Anyone know where to go for a creative, artsy feel? (San Jose: university, living)

[margaretagnes]

I am new here, live in downtown San Jose, and am looking for somewhere to go that is artsy, and creative. I would love to see some small businesses. Just some small town like arsty-fun-creative stores, parks, restaurants. I have been to downtown Willow Glen, which is pretty cute. are there morre little downtown - main street like places I can go on a Saturday afternoon.

Thanks!!

[moon2]

A nice day would be to drive over Hwy 17 to Capitola, a charming little town on the coast. It doesn't take much time to walk the town, but there are some fun shops, restaurants right on the water, a lovely (very) short river walk along the river feeding into the ocean. This is a great time of year to go: in the summer it's overrun/congested with tourists.

[MediocreButArrogant]

Downtown Los Gatos.

[ccm123]

Downtown Pleasanton has some of these attributes.

[Plokivos]

Go get yourself some canvas, and paint kit, and start painting while watching Bob Ross on Youtube.

Otherwise, don't call it artsy. People who do this for a living are smarter than you are. And a lot more interesting.

[bobby_guz_man]

In San Jose you can try the following:

1) Sperry building on 3rd street, the pop up stores in Downtown along Paseo de San Antonio, and San Pedro Square area.
2) Japantown
3) The Alameda (start from the Whole Foods and ends at Wine Affairs).
4) While at the Alameda, don't forget to visit the Middlebrooks Garden on Race Street.
5) Rose Garden and Rosicrucian Garden (where the Egyptian Museum is)
6) Evergreen Village Square (don't forget to walk from the Square up Michelangelo Road to Fowler Park to have a great view!) While you're in Evergreen, don't forget to stop by the magnificent Sihk Gurdwara.
7) Vietnam Town and Grand Century Mall (next to each other) holds a lot of Vietnamese-American food/gifts stores. Also try Lion Plaza for more of the same. On Lunar New Year's eve, you can visit Duc Vien temple at midnight to see how the Asian folks celebrate New Years. They also sell arts and crafts in the temple hall as well. I come there for the food

Outside of San Jose, within the South Bay, I'll recommend:

1) Villa Montalvo and Hakone Garden in Saratoga. Check Villa Montalvo's calendars for outdoor shows and visiting artist exhibitions -- and while you're there, also visit Saratoga downtown and Los Gatos downtown.
2) Niles old town in Fremont
3) Castro Street aka Mountain View downtown, and Palo Alto downtown
4) Kim Son monastery on Mt. Madonna in Watsonville. It's worth the drive, trust me. Besides the large temples, they also have a huge hidden garden surrounding a pond. You can see out to Monterey Bay from the temple. It's quite a serene setting. If you go during Buddhist Vu Lan holiday and Lunar New Year, it'll be very crowded.

Outside of South Bay, I would recommend:

1) Capitola, as someone stated, very very nice. Much better than Santa Cruz. Don't forget to walk along the Shadowbrook river!
3) Half Moon Bay, and the nurseries along 92
4) Monterey and Carmel. When in Carmel, there's the main downtown which faces the beach. But I also like the Barnyard Shopping Village in Carmel as well.
5) Tiburon and Sausalito. Sausalito has a really nice arts festival that I used to go to back in the days. Really nice!
6) Pleasanton and Livermore downtowns.

[bobby_guz_man]

Originally Posted by Plokivos

Go get yourself some canvas, and paint kit, and start painting while watching Bob Ross on Youtube.

Otherwise, don't call it artsy. People who do this for a living are smarter than you are. And a lot more interesting.

*HUGS* There, feel better?

[margaretagnes]

Thank you!! I'm excited to go see all these places!!

[Ruth4Truth]

Capitola, Santa Cruz, Monterey and Carmel. Sausalito, north of SF. Drive around the University of CA, Santa Cruz campus; it's nestled in the redwoods, very scenic. There are redwood parks on either end of Santa Cruz. When you take your day in Sausalito, after strolling through downtown, drive north a few minutes to Mill Valley. Walk around downtown, then take the walking trail through the redwood grove that passes through the residential area. The trail is on an old narrow-gauge railroad grade. It's a beautiful, very peaceful walk.