Ah, list-making time again. How precious.
Every year at about this time - which is to say, the end of one year and the beginning of the next - travel media line up to draw up their lists of what's in and what's out, and share their wisdom about what destinations you absolutely have to visit. You know, be there or be square, Where to Go Now, etc.
Ths year, the upmarket, Ivy League New York Times (www.nytimes.com) puts at no. 5 of its 45 must-see places of 2012 a place I know pretty well: Oakland, California. Not suprisingly, visitoakland.com, whose melancholy task it is to promote tourism to this interesting but gritty (and occasionally scary) city across San Francisco Bay from San Francisco is sending out e-mails to tout the recommendation.
The Times touts Oakland chiefly for the revitalization of its Uptown district - actually centered near downtown at roughly Telegraph Avenue above 20th Street - and the most expensive restaurants by celebrity chefs it could visit on the parent company's expense accounts. Uptown is indeed an interesting area, worth your time if you're in the Bay Area. Other places, such as Temescal, the restored Victorian Row of houses and restaurants downtown and especially Rockridge, on the northern city line with Berkeley, are worth a visit, too.
I used to live in Oakland and I like some things about it very much, but as a long-time Bay Area guy, I have to level with you and say it is not most people's idea of a tourist paradise. Most of Oakland is not pretty, some of it - especially West Oakland, east Oakland, downtown's streets after dark and long blocks of murderers' row along International Boulevard are visited at your own risk. Some Oakland BART transit stations and especially the parking lots are high-risk.
I suspect the Times flagged Oakland because the writers and editors like to play with a frisson of fear and see themselves as hip and pioneering, very cool trendspotters, if they do say so themselves. It could be a reaction to the Gray Lady's longtime reputation as an authoritative but dowdy Establishment sheet. Not any more, the Times's hipsters want us to know.
OK, if you say so. Bottom line for travelers: Don't avoid Oakland, just keep your eyes open and explore it on your own, within the broad guidelines cited above.
Showing posts with label Oakland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Oakland. Show all posts
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Mayor Quan
Some of the most interesting journeys are the ones you take closest to home.
I thought of this the other day when an old friend of mine took the oath of office as mayor of Oakland, California. She is Jean Quan, the first woman and the first Asian American to hold the highest office in the city of 300,000-plus souls.
I lived in Oakland, at three different addresses, years ago, but took a while to get to know it. One of my de facto tour guides was Jean, the daughter of Chinese immigrants, a UC Berkeley student activist who graduated to broad-based, progressive-left community organizing years before she ran for the Oakland school board as a concerned parent, and won, then ran for the Oakland city council, and won again. You know how Barack Obama used to list 'community organizer' on his resume for the several years he spent working in the neighborhoods in Chicago? Jean has worked that beat for nearly 40 years. Talk about paying your dues.
I saw hardscrabble neighborhoods in Oakland and San Francisco while hanging out with Jean, met her husband, the smart, sympathetic physician Floyd Huen, and their two young children, now grown and holders of Ivy League degrees. I learned about traditional Chinese family customs from them years before my travels took me to China, a place I've now visited about a dozen times. If I had never made the long journey to the Middle Kingdom I still would have known a little bit about Chinese culture, thanks to Jean and Floyd, their family and friends. It wasn't all sober-minded learning, of course, and it certainly wasn't structured, but it was learning just the same. It didn't come as a big surprise when Jean got involved in education through the school board. Politically and culturally, she has long been an educator.
The San Francisco Examiner's food critic, the late Jim Wood, a colleague of mine, wrote an engaging and amusing piece about taking the great foodie Julia Child and her husband Paul to a hole-in-the-wall Vietnamese restaurant on San Francisco's funky Sixth Street, called Tu Lan. As Jim's story goes, they had almost literally to step over a sidewalk denizen to get into the place, a classic, cheap, good greasy spoon. The fellow recognized her: "Bon appetit,'' he said.
Tu Lan was a favorite lunchtime haunt of San Francisco daily newspaper-types by then - we're talking about the early '90s - but I had been there way before, thanks, of course, to Jean Quan, who first took me there. I think she knew every inch of the neighborhood, a gathering place for people up against it. "Try the imperial rolls,'' she said. I did; they were terrific.
