Has San Jose become more "hip" in the last 20 years?
When I was there in the late 70s, the whole place was a slum. When I first arrived in the Bay area, I actually made a point to visit because of its fame from Burt Bacharach's "Do you know the way to San Jose". Boy was I disappointed.
sj downtown was a bum city by day and ghost city by night in the 70s and 80s. the only lively activity was around san jose state university (sjsu) where sororities would serenade in see-thru' dresses and fraternities would get naked drunk with street parties. frat row was on 11th street, and every weekend the place lighted up. not anymore after tragedy and fire destroyed some frat and sorority houses and killed students. it's a pity as those were beautiful victorian mansions. there are still some heritage victorian homes on 3rd and 4th, 12th through 15th streets.
in the 80s, vietnamese moved in and pretty much took over the downtown area. in the 90s, hispanics moved in, and vietnamese merchants got wealthier, bought their own land, and moved to the
little saigon area on story and tully.
it started getting trendy during the dot com boom leading to 99, but declined in commercial occupancy after the 2000 bust. when
santana row first came up in the winchester neighborhood (the "haunted" house is still there as an attraction), rent was cheap and some no-name shops took root. for example, a hole in the wall chinese bubble tea
fantasia joint is still there.
straits is an early tenant at the row, and it became the hippiest place in town with live music, alfresco-style cocktail, open bar and restaurant. the original cocktail area crept into the sidewalk, but now they have to clear the sidewalk and move some furniture to the curb. it stands out at a good spot, and other businesses kind of gell around it. the row was still humming during the real estate bust of 2007/2008. straits did so well in sj during boom and bust that they opened up a new place in sf downtown, at the trendiest mall on market. the owner, chris yeo, a sinkie opens up
sino, a chinese restaurant a block up on the row. the hottest place now on the row is the
yardhouse, just a block from straits. yardhouse in santana row is now the de facto "meat market" for white chicks. :p
meanwhile, downtown sj has her share of clubs, eateries, and nightspots around the san pedro and 1st and 2nd street areas. she is never as lively and packed as sf. the new rich who include techies and geeks tend to spend more time at their suburb homes and local favorite joints in sunnyvale (murphy avenue), santa clara (lick mill road), mountain view (castro), and cupertino (stevens creek). due to suburban sprawl, hip places tend to gell around a few popular restaurants and local homegrown cafés among the smaller cities around sj.
." In Singapore, we are so used to being nothing more than a number that the concept of your name being used in an order system was absolutely alien. 
