My Top 10 Reasons For Why I Love Oakland

Oakland is the infamous ugly step-sister city to the Cinderella post-card perfection of San Francisco.  Novella Carpeter, [her blog] one of the most recently famous Oaklanders because of her urban foodie efforts and recent book, coined this fairytalesque metaphor for my favorite city.  In 2011 the Town (as opposed to the “City” as we Nor Cal-ers call San Francisco) was made famous by the indecisiveness of our mayor Jean Quan and the destructive thuggery of our non-native majority occupiers confronted with violence by our friendly neighborhood police department.  While the Oakland all too often only gets a bad rap, it’s much like Brooklyn is to Manhattan: the place the Cultural Creatives, hipsters and Bobos call home while they do their thing.

  

10.  The YMCA

9.  The Weather

8.  The Views

7.  The Parks

6.  It’s a Foodie Shrine

5.  It’s an Urban Farming Mecca

4.  Failing Successful Public Education

3.  Urban Grit: Lake Merritt

2.  Urban Graffiti Art & Politics: Oaklandish & The Grand Lake Theater Marquee

1. The People

Occupy Oakland

There's been much brouhaha about Occupy Oakland for the past days, in particular since the police intervention last week and the general strike yesterday.  I am quite progressive and believe that the Occupy movement can bring about good for our society.  So either I'm objective or subjective, as we each can only start our thought process from our own individual point of view.  Today I've heard on the radio and read in media and notes that Oakland has sunk into violence and that the occupy movement is a shame and a sham.

I spent most of the afternoon yesterday in downtown Oakland at the occupy general strike headquarters with my 9 and 7 year old children.  We heard music and speakers.  We saw signs, posters, educational murals and a candle ridden station for peace.  We inhaled marijuana that was smoked by some.  We heard prayers offered at the inter-religious tent.  We saw babies in strollers and carriers on the parents' backs.  We saw grandparents with their grandchildren.  We saw school groups in matching t-shirts.  We saw teachers, urban professionals, homeless, students, diverse clergy and random working class folks all milling around together peacefully.  It seemed much more like a music festival or neighborhood festival than a riot or chaotic gathering of looters.  Never was I afraid - for myself or my children.

Thrill the World | Oakland

I caught the Thrill the World effort at Studio One in the Temescal today where the Bay Area Flash Mob gathered and trained any and everyone to dance the Thriller dance to Michael Jackson's song in the effort to establish a new world record.

Oakland is gone.

A funny photo I received a while back, portraying the Imperial Power of Star Wars, having vanquished Oakland moving across the bay to attack San Francisco.  I guess that it could be one way to deal with budget cuts that no one wants to tackle.

Oakland Marathon (virtual)

The Oakland Marathon [site] is coming soon - March 27th! - a chance for Oakland to be in the spotlight - and for many folks to see more than just the crime and gun-driven side of the city.  Here's a cool e-recreation of the marathon route. [East Bay Express Article]

VIDEO

Oakland in the News as a Marijuana Mecca

I caught up on some www news cruising today and ran across a video - supposedly one of the bests of original films of 2009 - on newsweek.com talking about and fearturing Oakland as a "marijuana mecca" and a, if not the, primary model that other cities are looking towards in America.  Interesting view, with lots of local celebrities, if you haven't seen it or are even just vaguely interested.  Granted it's dated October...but I'm slowly catching up on Oaktown news.

Oakland Video

I ran across this cool video of Oakland, and original song, on a blog I check sometimes [www.shalomofoakland.com/blog.html]. Very Oaktown.

Community Empowerment

saving the dimond post office

For the past 5 months efforts have been underway to act in view of preventing the closure of the Post Office in Oakland's Dimond District near the corner of MacArthur and Fruitvale.  Scheduled to close for financial reasons, in light of the larger financial balance sheet problems of the US Postal Service, the fight was organized around the character of the neighborhood, desiring to ensure that it continues to be a place of vibrancy, presence and exchange and continues to grow in that direction.  It's a testament to the fiery community organizing power and passion of Oakland, in particular to the Oaklanders that call the MacArthur corridor, from the Dimond to the Laurel, home.  Here's some online media blitzes on it (sorry couldn't find any bloggers covering it):

Article in SF GATE

Ode to Oakland 12 | the YMCA

Of everything I've experienced in Oakland I think that the Downtown Oakland YMCA on Broadway is perhaps the best image and metaphor of Oakland. Diverse people gathered

together to work out and seek greater health, have fun, build community and invest in the community of Oakland. You see every body type from overly thick to marathon-runner thin, every shade of skin color, babies to octogenarians, yoga disciples to body builders to swim lesson kids to those wanting to soak in a jacuzzi. Activities range from spin classes to dance classes, from groups meeting for dinner to night-out kid-friendly activities for parents desperate to have a night off. And the membership costs are on a sliding scale, ensuring that everyone has access that they can afford and then those that can financially empower others to be a part of the community can do so too. It's Oakland at its best.

