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?
Will they see a nice mix of eclectic and fun people, or will the element of undesirable behavior, that has been the curse of downtown for so many years, ruin those events? I went to both the Union Street Fair and the North Beach Fair in San Francisco in June. Both events feature people of all ages having a good time drinking in beer gardens, going shopping, frequenting bars and restaurants and strolling in the sun (they only get it a few weekends a year up there, as we know) with very little trouble. Now imagine those same events in San Jose—would we have the same outcome?
And as far as police, it’s a tough call because you want to have enough police presence to guard against any people that get out of hand, but you don’t want to look intimidating to new people who visit. I just hope that the right balance can be found by maintaining an environment where families feel safe and young people can still have fun. Because in San Jose, when you get masses of people together, it isn’t necessarily always a good thing. Here’s to keeping our fingers crossed that this is the summer where San Jose becomes what we always want it to be.
SG,
get some sleep
Care to see a nice mix, go to SF. Care to end up in a mix, go downtown. Downtown SJ is pretty much a lost cause.. unless you like Nazi Germany. Nah, get some sleep sounds good to me.
I wish you all a happy 4th
Let’s see what happens tonight. A big party and fireworks.
Every large city has that in its downtown, and perhaps other places within the city limits; e.g The Tenderloin in SF. Most big city downtowns are homes to derelicts, drug dealers, the mentally ill, and the tatooed neck crowd. So, why is it that so many people want to create a dowtown here in San Jose?
The festivals in The City that people rave about never occur “downtown”, wherever that may be. Much of what passes for “downtown” in The City is a toilet. Only tourists go there. Is that what we want for San Jose?
Downtown San Jose advocates really blew it when they fought the County on the fairgrounds concert venue. That venue could have been the home for the events that attrract the crowd everyone here decries, while downtown could concentrate on becoming more successfull by attracting the kind of folks that go to Santana Row.
Ever go to a fireworks event in SF. I have. People are blowing off fireworks right in the crowd. Thugs running everywhere. Better keep your hand on your wallet.
Go to fireworks on the 4th in San Jose and you witness a well behaved crowd of families. Everybody sharing the space, everybody polite. A healthy police presence but calm and available in case of problems. It is followed by a well ordered exit using mass transit. Nice wholesome family event. I’ll take SJ over SF for the 4th anytime.
My business is on the corner of !st and Santa Clara. We bring many people downtown for their first time. They hate it as do I. The public urinaters, strong arm pan handlers and open air psychiatric day care, the open and quite blatant crack dealing which exaserbates the psychiatric problems (since I’m a regular in the area I’m now offered the stuff). We have a start up biz (bio diesel and other renewable fuels) and have considered downtown for expansion. NO WAY! Police drive by on a frequent basis but NEVER seem to get out of their cars. Their quite busy chatting on their cell phones while the crack dealers ply their trade with impunity.
All the cities hopes for downtown mean nothing unless the “thug factor” can be abated.
Santana Row is the perfect picture of urban living, can you guess why? Get the cops out of their cars and onto the sidewalks for a start.
Let’s face it! Downtown San Jose is damn cool because it’s always happening-7 nights a week. There are too much stuff going on downtown whether you like it or not. It’s very diverse and colorful there. People been behaving exceptionally for the last 7 months. Just go out and have fun during the summer and don’t worry about nothing!
Single Gal and others, I don’t recognize the downtown San Jose you write about. I’ve been accosted by more aggressive panhandlers on University Avenue in Palo Alto than I’ve ever experienced in San Jose. I’ve been to the SJ Jazz Festival several times and don’t remember hearing about anything bad happening during that event. Same with Tapestry and Talent (or whatever it’s called now), the Afribean Festival, the Tour of California bike race last February, Cinco de Mayo (please, no racist comments on that one). My husband and I go to downtown for the first Friday open galleries events and, during the summer, the free movies at San Pedro Square. We love it here and were thrilled to be close to downtown when we moved here two years ago. Perhaps you should consider moving to a city that is more congenial for you????
Could the downtown be better? I say way better. Is it better than it was in the 70’s? I say way better. Should the chamber, ConVis, downtown association and city council do a better job of rebuilding and promoting the downtown? I say way better.
Tracy # 9—you’re right about everything but Cinco de Mayo, which, along with the Mardis Gras, has evoked riots, pillaging, vandalism, and danger for years. It ain’t racist. Drunk a**holes come in all races, creeds, colors, and sizes. But facts are facts, and the bulk of the troublemakers after Cinco de Mayo are batos locos. As for Mardis Gras, it’s an equal opportunity group of a**holes.They ruin it for the folks Willow Glen Dad speaks of. Fortunately, they are relatively few in San Jo, and most of our festivals are family friendly.