of the Willow Glen Business Association and financial support from the Willow Glen Community Benefit Improvement District.

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When: Saturday, June 9th, 9:30 am to 12:30 pm
Where: A 1,900 foot section of Lincoln Ave. from Coe Ave. north to Parkmoor Ave. (see map)
Meet at: The Elements, 1201 Parkmoor Avenue, San Jose, CA, for breakfast, tools and assignments. (see map)
Transit available: Light Rail line 902 at Race Street Station, VTA Bus 65 on Parkmoor. With a 12 minute walk from Stevens Creek Blvd. to the north, routes 81 and 23, and with a 24 minute
walk from Coe Ave. to the south via VTA route 64 (see map)
Tools: We will have some tools but feel free to bring your own brooms, hoes, and gloves. See registration via link below. Also if you have a bike trailer that would be great.
To register (to get a count for food and tools): Click here

San Jose Bikeshare announces 20 proposed stations

Last Tuesday, May 22, San Jose Bikeshare announced 20 proposed locations to place Bikeshare pods within the downtown and Japantown areas (see Google Map below). Obvious key locations such as City Hall, SJSU, Diridon Station, and the HP Pavillion were included but other key areas of downtown were included as well.

The stations extend from Japantown in the north, Gore Park in the south, Diridon Station in the west, and 9th and San Salvador on the eastern edge of downtown. For those of you who missed the news this summer the city is planning to begin work to close the eastern streetside of Gore Park, South 1st St. to through traffic creating (after Paseo de San Antonio) one of San Jose's few permanent street closures or Paseos.

What do you think of the locations? Could you do any better? Let us know what you think.

For the latest in San Jose Bikeshare news follow them on Twitter.

View San Jose Bike Share - Proposed Locations in a larger map

Strong Towns Chuck Marohn presenting tomorrow in Rancho Cordova

Chuck Marohn of Strong Towns

Tomorrow I'll be heading to Rancho Cordova, near Sacramento to hear a presentation by Chuck Marohn of the non-profit Strong Towns (strongtowns.org). I have featured Chuck's TED talk on this blog titled "The Important Difference Between a Street and a Road". His presentations often center around capturing value from our streets in the form of net tax revenue over the useful life of the project. I'll explain more on this when I get back in a later post.

He often mentions Joe Minicozzi, who also talks about the type of development and its relation to value capture in the form of property and sales taxes. I know locally, here in the Silicon Valley the talk is always about the fiscalization of land use. However, this talk is always centered around a real simple discussion of shops vs. homes, commercial vs. residential. Their argument centers on the type of development; traditional commercial development, mixed use buildings, increased density are promoted as a way of creating a fiscally sustainable community.

Anyway hope you have a great weekend.

San Jose city council approves downtown bicycle project

City of San Jose file photo

This afternoon San Jose set in motion the first among several new bicycle projects that will make downtown a convienent, safe, and easily navigable business and residential district.
With a unanimous vote; the council approved actions that will involve the addition of eight miles of new bikeways in support of implementing a Downtown Bike Share system in 2012 using various grant funding sources.

The following streets will now see the installation of new bikeways in accordance with California Vehicle Code section 21207.

(1) Almaden Boulevard between Grant Street and Santa Clara Street;
(2) Notre Dame Street between Santa Clara Street and St. John Street;
(3) Third Street between Julian Street and Reed Street;
(4) Fourth Street between Julian Street and Reed Street;
(5) Tenth Street between Hedding Street and Keyes Street; and
(6) Eleventh Street between Hedding Street and Keyes Street.

In addition the project will authorize the removal of vehicle travel lanes on specified segments of Almaden Boulevard, Third Street, Fourth Street, Tenth Street and Eleventh Street and installation of bicycle lanes consistent with Envision 2040 goals for developing "complete streets" as described in this memorandum.

Maintenance District for the Alameda defeated on second attempt

photo: shasta hanchett
neighborhood association

The second attempt at passing a maintenance district on the Alameda in San Jose failed to gain enough support this afternoon with only 51% of  eligible property owners voting. Property owners included those with frontage on the Alameda from Stockton Ave. to Schiele Ave (see map below).

Only 42% of property owners voted in favor of creating a self-funding maintenance district. One of the biggest property owners, the San Jose Unified School District was reported by the City Clerk to have voted against the district.

