A portion of Post Street in downtown San Jose will soon be closed off to cars permanently.
The San Jose City Council on Tuesday voted unanimously in favor of a pedestrian mall.
“We’re shutting down half of it," said San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan. "There are a number of small businesses there. It also happens to be a center for our queer community. They call it ‘qmmunity’ and it's become a really bustling hub."
The hope is this will encourage more people to visit and in turn will bring more vibrancy to downtown San Jose.
“When the street is closed and we have events, it brings a different type of person down that normally wouldn’t come down,” said Blair Carson, owner of Pageboy. “I think for safety reasons, it’s better. A lot of times, people drive down the street the wrong way.”
Carson said with this permanent closure, she’s already thinking of events to have.
“I actually have a personal goal of hosting a music festival on Post Street at some point,” she said.
But with a closure to cars, there are other factors businesses are thinking about like parking.
Nora has had her business Acapulco Jewelers in the area for 46 years. She told NBC Bay Area that she thinks this could hurt her because customers will often use the street parking out front.
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“It is a trade-off,” Mahan said. “I think in a dense downtown we need more of our parking to be in a denser format, like parking garages that are multi-level. It is not quite as convenient, but we need to make more efficient use of space.”
This isn't the first pedestrian mall in downtown. About a year ago, the city council voted to shut down a section of San Pedro Street to cars. Mahan's office said Post Street will be closed off starting March 11.
