Environment

Environment

UPDATE: San Jose council keeps Coyote Valley as open space

“Amazon-style” warehouses won’t be in the future of San Jose’s Coyote Valley for now, as the city plans to preserve 314 acres of green space, marking a victory for local environmentalists. The San Jose City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to rezone portions of the valley south of the city from industrial use to agricultural and...

San Jose residents demand better care of Tamien Park

After more than three decades fighting for a public park, residents in a struggling San Jose neighborhood got one. But three weeks later, the grass withered and turned brown. The Tamien Park Soccer Field opened in early June in the city’s low-income Guadalupe-Washington neighborhood. Just three weeks later, the park had fallen into a state...

Electric leaf blower pilot program powers up in San Jose

Gas-powered leaf blowers could disappear from San Jose, two years before they stop being sold in California. An electric leaf blower pilot program launched on Friday aims to decrease the noise and air pollution generated by gas-powered blowers. The idea was developed in close partnership with San Jose Councilmember Matt Mahan‘s office and residents of...

Legal woes still halt San Jose park revitalization

A lawsuit continues to obstruct plans to breathe life into a troubled park in downtown San Jose. Local residents approached a national foundation nearly a decade ago with an idea to build an outdoor music venue at St. James Park, with the hopes it would turn the space into an iconic downtown destination. But as...

Thousands of San Jose residents behind on water bills

The number of San Jose homes and businesses with overdue water bills spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic, and many could see their taps run dry when the state ban on water shutoffs ends in December. At least 1,160 customers have unpaid bills totaling a combined $1.1 million with the San Jose Municipal Water System as...

San Jose still in negotiations for purified water project

San Jose and the Santa Clara Valley Water District pumped the brakes earlier this year on a plan to purify and recycle more water in the city. Since then, progress has slowed to a trickle. On Wednesday, members of the city’s Rules and Open Government Committee decided to select a third party to facilitate negotiations between the...

Will San Jose’s Vietnamese Heritage Garden ever blossom?

When a group of Vietnamese leaders came up with the idea of a heritage garden almost 40 years ago, the vision was grand. The Viet Heritage Garden in San Jose was supposed to be a cultural oasis featuring mini-replicas of different historical Vietnamese landmarks, a reflection pond and a pathway to a community center. Today, the garden...