Niema "Renaissance" Jordan is an Oakland grown writer with a love for the arts and a passion for building healthy communities. A graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, she did a short stint in New York after escaping Chicago winters. Now she is back in The Town and loving every minute. Constantly working towards her 10,000 hours, writing is her life. Niema's work can be found in the pages of national magazines like ESSENCE as well as renaissance20.blogspot.com. Check out her work at www.niemajordan.com.
Since 1993 42nd Street Moon has been celebrating and preserving the art and spirit of the American Musical Theatre. Blogger and 42 St. Moon Founder, Greg MacKellan, and BlogMaster Elisa Camahort of Worker Bees hope to give you a backstage glimpse at the theatre and all of its activities, from putting on our staged concerts of "Lost" musicals, to our outreach programs.
I love this city. I know that Oakland has problems, but it also has an incredible amount of potential. I hope that we can become the “model city” that Mayor Dellums has promised. Unfortunately, we have a very long way to go, and many of our most politically active residents and elected officials seem to be more interested in feel-good nonsense than real solutions. In this space, I offer my personal commentary on our progress.
I used to blog with dto510 at Future Oakland. You can read some of my older posts in the archives. I also cover local politics and development for the Oakbook.
Welcome to the new site.
One year ago today I started a blog on a lark. There was no motivation, no purpose, no theme. The blog became a straightforward, if opinionated, record of daily life in a small neighborhood of Oakland, California.
Today I’m happy to say A Rockridge Life will remain just that.
The new portfolios hold photographs and writing from the blog that I’d like to return to, and you might too. Today we start with flowers and food, two of my passions. In time, more of these portfolios will be added, and the existing ones refined.
Actual Cafe is a neighborhood coffee shop in North Oakland, located at the corner of San Pablo and Alcatraz Avenues. This blog started as a diary of the process of building the cafe, and has become a way to communicate with our friends and neighbors. Stay tuned here for ongoing news about the cafe. We're glad you stopped by.
When Anna and I were first dating in the mid-1970s we lived in Oakland and occasionally went dancing with friends from the theatre where we performed during the summer. (Woodminster Theatre in Joaquin Miller park.) There was a club down near the Oakland coliseum that allowed those of us who were not yet 21 to dance to the funky music that was popular in Oakland at that time.
One of the groups setting the tone for the Eastbay music scene in the 1970s was Tower of Power. They released an album in 1974 called Back to Oakland, and when we decided to move back to our old stomping grounds, I thought it would be fitting to pay homage to that record by naming this humble blog after the album. There’s some good music on the disc. Check it out!
They fought their owner, and they fought each other. They wore their hair long, grew big mustaches and wore the loudest uniforms possible. Oh, yeah, they also were the greatest baseball dynasty since Casey Stengel's Yankees of the 1950s, winning the World Series in three consecutive years.
We're talking, of course, about "The Mustache Gang" -- the nickname of the Oakland A's of the early 1970s. They were led by eccentric owner Charlie O. Finley and his smart, dutiful cousin Carl Finley, who ran the threadbare front office while doing the work of a dozen men. The team also featured future Hall of Famers, such as Catfish Hunter, Rollie Fingers, Reggie Jackson and manager Dick Williams, along with legendary pitcher Vida Blue (who should be in the Hall).
Art-Culture-Tech-Sex-Beats-Words: Life. A left coast, black futurist take on art, life, culture, and randomness. Heavy on the randomness.
This blog is an attempt to chronicle our adventures living in a small 1915 bungalow in the heart of Oakland, California. We’ve got a big dog, a little garden, and a 94-year-old house about a mile from the city’s center that we’re slowly trying to restore and update. Most of the time this blog is about our house and garden, our neighborhood, and our city. Occasionally, I write about bigger picture issues and ideas, usually around urban planning and policy, food systems, or other things I think are fun and interesting.