Ode to Oakland 11 | The Views

I was at the Oakland Zoo yesterday and reminded of the amazing views of Oakland that I take for granted every day. Where else can you drive through an inner-city context and then be in a Redwood forest within 15 minutes without taking a freeway or leaving the city? I love the diversity of Oakland: people, food, shopping, body types, music, art...and the topography, geography and views. Here are my top 8:

1. Inner-city to Redwood Forest back to the Urban Jungle: Start at 880 & 35th Avenue. Drive up 35th over and past the 580 as it becomes Redwood Road. At the top of the hill, turn left on Skyline, stay left at the fork onto Joaquin Miller Road and continue down. At 580 it becomes Lincoln Ave., later it's Champion Street (at MacArthur) there turn right onto MacArthur then left onto Fruitvale and follow it back to the 880. Great driving view of the city.

2. View of the Hills and the whole bay are from the Sky Ride at Oakland Zoo (worth the $2.50 on a clear day).

3. View of the city from the rooftop of the Oakland Kaiser Parking Lot (free if you leave within 30 minutes)

4. View of it all while circling Lake Merritt

5. View of the rooftops of the urban jungle, including church spires, looking towards the hills from the Elliptical Machine Room at the YMCA on Broadway

6. View anywhere within Middle Harbor Shoreline Park

7. From the Mormon Temple parking lot (both SF and Oakland downtowns line up together)

8. At the top of Hiller Drive above the Claremont

Ode to Oakland 10 | Lake Merritt

Oakland wouldn't be Oakland without Lake Merritt. It stinks and still we go. It's been covered with signs, walls, construction stuff for months yet still the sidewalks and lake banks are filled with frolickers, runners, walker-pushers and tai chi doers. Located in the middle of the city it's a perfect living metaphor for the beautiful complexity that Oakland is: crime, skylines, the hills, parks, the new cathedral, urban decay that shows us not so much that beauty is in the beholder, but that each thing is beautiful.

Each day begins with numerous boot campers working out around the lake at the east end (pictured) and on the stairs as the sun rises, and ends with folks enjoying breath-taking views of the city at sunset (usually admiring the fog located across the bay in our more famous sister city). Is it any wonder that the take has been taken over by the immigrant Canadian Geese and their excrement? Maybe that too is an appropriate metaphor for the challenges that face our city: beauty that invites and in the invitation creates the problems that keep the city from becoming the beauty its destined to be.

Ode to Oakland 9 |

Community Educators & Educating Communities

When it comes to Oakland there's a lot of talk about education. The power of Oakland Unified School District was just returned to the city after exiting receivership and a take over (sometimes hostile) by the State of California. When you talk with people leaving Oakland, or thinking about making that choice, it's almost always around schools and/or crime. I've blogged a lot on it, torn from the challenges of education our children in public schools in the city, excited and at times overwhelmed by the inequity and systemic stuck-ness. And it's not just OUSD that educates our children.

We've been part of a cooperative preschool community for several years. As we leave that space and community I'm reminded that it does take "a village to raise a child." That we've been blessed to have our two children loved and known by other kids and families, and for our family to love and know other children and families. The diversity (cultural, class, financial, educational) of our city is amazing and shows up in our kids. It's also a huge challenge to those that work in education. How to you meet, respond to, let alone simply articulate the myriad needs that exist.

I've been repeatedly amazed by the passion of those who work in education in Oakland, life-long commitments (in many cases to the city that they grew up in) of educators to empowering the citizens of Oakland. Heroes for me, who recognize the sickness and stuck-ness of the system yet refuse to be complacent, hopeless or apathetic. They form a great cloud of witnesses I think of when I lose hope. Their example lifts me up to push on to finish the race we all are running together as a city community: Gary and Caroline Yee, Di-Di, Gail Murphy, Brook Pessin, Mel Stenger, Misato Araki. We should be hearing more about such heroes as a city. Katy Murphy at the Oakland Tribune does this to some extent on her blog: The Education Report

Ode to Oakland 8 | Oaklandish

Founded in 2000, this community of artists | renegades | organizers has got to

be one of the most under-noticed political gathering powers of Oakland. Their t-shirts are everywhere, worn with great pride.

