https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/02/18/new-san-jose-dog-park-transforms-vacant-downtown-lot/ > There’s good news in downtown San Jose for dog owners. A new outdoor dog park has opened in a formerly empty parking lot on South First Street between the Institute of Contemporary Art and the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles. > If you can’t place the location, it’s the former parking lot of the now-shuttered Emile’s restaurant, which had its entrance on South Second Street. In recent years, it really had become an eyesore and a target for taggers and dumping. The San Jose Downtown Association and its Property-Based Improvement District partnered with Urban Community, which owns the lot, to spruce it up with paint, new hanging lights and the dog park. The SoFA Pocket Park dog park opened Thursday morning, with pooches large and small arriving with their owners to try it out.