Yeah, I said it. I'm challenging you. I'm challenging you to collect gently worn shoes from your friends, your customers (if you're a business owner), your mom, your dad, your kids, your hair stylist, your co-workers, your neighbors, etc. and then I'm challenging you to bring those gently worn shoes to my store (by February 20), or take them to your local Finish Line where they will be donated to Soles4Souls, a non-profit organization whose quest is to collect 1,000,000 pairs of shoes for the victims of the Haiti earthquake. Go ahead. I dare you
Nestled between Oakmore, Glenview, and Lincoln Heights neighborhoods, this district is a hidden gem. The Dimond District is conveniently located between the 580 Fwy. & the 13 Fwy., and accessible by multiple bus lines. The business district offers a variety of retail stores, restaurants and services with free public parking off Fruitvale Ave on Bienati Way, left at the Shell Station. The Dimond Branch Library is located on Fruitvale Ave. and is adjacent to Dimond Park. On leash dog walking is permitted along El Centro Trailhead, with access from Fruitvale Ave. left on Waterhouse Ave. left on El Centro Ave. Enjoy the beauty of Sausal Creek along with the recent restoration of native plants. Dimond Park provides the community with a recreational pool, picnic tables, Bar-B-Que Grills, and tennis courts. Explore all the Dimond has to offer.
East Bay Conservative takes a look at events in Oakland and the surrounding areas from a non-Leftist viewpoint. This does not necessarily mean we’re actually conservatives, as traditionally defined across the US. We’re not evangelical Christians, we’re pro-choice, and we’re not particularly fond of guns. That being said, we stand opposed the throngs of people in the Bay Area who can properly be called Leftists — those who believe things such as:
* There is no reasonable maximum tax rate. The more you tax people, the better.
* Government services generally, or always, work better than those provided by private industry.
* Organic food is meaningfully better for people and/or the environment than regular food.
* Schools should receive as much money as possible, and no one should ever ask what they use it for.
* The homeless should never be regulated or constrained in any way.
Fat Bottom Bakery
Oakland, California, United States
Fat Bottom Bakery is a project started by Carolynn and Ashley in Oakland, Ca-- the manifestation of our desire to spread delicious, cute, cruelty-free things to the world.
Keep up with us through our blog and look around town-- you'll be seeing us around at shows, Pride, parks, parties, and maybe even farmer's markets!
Forage Oakland is a project that- at its core- works to address how we eat everyday, and how everyone can benefit from viewing their neighborhood as a veritable edible map, considering what is cultivated in any given neighborhood and why, and what histories influence those choices. The gleaning of unharvested fruits; the meeting of new neighbors; the joy of the season's first hachiya persimmon (straight from your neighbor's backyard, no less); the gathering and redistribution of fruits that would otherwise be wasted- can be powerful and can work to create a new paradigm around how we presently think about food in our collective consciousness. Imagine gathering several friends for morning, midday, evening or weekend foraged city bicycle rides through your neighborhood.
A photo blog focused on West Oakland.
We are Funk Town Farm, a community garden located in the area known to locals as “funk town” in East Oakland. The garden was started in 2008 behind 219 East 15th Street at 3rd Avenue and two blocks up from Lake Merrit. We are a group of novice and experienced gardeners who want to grow our own produce (and flowers) to use and sell at a sliding scale farm stand on Sunday mornings. We also raise chickens for eggs, as well as involve the community in “sponsoring a chicken” and composting. We want to provide our neighbors with the opportunity to have fresh organic fruit, veggies and eggs no matter what their socioeconomic status may be. Unlike most community gardens we garden together on our lot and share the produce. Each hours work = one basket of produce.
In the present, Oaklanders make decisions that shape the future. This blog comments on those decisions from the perspective of a real estate and marketing consultant who lives in Old Oakland and grew up in Rockridge.
A child of back-to-the-land hippies, I grew up in rural Idaho and Washington State. I went to University of Washington in Seattle where I majored in Biology and English. I’ve had many odd jobs including: assassin bug handler, book editor, media projectionist, hamster oocyte collector, and most recently, free-lance journalist.
I studied under Michael Pollan at Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism for two years. My journalistic work reflects my interests–in farming, food, the environment, and culture. In a nutshell, I like to tell stories about people who follow unconventional paths.
Information and analysis to support responsible participation. Serving the neighborhoods surrounding Lake Merritt in Oakland, California.
Grand Lake Neighbors is a group of volunteers working together to preserve and improve the Grand Lake district of Oakland, California. Our mission is threefold:
* Communication – Sharing information and keeping each other informed about issues in our area.
