It’s the holiday season in Silicon Valley: what to do? 

The downtown San Jose Holiday Parade is always the first Sunday in December (mark your calendars!), following one day after the downtown Los Gatos Holiday Parade, which is always the first Saturday in December.  (This year, 2009, it’s December 6th.)  Yesterday I stumbled upon a website dedicated to the San Jose parade and learned that you can find info on it on Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter.

There’s lots to do in downtown San Jose during the holidays. This year, in addition to Christmas in the Park  (runs to Jan. 1st) and Winter Wonderland, there are performances of The Nutcracker to be enjoyed, courtesy of Ballet San Jose (the 30th anniversary of that production and Christmas in the Park here, by the way).  Ice skate between the palms at Downtown Ice, which runs through January 18th this year (2009). 

The Cathedral Basilica of St Joseph (Roman Catholic) offers free musical events in mid to late December as well, and all are welcome. This is the 8th annual “Season of Hope” series.   Concerts are every night beginning December 12th and running through December 23rd, with performances at 7pm and 8pm.  The Cathedral’s website does not list the dates of particular performers, but the Valley Catholic newspaper does (a couple of the links show up as “tiny urls” instead of names, but most performers are listed).

Although it’s not a Christmas, Hanukkah or NewYear’s theme, it’s worth a mention that the Tech Museum of Innovation is hosting a fabulous Star Trek Exhibit  right now too. There’s an enormous display,called “Star Trek The Exhibition”, a couple of rides (extra cost),  plus you can view Star Trex IMAX in the theater (also an extra cost).

Visit the Farmer’s Market year-round on Fridays at San Pedro Square.

There’s lots to do in Silicon Valley through the month of December - this is just the tip of the holiday iceburg!

For things to do in Los Gatos this month, please see this post on my Live in Los Gatos blog. Holiday Events in Los Gatos for 2009.

For more things to do in and around Silicon Valley over the holidays, please check out these links:

Santa Clara Chamber of Commerce’s blog
Downtown Campbell
Milpitas Chamber of Commerce

Yesterday I attended a property inspection in San Jose and we found an unwanted resident in the garage: a black widow spider. In case you haven’t seen one, I thought I’d share the pic here (photo courtesy of home inspector Duane Serrano of Tri Star Inspections).

Needless to say, she’s not there anymore!

The Tapestry Arts Festival is an annual Labor Day tradition in downtown San Jose. Check out the website for details, whether you’re a vendor or a patron:

Http://www.TapestryArts.org

Below, enjoy a few pics I took of our time there on Monday:

Many thanks to all the vendors, musicians, volunteers, sponsors and organizers who made this such a great event!

During the fabulous Obon Festival in July, my husband and I popped into Wunderboy Glass and Mechanica in Japantown (San Jose) and happened upon them doing live glassblowing. The photos below were from that day, July 12th. Pics weren’t planned so were taken with my treo - quality not the best but hope you enjoy them nonetheless!

Today I got an email from them, stating that Wunderboy Glass and Mechanica is hosting a live glassblowing this Friday evening at 8pm; it will be hosted at Art Object Gallery in Japantown - a great area full of shops and restaurants, so go early and enjoy a meal in the neighborhood first. (Address: 592 North Fifth Street San Jose, CA 95112) Since we enjoyed watching them, I wanted to let you know about it too.

Additionally, Also on friday evening, in the Art Object Annex Gallery, you will also be able to see and purchase our glass work along with work by some of the South Bay Areas best known artists. Pieces by Luis Gutierrez, Reid Winfrey, Sara Cole, Joe Sax, Randy Shiroma, Ken Matsumoto, Mario Uribe and Rachel Lazo.

You will also have the opportunity to preview work bymembers of the Women’s Caucus for Art, whose opening will occur on Saturday from 6-9pm in the Art Object Main Gallery.  If you’re anywhere in Silicon Valley, this is a worthwhile event!

Although Ashland, Oregon, is the west coast Shakespeare magnet, there are many places in the San Francisco Bay Area that offer top notch performances of William Shakespeare’s most beloved plays.  If you’ve never enjoyed these series, do check them out!

Los Gatos: The Los Gatos Shakespeare Festival (happening now, mid July - early August, featuring both A Midsummer Night’s Dream and the Merry Wives of Windsor).

Santa Cruz: Shakespeare Santa Cruz (July 31 - Aug 30, current offerings are Julius Caesar and Midsummer Night’s Dream)

San Francisco: San Francisco Shakespeare Festival - midnight Shakespeare, a special effort of professional theater instructors and inner city, “at risk” youth to bring Shakespeare to school kids and their communities. Ongoing - check the site for their schedule.

San Jose: San Jose Youth Shakespeare presents Julius Caesar in mid-August.

Berkeley: California Shakespeare Theater

Already passed, but make a note for next year:

Menlo Park: Annual Midpeninsula Shakespeare Festival (June)

A newer “mixed use” neighborhood in San Jose, Santana Row is popular with people of all ages and interests.  It is not just a “shopping center”, but is really a community, one which offers a wide variety of dining, shopping and entertainment, suitable for all kinds of budgets too. Best of all, it’s right in the heart of Silicon Valley.

Dining at Santana Row varies from very formal and expensive to casual and snack-like, and the type of food available ranges widely too.  A fairly new addition is Pinkberry, which seems to be growing quickly in popularity.  There are about thirty cafes, bistros and restaurants and to date I’ve probably visited about one-third of them - all experiences positive.

Entertainment at SR goes beyond window shopping and includes live music and, of course, films at the movie theater. Many chose to simply peoplewatch, take in a good book or catch a game of chess with a friend while enjoying a beverage.  A Farmer’s Market features produce, flowers and other goods each week (and there’s a Safeway just a block or two away also) and is a good excuse to browse the offerings. Or maybe splurge a little and enjoy some pampering at a spa or salon: Santana Row’s got that, too.

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We may be in a recession with 11% local unemployment, but affordable homes are getting scooped up with multiple offers and in many areas, inventory is shrinking.

Today we’ll look at five areas of San Jose which offer at least some, if not mostly, entry level housing: Blossom Valley, Cambrian Park, Evergreen, Santa Teresa and South San Jose.

Evergreen does have some high-end housing in Silver Creek and elsewhere, but it also provides some very affordable homes for first time home buyers.  Cambrian Park is mostly middle class but it, too, has some McMansions (original Cambrian Park tract with large lots and very old homes that are not infrequently bulldozed) and some homes with views (Vista Loop area, bordering Los Gatos and Almaden Valley).  Blossom Valley has some beautiful properties and many close to thecenics Santa Teresa Foothills.  Overall, though, these homes represent affordable or mid-range houses for sale in Silicon Valley.  When we look at them as a group, it gives a strong sense of what the market is doing generally.

The months of inventory reflect how long it would take the current inventory to be absorbed (or sold off) if no new inventory came on the market and sales continued at the current pace.  Six months is a balanced market.  Fewer represents a seller’s market and more reflects a buyer’s market.  As you can see, April shows a push in all five districts of San Jose into seller’s territory:

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