San Jose leaders kicked off the new year Tuesday by unanimously approving an accessory dwelling unit amnesty program for residents who need to get a permit for their backyard cottages and get them up to code. The program is one of the final steps in the city’s plan to make accessory dwelling units easier to...

Tucked away into a far corner of the city, the San Jose City Council’s approved Alum Rock Avenue Urban Village project seeks to revitalize a predominantly Latino neighborhood of San Jose. An 87-unit mixed-use affordable housing complex located in the heart of the neighborhood is included in those plans, and that building may soon move...

After San Jose voters in 2018 approved a bond measure for $300 million to “repave streets and potholes in the worst condition,” the city repaved nearly 300 of its 2,400 miles of roadways last year — that’s one out of every eight miles, or more than 12 percent of the total. “We’re paving more than...

Climate activist Greta Thunberg stunned the nation and inspired a generation when she became the youngest person to be named TIME Magazine’s Person of the Year. She was mocked by President Donald Trump, whose campaign photoshopped his face on the cover of the prestigious magazine. The real cover featured the words: “The power of youth.”...

San Jose has fought hard to curb illegal dumping, blight, litter and graffiti in recent years, aided by a city app that launched in 2017 that lets residents report such activities. But two years later, illegal dumping continues to plague the city and enforcement remains difficult. A recent report on the city’s Beautify SJ program...

For the fourth year in a row, less than half of San Jose residents surveyed by the city would rate their quality of life positively or recommend San Jose as a place to live, according to the 2019 National Community Survey. The new report found only 44 percent of those surveyed would recommend San Jose...

San Jose City Council candidate Jenny Higgins Bradanini revealed late Wednesday night that she was involved in a collision that killed a 66-year-old man. “Monday morning in Los Gatos, I was involved in a tragic car accident that resulted in a fatality of a man,” Higgins Bradanini wrote in the email. “I am heartbroken and...

The San Jose City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved the purchase of an apartment complex to convert it to a 100 percent supportive housing development at its last meeting of the year, securing nearly $15 million in funds for the project from Santa Clara County. Mayor Sam Liccardo was absent from Tuesday’s meeting. The councilmembers...

With an eye toward building a more equitable San Jose, the City Council last week re-examined San Jose’s history and discussed racial inequities that have kept hundreds of immigrants — predominantly of Mexican descent — from keeping up economically with white residents. A panel of three top experts on race and equity — Stephen Pitti,...