Their great website says it all, in particular with the home page that directs you to shopping and/or community. [www.oaklandish.org] I believe that Oaklandish does more than our Mayor and City Council to increase civic pride, empower civic activism, and generate good energy for our always-struggling city.

Here's a blurb from their site that spells out the Oaklandish vision and purpose for both artistic creation and community organizing. (there's also a glimpse of their newest t-shirt)

Representing the strange luster & oddball spirit that is East Bay Life.

It appears that Oakland pride is quite contagious! It's nice to see the proliferation of different Oakland T-shirt designs currently hitting the racks. But as you know, our roots run way deeper than any screen-print could ever convey. The true purpose here is to creatively promote our enduring love for "original Oakland charm" in the face of a constantly mutating culture, population and landscape. When you rock the roots, you evoke all the hidden history & rebel spirit of The Town, in its many incarnations. This way successive generations of young Oaklanders can gain a deeper understanding of the place they call home. Thanks for helping to spread the local love.

Ode to Oakland 7 | Big Longs

Big Longs would have to be on this list. An Oakland institution, that supposedly is moving and/or becoming another store after a recent buy out, it's not called Longs Drugs. It is the place to purchase anything under the sun. From fresh fruit, to beer, to toothpaste, to nice Buddha statutes, to the fantastic (best one in Oakland) nursery, to the best place for ethnic/cultured fabrics, to multiple types of garden manure, to my favorite watch repair guy: this store has it all. [previous Monteskewed blog post]

It has my favorite parking lot to troll in search of good bumper stickers: I always find a gem there each time I come.

It often served as my "therapy" place of choice as I'd take a break and cruise the nursery section coveting the plants for sale (a licensed counselor probably would have been cheaper for me in the end).

It's also great because it's Oakland: the mix of people shopping and working there from all slices of life, class sub-categories, cultural backgrounds - shopping together and so often giving and getting good gardening tips while waiting in line.

Ode to Oakland 6 | The Food

My wife and I went to breakfasts (yes plural, we did several places) Thursday with some good friends who are some of the most experienced East Bay foodies I know. Munching donuts with lattes at Pizzaola and talking about food I was reminded of how many great places for food there are in Oakland from expensive to cheap as in nationally known Taco Trucks.

It's not just about the food - which is great in so many places. It's also about the experience, from the decor to the space, to the location to the smells. For me one of the great images of this foodie creativity in Oakland is the ironing-board laden sidewalks in front of Bakesale Betty. (I think they look as fun and good as those fried chicken sandwiches taste).

So many places to experience good food from around the world: from Ethiopian lined Telegraph to the Central American experience of the Fruitvale District, from the places emerging in Uptown to the sit-down beauties of Rockridge and College Ave.

Some of my absolute favorites, that I'll miss in moving, including drinks on the terrace at Cesar's on Piedmont Ave., the pommes frites at A Cote, the pizza at Zachary's, the samosas at Shaan, and the chocolatines at La Farine. So much food. So many restaurants. Never enough money!!!

These foodie friends might start at blog on the 100 best food things in Oakland at www.oaklandeats.blogspot.com. I hope that they do !

Ode to Oakland 5 | Fairyland

This is one of my favorite places in Oakland. So many good memories for us - ranging from fun times to E breaking her leg at the age of 2. It's a unique place - open for more than 50 years - that reflects the spirit, passion and potential of Oakland. I'll miss walking through the shoe to enter the land of keys, dragon slides, bubbles, that incredibly slow train and so many memories.

I love the puppet shows. Amazing. The kids love it. It's great conversation time for adults. It's also the best parent people watching in Oakland: you can see the sleep deprivation on the majority of parental folks there.

It has one of my favorite vegetable gardens in Oakland: always beautiful and filled with good organic stuff.

It also has a great selection of native plants at bargain basement prices. An well-kept secret.

Ode to Oakland 4 | The Mormon Temple

I wouldn't actually say that the temple is pretty. I think it looks much more like a missile silo. And it's the thing that our kids always identify and use to articulate where they are in Oakland. It's definitely one of the best places to visit for Christmas lights during December. I think it's like the manger on steroids. Architecturally I think it's a nightmare. I struggle to understand how it was allowed to be built.

I love the Temple because it's so vocal. You can see the missile-resembling turrets from across the bay as you approach SFO. It's also one of my top 5 views of Oakland. I love to get a slurpee at the 7-11 at Champion and MacArthur drive up the hill, park in the parking lot, and take it all in. A perfect break. (Of course my cell phone camera doesn't quite do the view of Oaktown and SF out through the Golden Gate justice.)

