For decades, East San José has been one of our city's most culturally vibrant and resilient neighborhoods. The area has raised generations of civic leaders, served as ground zero for social justice movements and hosted landmark small businesses and local institutions that are directly interwoven with San José's identity. Unfortunately, this area of our city has also historically lacked the level of economic investment it deserves.
A community-inspired mural project aims to beautify and revitalize a neighborhood in East San Jose. Artists gathered for the East Side Stories mural painting festival Saturday, complete with a DJ and lowrider cars around Tropicana Liquors on Story Road. Muralists created images of the Virgin Mary, lowriders and Mesoamerican symbols on the liquor store's exterior walls. They also transformed the exteriors of Car & Truck Auto Clinic, East Hills Veterinary Clinic and Wash America on Story Road and S&S Market on Capitol Expressway. The festival, curated by 1Culture art gallery owner Andrew Espino, celebrated the heritage and traditions of immigrant cultures in the area.
Avenida de Altares (Avenue of Altars) lights up the storefronts of Alum Rock Avenue and the two-storied theater of the Mexican Heritage Plaza. As the veil thins between past and present, 40 altars bridge these sacred connections-each holding an intentional space for visitors to reflect. Some altars invoke indigenous ancestors, some marry tradition and contemporary myths, others honor lives lost to injustice.
The sound of newborns crying along with the chimes of a lullaby announcing their arrival into the world will ring through the halls of Regional Medical Center starting next week as the East San Jose hospital reopens its long-closed labor and delivery ward. The restoration comes six months after Santa Clara County purchased the hospital from HCA Healthcare, one of the largest for-profit hospital chains in the nation,
