Some readers may have visited Grand Central Terminal in New York City or taken the Eurostar train from the grand St. Pancras Station in London, Englad to Gare du Nord in Paris, France. The excitement of travel and the awe inspiring sense of place and of history is an invaluable part of life more people should experience. Such locations exist all over the world from India to Japan.
San Jose is ready to be such a destination and transit point. In recent years, Silicon Valley's center of gravity has shifted south from Palo Alto to San Jose, and nothing evokes this more than the news that the grandfather of Silicon Valley, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, will be moving its world headquarters from Palo Alto to North San Jose later this year. This comes on the heels of news Google is now in the planning stages for development of a mega transit village centered on Diridon Station in the core of San Jose. Expect many more announcements of this type in coming months as other smaller tech players follow such anchoring companies to San Jose.
Will this mean San Jose automatically develops in a way that is favorable to pedestrian friendly access to downtown neighborhoods and transit becomes a more dominant mode of transportation for the South Bay? No, the only way this will occur is through the efforts of grass roots organizations, neighborhood associations, business leadership, and government agencies working together.
I ran across a few interesting foregleams of what an integrated transit network in the Bay Area might look like. The first one is from the Future Travel site Bay Area 2050. Related visions for integrated bay area transit are SPUR's map for what the entire metro area transit map may look like Potential Bay Area Transit Network Map and an easy to understand integrated map of all area rail transit options Bay Area Rail Map.
Still, even if most or all of the area planned transit extensions occur, my focus is on how development of central downtown San Jose is developed in a way which inspires awe and imbues our spirits with inspiration. Look for more articles further expanding on this and providing images and video from current terminals around the world.
San Jose is the capital of the world's technology sector, and it is high time we apply innovation and futuristic solutions as we create a world class destination California can be proud of.
Thursday, March 29, 2018
Friday, March 9, 2018
Planning underway for a San Jose Train Day on May 12, 2018
San Jose Transit community organization is in the early stages of brainstorming and planning to hold an event celebrating rail transportation and trains on Saturday, May 12, 2018 at a location downtown near Diridon Station.
From 2008 to 2015, Amtrak held events all over the nation celebrating the anniversary of the golden spike nailed into the track connecting the transcontinental railroad. National Train Day was used by Amtrak and affiliated rail museums to build community knowledge of and excitement for train travel. Due to funding cuts at Amtrak, that organization discontinued National Train Day.
It is our hope we can not only start an annual San Jose Train Day to educate the community about local rail, but we'll be investigating how to collaborate with associated events around California and the nation.
Here's a brief write up in Wikipedia about the history of National Train Day
If you know of someone who is interested in the history of trains and train travel, please have them email us at sanjoserail@gmail.com
Depending on the level of interest and organizing we're able to achieve, we may hold the event later in the summer. Follow this blog to receive updates.
From 2008 to 2015, Amtrak held events all over the nation celebrating the anniversary of the golden spike nailed into the track connecting the transcontinental railroad. National Train Day was used by Amtrak and affiliated rail museums to build community knowledge of and excitement for train travel. Due to funding cuts at Amtrak, that organization discontinued National Train Day.
It is our hope we can not only start an annual San Jose Train Day to educate the community about local rail, but we'll be investigating how to collaborate with associated events around California and the nation.
Here's a brief write up in Wikipedia about the history of National Train Day
If you know of someone who is interested in the history of trains and train travel, please have them email us at sanjoserail@gmail.com
Depending on the level of interest and organizing we're able to achieve, we may hold the event later in the summer. Follow this blog to receive updates.
Thursday, March 8, 2018
Introduction to a world class transit hub in San Jose
The purpose of this blog is to share information, pictures, video and helpful links for anyone interested in the upcoming major redevelopment projects in San Jose centered on Diridon Station. Currently, Diridon Station serves as a major hub for several transportation links including Amtrak, Caltrain, VTA Light Rail, and ACE.
Near future plans include BART service extended to Diridon Station and a major station upgrade in support of the nation's first truly high speed rail service connecting Northern and Southern California.
This is an exciting time for San Jose--the de facto capital and gateway to Silicon Valley as Google is moving forward with a major real estate project to build a transit-centered village with office towers in the neighborhoods adjacent to Diridon Station. With the addition of Google, High Speed Rail, and BART, Diridon Station neighborhoods are poised for a thrilling and dramatic trip upward as a world class destination.
If interested in hearing more about the specific topic of Diridon Station plans and more generally about San Jose area transit, please follow this blog. We'll be providing more social media links in coming days.
Near future plans include BART service extended to Diridon Station and a major station upgrade in support of the nation's first truly high speed rail service connecting Northern and Southern California.
This is an exciting time for San Jose--the de facto capital and gateway to Silicon Valley as Google is moving forward with a major real estate project to build a transit-centered village with office towers in the neighborhoods adjacent to Diridon Station. With the addition of Google, High Speed Rail, and BART, Diridon Station neighborhoods are poised for a thrilling and dramatic trip upward as a world class destination.
If interested in hearing more about the specific topic of Diridon Station plans and more generally about San Jose area transit, please follow this blog. We'll be providing more social media links in coming days.
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