Ode to Oakland 3 | The Marquee at Grand Lake Theater

Where else is the marquee at the historic movie theatre the town's un-official official political gathering point?  Wether it's driving by on 580 (the sign is made for such political perspective) or walking Grand Ave, the marquee booms out an invitation to political dialog in a way that is unabashedly liberal and poignantly direct. Allen Michaan, owner since 1980, is also political in his business plan not enforing R ratings on movies by Michael Moore in order to empower teens to expand their political perspective through film.  Here was the message of this week aimed at the city council.

Ode to Oakland 2 | Grand Lake Farmer's Market

The Saturday Grand Lake Farmer's Market, at the top of Lake Merritt, has to be one of the best-known un-secrets of Oakland. It has everything: bouncy houses (even shark slides), the Oaklandish bus, fruits, vegetables, poulet roti on wheels, music, amazing prepared food, kettle corn, nice ceramics from Sonoma County, cheap spectacular fresh cut flowers, and great plants/seedlings grown organically from outside Sebastapol.  I love all the "stuff" you can get there [especially the Afghani food].  

Yet even better is the experience of the market, for it has to be one of the major life-centers of Oakland today.  You spend some time there and you experience the people, energy, ethos and excitement of Oakland.  Market pilgrims come from all over the diverse city.  It's a - or maybe the - way to "get" Oakland in a matter of an hour - even the challenge of urban parking.  As a pastor-person I continue to think (someone else's idea) that studying the market as a microcosm of Oakland is key for any faith communities [or any other societally involved organization] seeking to grow through addressing the needs, concerns and culture of Oakland.  From the modern East Bay family paradigms hanging around the bounce houses and balloon animals to the protesting pro-Israel and pro-Palestine opposing voices both affirming gay rights each week outside the Grand Lake Theatre, to the organic foodie shoppers in uniforms ranging from tattoo covered bodies to the latest Banana Republic urban ensemble:  participation in this market experience is quintessentially Oakland.

Ode to Oakland 1 | Corn Dog

I've been thinking about a swan song to express my love of Oakland blogger-style as we prepare to move to Poissy, France August 17th.  What better way then to do a blog series ode to Oakland of what I love: people, places and things.

I started blogging several years ago through an ongoing conversation in a Peer Pastors Learning Group.  Bruce Reyes-Chow encouraged me to take

 the plunge. I started blogging, thinking that it could expand my ministry work at the church I served by empowering deeper and wider dialog (and an actual discussion instead of a "speaking at the congregation" about the scriptures texts began in worship on Sunday mornings.  I also imagined it as a great avenue for education and participation.  Little did I know that Corn Dog, a neighbor of the church and quite possibly one of the most vibrant and least public of the residents of both the Dimond District and 

Oakland, would teach me much about blogging.  Corn Dog is the reason behind and for #8 on the list of my previous post.

Here's what I love about Corn Dog (and Mr. Corn Dog too!):

She loves Oakland.  We say that a lot.  But she really does.  She loves the dirty and the gritty, the messy and the urban-decay-stuff-we-want-to-overlook and deny.  

She loves the people: not just the beautiful ones, but maybe even more so the  crazies.  It's often that she buys food for folks on the street.  She knows all the street people in the Dimond (and well beyond) by first name and life-story.  She considers them to be her neighbors too, ones that she is called to love in word and deed.

She is a connection-maker.  She knows everyone on the street - not just the street people - she knows the business owners, employees, etc. - by name.  She doesn't live in the hood.  She lives in her hood.

She is an amazing technology-using-communicator.  She creates and publishes more than you know in terms of paper and e-marketing/communication in the Dimond and greater Oakland.  She taught me a lot about blogging, writing and the connections that we can not only make but also mature online.  She also stood with me, having my back, when I got involved (not as much as she did) in the messy union-related tuff around Farmer Joe's a couple of years ago.

She knows and embodies the words GENEROSITY and SOLIDARITY more than anyone I've ever met.  I spend my days talking about what it means to love unconditionally, inclusively, as God first loves us in the person of Jesus of Nazareth.  I may be a good "talker" about that. Corn Dog lives it.

Corn Dog should probably be voted Oakland Resident #1.  She should definitely win, or at least be on, Jean Quan's Local Heroes list.  Of course even if she won she'd never show up to receive the prize or the praise.  You may not know her by name - but odds are you've seen her - walking her canine children through the Dimond, contemplating the giant Jesus at the Mormon Temple Center, at the monthly Dimond Peace Vigil [first Sunday of the month at 7pm at the corner of Champion and MacArthur] or riding the 57 bus.  I see her most days walking the hood and love encountering her on her online at Crazy 57 Bus: (uses to blog under the name Corn Dog)  The Corn Dogs embody the best of Oakland and the best that it can become.