Reawakening Public Life
San José’s civic commons 2021 in pictures
The past year has served to reconfirm the importance of a robust, nature-rich public realm that is welcoming to all. From health and wellbeing to environmental and economic resiliency, our parks, trails, libraries and community centers are critical civic infrastructure that provide multi-faceted benefits for communities. Today, the ninth in our series of photo essays reflecting on public space efforts in cities across the country, features the civic commons work in San José.
A Parking Lot Becomes a Pocket Park
After 8 months of construction, the SoFA Pocket Park opened in June 2021. This activation, a partnership between the San Jose Downtown Association, the Property-Based Improvement District (PBID) and Veggielution, completely transformed a 7,000 sq. ft. surface parking lot in the South First Area (SoFA) downtown art district into a beautiful, lively, bright and colorful space. Prior to the construction the site was underutilized with challenges including trespassing, quality of life issues like illegal dumping, as well as health and cleanliness issues.
Split into two sides, the newly opened SoFA Pocket Park is part dog park and part demonstration garden, powered by Veggielution, a local community farming nonprofit. The Park is also complete with decorative string lights, benches and a beautiful multi-piece mural.
Taking a Collaborative Approach to Activation
SoFA Pocket Park features murals painted by local artists, and programs and events designed in collaboration with nearby arts organizations to actively engage local residents, schools, nonprofits, and businesses. The goal is to impact the SoFA district in a way that is more inclusive for all residents, while influencing the long-term trajectory of community benefits in current and future San José development.
On August 1, 2021 Veggielution celebrated the opening of the SoFA Pocket Park Demonstration Garden. The opening was part of a larger event, “fEAST on First,” that included Veggielution’s annual fundraising dinner. The gourmet dinner was prepared by local East San José Chefs Jessica Carreira and David Costa of Adega with fresh ingredients from the farm and other local producers. Event partners on the block included Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana (MACLA), San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles (SJMQT) and Institute of Contemporary Art San Jose (ICASJ). All three museums were open for a couple of hours during the event for a private showing for event guests.
Daily, dogs from the SoFA district and surrounding neighborhoods come to the SoFA Pocket park for a little play. An added benefit to the neighborhood is that pet owners now have a clean and safe place for their dogs to go to the restroom, instead of using downtown’s sidewalks and tree wells.
In-Person Programming and Play Returns
Meanwhile, 2021 meant the reopening of the beloved Rotary PlayGarden in Guadalupe River Park. After being closed for 10 months due to COVID-19 restrictions, the space welcomed back more than 800 visitors in its first weekend in January. After offering a variety of virtual programs throughout the pandemic, including Virtual Field Trips that touched more than 1,000 students, Guadalupe River Park Conservancy’s Education Team was able to host its 2021 summer camp in-person. Camp Guadalupe reconnected campers to nature and taught everything from chemistry, through tie-dye shirt activities, to botany, through examining roses in the Heritage Rose Garden, to cartography. While fall brought back the always popular Pumpkins in the Park festival with 800 pumpkins distributed and more than 5,000 people in attendance.
An Expanding Art Walk
“The Guadalupe River Trail is truly one of the most beautiful places in San José and I was very fortunate to paint there. From biking to bird watching, the trail has so much to offer our city. The playful characters are my way of inviting the public down to the trail and to encourage them to enjoy it for themselves.” — Artist in residence Kristina Micotti
Launched by Guadalupe River Park Conservancy and San Jose Walls in 2020, the Guadalupe River Art Walk initiative is an artist-in-residency program to connect people to place through public art. In 2021, it expanded the art walk to showcase the diverse creative community and underrepresented narratives in downtown San José’s largest parkland.
“This powerful mural not only tells our story, it also amplifies our VOICES in a beautifully visual way. It yells out we “were” here, we “are” here, and we “will always” be here.” — Charlene Nijmeh, Chairwoman of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area on the “WE ARE MUWEKMA OHLONE” mural by Alfonso Salazar.
From a sense of whimsy to a sense of belonging, the power of art in public spaces is palpable.
A Culture of Caring
The enduring work of the Guadalupe River Park Conservancy is founded on the legacy and ongoing dedication of our volunteers, community champions, and River Park stewards over the years, and 2021 was no different. Regular trail cleanups, Heritage Rose Garden workdays, and Historic Orchard Workdays at the Guadalupe River Park all made comebacks in early 2021, with many new and returning volunteers helping to revitalize the trail, park, and gardens.
In March, San José launched Resilience Corps, a program designed to help young adults gain living-wage employment and work experience opportunities while giving back to their community. The Guadalupe River Park Conservancy is hosting six of these young adults, who are working to help beautify and maintain the park.
Along with the Resilience Corps, the Conservancy piloted a park stewardship and workforce development program with Valley Water, Downtown Streets Team, and the San Jose Conservation Corps + Charter School. Five days a week, a partner team or a group of volunteers removes trash, maintains the trails, and conducts outreach to unhoused residents. The goal of this pilot program is to provide solutions that focus on shared civic desires, ecological stewardship, and economic opportunity while supporting the park, encouraging volunteerism, developing skills for youth, and providing work opportunities for unhoused residents. As a microcosm of the greatest opportunities and challenges of the region, the Guadalupe River Park provides an opportunity to pursue innovative partnerships to mitigate homelessness. The Conservancy is working with the Mayor’s Office and the City of San José on plans for an emergency homeless housing project, located near the Guadalupe River Park. The proposal connects temporary housing options for unhoused residents with employment opportunities to maintain and steward the park.
Community in the Streets
Viva CalleSJ returned in 2021 bigger and better than ever with two events back-to-back on September 19th and November 7th. Both events brought in more than 100,000 attendees of all-ages to over 6 miles of closed city streets, parks and plazas. Guadalupe River Park’s Arena Green was activated during the September Viva CalleSJ with a wide array of activities from bicycle demos to free community resources. Viva CalleSJ is a free program that temporarily closes miles of San Jose streets to bring communities together to walk, bike, skate, play, and explore the city like never before.
Reimagining the Civic Commons is a collaboration of The JPB Foundation, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, William Penn Foundation, and local partners.
