PG&E and Urban Vibrancy Institute Team Up to Revitalize Downtown San Jose

By Stephanie Magallon

SAN JOSE — With foot traffic back to pre-pandemic levels, new restaurants, block parties and even a recent AI conference, downtown San Jose is more vibrant than ever.

And PG&E is enabling it with reliability and capacity projects that will attract developers, and through partnerships with groups invested in the strength of downtown, such as the Urban Vibrancy Institute (UVI).

“We’re doing everything in our power to support and grow San Jose’s economic and cultural vitality,” said Teresa Alvarado, who serves as PG&E’s vice president for the South Bay and Central Coast region. “We’re working closely with business leaders to get in front of their needs and be ready to serve them energy the moment they are ready. By partnering with community organizations like UVI, we are making sure we have a vibrant community that workers, residents and visitors can enjoy.”

UVI is a nonprofit organization founded in 2021 to reinvigorate the cultural, economic, and social energy of San Jose through research and collaborations with local businesses, communities, and government authorities. Its initiatives revolve around safety, cleanliness, and vibrancy.

“Downtown’s vibrancy depends upon the success of small business owners who invested in the downtown core, and who faced an unprecedented challenge to recover from the pandemic,” said Tony Arreola, founding board member of UVI and local real estate developer.

“Seeing the need to help our downtown businesses, we founded the Urban Vibrancy Institute to help draw visitors to experience downtown and we’ve seen a measurable impact on local businesses.”

In 2023, UVI teamed up several organizations to organize block parties that drew thousands of downtown workers and community members to targeted corridors which resulted in about a 20%-30% increase in weekly sales reported by local businesses. In some cases, businesses reported increases greater than 100%.

“The block parties were designed to support local businesses, to educate employers and employees about what is around them, to unite neighbors and communities and to help create and activate vibrant and thriving spaces,” said Gary Dillabough, UVI founding board member and local real estate developer.

This year, UVI will implement an expanded plan for PG&E’s title sponsorship. That plan consists of increasing the 2024 Block Party series from four to six locations: City Hall, SOFA, Little Italy, San Pedro, Fountain Alley, and Paseo de San Antonio. UVI will also continue to support downtown foot patrols organized by the San Jose Downtown Association and cleaning efforts led by Groundworx. UVI’s Carabiner Program will convene downtown leaders and stakeholders in three meetings this year with support from PG&E.

To help attract major developers downtown, PG&E is participating in a series of developer roundtables to share how it is serving the community and how it plans to meet future demand for technology in San Jose. “Two major transmission projects are coming to the South Bay and connecting into our system,” said James Tuccillo, manager of distribution asset planning for PG&E.

“The new power sources will support major cultural events, new developments, data centers and help us achieve California’s electrification goals.”

Other downtown investments made by PG&E include funding a comprehensive lighting project led by the San Jose Downtown Association. The association describes the project as a five- to seven-year plan that will support the nighttime economy as well as improve the life of urban citizens during the evening. PG&E is also behind a sizable grant to upgrade Christmas in the Park facilities and is a major sponsor of the San Jose Jazz SummerFest, one of downtown’s annual highlights. “All of these sponsorships are intended to help celebrate the wonderful community we have, and they are made with shareholder dollars, not with customer funds,” noted Alvarado.

Whether it's improving reliability, increasing capacity, investing in clean energy infrastructure, or sponsoring key community organizations, PG&E is boosting San Jose and Silicon Valley’s social and economic vitality.