Downtown San Jose Ca (1989)

so [Music] in the past two years we have witnessed the rebirth of san jose [Music] if you look at downtown revitalization anywhere in other cities you find that the best results come about from a good private sector public sector partnership and that's what we have now what we have now is really more than just partnership sold to all it all had a real feeling of community from an artist at his studio to the cop is beat it's changed in a big way the transformation is almost complete what was only a vision has become a reality the dream of a new town is as real as concrete and steel [Music] i think if we sat around and did nothing a lot of good things would happen downtown but we don't have time to wait for 20 or 30 years from new marble on a luxury high rise to a new face for a piece of history we started our business in 1945 we were looking for a nice place to live and we decided that san jose was the place to live and it is to say it seemed like a family town more than just a strictly a commercial town and it was a family town in the 20s and beyond it was the kind of place that drew a crowd wide boulevard stand with model t's san jose was in fact a bright spot on the horizon [Music] the old venn dome hotel was being run by comic emery's dad the trained alum rock park was loaded each weekend with picnickers the city was jumping because this truly was the valley of heart's delight apricots lined the ground and promise it seemed was everywhere but the promise faded and the parade finally headed out of town the automobile leading the way gradually san jose became a shadow of its former self down on its luck and down for the count the client happened as i said when when the hearts and hails and some of the other department stores started moving out and then they started tearing down the the crocker bank building and tore out cresses and places like that that it left the the town almost like it had been hit with a bomb it was in fact a war zone downtown but the battle had been lost the battle of the shopping center macy's was supposed to go downtown one landowner held out and macy's went out to a regional shopping center the regional shopping centers that were subsequently established really were the death knell of downtown i remember the the very recent past about 10 years ago when you had no problems driving around downtown san jose you could park anywhere you wanted because there wasn't anything to do and there was no vitality down there whatsoever the freeway to nowhere was the city's image even city hall decided that the best place to be was out of downtown the mercury news likewise pulled up stakes building a new plant several miles away the skyline got awfully low and it turned out that there was a lot more going down than was going up in san jose pieces of our past gave way to the lowest common denominator the parking lot [Music] but on the third try redevelopment finally caught on and in the 80s san jose began a long journey toward recovery a city is being built virtually right before our eyes after more than a decade planning and hoping a massive infusion of money that's what it took and in the early going it looked like there was more hoping than there was planning the merchants hoping it would end soon the only way to get around was four-wheel drive this has always been a good place for a city i'm glad finally someone is building one here now we figured it would probably be about two years and we would have our city back in in shape again unfortunately it was a great deal more severe than we had anticipated they were digging up the streets people couldn't get in the girls couldn't wear their high shoes people were captive in the office buildings they couldn't get out to do their shopping if they could they didn't because they didn't want to fight all of the barricades that were in town how far down do you go before you throw in the towel there's all of us are thinking the same thing you've got about three or four stores that are changed they can afford to lock up the doors and come back in when it's all finished they can pay their win i can't pay the rent leave business owners here say they'll survive the financial beating they're taking this christmas but what they're not sure of is if they'll even be here to enjoy the transit mall once it's completed within the next two years in san jose cheryl heard kicu tv 36 news back in the back in the summer of 86 the sidewalks were torn up the streets had barricades in them and a lot of people in the small business community were having a really rough go of things and ray rodriguez a freelance photographer came into my office at metro and said why don't we why don't we start a group to help the small businesses deal with the city and fast track items and i said ray what we need is a downtown association despite all the short-term disruption there was an overwhelmingly positive message which had to get out about what was happening downtown first we met with tom mchenry and he encouraged us to go ahead and form the association and then the work was up to us to go out there and organize the business community sign up members but the city could listen best if it was hearing one voice loud and clear consensus would only come after long hours of meetings individual business interests had to give way to a clearly defined but common goal no easy task but the hard feelings of the past gradually faded in the face of hard work we wanted to be a part of it when we uh when we started holding the festivals and for the first time we were really able to demonstrate what a downtown association could do [Music] so [Music] from hard times to high times a great taste of things to come people who hadn't been downtown in years or ever were suddenly sharing the same idea there was something happening in the center of our city san jose was indeed a city that was on the move and then we went back and repeated it three months later with destination downtown which was great [Music] san jose is celebrating tonight a celebration of progress towards its rebirth is the focal point of the santa clara valley the most important thing is people are coming downtown and discovering the history and culture and continuity that we have with this downtown that have never been here before and i think it's a remarkable thing but you wanted to see action and noise downtown after dark and you got it tonight i've got more than i can handle all right sir [Music] san jose has never looked better than transit happy new year everybody san jose california where they had an incredible event while there may be divergent interests and different cultures we all share one goal the desire for success to make this place unique it is at the same time centuries old and grand spanking new the 21st century combined with the the ethnic groups that they contribute would be beautiful i think it was very important that the downtown association benefited everyone downtown that it wasn't benefiting one sector over another we really wanted to be the association of everyone the answer was an association board which was representative of all the diverse interests downtown the kinds of services that the downtown association is providing is something that the government i.e the city can't do i mean i i see the association as sort of uh my eyes and ears uh as to what uh what's going on downtown and what the city needs to be doing to to work with the people in the center city to make it even more successful the key to that success a business improvement district the city council giving the force and effective law to what had been an ad hoc organization speaking with one voice sending out a vital message that the spirit of san jose is alive the downtown has come back brighter than ever and that it's time the people come back too they built a beautiful city and now it's up to the business community to put life into it [Music] you

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Keywords: For you baystalgia, Downtown San Jose Ca (1989) baystalgia, Bay Area baystalgia, 80s nostalgia baystalgia, 90s nostalgia baystalgia, Bay Area history baystalgia, Bay Area nostalgia baystalgia, Bay Area then and now baystalgia, California baystalgia, Childhood memories baystalgia, Nostalgic baystalgia, Retro baystalgia, Retro tv baystalgia, Memories of the Bay Area baystalgia

Id: dtGCQpSxhA8

Length: 10min 28sec (628 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 10 2022