San Jose's Transportation Department will now have to alter the design plans and present them to the major grantee, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) for approval; so its not guaranteed the project will proceed as originally planed.

The project was to include design for a proposed Bus Rapid Transit System, a more walkable street, traffic calming measure, more pedestrian focused lighting and other features.

The problem with the Alameda compared with Japantown or Willow Glen is that those business districts are built around a traditional business district pattern. Originally, the Alameda was owned by the state of California, whose only goal for the road was to move traffic at a very high level of speed, considering the street level retail.

Also the pattern of street level retail has numerous and large gaps making it difficult for shopping or strolling. Auto oriented business such as muffler shops, truck facilities, and auto services centers detract from a pleasent shopping experience not to mention the numerous service oriented business such as law offices, finance firms, a daycare busineess, and a school. Street level retail stores find it in their best interest to fund a cleaning and maintence district, schools and services do not.



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50 MPH Speed Limit + Bike Lanes? No, Not in San Jose.

In an article in this morning's San Jose Mercury News "Look for slowdowns on Almaden Expressway -- and then higher speeds" Gary Richards describes the gridlock that we can expect in south San Jose over the next few months. This is becoming a familiar pattern in the Santa Clara Valley. Similar to the build it, pave it, build it, dance going on at Valley Fair/Santana Row, developers are poised to build additional strip retail malls once the roads are widened (this is in addition to the existing retail boxes such as Costco, Best Buy, Whole Foods and Safeway).

The plans call for additional lanes on each side of Almaden Expressway, making this roadway an eight lane expressway with 50 MPH speed limits. Additionally, a three lane left turn area is planned. Yes you heard it right; a left turn pocket with three lanes. I have only seen this in one other location; in Dublin, CA.
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The increased speed limit and additional traffic volume will seriously degrade cycling safety along this corridor (whether or not you paint bike lanes on the roadway) which already gets low marks for bicycle friendliness.

Some of this traffic will spill onto Lincoln Ave. in Willow Glen which already resembles a parking lot more than a quaint business district during the morning rush hour.

When VTA announced plans for a new "express" light rail from the Almaden Valley to downtown San Jose the hope was to encourage more people to ride the underused train system. But just two months later the County announced that they plan to widen the expressway. At times you just wonder, "What were they thinking?" If the stated goal is to reduce VMT (Vehicle Miles Travelled) as the city so passionately documents in their new general plan this will not help.

What do you think?

Photo: Richard Masoner @ Cyclelicious

Location:N 1st St,San Jose,United States

VTA seeks public comment on proposed route changes - but it's more than route changes

In a news release this week, VTA is seeking public comment on three bus routes, two community bus routes and one, a new limited bus route that will eventually phase into a new bus rapid transit line (BRT).

However I wanted to comment on Route 11, which is a very limted route to begin with, extending from San Pedro Square to Taylor and 17th and only 20 times a day on weekdays. The plan is to extend the route to Diridon Station.

However, if I recall correctly this route used to go past San Jose Marketplace, home to another Target store, Office Depot, Panera Bread, etc., etc., etc. Now outside of a Limited Stop Bus (304) which only runs on weekdays and only four times a day (rush hour) there is no bus line that runs to the suburban style shopping center.

As Scott Herhold of the San Jose Mercury News mentions in a August 2010 column:

But it is not downtown, no matter what (Redevelopment Director Harry) Mavrogenes says. It is on Coleman Avenue south of Taylor Street, separated from the city center by at least three-quarters of a mile and a hulking overpass.

So although a connection to Diridon Station is an improvement, if you want to get more residents living downtown, and you want those residents to live a car-free or car-lite life you will have to connect the meager downtown retail offerings by transit when they are so spread out and are connected by horrible pedestrian improvements.

 Scott later goes on to ask Harry Mavrogenes how he got to the grand opening of a new business in the San Jose Marketplace:

Then I asked how he'd gotten to the grand opening. He said he had driven from his City Hall office. So we have a downtown location that you have to drive to from your downtown office. Sorry, Harry. Something doesn't compute.

So if were going to build these suburban strips malls in a downtown setting the least we can do is connect them to downtown businesses and residences. Please.


