Thanks to the world’s game, San Jose is a much better place than it was decades ago.
Last week, the US men’s national team stayed at the Marriott in downtown San Jose and trained at PayPal Park before their World Cup match against Bosnia-Herzegovina at Levi’s stadium. None of those venues, the hotel or the stadiums, existed 30 years ago. Even as recently as 20 years ago, Levi’s Stadium was the overflow parking lot for Great America.
When the US and Bosnia trained at PayPal, soccer journalists from all across the country and overseas—many of whom would never possibly come to San Jose for anything else—all showed up to watch and ask questions.
None of them knew that the Earthquakes’ home ground, PayPal Park, replaced the abandoned FMC Plant, once used by the US Army for ordinance facilities and a proving ground for the production of Armored Personnel Carriers. Oldtimers still remember seeing tanks driving around the property. When the Quakes broke ground on the stadium in 2011, an M2 Bradley tank rolled out of the abandoned warehouse to symbolize the history. The stadium construction was later delayed for almost a year because the workers discovered live munitions buried underneath the property. Most rational adults would agree the world’s game is a better use of that land.
Meanwhile, even as much of the world disagrees with the people currently running the United States, it was heartening to see tens of thousands of first-time visitors to the US blasting memes all over social media. Stuff like, “If you want to hate America, watch the news. If you want to love America, drive through it.”
Such sentiments also trickled down to the watch parties in San Pedro Square. There were a few isolated incidents of violence, thanks to the usual idiots that couldn’t properly mix alcohol and testosterone, the same types of idiots that ruin everything else downtown, yet they were not successful at ruining the World Cup.
The city adapted and didn’t use the isolated events to shut down the whole thing. When the viewing parties for Mexico games naturally outgrew San Pedro Square, the city moved Sunday’s installment to Discovery Meadow Park and the Shark Tank, both of which supported the crowds in a more logical fashion. We actually have people inside city hall who are fans of the game. Twenty-five years ago, that was not the case.
Even after Mexico was eliminated, everyone saw that the fan base in San Jose was united in ways this town had never before seen, and they were flaunting it. There were more Mexico jerseys all over San Jose than at any other moment in my lifetime. It was a joy to experience.
By the end of last weekend, a combined 400,000 people had peacefully enjoyed all the downtown watch parties since the tournament started, and that’s not even counting all the other viewing parties that took place in the rest of the city.
Which brings up another point. For the other 95% of San Jose that doesn’t care about downtown, additional family-friendly get-togethers unfolded. For example, the Mexican Heritage Plaza has tremendous young leadership these days, so it organized viewing parties too. On the South Side, Almaden Lake Park staged a few more. In both those cases, nothing of the sort could have happened in decades past.
Likewise, San Pedro Square is a much better place than decades ago when drunks from the Aconda Hotel wobbled over to the dumpy Sizzler and pocketed the bread rolls. Now fans of the world’s game can saunter in and watch any match they want. Business is booming, at least until the World Cup finishes.
And did I mention the Marriott? Decades ago, the Marriott was the Heavy Metal Parking Lot where everybody drank beer before concerts at the Civic Auditorium. It’s much better now.
So rather than compare San Jose to other cities—like I used to do on this page—it’s healthier to compare just how far we’ve come. San Jose used to be a backwater fruit-packing cannery town where peach-pitting machines were the shop talk of choice.
Nowadays, it’s a much better town. If the World Cup doesn’t convince you, then nothing will.