* Solving problems – Tapping into the incredible talent in our neighborhood to address specific problems.
* Effecting change – Being an agent for improving our quality of life.
We work with neighborhood groups and individuals to tackle issues such as:
* Public safety
* Noise
* Attracting new retail merchants
* Supporting existing businesses
* Local cultural events
* Beautification and streetscape improvements
* Building Neighborhood Watch block groups
* Traffic
* Parking
Great Oakland Public Schools is a coalition of Oakland families, students, teachers, principals, nonprofit, community, and civic leaders united around a positive, student-centered, results-oriented, innovation-encouraging vision for public education in our city.
Our mission is to provide leadership, advocacy, and information to continue the successful education reforms in Oakland, further empower Oaklanders to influence education policy, and ensure that all students have access to quality school options in their neighborhood and throughout the city.
We are committed to continuing and deepening the successful reforms that have made OUSD the most improved school district in the State of California over the last five years with API gains of 92 points.
We will make an ongoing effort to include every school community in our activities and mailing list, and will collaborate with and monitor the decisions of school board and district leaders in alignment with our vision and beliefs about Oakland public schools.
During the summer of 2009, we completed the latest draft of the Declaration of Community Beliefs and Visions for Oakland Public Schools after capturing the community feedback we received from previous drafts.
A community news source for residents of the HarriOak neighborhood in Oakland, CA.
A blog about Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland.
I recently wrote a blog post listing some of what I consider to be essential Oakland experiences. I added to that original list some suggestions provided by my blog readers, and now I intend to go through the list and blog about each of these experiences. As I blog about them, I’ll update this page with links to the corresponding blog posts and it will be easy to tell what I’ve done because I’ll mark them in bold and move them to the top of the list.
When my husband, Alejandro, and I moved from Brooklyn to Berkeley, we knew we’d find warmer weather and greener pastures. We had no idea we’d be in for year-round produce, the likes of which I’ve only seen in Italy.
The decision was not an easy one, with family and friends living in New York – but something about the daily subway ride into Manhattan and the supersonic speed of life told us it was time for a change. So, we quit our jobs, packed our things and set out on a two-week cross-country adventure that brought us to our new home in sunny California.
One of my favorite things about Berkeley, besides the food, is the smell. Every time I walk outside I breath in citrus and roses – hence, Local Lemons. It makes sense that a place with such sweet air would produce amazing food.
After MOBN! had its budget meeting, took votes there and then surveyed its membership electonically, the results were clear:
* Hands off the police department;
* The city can’t fix this its fiscal problemswith program reductions;
* City salaries and benefits are out of control;
* Fixing these problem will take broad-based, across the board personnel cost reductions in every department.
Discover the buzz that has invigorated Oakland’s vibe. Downtown has burst onto the nightlife scene in a big way. Scores of new restaurants, clubs and venues have sprung up and more are on the way.
These pages are your essential guide to downtown Oakland hot spots.
75 restaurants and cafés.
33 galleries and cultural venues.
40 clubs and bars.
32 major attractions and events.
One happening downtown.
I love Oakland and have loved it for as long as I can remember.
As a young child living in The Haight, my fondest memories were the "trips" across The Bay to see my Aunt Carol. Ok. She wasn't my real aunt, but she and my Mom were true "sisters". Fairyland, Knowland Park, I. Magnin, Jack London Square, Doggie Diner, and Capwell's ? The only thing better was one of those sunshine-laced days to make it a perfect day. I even decided to attend high school here. I couldn't get enough!
My Blog will be devoted to all things Oakland; especially the revival of Downtown. I live Downtown. I work Downtown. I love in Downtown. It is my goal to have as many Oakland Lovers live in Downtown as possible.
I have been reflecting a lot on where I am now, where I have been, and where I want to go. It has been 22 weeks since I began teaching. 6 long months. 22 frustrating Sunday nights. 6 months of stress and strain. But now that the 2nd semester has started, I am able to finally look ahead: 15 more weeks of teaching (not including STAR testing, and finals week). 4 1/2 months to go until year 1 is done. I am excited to finish this roller coaster of a year, but I am terrified that my students will not have learned everything I promised that they would in the next 4 months. That is not a lot of time to re-teach new material, AND the 6 months of material that they didn't get because of poor teaching on my part. Apparently the 1st semester for new teachers is just b.s.