Jean Quan's campaign slogan during last fall's grassroots, underdog campaign was "Taking back Oakland block by block.'' I wasn't involved in the campaign, having lost touch with her over the years; we haven't talked in forever. But I watched from afar with a certain sense of I-knew-her-when pride. She will have a challenging time governing Oakland, a culturally rich, materially impoverished town that is also dogged by high crime, budget shortfalls and a reputation as the unglamorous sister of the sleek city across the Bay: San Francisco.
Nevermind the always-quoted remark of another Oakland homegirl, Gertrude Stein, who said "There's no 'there' there.'' Stein meant there were few surviving traces of her girlhood years later, not that the whole town was a big nothing. There's plenty of 'there' in this working-class city in the East Bay. Some of it can rival San Francisco, notably the nest of artisan markets, restaurants and shops in the Rockridge area and the fast-developing Uptown area that is, despite its name, actually near downtown. Such destinations are worth making a trip to see.
Congratulations to Mayor Quan, who is, as folks used to say, bringing it all back home.
I thought of this the other day when an old friend of mine took the oath of office as mayor of Oakland, California. She is Jean Quan, the first woman and the first Asian American to hold the highest office in the city of 300,000-plus souls.
I lived in Oakland, at three different addresses, years ago, but took a while to get to know it. One of my de facto tour guides was Jean, the daughter of Chinese immigrants, a UC Berkeley student activist who graduated to broad-based, progressive-left community organizing years before she ran for the Oakland school board as a concerned parent, and won, then ran for the Oakland city council, and won again. You know how Barack Obama used to list 'community organizer' on his resume for the several years he spent working in the neighborhoods in Chicago? Jean has worked that beat for nearly 40 years. Talk about paying your dues.
I saw hardscrabble neighborhoods in Oakland and San Francisco while hanging out with Jean, met her husband, the smart, sympathetic physician Floyd Huen, and their two young children, now grown and holders of Ivy League degrees. I learned about traditional Chinese family customs from them years before my travels took me to China, a place I've now visited about a dozen times. If I had never made the long journey to the Middle Kingdom I still would have known a little bit about Chinese culture, thanks to Jean and Floyd, their family and friends. It wasn't all sober-minded learning, of course, and it certainly wasn't structured, but it was learning just the same. It didn't come as a big surprise when Jean got involved in education through the school board. Politically and culturally, she has long been an educator.
The San Francisco Examiner's food critic, the late Jim Wood, a colleague of mine, wrote an engaging and amusing piece about taking the great foodie Julia Child and her husband Paul to a hole-in-the-wall Vietnamese restaurant on San Francisco's funky Sixth Street, called Tu Lan. As Jim's story goes, they had almost literally to step over a sidewalk denizen to get into the place, a classic, cheap, good greasy spoon. The fellow recognized her: "Bon appetit,'' he said.
Tu Lan was a favorite lunchtime haunt of San Francisco daily newspaper-types by then - we're talking about the early '90s - but I had been there way before, thanks, of course, to Jean Quan, who first took me there. I think she knew every inch of the neighborhood, a gathering place for people up against it. "Try the imperial rolls,'' she said. I did; they were terrific.
Jean Quan's campaign slogan during last fall's grassroots, underdog campaign was "Taking back Oakland block by block.'' I wasn't involved in the campaign, having lost touch with her over the years; we haven't talked in forever. But I watched from afar with a certain sense of I-knew-her-when pride. She will have a challenging time governing Oakland, a culturally rich, materially impoverished town that is also dogged by high crime, budget shortfalls and a reputation as the unglamorous sister of the sleek city across the Bay: San Francisco.
Nevermind the always-quoted remark of another Oakland homegirl, Gertrude Stein, who said "There's no 'there' there.'' Stein meant there were few surviving traces of her girlhood years later, not that the whole town was a big nothing. There's plenty of 'there' in this working-class city in the East Bay. Some of it can rival San Francisco, notably the nest of artisan markets, restaurants and shops in the Rockridge area and the fast-developing Uptown area that is, despite its name, actually near downtown. Such destinations are worth making a trip to see.
