Mayor and four council members propose La Avenida Cultural District on Alum Rock Avenue

Mayor Matt Mahan and four council members want San Jose to create the La Avenida Cultural District on Alum Rock Avenue from McCreery Avenue to 28th Street, according to a Nov. 12 memo.  The Rules and Open Government Committee takes it up Wednesday, Nov. 18, at 2 p.m., the draft agenda shows.

The memo asks the city manager and city attorney to draft a resolution for a later council vote.  It also asks staff to market the district through Team San José and to pursue state recognition and grants.

What the district would be

The proposed name, La Avenida, is Spanish for “the avenue.”  The memo describes this stretch of Alum Rock Avenue in East San Jose as a longtime cultural, economic and community hub, home to small businesses, restaurants, cultural groups and public art that reflect the heritage of nearby neighborhoods.

A cultural district is an area officially recognized for its concentration of arts and cultural activity, in the words of the California Arts Council, the state arts agency.  Under the memo, the city would formally recognize the corridor and work with the School of Arts and Culture, a Cultural District Advisory Board, businesses and neighborhood leaders on carrying it out.  Team San José, the city’s convention and tourism agency, would help market it, and the city would seek grants for cultural preservation, placemaking and economic development.

How it would differ from today

Today the corridor is a working commercial street with no special status.  The memo does not propose changing zoning, what can be built or how businesses operate.  It asks for recognition, promotion and help finding money.  The details would be set in the resolution staff is asked to draft for a later council vote.

State recognition would add more.  California’s program, created by a 2015 state law, gives each certified district five years of state branding, technical help, joint tourism marketing and $10,000 over two years, the arts council says.  San Jose’s Japantown was named one of 10 new state districts for 2026 through 2030, picked from more than 70 applicants, San José Spotlight reported.

Who is behind it

District 5 Councilmember Peter Ortiz leads the memo, joined by Pamela Campos, Anthony Tordillos and Domingo Candelas.

The idea was championed by the late Chris Esparza, a former community development director at the School of Arts and Culture at Mexican Heritage Plaza.  In January 2026 the school broke ground on La Placita, which will turn a long-vacant commercial building into a hub with a theater, a cafe and family wellness services.  The city put in $3 million.

The school applied to the California Arts Council’s cultural districts program but was not chosen.  The memo says a city designation would strengthen a future application.

Source:  Memo to the San Jose Rules and Open Government Committee, item C.1, Nov. 12, 2026; California Arts Council, California Cultural Districts.