Guide for last-minute holiday shopping in Oakland

A surprising number of people have been reaching my blog in the past few days by searching for “oakland holiday gift guide” or something similar to that. The problem is that all the events in my Oakland holiday shopping guide have now ended, and it’s clear many people are still looking to shop locally.
At this [...]

What’s going on with instant runoff voting? Registrar Dave MacDonald explains… sort of

Last night, Alameda County Registrar of Voters Dave MacDonald came to the Alameda County Democratic Central Committee meeting to discuss instant runoff voting (IRV), which is a hot topic in Oakland right now.
MacDonald started off by making it very clear that he wasn’t taking sides on IRV, but that the Registrar was just implementing what [...]

Replay 4/12/08: Berkeley/Oakland Reflections: Downtown

I spent the day in downtown Berkeley today, and it really got me thinking about the hurdles downtown Oakland has to overcome before it becomes a more vibrant and contiguous neighborhood.
Though there’s plenty I don’t like about Berkeley, downtown Berkeley has transformed into a bustling area, filled with people and plenty to do. Today, I [...]

Replay 10/18/07: Los Angeles/Oakland Reflections: Privatization of Urban Public Space

My trip to LA last week made me reflect a lot on the differences of urban planning and living in Los Angeles and Oakland. Part of my thoughts reflect on my experience growing up in LA, and other thoughts might be influenced by a book I’m in the middle of reading, City of Quartz: Excavating [...]

Someone stole the bus stop bench!

Yesterday, on my way home from work I stopped at Whole Foods in Berkeley to pick up a few groceries and some delicious lasagna from their deli. I do this often because it’s so convenient – I just take the 1 or 1R a few stops past my apartment and then hop back on the [...]

Mayor Tom Bates takes transit leadership to the next level

The Chronicle featured a really inspiring story yesterday about Mayor Tom Bates of Berkeley. Much like I did last year, he decided to give his car up entirely and to walk and bus around town instead:
The 71-year-old mayor is trading in his 2001 Volvo for an AC Transit pass and a sturdy pair of walking [...]

March 23-29 Oakland Political & Community Events

Monday, March 23rd – East Bay Young Dems Monthly Meeting

Join the East Bay Young Dems for an in depth discussion about the California Democratic Convention and to endorse key races that directly impact young people: California Democratic Party (CDP) Controller and California Young Democrats (CYD) President. Candidates for CDP Controller were invited to make brief [...]

AC Transit’s ideas for making the 51 faster and more reliable

Here’s part two of my posts about the 51 open houses and planning process. If you haven’t read it yet, I recommend first reading the previous post on the reasons the 51 is so slow. These recommendations probably won’t make much sense otherwise. Also, if you’d like to learn more, read the entire AC Transit [...]

March 16-20 Oakland Political & Community Events

Monday, March 16th – Urban Sustainability & Community Development Forum

The Center for Community Innovation is sponsoring a lecture by UC Berkeley City and Regional Planning Professor Malo Hutson with discussant  Romel Pascual, LA Deputy Mayor for the Environment. The “green movement” has provided a window of opportunity for cities to develop in a more sustainable [...]

Why the 51 is so slow and unreliable

As I mentioned on Sunday, this week AC Transit is holding several open houses to discuss proposed changes to the 51 line. And as promised, I’ve pored over the long report they prepared so I could break down the most interesting parts to share here.
First though, I just wanted to say that the open house [...]