signs: Smitty's Bar

Smitty's Bar

I'm usually not out and about much in the evenings except when we go out to dinner. As much I'd like to get pictures of some of the great signs in Oakland lit up, when we're out to dinner I don't want to carry along my tripod and interrupt things with lots of picture taking.

But last night I had opportunity to be out at dusk, so I took my tripod and DSLR along Grand Avenue. I've posted about the great sign at The Alley before, but there are some other nice signs along Grand, too. First up is Smitty's bar, just a few doors up from The Alley. It's got two classic script neon signs, and the requisite martini glass.

Smitty's Bar

And just a quick side note on parking: according to the Tribune, councilmember Pat Kernighan is going to bring a proposal to rollback the extended parking hours from 8pm to the original 6pm. One of the complaints is that the increased hours, rates and enforcement are cutting down on business. However, I was on Grand from 7pm to after 8pm, and there were very few parking spots available, and while I was photographing, there was a decent turnover. According to UCLA urban planning professor Donald Shoup's formula, that suggests the parking rate is about right. It should be high enough to encourage turnover, but low enough that people can get their shopping or whatever done. Obviously this rate changes depending on demand, so that's why Oakland should implement demand-based rates for parking. There's no reason to charge the same rate in an area with lots of empty spots as in an area like Temescal or Grand Ave. where there's lots going on, and if an area is less busy at times of the day, make the parking cheaper.

GRID Alternatives 2009 Solar-a-thon

solar install

Saturday I took pictures at GRID Alternatives 2009 Solar-a-thon at Habitat for Humanity East Bay's Edes Avenue development. I did a brief write-up on the Thrivent Builds blog, and there's a great post over at Oakland North focusing on one of the homeowners who was there to help install the panels on her house.

signs: C.P. Bannon Mortuary

C.P. Bannon Mortuary

Time keeps on slippin' into the future. And there's nothing like a good clock to remind you that your time could be up soon. The C.P. Bannon Mortuary on International may not have a great sign, but like other funeral homes it's got a clock.

signs: Island Market

Island Market

On High Street is this great sign for the Island Market. Most, but not all of the neon is intact, so I don't know if any of it still lights up. And is the case when your sign is bigger than than your building, they had to build quite a tower to hold the thing aloft.

Besides having a great sign, I love the color they painted the building. It's a warm, orange-ish wheat color, made more so by late afternoon sun. My office walls are a subtler version of this color, and the office glows when it gets the late afternoon sun through my window.

great color

history: Scheberies Used Cars

Scheberies Used Cars

It was a short work day at Habitat with GRID Alternatives, so I rode the e-bike home by a different route scouting signs. I'd checked some things out with Google Maps Street View, and one sign had caught my eye. Not the main sign pictured here, which is nice enough but hardly classic. No, it was the sign that's made from part of a car. So on my ride home, I went a little out of my way down MacArthur from High Street to check it out. I'm very glad I did.

I met Gerald Scheberies. He was moving some cars around the lot while I was admiring the signs. I told him what a great set of signs he had, and he informed me that he'd painted them himself. He invited me inside to see more, and found he has an amazing history collection. Pictures of the original Caldecott Tunnel, Broadway when it was a set of muddy tracks, the toll bridge that used to span the end of Lake Merritt. Gerald also used to race cars, so quite a number of the signs he painted were for events that he raced in. And he and his used car lot have been around since before I-580 was there, so he's seen a lot of Oakland history. He coached wrestling at Skyline high school and all sorts of other things in his 70+ years. I saw at least one article on him in a scrapbook. I couldn't find any articles online, but did see references to his racing career. And when he commented on the slick tires on the e-bike, I said, "No, they're supposed to be that way -- haven't you seen a The World's Fastest Indian, where he shaved the tires down by hand?" He replied that he loved the movie, and he'd been at the Bonneville Salt Flats in the 60s, too.

great sign!

Gerald Scheberies, then and now

the original Caldecott Tunnel