The crystal balls at San Jose City Hall and elsewhere are just as cloudy as ever these days, but among the many buzzwords that came up at a Future of Downtown San Jose forum hosted by the Silicon Valley Business Journal, “play” was probably repeated the most.
“Live, work and play” is what we want people to do, Mayor Matt Mahan said, but downtown’s post-COVID recovery has reversed that.
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan talks about the successes and challenges of downtown San Jose at a forum hosted by the Silicon Valley Business Journal at the San Jose Marriott on Thursday, March 12, 2026. (Sal Pizarro/Bay Area News Group)
“I think what we’re seeing in the data is that it’s likely ‘play, live work,’ is largely how we’re going to drive a rebound downtown,” Mahan said, describing that “play” factor as the “flywheel” that keeps downtown’s engine going.
Foot traffic data shows that people are going to downtown restaurants, bars, sporting events, festivals and other cultural activities. The hope is that after spending all that time playing downtown — especially in this overheated year of events featuring the Super Bowl, March Madness and FIFA World Cup — those people will want to live there and jobs will come back.
In addition to a stat-filled welcome by Mahan, the forum included two panels on housing and entertainment and hospitality. While office-to-housing conversions are downtown’s flavor of the month at the moment, Urban Catalyst CEO Erik Hayden said costs on everything from construction to permitting to fees remains a primary reason why there aren’t more cranes building housing in downtown San Jose. Why, he wondered, is one of their projects forced to pay a $1 million developer fee to build schools when school districts are closing schools left and right?
Silicon Valley Business Journal Editor in Chief Gary Boulanger, far left, moderates a panel about hospitality and entertainment during the “Future of Downtown” forum at the San Jose Marriott on Thursday, March 12, 2026. The panelists include, from left, Chris Shay, Sharks Sports and Entertainment senior vice president; San Jose Earthquakes President Jared Shawlee; Dave Mulvehill, president of Nuvo Hospitality Group: and Brian Kurtz, CEO of the San Jose Downtown Association. (Sal Pizarro/Bay Area News Group)
The forum on entertainment and hospitality was a bit more optimistic, with Sharks Sports and Entertainment Senior Vice President Chris Shay talking about the planned upgrades to SAP Center and San Jose Earthquakes President Jared Shawlee excited about the potential for concerts at PayPal Park, which will likely start small this year but really take off in summer 2027.
San Jose Downtown Association CEO Brian Kurtz has just been on the job 65 days, but he said it did not take him long to realize downtown San Jose is a special place. “This is a place that has very intentionally, over many years, invested in built environment, invested in infrastructure,” he said. “The base of a world class city is here.”
One issue that both panels couldn’t quite come to consensus on was the age-old question about San Jose’s “brand” and “identity.” Andrew Jacobson, president of U.S. development for Westbank, suggested San Jose’s lack of a well-known brand might actually work in its favor.
“When you look at most big cities in America, for the most part, you know what that word, what that brand is, what that city stands for. So when you go into those cities, you’re looking to make a small impact into a brand that’s already there,” he said. “What’s nice about downtown, especially, is it is open. The path hasn’t been charted yet. And so how do you do that?”
We’ll see, but it sounds like it’ll involve play.
BRIDGING COMMUNITIES: There was good news this week for residents in San Jose’s Evergreen neighborhood, as U.S. Rep. Jimmy Panetta announced $2 million in federal funding to help rebuild the pedestrian bridge connecting Evergreen Valley College and Yerba Buena Road to Park Estate Way. San Jose City Councilmember Domingo Candelas joined Panetta in making the announcement Monday. The project is expected to be completed in late 2028.
“This is not just about the rehabilitation of a bridge, it’s about making sure that our communities are connected,” Panetta said, noting it’ll make it easier for students to get to Evergreen Valley College. “This is about connecting to opportunity.”
CINEQUESTING: Cinequest is closing out the weekend in downtown San Jose in a big way before the festival moves next week to the Alamo Draft House in Mountain View. Friday night marks the return of Silent Cinema, with the original “Ben-Hur” from 1925 playing at the California Theatre, with Dennis James on the Wurlitzer organ. On Saturday, there’s a Maverick Spirit Award doubleheader at the California Theatre. Steve Zahn will be receiving his award following the 2 p.m. screening of his new movie, “She Dances,” and Vivica A. Fox is being awarded after her movie, “Plan C,” at 6:45 p.m.
The full schedule, along with tickets and passes, is available at cinequest.org.
CULTURAL WEEKEND: Emma Prusch Farm Park in San Jose will be filled with music, dance and art this weekend for the 28th annual Mexica New Year Celebration. The Aztec new year festivities run Friday through Sunday at the farm park on Story and King roads. You can get more information at www.aztecadancers.com.
And you may have noticed a lot of green signs — and closed streets — around downtown San Jose lately. A lot of that is for Nvidia GTC, the big tech conference taking place next week. But Saturday morning, some of that green and those signs will be for the annual Shamrock Run, which benefits the San Jose-Dublin Sister City Committee’s programs. You still register at www.sanjoseshamrockrun.com.