OCTOBER 2008
VOLUME1I/ ISSUE 10
| DISTRICT 3 | OCTOBER 2008 |
VOLUME1I/ ISSUE 10 |
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St. James Neighborhood leader, Frank Penrose, was recently honored by the San Jose Police for his efforts to make San Jose a safer community. |
Envisioning Transportation in San Jose’s Future The future belongs to those who prepare for it today. Those words, famously uttered by Malcom X during this nation’s civil rights struggles, much less notably also left the lips of former San Jose Mayor George Starbird in 1956. Speaking to an audience celebrating the opening of a new city hall in San Jose’s civic center, Starbird noted that San Jose had only begun an extraordinary spurt of growth, one in which the city’s population would increase fivefold in a quarter century. The city has since doubled again in size, to its current million inhabitants today. The thirty-seven members of our city’s “Envision 2040” General Plan task force have diligently labored every month for the last year to create a blueprint for the growth of a San Jose of future generations. Along with former Vice Mayor Shirley Lewis, I serve as a co-chair of that group, and we have collectively grappled with the looming hangover of our enviable civic success: we will add another half-million residents by 2040, to reach a size twice that of modern-day San Francisco. It remains for us to plan for this extraordinary growth in our city, or else San Jose will grow as it did a half-century ago—haphazardly, with sprawling development, unprotected open space, clogged highways, and no significant transit. The alternative: transit-oriented development, often known as “smart growth.” This calls for developing neighborhoods with a mix of uses—shopping, offices, schools, and residential—within walking distance of each other and of transit. This approach reduces our automobile dependence, the addiction responsible for 51% of the Bay Area’s greenhouse gas emissions. Smart Growth takes us back to the way cities like Boston and New York evolved in a pre-automobile world. This also requires high-density living—a shift from three-story town-homes to condos and high-rise apartments. Well planned development of this type can bring more retail to our neighborhoods, and will attract substantial investment in transit and other infrastructure. If poorly conceived, however, dense development brings its share of headaches, such as traffic, a scarcity of parking, and the like. For that reason, I introduced a measure with Mayor Chuck Reed and Councilmembers Judy Chirco and Forrest Williams to create incentives for developers of high-density projects to invest in two programs that will encourage transit use and reduce auto dependency: car-sharing and “ecopass” transit . Recent studies have shown that car-sharing programs and free-transit passes substantially reduce auto usage and parking demand among dwellers of higher-density residential developments. Several weeks ago, I also pushed a series of initiatives to increase commuting by bike in the downtown and near our key job and transit centers, by creating segregated bike lanes along key commute routes and launching a pilot “bike share” initiative similar to that seen in many European cities. Naturally, a world of transit-oriented development requires major investment in transit infrastructure, like BART, and voters will decide in November whether BART comes to Silicon Valley. Although I can't use this newsletter to advocate one way or the othe, I can share the facts. Measure B will provide operating and maintenance expenses for the planned BART extension to Milpitas, San Jose, and Santa Clara, the necessary link to make the project eligible for $750 million in federal funding. The passage of this 1/8 cent sales tax measure would enable the VTA to begin construction of this project next year. The extension will carry some 100,000 commuters each day, and will serve as the backbone of a transit network that connects Light Rail, CalTrain, and the Mineta/ San Jose International Airport. By finding creative options to the automobile, we’ll prepare San Jose for a bright future. Sincerely, Sam Liccardo |
Contact Us D3 Staff |
State Legislative Update - Funding for Parks Why More Affordable Housing? The City is currently exploring the implementation of an “inclusionary” housing policy. Such policies typically require developers to construct a percentage of new affordable homes —typically 10% to 20%-- at below-market-rates or prices (or developers can pay a fee or contribute land instead). The Housing Department is hosting a series of communtiy meetings to gather input on the policy, all are welcome and encouraged to attend. November 3, 2008 6-8p.m. at Willow Glen Branch Library Coastal Clean Up Day A Success Youth Guide on Police, Safety and Crime Available
