Student proposes Silicon Valley sign landmark

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KTVU) - Picture a giant Silicon Valley sign on the side of the San Jose foothills. That is what, student and budding entrepreneur, Hafid Alfonso is proposing.

He'd like to create a landmark to let people know they've arrived. "Just some sort of landmark that we can be distinguished by, right? And that expresses the idea of Silicon Valley," he says.

Like the Hollywood sign, he sees it as a tourist attraction, but also as a source of community pride.

The Silicon Valley sign would be 45 feet high and 200 feet long.

The sign, designed to look high-tech, may also be made of high-tech materials and have an interactive component.

"I've been trying to come up with new ideas and see if we can make this go further," says designer Morgan Jones, also a student.

Silicon Valley residents seem supportive of the idea.

"I would like to see possibly what some of the companies in the valley could contribute to that," says resident Vince Salazar.

"If they could go above and beyond... make it like a hologram or something?" wonders Anthony Yiannakou.

"It's a cool idea in concept. Obviously the implementation is the biggest issue," says resident, Glenn Libby.

Officials with the City of San Jose say they'd like to hear more.

"We would encourage anybody with a great idea, whether it's a sign on a hill or a new product to change our lives, to flesh it out, look for funding, look for partners and work really hard to see if they can make it true," says city spokesperson David Vossbrink.

Alfonso says that's the plan.

"I mean I love Silicon Valley! I think we deserve something like this, don't we? I think Silicon Valley is in a boom. We're in a renaissance and this is something that can contribute to that," says Alfonso.

He says the idea is to get people talking about the sign first; then look to Silicon Valley itself for a way to fund it.