Congratulations to Mayor Quan, who is, as folks used to say, bringing it all back home.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Oakland
If you follow the news in or from the United States, you may may have heard reports about a mob running amok in Oakland, California, in the wake of a court decision.
The reports are true. A mob did run amok in this city due east of San Francisco after a white former Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) police officer was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the New Year's Day 2009 shooting of an unarmed black man; the officer testified he meant to use a Taser, not a pistol. Many people demonstrated peacefully early in the evening last Thursday, convinced the eventual sentence won't be heavy enough to fit the crime. Most kept their cool. A relative handful took to the city's streets after nightfall, looting a Footlocker store, burning trash bins, breaking shop windows and running around, pursued by Oakland Police Department officers.
After all that, a traveler might wonder why anyone would want to visit Oakland. In fact, there are good reasons to alight in Oakland, especially if you have visited San Francisco before and want to see something new in the Bay Area. Although it is riven by class and race - like the rest of the U.S. - and can be dicey in some spots at night, Oakland is an ethnically diverse, unpretentious, real-world city that travelers can enjoy. It's a 10-to-15 minute BART ride from San Francisco, accessible by ferry on San Francisco Bay - and by car, of course.
Here are some highlights for travelers that I - a long-ago Oakland resident - can recommend:
* Uptown, an entertainment district along Broadway just north of downtown, between roughly
17th Street and 24th Street. Uptown features the beautiful Fox Theatre (1807 Telegraph Ave., tel. 510.302.2277, http://www.thefoxoakland.com/), renovated a cost of $75 million after being shuttered since 1966, and reopened in 2009. If you're in the neighborhood, Neil Young is playing solo shows at the Fox on July 12 and 14. Nearby, on Broadway at 23rd, is Pican (2295 Broadway, tel. 510.834.1060, http://www.picanrestaurant.com/), a toothsome restaurant and bar that features top-shelf bourbons, bourbon cocktails and elegantly reimagined Southern specialties such as fried chicken that's been marinated in spices for three days before being battered and cooked. It falls off the bone. BART station: 19th Street.
* Lake Merritt. As old as Uptown is new, this downtown jewel - formed in the late 19th century when a tidal pool was sealed off from from San Francisco Bay - is a key stop on migratory bird routes for species such as snowy egrets. Lake Merritt, 3.4 miles around, is a brackish mix of fresh and salt water; you can rent kayaks at the Lake Merritt Boathouse, go jogging, skateboarding or rollerblading or just chill out. The vintage Grand Lake cinema and shop-lined Piedmont Avenue branch off from lakeside. BART station: Lake Merritt.
* Rockridge. A shoppers' and foodies' haven in North Oakland that snuggles up with neighboring Berkeley, Rockridge has some of the best food and drink in the Bay Area, matching more famous places in Napa Valley and San Francisco in quality. One of the Bay Area's most innovative restaurants, Oliveto (5655 College Ave., tel. 510.547.5356, http://www.oliveto.com/), serves California Italian fare, has a great (if pricey) wine list, and is located in the European-inspired Rockridge Market Hall, where fresh produce, fish and flowers are on offer. Also on College Avenue is the accomplished deep-dish pizza source Zachary's, the admirable independent bookstore Pegasus and Pendragon and a cluster of antique shops and other locally owned businesses. The commercial district stretches 14 blocks from the Berkeley city line on the north to the intersection with Broadway in the South. BART station: Rockridge.
There is more, of course. I could mention the lavishly restored Paramount Theatre, the up-and-coming foodie favorite Temescal district, the local politicans' fave soul food restaurant Lois the Pie Queen, and many others.
Oakland's delights don't, and perhaps can't, surface in quickie news reports about the violent side of the city. But just for context, local media reported several days after the mob rampage that just 19 of 78 people arrested by police were actually from Oakland. Most of the rest were self-described anarchists who use any pretext to loot, break things and protest the world as it is.
"On Thursday,'' reported a local newspaper, "people in the Oakland crowd were incessantly texting, and hooligans who smashed store windows were stopping to snap photos and record videos of themselves to share with their friends.''
Decency and common sense didn't stop these people from having their fun in Oakland. No reason why the sporadic actions of a few should stop us from having our fun in Oakland. This soulful, gritty, working-class city by the bay deserves a chance, and a good look from travelers.