The Myrtle Street Review is a West Oakland-based blog about slightly sideways things. Or slightly sideways reactions to things. It is written by Susanna Varestus. You can send feedback and ideas for things to write about by email.
This is the Oakland blog for people living out loud. True to the Oakbook philosophy, we’ll tell you where to go, what to do, and what’s really going down in the town and around the Bay. From parties to films, peace protests to flag football, if there's a there there, we'll blog it.
If you've got events, photos, videos, announcements or general news on all the happenings in the Bay, send 'em over to us at oscene@theoakbook.com And don't be afraid to leave a comment. Don't be shy...come over and talk to us. You just might get lucky!
Oakland Crimespotting is an interactive map of crimes in Oakland, CA, and a better way of understanding crime in cities. This project is not affiliated with the City of Oakland or the Oakland Police Department, but we do use data published on CrimeWatch, the City’s community crime mapping website. There are several things to do here: Explore maps, browse crime reports by day and by type, and sign up to receive e-mail alerts and RSS feeds for crime reports in your neighborhood. Information about site updates and new features can be found on our blog, blog.crimespotting.org.
When you pay attention to your surroundings, there's no end to what you can learn.
I’m Andrew Alden. My main gig is at About.com, where I cover the Earth sciences as the Geology Guide. But my city of Oakland is full of interest too, and since I tramp around it a lot I reserved this spot to think locally. I’m also “aboutgeology” on Twitter.
Oakland Local is a news & community blog for Oakland that combines reported stories, blog posts & news and events from over 35 community and nonprofit partners. Updated several times a day, OL takes a social justice approach to Oakland issues including food access, climate change, development and transportation. We are diverse and reflect many voices...and we welcome new bloggers, community members, and writers. If you are a blogger in Oaktown, list yourself in our directory--we have 186 blogs there--are you among them?
The Oakland Museum of California is temporarily closed for the renovation and transformation. Join us in May 2010 for the grand reopening.
The Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) brings together collections of art, history and natural science under one roof to tell the extraordinary stories of California and its people. OMCA connects collections and programs across disciplines, advancing an integrated, multilayered understanding of this ever-evolving state. With more than 1.8 million objects, OMCA is a leading cultural institution of the Bay Area and a resource for the research and understanding of California's dynamic cultural and environmental heritage.
Oakland North is a news project of U.C. Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism. With support from the Ford Foundation, graduate student reporters at the School are creating focused news outlets to concentrate on different parts of the Bay Area. Our goals are to improve local coverage, experiment with online and digital media, and listen to you–about the stories and features that most interest you, the issues that concern you, the information services you want, and the reporting you’d like to see undertaken in your own community.
Oakland North is staffed this fall by the reporting students of Cynthia Gorney and Kara Platoni, both journalists who have lived in Oakland for years. You can click here for bios of all 18 students.
We hope to keep Oakland North a source of news and community conversation, and we welcome all comments, corrections and suggestions. Please check out our sibling news outlet across the bay, Mission Local, covering San Francisco’s Mission district; and look for the launch this fall of the new Richmond Confidential.
We all take seriously our Ford Foundation mandate, which is to explore new ways to give communities back the coverage they’re losing as regional newspapers shrink–and also to be inventive about what digital journalism can do for all of us in the future. We’re learning new ways of telling stories in sound pictures, in cellphone dispatches, and in other forms of back-and-forth still under development.
Oakland Space Academy features lectures and discussions on space in and around Oakland California. To suggest a topic for further study, email oakland.space.academy @gmail.com.
Owner of Spencer Investigations, est. 1996 in Oakland, California. (510) 593-3767. Specialize in civil investigations, criminal defense,locates, taking statements, background checks, domestic cases, etc. Member, associate, Alameda Contra Costa Trial Lawyers and Alameda Bar. Graduate of Franklin and Marshall College and UC-Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism.
