signs: Scream Sorbet

Scream Sorbet

Scream Sorbet not only has great sorbet (available in their store on Telegraph and at various farmers markets), but they have a pretty darn cool sign, too. I'd only seen it during the day before, but I was over in the Temescal for their First Friday art walk and got to see it at night.

But seeing one of their photos from the Google Maps entry, it's clear I need to get back over there with my tripod at dusk some time:

shop locally with the Oakland Grown gift card

Oakland Grown is an organization for independent local businesses and artists in Oakland. Shopping locally is one of the best ways to keep money local—shopping at a locally-owned business keeps an average of 73¢ of each dollar in the local economy versus 43¢ of each dollar spent at a non-locally owned business. To make shopping and gift-giving locally even easier, Oakland Grown is creating a new gift card.

Gift cards have grown increasingly popular because they make gift-giving easier. No more wrong thing, wrong color, wrong size, because the recipient gets to pick it out. But gift cards can be impersonal: "I care about you enough to get you something—go get something from this generic big-box national retailer." The Oakland Grown gift card gives the recipient flexibility, but at the same time says "I care about you, and I care about the city we live in and its people, too—support a local, independent business." If you enjoy shopping or exploring Oakland, you could even join your friend or loved one to see what they choose.

Oakland Grown is starting with a small pilot program, with a few dozen Oakland merchants participating, but they're planning on scaling it up in time for the holidays. And if you're wondering, the company powering the card is an Oakland business, too. The list of businesses accepting the card includes restaurants, salons and a variety of stores, and is growing weekly.

Besides buying and using the cards, there are other ways to support the card. First, you can provide seed money to help get the program started. Second, encourage your favorite Oakland businesses and artists to join Oakland Grown and register to accept the gift cards.

---

And yes, they're using a stylized version of one of my old sign photos, the heart on East 12th. I also used the photo in my recent Oakland Local article on banking locally, put your money where your heart is.

upcoming Oakland events

Today's big event is the rain that's supposed to fall in the afternoon and through the night. Hopefully that will wash away the few troublemakers from #OccupyOakland but stop in time for the Art Murmur on Friday.

Oakland East Bay Symphony Opening Night - Friday, November 4, 8pm. Celebrate opening night with the Symphony, celebrating the rich, vibrant tradition of American music. At the beautiful Paramount Theater.

Food Justice: Honoring our Roots - November 4-8. Conference begins with short courses and Food Justice Tours throughout the Bay Area, and will look back to the roots of the food movement, discuss the Food & Farm Bill, and examine where the movement is heading. Read more at Oakland Local.

West Oakland Specific Plan Workshop - Thursday, November 3, 6-8pm. The West Oakland Specific Plan is under preparation and, once completed, will guide future use of sites in West Oakland. This workshop will identify locations throughout West Oakland that provide opportunities for neighborhood revitalization, and align community development goals and desires expressed at Community Workshop #1.At West Oakland Senior Center, 1724 Adeline Street, Oakland. Please RSVP by phone or email - 510-238-3322 or ujonsson@oaklandnet.com

Plus the usual events:
Piedmont Avenue Art Walk (3rd Thursday)
Art Murmur (1st Friday)
Saturday Art Stroll (Saturdays)
Mt. View Cemetery Tours (2nd and 4th Saturdays)

Looking further ahead:
Urban Paths - November 12. Secret Stairs, Fire and BART - Check out stairs, Vicente Creek and a special BART stairway along the Oakland/Berkeley borderlands.

signs: Clancy's

Clancy's

More recently known as Sweet Jimmie's, it was Clancy's Cantina before that. Sadly, it's probably best known as where 6 people were shot back in April, 2 fatally.

put your money where your heart is

Whether you want to take part in #OccupyOakland, or you disagree with the protesters, odds are that you're part of the 99%. While some executives from big financial companies may face charges and be convicted of fraud, odds are most of them won't, and even some of the other 1% are unhappy about that. Unsurprisingly, it all makes people want to keep their money closer to home.

I've written about shopping locally and even eating locally before. But another way to keep your money closer to home is to bank locally. Instead of keeping your checking and savings at a big bank like B of A or Chase, keep it at a local bank or credit union. Protesting against banks is one thing, but hit them financially to really get their attention. Individually, none of us has enough money for big banks to notice, but if we all invest our money locally, they'll feel it.

I'm not the first* to think of this, and plenty of others have done or are planning to do the same thing. Bank Transfer Day (on November 5th) is a rapidly-growing movement for people to move their money from big financial companies to local banks and credit unions. Credit unions have already noticed an uptick in new accounts.

It may not be as easy or convenient as banking with a big bank that has branches and ATMs everywhere, but credit unions and local banks are surprisingly well-connected with various ATM networks even if they don't have as many branches. It does take time and some work to move your money, but if you want to keep more it, bank closer to home.

I started** by opening an account at One PacificCoast Bank which is headquartered here in Oakland, and is partnered with the One PacificCoast Foundation which is the sponsor of the Oakland Indie awards. The foundation actually holds the economic rights of the bank, meaning dividends go to the foundation. Their mission is "to build prosperity in our communities through beneficial banking services delivered in an economically and environmentally sustainable manner."

There are a lot more options for joining a local credit union. Credit unions are not-for-profit because they operate to serve their members rather than to maximize profits. They have differing membership requirements, so you may not be able to join just any credit union, but odds are you can find one or more that you can. For example Patelco is open to people living in Alameda County; living, working or shipping in Oakland; or an employee of any of the 1100+ companies, associations, trade groups, chambers of commerce, or federal government agencies that use Patelco.

Tools to help:
You can find local credit unions with the Find a Credit Union website. The Google Advisor page allows you to compare checking and savings accounts (as well as mortgages, CDs and credit cards) at a variety of financial institutions. But one of the best tools is word of mouth: ask your friends which local bank or credit union they bank with.

Who do you bank with? If they're not local, have you thought about putting your money where your heart is?

---

* Special thank you to formerly Oakland-based photographer Valerie Cochran who tweeted about moving her money to a local bank or credit union earlier this year and got me started thinking about it, too.
** Several months later, I'm still in the process of moving things. Autopay for bills is mostly great, but makes switching accounts harder. As does laziness, but recent events are helping overcome that.