A popular vegan pizza shop in downtown San Jose is under new ownership following accusations of sexual assault against the previous owner. San Jose couple Ruth Baker and Wesley Tonascia dipped into their “hard earned savings” to acquire Pizza Flora last month, replacing Ryan Summers, who put the restaurant up for sale after allegations of...
New affordable housing project coming to East San Jose
The overly-concentrated affordable housing market in East San Jose could be getting more than 150 additional units. New plans recommended Wednesday by a city panel call for an estimated 164 low-income apartments spanning a 1.3-acre site in Alum Rock, a neighborhood in East San Jose’s District 5. As part of the project, a vacant 8,200...
Hundreds celebrate the opening of Vietnamese service center in San Jose
Donning traditional áo dài dresses and Vietnamese heritage flag face masks, hundreds of South Bay residents joined county officials Saturday to celebrate the opening of the first-ever Vietnamese American Service Center. Ai Duong Truong came to the event with her friends from the Hội Người Việt Cao Niên San Jose (Vietnamese Senior Group in San...
San Jose business owners, nonprofit help provide COVID relief in Vietnam
As COVID-19 infections engulfed Vietnam and killed 10,000 people in September, two local Vietnamese-American brothers and a nonprofit sprung into action. David Duong, CEO of California Waste Solutions and a community leader in San Jose, has split his time doing business between the South Bay and the Southeast Asian country. A refugee who fled Vietnam as a...
Nora Campos is back: East San Jose leader running for council
More than two dozen supporters cheered Wednesday as veteran San Jose politician Nora Campos launched a run for her former East San Jose council seat. Campos, 56, jumped back into the political fray standing in front of a small Mexican bakery against the backdrop of impending rain. She hasn’t been in elected office since leaving...
‘A historic moment’: Santa Clara County unveils landmark Vietnamese service center
After nearly a decade of planning, the $33-million Vietnamese American Service Center near the heart of San Jose’s Little Saigon will welcome residents in for the first time Saturday. “This is such a huge moment for our community to get a service center that is dedicated to us, especially coming out of COVID,” Christina Johnson,...
San Jose leaders eager to renew special downtown commercial district
A special district that provides extra cleaning and security to downtown San Jose property owners is up for renewal next year, and local stakeholders are eager to keep it running for another decade. San Jose’s downtown property-based improvement district (PBID) expires in December 2022, and the San Jose Downtown Association and local businesses are making...
Two San Jose economies: Downtown tanked, Santana Row thrived
With a lack of tech workers and foot traffic, downtown San Jose became a ghost town during the pandemic, but five miles away high-end Santana Row flourished. These two destinations linked by San Carlos and Stevens Creek boulevards and Interstate 280 are worlds apart socioeconomically and the COVID-19 pandemic made that schism wider. Downtown was hit...
San Jose wants to cut parking spaces in downtown developments
San Jose officials want to cut the level of greenhouse gas emissions downtown. The city’s solution is to eliminate parking space mandates for developers. The downtown area is expected to experience dramatic growth over the next decades, and officials want commuters to lean more toward public transit. City officials are also exploring the use of...
Affordable housing at East San Jose airport? Experts say it’s in the soil
Eighty-two years after Reid-Hillview Airport opened, Santa Clara County supervisors want to shut it down and consider converting it into affordable housing. For decades, advocates and elected officials have pushed to close the airport and rezone the property for housing. But whether that happens depends on the soil’s lead levels. A study commissioned by the...