‘The Rail Yard’ wins new name contest
We have a winner in my contest to name the new site planned for Google on the western end of downtown San Jose. It’s “The Rail Yard,’’ suggested by David Cohen, the former publisher of the Silicon Valley Community Newspapers. I think it’s a good choice.
“The Rail Yard” edged out the two other finalists, “The Junction” and “Crossroads,” by getting more than 47 percent of the vote from readers. “The Junction” finished second with slightly more than 33 percent. And “Crossroads” gathered nearly 20 percent.
The tally, of course, does not determine anything. The public has a way of affixing its own name to big developments. It could well end up being called “Googleville” in popular jargon, though I think that would be a mistake: Tech companies change quickly.
Though it arrived a little late for my contest, the San Jose Downtown Association’s nomination of “GoJo” got favorable reviews from several readers. It combines the idea of motion (“Go”) with San Jose (“Jo”) “Go” could refer subtly to Google as well.
The important thing to remember is that there is no groundswell — and I mean none — for keeping the clunky bureaucratic name that city officials now use for this turf: The Diridon Station Area, sometimes stretched to the Diridon Station Area Plan, or DSAP.
As I’ve said before, I have nothing against naming the depot for Rod Diridon Sr., the ex-supervisor who did much for mass
transit, particularly the light rail system. His name has endured because Caltrain conductors shout it out on the trains.
Naming a whole area for Diridon, particularly one that promises to be the city’s chief economic engine, is a wholly different matter. We need something that reflects the district, something fun and intriguing at the same time.
Hence, “The Rail Yard.” When he submitted the name, Cohen noted that he had traveled the world and regularly seen old utilitarian names turned into affluent districts that people want to visit — the Tobacco Dock in London, say, or the Meat-Packing District in New York.
“The Rail Yard” is not perfect. Sacramento has a big project called “The Railyards.” And while I think that’s far enough away and different enough, other people might think it comes too close for comfort. I understand the critique. One reader, who preferred the name “GoJo,” wrote that “The Rail Yard” did not sound like a place she wanted her kids to visit. But that misses what is — a workaday blue-collar district, heavy with parking — with what can be, a vibrant new center containing as much as 8 million square feet of office space.
No name is perfect: “GoJo,” for instance, duplicates the name of an Ethiopian restaurant on San Carlos Street. And “The Junction” and “Crossroads,” while acceptable in my book, sound generic enough to be suburban housing developments.
We could get zany and go with my secret favorite, “Pigdance,” suggested by Mark Landefeld of San Jose, which plays off the Stephens Meat Products sign at San Fernando and Montgomery streets. San Jose, alas, is unlikely to ever be that adventurous.
Let me end with a plea: Please, whatever happens, kill “Diridon Station Area” and DSAP now. Take down those posters that say “Next Stop: Diridon.” San Jose can be better and bolder and more inventive than that.