Weaving new opportunities: San José’s 2020 in pictures
Revitalizing public spaces in a year when the community needed them more than ever
Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Reimagining the Civic Commons cities found unique and safe ways to encourage the use of public spaces at a time when members of their communities needed connection more than ever. Today, our second in a series of photo essays celebrating public space efforts in cities across the country features San José, Calif.
During a period of unprecedented growth, the San José team is focused on transforming Guadalupe River Park, downtown’s north-south greenway, and Santa Clara Street, downtown’s east-west gateway in order to position the city to realize the full potential of its downtown urban public spaces — with public life as the lead redevelopment strategy.
Connecting art and nature
POW! WOW! San Jose and the non-profit Guadalupe River Park Conservancy have teamed up to create the Guadalupe River Art Walk, with a long-term goal of creating the Bay Area’s longest public art corridor. This initiative brings the experience of a global public art movement into one of San José’s most unique natural assets, right in the city’s core: the Guadalupe River Park. In order to introduce dynamic contemporary art and highlight existing art, Guadalupe River Park will act as a “nature studio,” hosting a series of artist-in-residencies over the course of a year, giving visitors a combined experience of public art and parks.
The first artist-in-residence, Roan Victor, just completed her mural titled “Flow of Life.” The vibrant new mural is located over the Guadalupe River on Woz Way and is accessible for the public to view.
To further develop the community’s interaction with arts and nature, each residency will also have a community engagement component, including a public meeting, class with the artist or artwork park signage.
Developing public space advocates
A class of 14 urban planning graduate students at San José State University spent the fall 2020 semester contributing research to the city’s Reimagining the Civic Commons efforts. The team focused primarily on Guadalupe River Park and began by observing the physical conditions of the park and surveying park users. Even though the surveys were conducted under challenging conditions — including the pandemic and wildfire smoke — 150 people in the park responded to the surveys with valuable feedback.
Throughout this process the students were able to spend considerable amount of time in the park observing people’s interactions and use of the park. The students also completed interviews with park users who were able to share their concerns, challenges and wishes for the space. The findings were aggregated by the students into a research report, with key recommendations to enhance the river park and address safety concerns.
Volunteers respond to maintenance demands
Debris and trash continue to be a challenge for urban parks in San José. Unfortunately, the Guadalupe River Park has become a place for illegal dumping of waste and large items. These items block access to our trails and have caused considerable issues with sanitation and pollution within the river. Nevertheless, the park has been supported throughout the year by dedicated volunteers who tirelessly clean up the park by removing trash from the riverbanks. Volunteers from South Bay Clean Creeks Coalition, UC Master Gardeners of Santa Clara County and Guadalupe River Park Conservancy played a critical role in maintaining this public space.
Wildlife returns
Although Guadalupe River Park has seen a decline in people visiting the park due to the pandemic, there have been some bright spots as new types of visitors have started to access the space. We have seen an increase in native species from birds to carp fish reentering the urban park. The natural ecology of the river park is a critical component of San José’s Reimagining the Civic Commons efforts and it has been a source of joy to see habitats thriving in the space this year.
Next up: Macon, Ga.
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.
