Update

Downtown West Event Recap

Jul 05, 2021

On Saturday, June 26, we celebrated the beginning of summer and the ability to gather in person again by supporting two events with several nonprofit partners.

In the morning, South Bay Clean Creeks Coalition (SBCCC) drew in nearly 40 volunteers, cleaning up a section of Los Gatos Creek under the San Fernando bridge. We hauled away two truckloads of trash in under two hours!

In the afternoon, Local Color and Valley Verde welcomed over 120 community members to enjoy live music from the SJZ Boombox Truck, free tacos from Vegan Veganos and celebrated the mural inside Valley Verde by local muralist Mario Dimas.

The Downtown West team debuted a self-guided walking tour with a take home map and viewfinder that you can look through to bring the project renderings to life. The walking tour guides you through various parts of the Downtown West site including stops at the San Jose Water Company building, a City landmark that will be incorporated into the Gateway. Other tour stops included the Creekside Walk which will be an area focused on access to nature and environmental education, and the Meander which will be a social gathering spot with shops, restaurants, and places to learn and experience art and culture.

Thank you to the community organizers; SBCCC, Valley Verde, Local Color and everyone who came out on Saturday. We look forward to seeing you at the next engagement event!

If you’d like to learn more about the nonprofit event hosts please visit their websites:

sbcleancreeks.com

valleyverde.org

localcolorsj.org

Image Carousel

  • City of San Jose garbage truck with piles of broken bike parts and trash bags collected from the creek clean up.

    Dozens of broken bicycles and scooters were found in the creek along with trash items.

  • A mural of people harvesting vegetables.

    Part of the mural at Valley Verde by local artist, Mario Dimas.

  • Seven people playing musical instruments on a stage.

    Latin Rhythm Boys provided live music on the San Jose Jazz Boombox Truck.

  • People lined up in front of the taco food truck.

    Guests received a taco plate by Vegan Vaganos, a plant-based food truck.

  • Adults and children painting an interactive mural of a map of San Jose.

    Community members painted an interactive mural, a map of San José.

  • Two people looking at viewfinders and holding up a map of the project site. One person looking off into the distance.

    Two people on the walking tour stop to look into the viewfinder at the Downtown West renderings.