I spent the day with my friend BHboy today and we had experienced so many good sides to Oakland just this weekend alone, but the news always seems to pick up the more negative aspect. I LIVE IN WEST OAKLAND AND LOVE OAKLAND for its diversity (despite all the talk of corrupt politicians, crime and poverty) and have always tried to get people to see that it has a lot to offer. Anyway, BHboy in his youthful wisdom suggested I should blog about all the cool things this city has to do. Bare in mind that as geeky as I am, I am not into the web social scene (even my boss is dumbfounded that I don't have a F*c#book profile) and only carry around a mobile phone because I have to for work.
news outside my glenview window
Since 2000, Oaklandish has been a strong local voice promoting a positive face of Oakland. We have worked with many local artists and community groups, building a strong network of like-minded individuals working to foster groundbreaking work within the city of Oakland. Through the sales of our civic-pride apparel, we have been able to give back to our community in the form of a grant program open to all residents of Oakland. Please visit www.oaklandish.com for more information!
Take a look at the photos of public places in Oakland, CA. Can you identify the location? Leave a comment with your answer.
Do you have a photo you'd like to share on OakSnap? Send it over to cmn.wilson@gmail.com and you may see it up on the blog!
The Oakland snapshot mystery game.
1. Check out the photos and see if you can guess where the snapshot was taken. You can identify the photo by leaving a comment listing the neighborhood and/or cross street.
2. Send in tricky shots to add more fun to the game.
3. If this game becomes a hit I will work on getting prizes for the first commenter to guess the correct location on each photo post!
An exposé of cool public art & culture in and around Oakland, California.
Oliveto is a restaurant with varied interests and experiences. We opened in 1986, and are known (possibly only somewhat known) for being at or near the front of many ideas that later became more common practice (olive oil, salumi, extensive menu of quality house –made pastas, whole animals use, to name a few). We approach things with lots of energy and integrity, and we try not to take short cuts. We like to keep things fresh, and this web journal is our latest idea in that vein. It puts to use many of our interests, skills and experiences.
In this new journal of stories, movies, cooking information and news we hope to give you an insider’s look at the workings of our restaurant community, of Oliveto, as a part of a larger community in which we live. We also think that we are entering a time when people want to actually know where their food comes from not just for wholesomeness and nutrition or for assigning it worth, but for the joy and satisfaction that can come of it—a fuller more connected life.
The Scraper Bike Movement has been around for about 5-6 years and is now starting to get exposure worldwide. We recently put a video on Youtube.com and watched it touch people all over the country as well as the world. The video is at 2.6 million views and still going. Scraper Bikes has been featured in countless events such as, The Birth of The Cool Remix (Artistic Individualism), The Black, Red and Green: Living Word Festival (Green Society/ Spare the Air) and The International Bicycle Film Festival (Health/ Motor Skills). Along with countless interviews from NPR, to The Christian Science Monitor (Stop the violence) to Current TV; Scraper Bikes have been getting a lot of positive feedback from people around the world (Communities of Unity). We have set up a lot of events over the past few years to bring awareness of this grassroots movement (Free for All). Oakland is the birth place of the Scraper Bikes. We plan on creating a bicycle shop that focuses on customizing bicycles, bicycle repair skills, and youth mentoring services. We plan on creating a sustainable, positive, educational, and "Green" way of life in the inner city.
Oakland Speaks: Eastside Stories is an integrated public art project by artist Rene Yung that will beautify the new East Oakland Community Library and create a new platform for community storytelling about East Oakland. The overall theme of the project is Mutuality + Transformation, meaning that as members of a community, each of us is interconnected and we have the power to individually an collectively take actions to make positive changes.
This project consists of three parts:
Public Art in the Library
A Digital Archive of Community Stories about East Oakland
Community building activities including forming new partnerships, hosting storytelling events and an building a new online community
This site features Neighborhood News in and around the Prescott Oakland Point neighborhood which is one of the oldest residential and commercial areas in Oakland. The Prescott-Oakland Point Neighborhood Association (POPna) community group's boundary is defined within Mandela Pkwy (East), 7th Street (South), 580(North), San Francisco Bay (West) encompassing the "Central Station" development and Oakland Army Base Area.
A blog about the Oakland Raiders.
A blog about the beautification and re-redevelopment of Oaktown from the viewpoint of a downtown resident, dark greenie, new urbanist fan and world traveler.