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Input Sought for Distinctive Neighborhood Program The City is hosting a series of community meetings for resident input: For questions or comments please contact Hadasa Lev, Distinctive Neighborhood Program Planner at 408-535-7838 or hadasa.lev@sanjoseca.gov . For more information on the Distinctive Neighborhood Program click here. Keep San Jose Beautiful – Nominate Your Neighborhood Group Trail Use is Up Limited Seats Available Public Art Bus Tours If you are interested in attending, please send an e-mail to PublicArt@sanjoseca.gov. Please put “Public Art Tour” in the subject line of your e-mail and in your e-mail body, please include name, phone, and which tour you wish to join. If you would like to attend both, please be sure to state which is your 1st choice and 2nd choice. Library Fundraising Campaign Success Joyce Ellington Library is open and busy with services such as book club, chess club, story times and more. Be sure to stop by. Please click here for more information. |
Halloween in the Hensley: Haunting of N. 6th Street On Halloween night don’t miss the 300 & 400 block of N. 6th Street in the Historic Hensley Neighborhood. From 6-8p.m., historic homes will play host to a myriad of spirits, nightmares, magical lights, aliens, ghouls, spiders, ghosts, zombies and more. Each house will be uniquely decorated. Last year the blocks attracted over 600 children with even more expected this year. Bring your friends and family to this old fashioned trick or treating event. You won’t be entering the interior of any homes. The event is free and wheel chair accessible. Haunting of the Hensley is brought to you by the neighbors of N. 6th Street who have worked hard to give a safe, old fashioned Halloween night back to the youth. Halloween Spooktacular Halloween Safety Tips from San Jose Fire Department
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Silicon Valley Turkey Trot A Holiday Tradition
To register online, click here. Online registration of the event ends at midnight on Monday, November 24th, after that you may register in person at the Runners Factory in Los Gatos, between 8 a.m. and 5p.m. on Wednesday, November 26. All race participants will be offered a 20% shopping discount at the Runner’s Factory on November 26.
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Holiday Bazaar presented by San Jose Woman’s Club The San Jose Woman’s Club is presenting its annual Holiday Bazaar featuring antiques and handcrafted treasures for sale. Free street parking or paid parking is available at the S. 10th and E. San Fernando Street garage. For more information call (408) 294-6919 or email info@sjwomansclub.org. Opera San Jose Performs at Café Trieste Artist from Opera San Jose will soon sing your favorite arias live at Café Trieste starting on Friday, November 7th. Artists will be there every Friday as part of the First Friday Art Walk along South First Street. Don’t miss the opportunity to see and hear San Jose’s own opera stars up close and in person in a cozy atmosphere. Neighborhood Advisory Group (NAG) Meeting Join Councilmember Liccardo and your downtown neighbors at this monthly meeting. The primary topic this month is youth intervention and gang prevention. For more information about the meeting contact Ragan Henninger at (408) 535-4929 or ragan.henninger@sanjoseca.gov. |
A Student’s Guide to Police Practices is a booklet that was written with young people in mind. It explains basic police practices, important legal issues and laws that affect young people in San Jose. New sections discuss issues like gang violence, hate crimes, internet safety and dating abuse. The guide contains suggestions on what to do (and NOT do) if stopped by police. There is also advice on how to avoid being victimized by crime. The guide may be downloaded in English, Vietnamese or Spanish at 
The City is developing a Distinctive Neighborhoods Program to add further protection and enhancement to unique residential neighborhoods, such as historic neighborhoods. The goals for the program include defining the characteristics of distinct neighborhoods based on input from community groups, neighborhood associations, the development community, and other interested parties and reviewing existing protections while also proposing potential revised and/or new protection options including identifying potential Municipal Code or other policy changes.
Thanks for the generosity of over 1,000 San Jose community members and businesses, more than $743,000 was raised for the three branch libraries that opened over the summer: Joyce Ellington, Pearl Avenue and Willow Glen. In the downtown, 143 donors contributed $185,000 to Joyce Ellington. These donations provide critical funding for furnishings, equipment and collections which are not paid for by bond funds. This vital support for our community libraries is made possible by the leadership and hard work of the San Jose Public Library Foundation, Friends of Joyce Ellington Library and particularly community volunteers Don Gagliardi and Gloria Cerul. 
This popular annual Thanksgiving Day event was founded in 2005 by the Silicon Valley Leadership Group. Last year, with the record turnout, race organizers were able to donate $225,000 to three local charity beneficiaries: Second Harvest Food Bank, the Housing Trust of Santa Clara County and the Santa Clara Family Health Foundation’s Children’s Health Initiative.