Do You Know the Way to San Jose?

Aug 5

Aug 5 Do You Know the Way to San Jose?

Image from Clyde Arbuckle’s book History of San Jose.

I love downtown San Jose, it’s a beautiful city center. Careful thought and planning went into the development of the first city in California, just look at the 1848 city plan above. It is out of my sincere fondness that I state a harsh reality (you have to face the truth to bring change): it’s a grimy place. A visit to downtown leaves one wanting; something is awry. I don’t have the answer for how to fix things, but I know something must be done.

All of the raw ingredients are present to be a spectacular city center akin to Boston. Here’s a quick rundown of the "Great City” components San Jose holds in her hands:

A significant history. (California’s first city tops a long list.)
A centrally located public square park surrounded by impressive architecture. (St. James Park)
A river running through it. (Guadalupe River)
Mature trees lining the main downtown boulevards. (Symmetrically planted sycamores)
Vintage street lamps everywhere.
A street train. (Light Rail)
A university. (San Jose State University, originally called The California State Normal School)
A mission and another university just outside the city, with a grand road leading directly to them from downtown. (Mission Santa Clara, Santa Clara University, The Alameda)
An award-winning rose garden park square just outside the city center. (The Municipal Rose Garden)
Residential neighborhoods with renowned architecture. (Shasta Hanchett Park, Naglee Park, College Park, etc.)
Unbeatable weather. (Mediterranean climate)
A wide selection of museums. (Tech Interactive, Children’s Discovery Museum, Egyptian Museum, etc.)
An events center and performing arts theaters. (SAP center, Center for the Performing Arts, California Theatre, etc.)
Professional sports teams. (Sharks, Earthquakes, 49ers)
An airport. (SJC)
A strong, innovative economy.

…the list goes on.

I have a dream of seeing downtown renewed: its beauty fully exposed and all of these ingredients—that are hard to come by, that previous generations worked hard for—woven together and integrated to present a destination city pulsating with life. A city where the homeless are well cared for and have a place but don’t dictate the environment of the downtown.

Look at this photograph of St. James Park from a century past. It looks like the Boston Public Garden!

From Clyde Arbuckle’s book, History of San Jose.

Last year my family moved from the outskirts of Santa Clara Valley to a house (our forever home) two miles from downtown. As a new city resident, I have more skin in the game and I’m eager to bring transformation. I’ve always recognized great potential in downtown, but now I’m poised with my shovel in hand, ready to dig, polish, build, lead and usher in a new era.

So when my husband suggested we drive downtown and go for a family walk this past Saturday, I was game. We beckoned our three sons, grabbed our masks and a small bottle of hand sanitizer, and hit the road.

Immediately upon exiting the car, I was struck by the beauty of a simple lamp post: it was old, elegant, and had a story to tell. It reminded me of Parisian lamp posts. Paris! Something in San Jose reminded me of PARIS. At that moment I decided to turn the walk into a scavenger hunt and take photographs of every beautiful thing I came across.

I’ve divided them into categories:

Streets

Street lined with symmetrically planted sycamore trees and lamp posts.

Street with sycamores, street lamps, and city train tracks.

The Bank of Italy’s Corinthian columns along a boulevard lined with sycamores and street lamps.

2. Buildings

The commanding Superior Court building on St. James Park square.

The grand Post Office building on St. James Park.

Sainte Claire Club on St. James Park, founded 1888.

The Ritz. Looks like a street corner I recently saw in Palm Springs.

3. Monuments

Engraved brass manholes are all throughout downtown, easily missed because the sidewalks are dirty.

Summary of my scavenger hunt findings:

San Jose is brimming with mature tree-lined streets, Corinthian columns, large retro signs, and vintage lamp posts.

I dare you to count the lamp posts. Previously, I’d hardly noticed them lining the streets because the city is dirty, but they are there; they’ve been there a long time, patiently awaiting change.

While editing my photographs, I would tap the Enhance button and witness the picture instantly clarify and brighten. It struck me this is precisely what downtown needs, to be enhanced. The beauty and the character are there, the raw ingredients for a spectacular city center are there. They’ve been there. They want to shine. There is promise, there is hope, there is momentum brewing. I can see it. I’m so thankful for the more recent additions such as the wildly successful San Pedro Square Market, the vibrant murals popping up left and right, and Villas on the Park—transitional housing for homeless that opened last year right on St. James Park.

Just before publishing, I changed my photos from color to black & white. It makes it easier to compare them with the historic photos at the end of this article, and helps prove the point that the character and dignity are right there, smacking us in the face. Some of my street images even reminded me of Henri Cartier-Bresson’s French street photography!

Gary Dillabough must see what I see. Over the past three years, he’s spent over $300 million buying 21+ parcels in the downtown nucleus. This is as much as Google has spent in preparation for their much-anticipated downtown campus. The pot is stirring, I’m hopeful that lasting transformation is on the horizon.

In closing, be inspired by these old photographs I discovered on The San Jose Blog. This is what the Guadalupe River, a downtown night scene, and St. James Park once looked like. Take me there! Bring this back. We have work to do.

***Please use the comments to share your thoughts, memories, and ideas.