Always excited about HSR, even though it’s many years away… 
I set up a Redfin search around San Jose Diridion station last night. If done right that area could become the SOMA of San Jose. And there is already a Whole Foods there! However, houses are already quite expensive there. Plus, the stretch between Diridion and SJ downtown is quite a long walk, with nothing in between.
The long promised revival of SJ downtown is still some ways off…
Manch,
I always wondered why San Jose in general has lagged behind for so long. The weather is good, it is close to SV and you can find decent sized houses with parking. I mean, what more do you really need? I get it there isn’t much to do there yet, but still…
I am afraid SJ will lag even more in the next 10 or so years. The hardware and semiconductor sector is moving en masse to China I think. The once mighty Intel is laying off left and right.
Now that I have a saved search around SJ downtown I am surprised to see some hundred year old houses asking for 1M+, San Francisco style. I have high hopes for the HSR, hopefully it gets built on time…
I wish the Giants would let the A’s move to SJ. There’s land right near Diridon for it. They have private financing to build the stadium.
Downtown SJ has improved a lot over the last few years. I moved there 5 years ago. It’s becoming a hub for restaurants. There’s a ton of new construction(almost all rentals) that’ll double the population downtown. They need to work on getting retail into the area. They also need to clean up SJ James park. It’s so overrun with homeless people. That park is huge and could be amazing for downtown residents. You see a ton of dogs being walked downtown. They need a real dog park.
Absolutely! That park is real nice, if not for the homeless taking up every single bench.
The stretch of Santa Clara St between Pavilion and downtown downtown is kinda dead though. If they cleaned that up, put some restaurants there, or some mid-rises good looking office buildings, I can see the potentials.
How about the high rises they are putting up there? Do people like living there? Mostly millennials with no kids?
St James Park in San Jose reminds me of the Panhandle in SF, by the way. And the panhandle is one of the priciest areas in SF. I don’t remember if they have benches in the panhandle, but I don’t recall seeing many homeless people there…
The new high rises are filling up with renters. I don’t think they have any first floor businesses yet. Downtown is an odd mix of young people and empty nesters. You do see some people with kids.
I agree on needing to build up that area. They need some mid or high rise office space. They shouldn’t build it for 1 company to occupy the whole building. They should set it up to be subdivided for startups. They need to cater office space to that community, because there are a lot of young people downtown. Plus, caltrain is right there. I think Oracle dropped the ball with the old BEA building. That could have been a huge hub for startups. It was empty for a long-time until PWC moved in. I think they only have half of it.
I must say, I have changed my stand on that and would support the A’s move to SJ. It is pathetic to see how poor the turnout is at A’s games but also how the owner does not invest in players long term. The cycle just repeats itself. Perhaps at one time, the Giants had a slight legitimate reason to hold on to that notion that they own the territory rights to SJ but let’s be honest the Giants are entrenched solidly with a rapid local fan base that they would not be hurt by the presence of the A’s in SJ. If anything, the Giants are so financially strong that aren’t they in the planning stages to build out that parking area behind the stadium? Too much money to make to worry about the A’s in SJ.
Has anybody actually been to Bakersfield? Why would anyone want to go there? Is this for commuters from Bakersfield?
They’re just meeting at the middle. Bakersfield is a waypoint for LA.
If they have settled on a waypoint to nowhere, why not just go to San Jose and use local mass transit from there…But no one will use the Bakersfield run. So until there is a train from SJ to downtown LA it will remain riderless and profitless…
It’ll always be profitless. Most public transportation fares cover <50% of operation costs. They cover 0% of capital costs. Those are covered by tax payers.
Hey, somebody gets it.
Not only are the capital costs covered by the taxpayers, but the non-fare portion of the operating costs. Hey, how do you think those lucky public transit employees can get those 2.5%@62 or better, defined benefit pensions plus health care for life?
You should be so lucky!
But, if you listen to the public transit advocates, it’s nirvana. It solves every problem from air pollution, to traffic congestion, to mobility for the poor and the elderly. Just don’t mention the real cost, whatever you do or the power of the public sector employees. Cost just doesn’t matter when one speaks of government programs. As long as somebody else pays.
Well now, I’m not particularly fond of Bakersfield other than Buck Owens produced several of my favorite country artists right there in his studios along with a genre of country music known as “the Bakersfield sound”.
But, in its defense some 360,000+ souls call Bakersfield home in a county with almost 900,000 people. So, there must be something there. It really is more than a wide spot in the road. My farm family relatives from the southern SJ valley often travel to Bakersfield to pick up supplies that aren’t available locally in Visalia.
I have a part ownership in 40 arces in the city limits of Bakersfield. …Wanna buy it? Zoned for 240 lots…still pretty much worthless…Hoping to get $20k per lot…worth $60k lot in 2006…
40 acres is too small for a dairy farm. Family owns 10,000+ acres. They wouldn’t be interested. 
Say, do you have the mineral rights?
Caltrain gets approval for electrication. Another small step towards high speed rail?
http://www.sfexaminer.com/sf-approves-agreement-caltrain-electrification/
I lived there for a summer - it’s not AS awful as people make it out to be - most SF peeps only see the areas near the highway in route to Las Vegas but if you go in a little to the more suburby areas it’s quite cute, I agree though I’d never want to live there just because not much to do even though you’re driving distance away from a lot of things
If people are willing to live in Manteca and drive to bay for work, why not live in Stockton or Merced or even Bakersfield and take HSR to work? Yes, the last mile could be tricky. But if they work in downtown SF for example public transit is pretty dense and semi adequate. Totally beats driving for 4 hours everyday.
The housing market will have a fundamental shift.
Finally, BART inches closer to be a true circular transportation system in the Bay Area…
http://www.mercurynews.com/mr-roadshow/ci_30255187/bart-san-jose-gets-funding-promise?source=JPopUp