San Jose, CA ---- San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales recommended that the San Jose Redevelopment Agency Board (City Council) accept the updated strategy for downtown development at the City Council meeting today.

"This new strategy for downtown San Jose is a clear blueprint to ensure that the progress we have made to create a vital urban center for San Jose will continue into the 21^st Century," said Mayor Gonzales. "As it expresses our community’s vision for the future of our city’s center, this plan will help us build on the success of the past twenty years of San Jose downtown redevelopment."

The new strategy, developed over the past year with the leadership from a 33-member community task force and broad community participation, reflects the many changes in downtown San Jose that have occurred since the last downtown plan was adopted in 1992.

It outlines goals to make the downtown area an exciting place to live, work, shop and play; to create a walkable, pedestrian-friendly area; and to develop downtown to serve the entire city and Silicon Valley. The plan includes hundreds of specific recommendations to guide the future direction of downtown San Jose for additional housing, shopping, office, entertainment, and parking.

Gonzales also recommended that the City Council schedule a specific study session next month to provide additional time to discuss and develop priorities and direction for implementation of the new downtown strategy.

"We should accept this strategy with the understanding that there are sweeping policy implications for many downtown and citywide issues," he said. "These strategic guidelines will affect our future decisions for downtown parking, land use, construction mitigation, transportation, open space, design, and historical preservation."

The mayor noted many of the current opportunities that are underway in downtown San Jose, including the continuing strong private sector interest in residential and retail development.