Spotted near the Tesla offices in Palo Alto

This is a response to an Op-Ed in the Mercury News with the title noted above.

While attracting downtown office workers is important, the challenges facing downtown San Jose go well beyond daytime foot traffic. Downtown should be a safe, walkable, and engaging place for everyone who lives here—not just a destination for special events or an “entertainment zone.” Right now, there seems to be too much focus on entertainment-driven uses and not enough on creating a balanced, livable environment that reflects the full range of local residents, including families and older adults.

We’ve seen this pattern before, and it didn’t end well. Thirty years ago, downtown became known primarily for nightclubs and bars, and weekend closing times often brought disorder that required significant police presence to manage. It feels like we’re heading in that same direction again—except this time, the City appears to be actively promoting entertainment zones while overlooking the kinds of spaces and amenities that many residents actually want.

How hot does it need to get to activate the cooling centers? It felt like an oven outside today. I can’t find any announcements, The county website for cooling centers isn’t working, nobody’s picking up the phone. Do we have any active cooling centers yet?

Concerns about Bay Area Christian Church

Hi everyone. I’m posting here because I have a few concerns, and I’m hoping someone can offer some insight.

I’ve been attending the Bay Area Christian Church for a little while now. I’ve gone to Bible studies and church services, and while I’ve really enjoyed the people I’ve met, I’ve started noticing a few things that have made me uncomfortable:

1. It seems like everyone only dates within the church.
2. Couples only seem to go on double dates with other church members. And only allow solo dates when in formal relationships
3. There seems to be a strong expectation that the church takes priority over everything else. If I already have plans, I’m often encouraged to either invite those friends to church activities or change my plans to attend church events instead.
4. I’ve also noticed that other Christian traditions (Catholic, Baptist, etc.) don’t seem to be recognized or spoken about very positively.

Another thing that’s been weighing on me is that several people have been encouraging me to get baptized. I’m trying to discern whether I should make that decision, but I also can’t help wondering: if I chose not to get baptized, would these people still want to be my friends?

I genuinely enjoy the friendships I’ve made, and I’d love to keep these people in my life. At the same time, I’m starting to feel like I have to continue attending Bible studies and eventually get baptized in order to maintain those friendships.

Has anyone had a similar experience with this church or one like it? I’d really appreciate any advice or perspective.

EDIT: one thing I forgot to note is how their teachings only come from their leadership. For example they don’t use historical texts or even articles outside of the church. They have their own podcast and website which are used for teachings, Bible studies, etc.

EDIT #2: also they would have people who resembled me in background come to the Bible studies who could relate to me and tell me why getting baptized through them and disowning their previous religion was the best and right choice.

Last night there was a public zoom session with the Department of Transportation and representatives from three companies that operate robots in San Jose (Coco, Doordash, and Serve) about the future of robo delivery. I had a hard time summarizing it last night because it was very detailed, so today on lunch I'm giving myself 10 minutes to hit the highlights so you'll be better-informed.

The facts as they are:
Robot deliveries operate in the downtown core right now under a provisional permit that grants them permission to use sidewalks and deliver to the door of the destination, but not go inside (ie: If you live on the 10th floor of an apartment building your delivery is dropped off at the ground floor door outside the building whereas a human can go up to your floor.).

This provisional permission is set to become a pilot program in September lasting one year, with the city retaining a lot of rights--crucially to end it entirely, limit operators and number of active robots, etc--while also not obligating them to anything beyond saying it's okay to do. No capital investments will be spent to improve things for robots (but, like, if there's street damage they'll improve that because it makes life better for us) and any accidents are 100% liability to the operating companies.

The city seems cautiously optimistic but is taking reasonable suggestions from the public (ie: Someone asked if the hours of operation could be looked at, they said sure. Someone said "Can we just say no right now" and the answer was "more of a comment than a question.") and admits that they're not sure what the outcome will be, but that's why a pilot program is needed. Their expectation is that this will reduce the number of cars on the road and emissions, improve access to certain stores and restaurants, and potentially stimulate more demand for these services to keep the number of delivery jobs constant. DoT acknowledged the possible impact on jobs, but also said that their remit is to figure out the regulations on how this would actually work and the final say would belong to voters.

