“Experience economy” may bolster post-COVID downtown San Jose recovery

SAN JOSE — Unique experiences can pave a path for downtown San Jose to fully recover from its coronavirus-spawned economic maladies, in the view of the city’s mayor.

Mayor Matt Mahan offered the assessment Thursday evening while visiting a “block party” in the Fountain Alley section of downtown San Jose’s historic district.

“We are seeing a real rebound in downtown San Jose, and it’s being driven by what I like to call the experience economy,” Mayor Mahan said in an interview with this news organization during the block party event.

This week’s block party was the first of a series of such monthly events being held around the city’s urban core this spring, summer and fall to encourage economic activity in downtown San Jose.

Many office workers remain absent from San Jose’s urban core as well as many downtown districts nationwide and in the Bay Area, which has forced the South Bay’s largest city to scramble to find ways to replace that traditional source of economic activity.

“People are hungry for community, they want opportunities to gather face-to-face and enjoy unique experiences together,” Mahan said.

The balm for downtown San Jose’s lingering post-COVID afflictions might include experiences such as comedy clubs, live theaters, performance halls, restaurants, nightclubs and unique venues such as Urban Putt, a miniature golf outlet that has been open for a few months in the Paseo de San Antonio.

“Downtown is open for business,” San Jose City Councilmember Omar Torres, whose district includes the downtown, said during the block party event.

The Urban Vibrancy Institute is organizing block parties in different neighborhoods of downtown San Jose. The first one was Thursday night in Fountain Alley within San Jose’s Historic District along South First Street, East Santa Clara Street, South Second Street and East San Fernando Street.

“This event is going to help 65 businesses here in the Historic District,” Gary Dillabough, a partner with real estate firm Urban Community and an active developer in downtown San Jose, said during the block party.

Other block parties are slated to occur each month with events in the SoFA district, San Pedro Square, Paseo de San Antonio, Little Italy, and wrapping up at City Hall.

“This is a strategic investment towards economic growth when we hold these events,” said Leah Toeniskoetter, president and chief executive officer of the San Jose Chamber of Commerce.

The Urban Vibrancy Institute and San Jose political and business leaders hope that safety, cleanliness and more engaging activities and venues will be the keys to success in the downtown in the absence of many office workers.

Plus, it’s also possible that heightened economic activity in downtown San Jose might also help to improve safety in the urban core.

“We are part of the safety component” for the downtown, San Jose Acting Police Chief Paul Joseph said during the block party. “We know that bringing more of the community into our downtown means less demand for our services.”

Visits to downtown San Jose have soared over the last year, providing a welcome counterpart to the forbidding economic trends that bedeviled the Bay Area in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

“Downtown San Jose is is seeing an uptick,” Councilmember Torres said. “We are recovering.”

Oakland’s downtown also saw a jump in visitors — but San Francisco stumbled with a plunge in visitors.

San Jose’s 28.2% jump in downtown visits ranked 8th best in North America, according to a new School of Cities report produced by the University of Toronto, which analyzed cell phone data to determine visitor totals in 64 downtown districts in the U.S. and Canada.

“Momentum is being driven by placemakers and facilitating those unique social experiences that people want to enjoy, especially after the pandemic,” Mayor Mahan said.