Oakland districts map

Yet another way of marking areas of Oakland -- the Oakland general plan and zoning map. Which is also used for the larger divisions in the OMCA neighborhoods map.
View Oakland Districts in a larger map

I based mine on a Google map by mathew, which was based on Districts defined by the Oakland Street Tree Selections. I'm still cleaning it up some, but the basic shapes are probably familiar to anyone who's looked at any aspect of Oakland city planning. Some of the names suggest interesting possibilities for news reports to use as a minimum reference as suggested in the earlier post. Well, except Central East Oakland and Central. But certainly better than labeling all news as being in Oakland or East Oakland. Thoughts?

The shapes and names may also be familiar from this poster that dc at Fragmentary Evidence spotted in a shop window:

Very similar to the OMCA neighborhoods map, right down to the names and the orientation with north not straight up. Kind of a cool design, but I still don't like all the names.

news by neighborhood - where is East Oakland?

Inspired in part by a post at A Better Oakland some time back asking Where is East Oakland?, I started keeping track of where in Oakland news stories were reported. Many times the article simply says "Oakland"; sometimes it gives an address, block or intersection. More interesting is when it names a specific neighborhood or district of Oakland. Is there a bias towards reporting crime in Oakland? In East Oakland? Where exactly is East Oakland? Or as noted on Oakland Space Academy

...when you hear about crime in Oakland, it happens in Oakland. Whereas when you here about crime in San Francisco, it is typically attributed to a specific neighborhood, usually Bayview-Hunter's Point or maybe the Tenderloin.

Going from least specific to most, the colors are as follows:
green - Oakland
blue - East Oakland
red - West Oakland
purple - Downtown
yellow pin - named neighborhood or other

View news by neighborhood in a larger map
Note that I've only linked stories that give some sort of location, be it address, block, intersection or neighborhood name. Also note that anything older than 30 days or so in the Tribune gets archived, so most of the links no longer work, so I've included a brief synopsis of the title.

While my observations aren't scientific or even remotely complete (I've missed lots of stories, and I don't follow SFGate that closely), looking at the map does suggest there's a tendency to report news in Oakland as being in Oakland, East Oakland, West Oakland or Downtown, rather than in a specific neighborhood. Particularly if it's a crime; non-crime articles are more likely to get the neighborhood named. And it's not just San Francisco media, either -- most of the stories I've mapped come from the Oakland Tribune. There are plenty of exceptions either way (e.g., areas around Lake Merritt get a mixture), but I've definitely noticed a trend.

So while referring to every single neighborhood on the Oakland neighborhoods map would be overkill and counterproductive (because most people don't know where a lot of those neighborhoods are and some names are no longer in use), it would be great if the Tribune and other media started referring to neighborhoods or at least districts when reporting*, instead of lumping stories in Oakland and crimes in East Oakland.

(* Maybe closer to what's on my Oakland map? Though that's somewhat out of date, now -- I'm aware of more specific neighborhoods in what I labeled as East Oakland on that map, largely through volunteering with Habitat for Humanity and riding my bike to and from the worksites.)

photo journey 3: p is for purple

Pis for purple. And purple is for problematic. I thought I'd have trouble finding enough purple things to shoot without going out of my way, but there turned out to be plenty of purple things on my rides between College Ave. Presbyterian, Camron-Stanford House and home. The problem came because my P&S camera had a hard time registering some of the purples correctly. It even seemed to have a hard time focusing on some of them. So on a second outing I took my DSLR, and while it did somewhat better, it still had problems registering some of the purples. At least it focused on them OK.

Purple is also for Lent, the period between Ash Wednesday and Easter. So in some churches, that means purple vestments for the clergy and purple decorations for sanctuary. I only saw a purple altar cloth, and I have to admit I didn't photograph it along with the other photos, as it would have meant interrupting the service. For some people Lent means giving up something, hence Mardi Gras and Carnival where people live it up before giving things up. In some places like Trinidad & Tobago, Carnival celebrations last for a month, which is almost as long as the 40 days of Lent.

adopt a shelter animal

One of the Oakland-related features on Our Oakland is a widget from Petfinder.com, showing adoptable pets at various Oakland animal shelters. (It's in the left column near the bottom.)

To help call attention to the huge number of adoptable cats, dogs, birds and even rabbits, pigs and other animals out there, today is Adopt the Internet Day. So if you're considering a pet, get a shelter animal, and save a life.

food: Commonwealth Cafe and Pub

Commonwealth Cafe and Pub

Last week while playing hooky taking a well-deserved break from work, I headed down to Pill Hill on my bike to check out Commonwealth Cafe and Pub. I didn't have a plan initially, but then I saw a tweet: CmonOakland Veg & Lager Stew made w/ @LindenStBrew Burning Oak Black is on! so I headed on down.

Like many East Bay cafes, there were a fair number of people there to work on their computers while nursing a coffee drink. But it's not just a coffee-and-pastries place. They also serve beer and wine and have decent-sized food menus for lunch, brunch and evening. Not surprisingly with the name "commonwealth", the food, beer and decor have a decidedly British flavor, with football (soccer) showing on the telly. There was a whole different crowd there to watch football and down a pint or two.

veg and lager stew

I was there for a late lunch, so I ordered a Fuller's porter and the aforementioned veg and lager stew, and thoroughly enjoyed both. (Fuller's is perhaps best known for their ESB, which to me is the defining beer of all ESBs.) It was nicely spiced, and came with a mini Yorkshire pudding. Their regular menu tends towards UK foods as well: Scotch eggs, fish and chips, ploughman's platter, shepherd's pie, bubble and squeak. Fortunately, it's decidedly much tastier than the actual English pub food I've had (insert your own joke about English cooking here), though I have to admit it's been a few years since I was there.

Over at City Homestead, they're big fans of the scones (served with whipped Devonshire cream & jam) and the shepherd's pie (which seems to have migrated from the specials menu to a regular item since they reviewed it.) And they're delighted to have a coffee shop 6 blocks from their house.

If the football on the telly, good food and beer weren't enough for me to like the place, they also feature local beers (e.g., Linden Street, Drake's, 21st Amendment) and wines (e.g., Urban Legend and Periscope Cellars). There's also ample bike parking outside which was in heavy use for bikes and dogs when I was there.

But wait, there's more! It's also currently featuring a great Oakland photo exhibit by Valerie Cochran called last. oakland. Sadly, this will be her last photo exhibit here, as she's moving back to Missouri. So check out the photo exhibit before it ends in May.

you are not my person.
however, you may pet me