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City of San Jose to host public meetings on bikeway improvements

Photo: StreetsblogSF

The City of San Jose's Department of Transportation will be holding two neighborhood meetings highlighting exciting changes to downtown streets. Come get the latest and most detailed information and provide input to these long awaited projects.

Please also pass this information along to your bicycling friends as well. (Check map links for detail room locations at City Hall)

10th &11th Street Bike Lane Improvement Project
Neighborhood Meeting

Date: Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Time: 6:00 PM
Location:  City Hall Wing, Room W-119 & 120, 200 E. Santa Clara Street
Description: Class II Bike Lanes on 10th & 11th Streets (between Hedding and Keyes Streets)

Agenda:
  1. Sign In
  2. Project Overview Review 
  3. Project Update and Schedule                    
  4. Question and Answer Portion                        
  5. Adjournment


3rd  Street, 4th Street & Almaden Blvd Bike Lane Improvement Project
Neighborhood Meeting

Date: Monday, February 27, 2012
Time: 6.30 PM
Location: City Hall Wing, Room W-119 & 120, 200 E. Santa Clara Street
Description:  Class II Bike Lanes on 3rd & 4th Streets (between Julian/St. James and Reed Street)
                    Class II Bike Lanes on Almaden Boulevard (between St. John and Grant Street)

Agenda:                
  1. Sign In            
  2. Project Overview Review
  3. Project Update and Schedule 
  4. Question and Answer Portion   
  5. Adjournment

Bike Share will bring much needed improvements to downtown San Jose

Two great changes are on the table next year in the South Bay. At the last Caltrain BAC (Bicycle Advisory Committee) meeting it was announced by Caltrain staff that an RFP will be initiated in December for vendors to manage the Bay Area bikeshare system. We should see a roll out of the system by late early 2013.

In preparation for an extensive bike share system in downtown San Jose, the city will be making some changes to improve cycling infrastructure. In conversations in the last couple of weeks with San Jose Department of Transportation staff I was informed of several projects that cyclists will be sure to love.

The long awaited San Fernando buffered (and colored) bike lane will finally come to fruition. This project (along with the paving of the Guadalupe River trail north of the airport) has been brought up at previous San Jose Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee meetings, but it now looks like we will have a iconic cycletrack in our future. This will create a key link with Diridon Station at the west end of downtown and the city hall and university areas at the easterm end.

Other improvements will include;

• One-way freeway feeder streets such as 3rd, 4th, 10th, and 11th will gain a bike lane. These are key streets bordering San Jose State University that will provide a visible invitation for new cyclists.
• A road diet on San Carlos Street along with much needed streetscape improvements.
• Improvements to the Park Ave. bike route. This will be a great improvement to the fading sharrow markings that currently mark the route.

City staff stressed that the timing of these improvements will coincide with the opening of the bikeshare system and will encourage more residents and vistors to either ride their own bike or rent one on a short term basis. Thanks for the great news.

Adobe Systems Towers - Are they a good fit for downtown San Jose?

Sitting along the banks of the Guadalupe River, near the confluence of the Guadalupe and Los Gatos Creek the Adobe Systems towers create a stunning backdrop to a rather innocuous downtown San Jose. Comprising nearly the whole city block (save a required park and the Pacific Gas and electric Building), the buildings add an enormous amount of office space to the downtown market. But how do these buildings (and the infrastructure that surrounds the buildings such as the park, roadway, etc) reflect well on San Jose and are they good for the city? Do they add value to the downtown community?


Although the company has done very well in establishing their bona fiddes with regards to all things green, a closer look reveals otherwise. At the main entrance (if there really is a main entrance), the company proudly displays both the Energy Star plaque as well as their "Bay Area Green Business" certification. It certainly is entertaining to watch the windmills spinning in the afternoon breeze, but does this development add value to the downtown area?

The claim is that 20% of employees use public transportation, but unless this is all Caltrain riders, the number seems suspect. Not only is there not a bus stop located in the front of the building on Park Ave., but it is highly doubtfull that Adobe employees "ride the bus". See some simple calculations to figure out parking and employee mode share.