I also run a pedicab in central Oakland. It’s called “Back Seat.”
Contact:
k150 [at] yahoo
A writer and photographer, Jennifer Inez Ward has been documenting Oakland neighborhood’s for more than 10 years. A graduate of UC Berkeley’s School of Journalism, Jennifer focuses on the uniqueness and beauty of everyday life in a city that is too often overlooked for its treasures and pleasures. Throughout the years, Jennifer has had the honor of showcasing her work at a number of venues, including a permanent loan of images that are displayed on the front wall of Barnes and Nobel in Jack London Square. Jennifer is a featured artist documented in “Images of America: Black Artists in Oakland”.
When the ancient Scriptures speak of Shalom they speak of peace and so much more. Shalom describes a wholeness and completeness in every dimension of life. Shalom is what God desires a person to experience. Shalom is what God desires for a community and a neighborhood.
We live in a fragmented world, a world in which we struggle to love one another. Far too often, there is no shalom. Despite the presence of beautiful and wonderful people, East Oakland is known for violence and death. A drive down the street or a glance at the newspaper remind us of shootings, prostitution, drugs and robberies. The litter on the sidewalk leaves no doubt of the alcohol and drug abuse prevalent all around us.
We're always looking for new ways to blend the content, community, and commerce abilities of our sites. The home page is a particularly important place, anyone passing through must be engaged, or they will leave. It's critical that anything of importance be featured, as there's no telling where any particular visitor will end up next.
We recently updated the home pages for two of our longer running sites, Slipknot1.com and Criss Angel.com. On each site we've seen a spike in community involvement and merchandise sales. And we're very happy with how they look too. The extra challenge for us that many other sites don't share is translating the unique qualities of each of our clients into a visual design.
Susan Mernit is the founder of Oakland Local, a news & community hub for Oakland, CA focused on environmental, food, development and social justice issues, and the recipient of a 2009 New Voices grant from J-Lab at American University. She is also the consulting web strategist for The Center for Investigative Reporting's California Watch project.
A former VP at AOL and Netscape, and a former Yahoo Senior Director, Mernit was the consulting program manager for The Knight News Challenge in 2008-09, as well as a consultant to organizations including Salon.com & TechSoup Global, where she led the re-design of their portal.
Living in a Tamale World cuz I am a Tamale Girl
Tina Tamale Ramos' Life, Adventures and Projects in Oakland, CA.
Teacher, Revised is for teachers and by teachers. It is an education grab bag of classroom reflection, a compilation of news that matters to teachers, essays, interviews with the brightest minds in pedagogy, and even the occasional book and movie review. Basically, it deals with anything that affects teachers, could make teachers’ lives better, or that we all should be very, very afraid of.
But it’s also more than that. As teachers, we are in a state of perpetual revision. We revise our lesson plans, our classroom management strategies, our seating charts, and our teaching philosophy. The ability to do this with sincerity and courage—often in the moment—is essential to a teacher’s shelf life. Without that, we “go bad.” Undoubtedly you are familiar with the stench of teachers who have reached their expiration date. It ain’t pretty. To avoid this, we must make a life partner of revision. It is the natural preservative that keeps us fresh. This means looking inward and outward—reflecting on our own practice, and keeping an ear to the ground for what’s new (or old) in the world of education.
We envision communities and workplaces where technology is a silent partner, boosting productivity, enhancing profitability, and enabling communication. There should be no internal barriers to the broad opportunities that are opened by the internet. Online strategies should be as straightforward to implement as sending an email. We envision that Tech Liminal can help achieve this new level of productivity and creativity by bringing business professionals, community leaders and technology experts together.
The Black Hour Internet Radio Show is an internet radio show based at Laney College in Oakland, CA.
This blog provides information about Oakland’s most happening ‘hood - Downtown Oakland, colloquially known as The DTO. I don’t moderate comments but sometimes they’re caught in the spam filter; contact me if your comment hasn’t appeared within a day.
The Education Report was born in June 2007. Ever since, people have been using it to dish, vent, debate, and muse about their experiences and impressions of Oakland’s schools. I’m always open to tips — blog ideas, especially.