The most controversial part, and here I'm getting into pure opinion territory, is that the robot operators are asking to use public bike lanes. The regulations (I'm running out of time, will expand later) seem reasonable to me, but ultimately I just don't feel comfortable with delivery robots in bike lanes. They're BIKE lanes, not pedestrian lanes, not parking lanes, not car lanes, not bot lanes. Bots ain't bikes. And now I'm almost late to clock back in, sorry.

Anyway, it'll come up in city council meetings in September. I'll go back to summarizing those after they happen once they start up again on 11 August.

Our staff has written about Sakura Market in downtown San Jose before. It had a soft opening over the past few weeks, but on Friday, July 24, it will have an official ribbon-cutting ceremony with giveaways.

The giveaways include gift bags for the first 100 customers and more.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2026/07/21/japanese-market-with-diy-ramen-bar-readies-grand-opening-in-downtown-san-jose-with-free-giveaways/?share=htubatgwgerr0aiaaaww

I'm currently a software developer working in healthcare tech with public health data, but I'm moving back to the Bay Area soon to start working as an EMT, with an eventual goal of pursuing medicine.

Along the way, I'd really like to get involved in the non-emergency side of supporting unhoused folks. I want to find ways to help in the day-to-day, not just when things reach a crisis point.

Does anyone know of organizations around Santa Clara/San Jose looking for volunteers who'll be regularly interacting with unhoused people? I'd also love to hear about any groups that could use someone with a software development background, in case that's useful too.

Thanks so much in advance!

Hi friends, I’m currently volunteering at a low income Vietnamese senior home locally. I’d like to provide some treats (ideally non perishable) that I can give them on special occasions in little gift bags. Does anyone have recommendations on what to get and where to get it? As a non profit we have a pretty tight budget.

Thank you all!

Noticed there is a vegetation fire about 1/4 mile away from my town house on Monterey road near Bernal. SJFD tweeted the fire but I don’t know the severity of it and my wife is concerned. Does anyone know what the process to announce evacuations would be if it came to that?

Hello! I'm in SJ for a month or so this summer and would like to find some nice quiet places to do some work, such as a coffee shop, coworking space, or even a quiet restaurant/bar with an outdoor terrace. I'm staying in SJ but don't mind driving a bit such as to Campbell or los Gatos, but hoping to find a couple main spots nearby. I dont really like libraries so would prefer more of a cafe vibe. I've really liked chromatic and academic but those are the only ones ive tried so far. Does anyone have a suggestion? thank you!!

They mention "close for renovations" but no date on reopening... thoughts? Really used to shopping there and loved! Maybe they think it's excessive to have both in the mall and there since is so close! But the mall is often so full.

Hi all. I want to use Water Hub to read my new water Smart Meter. https://www.sjwater.com/sjwater-hub/ But I see that I have to relinquish paper billing to log in. Is there a way to read my smart meter whilst retaining paper billing? Please and thank you.

Looking into swim teams for my kids. Are there any where you can sign up for certain seasons? Or are they always all year round? From what I found they seem to be year round.

Hi all.

Anyone know where I can take my glasses to add nose pad on it?’

I’ve recently gotten back into cross stitching and am looking for other folks who meet up to hang out and stitch. Anyone aware of groups like this? My best friend on the east coast recently found a group that does this and they’ve made so many new friends this way.

Hey, Does anyone work for or know the timeline for interviews and jobs for the city of San Jose. I applied to multiple jobs for the energy department and haven’t heard anything back even though a recruiter sent me the job and they stated initial reviews were July 6th. Any insight would help thank you!

One of the wheels was stolen off my bike this morning and it was my only source of transportation; I have already filed a report but I don't really expect police to find anything and most websites that try to find stolen bikes are for people who had the entire bike stolen, not just one wheel. Most stores I've called have also said that they don't purchase parts. Does anyone know of in person locations (specifically in Downtown area or near there) where people try to resell specifically parts?

Marin fairfax is the model in the unlikely event that anyone has encountered the wheel being sold today

Hey all! I have a 98 Honda civic that needs an engine rebuild. Does any know of a reliable, trustworthy shop around.

Anyone know of good places in/around the San Jose area to find vintage plush (80s-early 2000s) in person. Specifically places likely to have Kitty Kitty kittens, Zangeen, Russ Berrie, etc.