First of all in evaluating the surrounding area, the intersection of Almaden Blvd. and Park Ave. what one notices right away is the suburban office park feel to the site; a wide boulevard, high speed corners, vacant buildings and civic and park structures that draw minimal use to the area. Almaden Boulevard and Park Avenue are both 105 feet wide on the building's south and east sides slightly less than some city blocks in New York, San Diego, or Portland. High speed corners on with radii of 80 feet are seen more in suburban office parks than on downtown streets. This creates a need to put pedestrians on islands where they must push a button to signal their intent to cross. The crosswalk at the northern part of the intersection is 165 feet long making a commitment to cross the street almost as procedural as the filing of a flight plan.


The city didn't require
street level retail,
so Adobe didn't
provide for it.


The building reflects the cities goal of requiring parking but making no provisions for on street retail giving the building a dead look at street level even during the work week. (New York City requires street level retail.) To enliven the street side look the company, similar to computer screen wallpaper, has but up geometrically inspired graphics on the windows but it only cheapens the look even more. What the city does require is substantial parking within the building, making the wide subterranean parking entrance the most notable aspect of the "front" side of the building. All in all the look is one of a modern fortress housing the colonial inhabitants to the downtown area. The only time employees seem to leave the comfortable confines is to go outside for a smoke break or within the safe encapsulation of their Volvo's, Audis, and Escalades.

Employees leave the
security of the fortress in
packs of 10.

But why would you even need to leave the fortress except to get in your car and go home. The company provides a well stocked restaurant open most hours of the day with views of the Guadalupe. With the company paying the costs of employee lunches and with downtown restaurants almost a days hike away there is little incentive to leave the fortress. The closest restaurant, Peggy Sues is over 800 feet away or about 3 or 4 New York city blocks. The new development at San Pedro Square Market with its many new restaurants is almost 4,000 feet away (about 3/4 of a mile). This is why on many occasions when I have notice employees leaving the fort, the do so in packs, groups of 8-10 or more. Its as if they were leaving the safety of the fort to go hunt for food in the American wilderness.






The garage entrance;
more noticeable than
the street entrance.

 But as I have mentioned in another post on the propensity for blank walls, gates and fences in San Jose. The Adobe Towers add to the norm with its walls and covered windows. Walk the entire perimeter of the building and you will not see one person. or evidence of only two working pedestrian entrances. As mentioned by writers such as William Whyte and Jane Jacobs this leads to only the most undesirables inhabiting the space. On any given day you will never see an Adobe employee at the park located next to the building. In their place you will see the backpacks and shopping carts of the new park residents, (as Jane Jacobs calls them) the "leisured indigent". By taking all eyes of the street and off the Guadalupe at street level only the long term "parkers" will use the city maintained park.

San Pedro Square Market



San Jose Eats actually about 10 food trucks
line up on West Saint John Street to celebrate
the opening of San Pedro Square Market. 

As part of several "soft" openings the developers os San Pedro Square Market hosted San Jose Made/San Jose Eats. San Jose Made consists of mostly T-shirt and ball cap vendors. I don't quite get it beacause none of the T-Shirts and hats said "Made in .....San Jose, California, or even made in the USA".

I tried some 5-spice pulled pork off of one of the food trucks and it was fantastic. I didn't get a chance to try some ice cream off of the Treat Bot truck but I have had some before it it is always good.





Bicycle Parking was
non-existent at today's event.


Two things that need to be addressed but is so typical of San Jose events, you keep asking why. Why is it always this way.

The first is the ever present and public show of police in this town. I spotted two pedestrian officers and one on a bicycle for a peak crowed of about 800 people. Later on it dwindled down to about 400 people mostly couples or family members.

I've often been to San Francisco's largest farmers market at the Ferry Building. The market is always packed with at least over ten times as many visitors and I have yet to see one police officer. It seems as though any public gathering requires some type of police presence in San Jose. I'll have to investigate further as to the severe requirements. At least the cops were on foot and not in cars.

This doesn't need to happen.
SF Farmers Mkt. has
free valet parking.

The second item that needs to be addressed is the need for bicycle parking on West Saint John Street. As you can see from the pictures, adequate parking is lacking. Given that this is intended to be a prime downtown location it doesn't make sense that the city didn't require the developer to construct adequate parking before issuing an occupancy permit. So please contact the developer, contact the San Jose Downtown Association, the District 3 (downtown) Councilmember and ask why they were issued building permits and made no requirements for bicycle parking.

So to summarize; too many cops not enough bike racks. Other than that a nice time was had by all.







- Posted from my iPhone

Location:N 1st St,San Jose,United States