King and Story

The intersection of King and Story serves as an important marker for the center of a neighborhood in East San Jose, California. More generally, the region is called East San Jose or (colloquially) the "East Side". This may be the area that Geraldo Rivera was referring to when he called East San Jose "the ghetto side of town", as the neighborhood is just east of Downtown.

In the 1930s, future agricultural labor union leader César Chávez and his family moved into the neighborhood. It was here that Chávez first began his political actions, registering voters and organizing English language classes for the mostly Mexican American residents. The first grocery stores targeted by the NFWA grape boycott were on King Road.

The city tried using eminent domain to redevelop the Tropicana shopping center (on the south-west corner). It was fought in court and the city gave up. In 2003, the city council considered a bill to rename King Road, named for an 1851 settler to San Jose, after Martin Luther King, Jr. The proposal was generally supported by the African American community, and opposed by the Hispanic population, with significant minorities in each group on differing sides. For example, the president of the local chapter of the NAACP opposed the change, while the Chávez family supported it. The city council eventually rejected the proposal.

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Latino population in the San Jose East Side region]

The Mexican Heritage Plaza, Kelley Park, and Lake Cunningham are some of the most popular attractions in East San Jose.

The area surrounding King and Story is a vital cultural hub for the rapidly expanding East San Jose Community. King Road is home to a One Stop county services building, and area landmark Eastridge Shopping Mall is undergoing a multi-million dollar expansion.

BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) and Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) light rail is expanding into the region. Redevelopment of some neighborhoods is also a city priority. One such project, on Summer Street, includes the renovation and construction of new housing by the San Jose Conservation Corps YouthBuild job training and education program.

External links

* [http://www.siliconvalleydebug.com/story/062205/stories/tropic.html Target Store Takes Over the Tropicana: An East San Jose Cultural Center is Getting Redeveloped]
* [http://www.siliconvalleydebug.com/Story/0123/stories/sanjogangs.html San Jo Bangin' - It is Starting to Feel Like the 90's Again]
* [http://www.siliconvalleydebug.com/story/0130/story/safecitytest.htm San Jose: Named Safest City the Country -- But For Whom?]