At Home In San Jose

Bad Timing For Good Housing

Seems to me that with the current economic climate, and traditional home prices lower than some "affordable housing" houses, the SJ City Council might want to shelve their quest for 20% city-wide inclusionary zoning.  We're perfectly fine with the zoning we have now in the Redevelopment areas of the city, and when things turn around and we actually have lots of downtown core residents, so the developers and builders are all happy again, we might consider an inclusionary policy that's a tad less overbearing.  Let's deck the halls, all be jolly, and celebrate the season with no grinches in sight.

Speaking of downtown, celebrations, and such, Destination Downtown on the evening of December 5th in San Jose was sparking and spectacular.  The city never looked lovelier.  If you're looking for interesting things to do with a unique perspective, or interested in becoming one of those new high-rise downtown denizens, we provide free MLS searches on our website, www.nickandbarbara.com .

Rubbing shoulders with Arnold

Well, sometimes it pays to show up.  The annual San Jose COMPAC  (Chamber of Commerce Political Action Coalition) barbeque was Thursday evening, on the grounds of the San Jose Historical Museum park.  And guess who popped in for a short visit and a brief but pithy speech about redistricting?  Our governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger.  Guess he was in town for the SVLG (Silicon Valley Leadership Group's annual CEO gathering, and Pat Dando used her well-honed powers of persuasion to scoot the COMPAC event onto his schedule.

Speaking of Pat, she announced that the Chamber has finally inked the contract on their own building right in the hear of downtown.  Bravo!

I ran into Chris Moylan, councilmember from Sunnyvale.  And also had a terrific conversation with Mike Kotowski, candidate for city council in Campbell.  Said hello to Rose Herrera, candidate for San Jose council district 8.  Talked with Sahib Mann and Shanna Boigon, both running for the Open Space District.  Hung out with Quincy Virgilio, who will be President of the Santa Clara County Association of Realtors next year.  Caught glimpses of Peter and Denise Carter, Carl Guardino, Mayor Reed, and many more.

The crowd was huge...the biggest in the COMPAC BBQ history.  The hobnobbing was enthusiastic and skilled.  The food was excellent.  The evening became cool and comfortable.  If politics are your thing, this was definitely the place to be.

Politics by the pool

Went to the annual birthday party/fundraiser for Senator Elaine Alquist last evening, at the Holiday Inn on N. First St.  It was a lovely, warm evening by the pool.  The theme was "Bollywood", complete with an Indian buffet and dancers.  Elaine was in fine form, the perfect political mover and hostess, and even joined in the dancing periodically.  I'm sure we'll see her back at the Capitol.

Many politicos and hopefuls in the crowd...Evan Low, Kanzen Chu, Paul Fong, Ash Kolra, Rose Hernandez, Sahib Mann...too many to count! 

Carl Guardino of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group made a good pitch for backing the most current effort to bring BART down to our fair city.  With the fuel and energy crisis gaining momentum, it beats me why we haven't all put our collective voting power to work on this earlier.

Get yourself downtown on Thursday evenings for the "Metro Music In The Park" series at 5:30 pm.  Coming up on Aug. 21:  White Album Ensemble.  Beatles redux, anyone?

Don't Tree On Me

We, the great citizens of San Jose, need to stay on top of our city government a tad bit more...not only does the City require a certain number of trees in the strip between the street and your lawn, but now they are going to require that YOU pay for maintenance and upkeep.  Sounds a little like the City is having their cake and eating it too, doesn't it? 

Whatever happened to our collective "get up and go" with respect to taxation withough representation?  Sounds like we need a little visit from Adams, Franklin and Jefferson...

What's in San Jose's future?

So you think you want to look in the crystal ball?  Will San Jose be fully "green"?  Will we have more urban cityscapes, more meandering pedestrian walkways, more upscale sidewalk cafes?  A better public transportation system?  A real mix of generations living in a bustling downtown hub?  Architectural significance?

If you really want to get the low down, go to a meeting of the Envision San Jose General Plan 2040 Task Force.  http://www.sanjoseca.gov/planning/gp_update/default.asp

Or get smarter about San Jose's smart growth at

http://www.sanjoseca.gov/planning/smartgrowth/

Or read Mayor Chuck Reed's Green Vision for San Jose:

http://www.sanjoseca.gov/mayor/goals/environment/GreenVision/GreenVision.asp

Or just take a walk down Paseo de San Antonio, grab a bite at The Grill, sit outside for an espresso, take in a show at the San Jose Rep, and dream of walking a few blocks to your pretty high-rise condo with a view of the San Jose lights and skyline at night.  Now there's a vision of the future we can all achieve!