Village Savant™

In regards to your post about your arts roundtable meeting, I wanted to say that I completely agree with you about the retail suggestions you had. In addition, I would love to see a jewelry store with handmade, hand designed jewelry by local (and not-so-local) artists. I'd also love to see some textile shops open up (ie: fabric, yarn, etc) in the downtown area.

Cheers,
Brooke

Yes! Yes! Yes!

I happened upon your site while. I was TRYING to find someplace to rent videos that isn't Blockbuster or Hollywood Video (thanks to Metroactive Best of Silicon Valley). I'm glad to know that you are here....

I have recently moved to SJ from San Francisco, and have found the "adjustment" difficult. My manfriend and I moved into the downtown area in hopes that the transition would be easier. But downtown is a bit of a desert. As far as I can tell, there is no shopping there at all. I too would love to see some independently owned/operated businesses.

Nightlife seems to be on the extreme ends of the spectrum: dive bars or really swanky clubs or hotel bars. How about someplace that is comfortable with couches and a casual/low key atmasphere but with good cocktails?

And music venues. Are there any places to see live music in downtown SJ? Small joints where people can check out local music. If there isn't enough local talent, bring it from San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Marin and the East Bay, where there are bands aplenty, who would be happy to play a gig.

One of the great things about San Francisco was that there was plentiful good and cheap food. Downtown seems like all the restaurants are gonna set you back at least $20/person. How about $7 or less?

Best,
Nancy

i would love to see vintage clothing stores.. a good place to buy books and cds.. a good place for dancing. actually, more than one good place for dancing. underground hip-hop, yoga, and yes, a fucking alternative to blockbuster.

i'd like to see lectures and talks..
restaurants that are open on the weekends..
vegetarian restuarants. cool bars..

coffee shops (other than starbucks) that are open on the weekends..

24 hour coffee or snackies, a place with comfie furniture and free wifi, natural/organic grocer, wine shop, martini bar, thrift store, deli, neighborhood bar.

more art, maybe some little galleries, browsing stores, friendly places to sit, a proper sandwich shop

Even a Goodwill or other thrift/second hand store would be enliven a space. A lot of browsers would make it a gathering place. There will always be people ready to donate as well. Maybe combine that with internet terminals, wifi and either simply good coffee or something more intesting like loose tea, spiced chai, cane juice.

Our taquerias and noodles shops are the best but how about finding them some couches, people will linger longer (good and bad) but come more often (good).

Most of all, how about a cafe that serves in something other than polystyrene?

Oh if more people knew about this thread, you'd get a thousand posts.

It's ridiculous that most of the few interesting retail stores or restaurants in San Jose are located somewhere over on West San Carlos or on Bascom!

We should start at the absolute basics. I wish we had at least one of the following independent places: coffeehouse (that one that replaced Matisse does not do), bookstore, thrift store, locally-designed clothing, record store, local & organic produce. this would be a good start.

Nancy: depending on your taste, you can check out local music and other things at PAC Sessions. Local bands sometimes play at the Blank Club.

For anyone wondering about video rentals, you should visit Alameda Archives if you haven't; they have a small but somewhat out-of-the-mainstream collection of mostly dvds, and also sell a few graphic novels, magazines, and books. This isn't downtown, though, and it would be great for downtown to be blessed with, say, a place with a bigger selection of indie or indie-ish movies, and another place with a bigger selection of rare reading material.

And, yes, I wish the galleries we have would have longer hours. And why did the Museum of Art stop being open late one night a week?

For vegetarians, you should check out Tofoo Com Chay (everyone calls it "Ben's") on Santa Clara St. at the corner of 9th. It is THE best Veg house in town, small, packed, lots of familiar faces, and SO inexpensive.

I was thinking more about this over the weekend.

I'd like to see a bookstore (not necessarily used books, but not a chain bookstore - just a comfy mom and pop bookshop) as well as a good florist/garden store.. sorry, but Blossom has disappointed me time and again. A couple of cool antique shops would be great as well.

I'd also like to see a tea house (specifically tea, not a coffee shop) and an herbal/vitamin/alternative medicine pharmacy type of shop (kinda like you see in Berkeley).

I had thought of a few other things, but can't remember at the moment... I'll post more when I think of them.

-independent bookshop/magazine/entertainment
-coffeehouses w/ late hours (like matisse)
-24hour eateries
-more ma n pa restaurants
-breakfast joints
-more boutiques featuring local artists
-record shops
-besides the house stuff on second street)
-antique shops, thrift shops
-clubs that are less jiggy-more gritty
-skate park
-community/rec center for bboying/capoiera/live art/COMMUNITY in general....the list goes on...

fyi, the museum is open late for the holiday season since the rink is right out front. peep the website: www.sanjosemuseumofart.org. and sunday's at cesar chavez park there's usually a drum circle, and on certain days, you might catch capoiera or a bboy jam.

Those are great additions... I think the mom and pops will become "fashionable" again... anytime society goes to an extreme (like the chain stores and big box mentality) I believe the pendulum begins to swing the other way. Our developers should create smaller boutique sized retail as well as large anchor stores. If this is a creative capital area (which I whole heartedly believe it is) then we should be helping those great creative ideas manifest as retail spaces.

Outdoor convening places. A park that's not in the middle of the street or surrounded by buildings that block out the sun. Restore the historic storefronts, widen sidewalks, bring lighting down to pedestrian level - encourage shop owners to light the fronts of their buildings. Don't be afraid of chain stores - people like them (I know unfortunate but true and it will help people feel like they have a connection), but balance the number and type.

Individual streets with unique personalities - like 4th street in Berkeley, San Pablo in Berkeley, Lakeshore in Oakland, 24th or the Haight in SF.

Stores with international flair that represent all the communities SJ has to offer.

And always good shoe stores!

Lot of cool ideas. Small is beautiful. FYI, one place some folks might want to check out -- Bay Area Glass Institute has been trying to get a small gallery/gift shop off the ground. 401 E. Taylor St. next to the Gordon Biersch Brewery. Right now there is a bunch of hand-blown holiday ornaments and such. It's also cool becuase you can check out the glass blowing studio there.

In addition, there's the Fresh Produce show coming up on Dec. 3rd and the Holiday Gallery of Gifts featuring 80 local artists going on at the corner of South First & Post Streets.

Buy UNIQUE gifts this holiday season!! They'll love the thought and you'll feel better about what you're giving.

I think that the "theys" need to relax first of all. The "Theys" need to simply keep their hands off. Everything that "They" have done has failed. Funkifying downtown is deeply complex and many sided problem, but I really think the key is to let the people who actually live there help make decisions concerning the area. So that being said, let the Westside of town be the Bling Bling I'm a front all day area. And let downtown be all about culture and people. Empower the youth. Let small business' prosper. We need more affordable housing that is actually close to something. I live downtown and I still need a car to get around. Better urban planning would help out TONS. These guys got it all backwards. Stop comparing Sannazay to SF. Let it be itself, whatever that is, just let it grow. There are tons of people who have visions of how great this town can be, they just need the tools and support to get the party started.