Exploring Viva Calle San Jose
Once a year, the City of San Jose closes down major streets for Viva Calle SJ. Viva Calle is a street closure event that promotes exploring your own neighborhood by biking or walking through several different neighborhoods. Each of the neighborhoods had a hub usually City staff and volunteers, food and crafts.
We missed the event last year but this year we decided to check it out with the girls. We took the VTA train from South San Jose to Japantown. It was a 5 minute walk from the train station to the first major hub which was in Japantown. We spent the majority of our time her at this specific hub. There was music, food, City of San Jose staff milling around and answering questions. We stopped to watch some of the artists creating large paintings and grabbed free popsicles outside of Cukui. The girls had a blast however it was so hot, pulling them in a wagon made us so sweaty.
I think next year we will for sure bust out the bikes since bikers didn’t seem like they expected people walking with strollers. There were a few close calls and we had to jump to the sidewalk a few times when the serious bikers sped by. Admittedly, we weren’t sad that those same serious bikers had to get off and walk their bikes on a blind curve right by the San Pedro Square Market, so the speed wasn’t necessary at all. Other than that, we had a blast and I really hope San Jose continues this event. Japantown is one of my favorite places and this event reminded me how important it is to explore my own neighborhood.
What to Know About Viva Calle San Jose
1. Major streets are usually shut down so consider taking the VTA or Caltrain to get to the major hubs.
2. Pets and bikes are very welcome, we even saw people on roller skates.
3. The event is free and runs from 10 to 2pm. Each major hub had booths for food and crafts.
This is not a sponsored post. This is an entry 5 in my series “Things to Do In the Bay Area“
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