Sometimes, it’s the little things that make a city great

I have the luxury (or the curse, depending on your point of view) of working in San Francisco but I live in San Jose. I have always wondered why San Jose is virtually unknown, even though we live in the shadow of one of the most famous cities in the World. I walk the streets of San Francisco and wonder what lessons can be learned to improve the image of San Jose?

Although there are certainly major things that obvious to anyone, things like traffic, parking, downtown, and so on, sometimes we need to slow down and look at what the fundamental building blocks are that make up our cozy little town. (Yes, I know we are rumored to be the 10th largest city in America, but we really feel more like a town, if you ask me.) I have been taking my daughter to the guitar lessons at the Starbird community center in West San Jose, and during this time, I would wander the halls of the community center, reading the posters on the wall. That’s when it struck me. We don’t focus on the small things, which leads to apathy and indifference. What am I talking about? Well, this brand-new community center funded in part from the San Jose Redevelopment SNI Program, has about 4 or 5 posters that highlight the history of West San Jose, and the posters are rife with misspelled words, wrong dates, and grammar that would make a 3rd grade teacher livid. For example, here is the text – verbatim – of one paragraph of a poster that talks about the history of Moreland School:

MORELAND SCHOOL

OLDEST KNOWN RURAL SCHOOL DISTRICT IN CALIFORNIA. ESTABLISHED IN 1851 AS SUBSCRIPTION SCHOOL MEETING IN PRIVETE HOMES,. IT’S FIRST TEACHER, CHARLES LAFOLLETTE, 1851, TERM THREE MONTHS, ADRAHAM H. FEATHERMAN 1852, TERM SIX MONTHS, THOUGHT EFFORTS OF SANUEL CURTIS ROGERS, THIRD TEACHER 1852 TO 1854, FIRST PUBLIC SCHOOL BUILDING, FORMERLY HOME OF ZECHARIAH MORELAND, OBTAINED 1852. IN 1853 ROGER SECURED ORGANIZATION OF SCHOOL IS DISTRICT NO. 2, RENAMED IN MORELAND HONOR IN 1862. HISTORICAL LANDMARK NO. 489 MONUMENT BASE ERECTED BY MORELAND SCHOOL DISTRICT. DEDICATED NOVEMBER 6, 1953.

Now here comes the scary part, although the above has obvious spelling errors, it appears the text on this poster is reproduced from the historical marker noted above. There is a picture of the monument which confirms the text is essentially identical. The grammar on monument is, well, strange. check it out for yourself at 4335 Payne Ave at Saratoga, San Jose.

Other posters in the community center tell a similar tale, if you can read them. Dates are wrong:
"1846 San Jose broke from Mexico on July 14, 1946 when Captain Thomas Falon……."

Wrong words
"1849 – 1851 San Jose became the first capital of California after the adoption of the first state construction on November 13, 1849….."

and of course, silly sentences….
2001 Two Neighborhood Action Counsel’s Blackford Neighborhood Advisory Committee (NAC)…. Among the many, were the Starbird Teen Center and West San Jose Community Center."

Perhaps if we took pride in our town and started with the little things, the big things would become much more manageable, don’t you think?

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