The reports are true. A mob did run amok in this city due east of San Francisco after a white former Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) police officer was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the New Year's Day 2009 shooting of an unarmed black man; the officer testified he meant to use a Taser, not a pistol. Many people demonstrated peacefully early in the evening last Thursday, convinced the eventual sentence won't be heavy enough to fit the crime. Most kept their cool. A relative handful took to the city's streets after nightfall, looting a Footlocker store, burning trash bins, breaking shop windows and running around, pursued by Oakland Police Department officers.
After all that, a traveler might wonder why anyone would want to visit Oakland. In fact, there are good reasons to alight in Oakland, especially if you have visited San Francisco before and want to see something new in the Bay Area. Although it is riven by class and race - like the rest of the U.S. - and can be dicey in some spots at night, Oakland is an ethnically diverse, unpretentious, real-world city that travelers can enjoy. It's a 10-to-15 minute BART ride from San Francisco, accessible by ferry on San Francisco Bay - and by car, of course.
Here are some highlights for travelers that I - a long-ago Oakland resident - can recommend:
* Uptown, an entertainment district along Broadway just north of downtown, between roughly
17th Street and 24th Street. Uptown features the beautiful Fox Theatre (1807 Telegraph Ave., tel. 510.302.2277, http://www.thefoxoakland.com/), renovated a cost of $75 million after being shuttered since 1966, and reopened in 2009. If you're in the neighborhood, Neil Young is playing solo shows at the Fox on July 12 and 14. Nearby, on Broadway at 23rd, is Pican (2295 Broadway, tel. 510.834.1060, http://www.picanrestaurant.com/), a toothsome restaurant and bar that features top-shelf bourbons, bourbon cocktails and elegantly reimagined Southern specialties such as fried chicken that's been marinated in spices for three days before being battered and cooked. It falls off the bone. BART station: 19th Street.
* Lake Merritt. As old as Uptown is new, this downtown jewel - formed in the late 19th century when a tidal pool was sealed off from from San Francisco Bay - is a key stop on migratory bird routes for species such as snowy egrets. Lake Merritt, 3.4 miles around, is a brackish mix of fresh and salt water; you can rent kayaks at the Lake Merritt Boathouse, go jogging, skateboarding or rollerblading or just chill out. The vintage Grand Lake cinema and shop-lined Piedmont Avenue branch off from lakeside. BART station: Lake Merritt.
* Rockridge. A shoppers' and foodies' haven in North Oakland that snuggles up with neighboring Berkeley, Rockridge has some of the best food and drink in the Bay Area, matching more famous places in Napa Valley and San Francisco in quality. One of the Bay Area's most innovative restaurants, Oliveto (5655 College Ave., tel. 510.547.5356, http://www.oliveto.com/), serves California Italian fare, has a great (if pricey) wine list, and is located in the European-inspired Rockridge Market Hall, where fresh produce, fish and flowers are on offer. Also on College Avenue is the accomplished deep-dish pizza source Zachary's, the admirable independent bookstore Pegasus and Pendragon and a cluster of antique shops and other locally owned businesses. The commercial district stretches 14 blocks from the Berkeley city line on the north to the intersection with Broadway in the South. BART station: Rockridge.
There is more, of course. I could mention the lavishly restored Paramount Theatre, the up-and-coming foodie favorite Temescal district, the local politicans' fave soul food restaurant Lois the Pie Queen, and many others.
Oakland's delights don't, and perhaps can't, surface in quickie news reports about the violent side of the city. But just for context, local media reported several days after the mob rampage that just 19 of 78 people arrested by police were actually from Oakland. Most of the rest were self-described anarchists who use any pretext to loot, break things and protest the world as it is.
"On Thursday,'' reported a local newspaper, "people in the Oakland crowd were incessantly texting, and hooligans who smashed store windows were stopping to snap photos and record videos of themselves to share with their friends.''
Decency and common sense didn't stop these people from having their fun in Oakland. No reason why the sporadic actions of a few should stop us from having our fun in Oakland. This soulful, gritty, working-class city by the bay deserves a chance, and a good look from travelers.
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