Downtown San Jose

Rachel say San Jose is an example of government spending a lot of money to get a downtown to thrive. Even in the nine years since Rachel started working down the street at San Jose State University, the downtown has filled in. She said many of the buildings downtown – including the convention center and some of our hotels – were already built. But the government now heavily subsidizes the operation of a grocery store downtown, because they want people to live downtown and shop downtown. This is something we lack in Louisville, a good downtown grocery store (I know partly because I used to live near downtown and have been active in the neighborhood association). Buses, the two plus light rail lines that run through the downtown (with signs in English, Spanish, Chinese, and Vietnamese), and the CalTrain trains that come from San Francisco – along with a maze of freeways that run nearby – bring people in and out of the city. San Jose State has recently built new dorms, including two that tower eight stories over the campus. Along with Portland – which my colleagues and I visited 1 ½ years ago, this is one of the country’s urban development success stories.