Re: San Jose's Light Rail after 25 years----inefficient etc
Author: Carol L. Voss
Date: 12-29-2012 - 17:57
Drew Jacksich Wrote:
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> We never went Valley Fair, McWhorter's did (still
> may have been McWhorter-Young at first). Don
> Lindsay stuck it out at 77 S. First, partly (I
> think) because of his lease with building owner
> Morris Grant. He did consider moving over to Park
> Center Plaza (McWhorter's, after Elmer Young went
> his own way)had a place at Market & San Fernando.
> When Elmo Ferrari became part owner in late 1975,
> the downtown store was doomed and closed in July
> of 1976. By that time, we were out on Coleman
> Ave. In a little case of DeJaVue, One Workplace
> (the direct descendant of Curtis Lindsay, Inc. is
> in the process of leaving Milpitas for the corner
> of DeLaCruz and Martin.
>
> My mother was working for Hart's in the mid and
> late 60's. Alex had plans for a new downtown
> store but could not get the money and went to
> Westgate which did nothing but draw business away
> from their Sunnyvale store. Toward the end, it was
> still called Hart's but had been bought out by
> some company in Southern California.
>
> It always seemed to me the big issue downtown was
> parking and the reaction to the installation of
> parking meters. The city built the parking garage
> where Firehouse #1 had been as well as the
> Greyhound depot but it didn't help. The first
> break in downtown was the loss of Sears in 1954
> when they went to Race & San Carlos St. on the old
> O'Connor site. Imagine, Sears moved in where I was
> born. Also, Valley Fair, at least the original
> plant, was in San Jose---The Emporium was in Santa
> Clara across Redwood Ave (& Webb's Photo)from VF.
> Also, VF was built where there were a lot of
> Kaiser homes were located, not orchards.
>
> Half of the Valley Fair space is in San Jose and half is in Santa Clara, so Scott Herhold the Murky columnist told me awhile back. And you and I and Carl were all born in Old O'Connors where Sears went and left and now the big Safeway stands. Carl grew up on Grand Avenue behind Race Street F & P and served mass in the chapel at O'Connors for the good sisters until they moved to the "new digs" in 1950. Migawd, we are all getting OLD!! :-)
C.
PS--and you know that Dutch Hamann the notorious city manager lived in those Kaiser homes behind Valley Fair??
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