You can reach me most easily at kmurphy@bayareanewsgroup.com, or by calling (510) 208-6424. You can also follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/katymurphy.
The Fault Lines Project is about the many people who live with violence in Oakland. They are from every walk of life - children, adults, drug addicts, drug dealers, police officers, case workers, parolees, bus drivers, teachers - All have to live with the reality that Oakland is still perceived to be one of the most violent cities in the country, and still it is home. This project aims to give voice to those people, and start a dialogue across the fault lines of this divisive issue.
It’s the same all over the world. Knock on a door. Pick up a phone. Stop a stranger on the street. Ask a question. You might get the brush off, or you might hear a story. Oakland and Berkeley are no different from anywhere else. Yet, in this metropolitan area of half a million people where 89 languages are spoken, tech entrepreneurs share buildings with potters, and one of the world’s great universities sits not five miles from one of the world’s great ports, too many stories are left untold.
The OakBook wants to tell some of those stories. And we want to offer a place where you can tell yours. We will bring you news from the schools your children attend, the ways your neighborhood is changing, new art, new theater, and new places to eat and drink. Our website invites you to give your take, whether it’s on an old cafe, a new charter school, or some outrageous plan hatched in City Hall. We’d love for you to tell us what we should be covering. So, send us your feedback. We want to hear from you
When walking down the streets of Oakland, Berkeley and Emeryville, I often see folks I know. Waving to the familiar faces makes me happy, as I have a home amidst the city! From my morning latte at Peet’s to my Sunday shopping at the Farmer’s market, I enjoy all the East Bay offers. Follow this real estate blog covering the beautiful cities of the East Bay!
This is a place where a new Oaklander shares ideas about eating local, sometimes eating from an urban garden, sometimes having noteworthy experiences in an urban garden, regular trips to the farmers market, cooking in a tiny kitchen, sometimes eating out, and the occasional great bottle of wine.
The purpose is to add my voice to the many Bay Area locals who are making locavore work. I’ll warn you, I’m not a purist, and I’ll not even define local, but I hate waste and love people. I save zip lock bags, rescue lettuce from the Lucky’s dumpster, share chickens with my neighbors and love an impromptu covered dish.
You’re invited to comment, dispute, approve, answer my questions and ask your own. Can’t wait to hear from you!
Storytelling has been used to entertain and communicate ideas for thousands of years. Throughout history, narrative has evolved in parallel with emerging technologies, such as the written alphabet, radio, film, and television. Today's new technologies, including the Internet, databases, and mobile devices, allow us to author and communicate stories faster and in more ways than ever before.
The Organic City, which will emerge organically during 2005-06, will use these technologies to create a collaborative digital storyworld centered on the downtown Oakland areas surrounding Lake Merritt.
The project seeks to connect with the community through this website where you can find and tell stories about local places. In addition, the project offers mobile media that can be experienced onsite with mobile media players and Pocket PC's.
Ultimately, we hope the project will allow us to explore the relationships between place, story, and community; as well as the ways in which new technologies can enhance our appreciation for these important components of human identity and experience.
THE WAITING ROOM follows the life and times of patients and staff at Highland Hospital, a county hospital in Oakland, CA.
The project includes:
* THIS BLOG which features waiting room stories, conversations, and behind-the-scenes information about the project.
* A feature-length DOCUMENTARY FILM called The Waiting Room (now in production) that will follow several characters who pass through the waiting room.
* An INTERACTIVE WEB SITE (later this year) that will feature content gathered from an INTERACTIVE STORY BOOTH that will be placed in the waiting room and will allow patients and hospital staff to view, record, and share stories.
Walk Oakland Bike Oakland (WOBO), founded in 2006, is an all-volunteer organization dedicated to improving neighborhood livability, vitality, and sustainability by making Oakland a better place to walk and bike. We engage residents, workers, business owners, and commuters in education and advocacy for improving Oakland’s pedestrian and bicycling infrastructure.
Fight Blight in South Berkeley-North Oakland
BLIGHT: The state or result of being blighted or deteriorated; dilapidation; decay; urban blight. Something that impairs growth, withers hopes and ambitions, or impedes progress and prosperity. To have a deleterious effect on; ruin
