Unleashing downtown core

I’ve called Naglee Park home for 35 years — and I love downtown SJ. For what it is. For what it was. And — mostly — for what it can be.

Look, it’s easy to rip the downtown core — but during this campaign we need to be looking forward. Not dwell on the past. And focus on jump-starting what should be the most vibrant and family-friendly big-city downtown in the Golden State.

Here’s what we can do:

#1: Remove the barriers to starting and growing a new business in DTSJ.

Some quick ideas:

• More free and easy parking.
• A 3-year suspension of new business licenses and fees in the downtown core — and not just for businesses at previously vacant storefronts
• Enforce blight cleanups for property owners — businesses, homeowners, Union Pacific, and others.

#2: Put city resources to work to give local businesses an extra boost.

How about:

• Sharing market analysis data with local merchants and entrepreneurs.
• A Shop DTSJ incentive plan, which gives people financial rewards and discounts to shop downtown.
• Special outreach to local merchants and contractors for city business.

#3: And don’t forget families — as customers and business owners.

Bars, clubs, and conventions are nice — but downtown should be for San Jose residents, first and foremost. Let’s use our world-class museums — the Children’s Discovery Museum, the Tech, and Museum of Modern Art — as our cornerstones for a downtown that embraces and includes all ages, all incomes, all businesses (and especially immigrant-run ones), and is not just a place to visit, but a place the San Jose Family (and all its family members) can call home.

I have been gladdened and impressed that candidates in the D3 race have put downtown recovery and business at the top of their agendas, and I’m brimming with optimism. If we put creating a vibrant, inviting downtown at the top of our to do list, we can work with the talented teams at City Hall to create the downtown for all of us.

“The lights are much brighter there” :-) Petula Clark Downtown. original version

Irene