also, broadway terrace is post-automobile, I believe. suburban style thought. made for cars. or it was a streetcar suburb. to me the whole beauty of West Oakland is that it was made for pedestrians in the first place, and we oughta try and help it have it’s renaissance unfold accordingly.

but max allstadt, it must be my job today to educate you:
i quote from wikipedia:

Along with enjoying a close relationship with Bill Clinton during the latter’s time in office, Blair has formed a strong political alliance with George W. Bush, particularly in the area of foreign policy. At one point, Nelson Mandela described Blair as “the U.S. foreign minister”.[83] Blair has also often openly been referred to as “Bush’s poodle”.[84]

and to everyone, i will not agree to disagree on the naming of neighborhoods. not only is prescott (not that other name) listed as eligible for inclusion in the national register of historic places, but clawson/mcclymonds and bunche neighborhoods have also long standing histories and should presumably see a little more respect than what is being dished out: oh, i live in sh*thole, oakland. how is that different from what you’re calling these areas? still wondering why we get no respect? start respecting your neighborhood and maybe others will follow. a lot is in a name…

finally, i really enjoy this forum and i thank everyone for the info on sullivan who, i hope, will not turn out to be a poodle after all we can certainly use more smart, educated, and community oriented people around here, whether elected or not!
ps. it might not be smart to refer to him as ‘ss’ however… (…what’s in a name )

I’m not going to get into the semantics of what to call a neighborhood. Dogtown and Ghosttown are easily considered disparaging, but

As for the neighborhood services West of 980, I think it’s laughable to say that they’re adequate. This area super flat, for the most part the block size is relatively small, and it’s street layout mostly pre-dates the automobile. This is the ultimate recipe for a thriving walkable neighborhood. We’ve got the recipe, we need a better cook.

Things like conditional use permits and residential zoning restrictions screw things up. That’s not Nadel’s fault, it’s the whole council and planning commission. If you compare the variety of things one can do in residential zones in SF to what’s allowed here, it really sticks out. We’re way too restricted for an urban area. The rules are more appropriate for Levittown type scenarios. There are 11×17 sheets detailing these use restrictions available at Oakland’s planning department and at SF’s planning department. If I can get a hold of PDFs for comparison, I’ll send them to V to post here. The contrast is ridiculous.

And again, the people I see buying sardines for lunch don’t usually look like they could get on a bike. Ridesharing is all well and good, but if we make it EASY to eat right, rather than requiring people to go out of their way, we’ll do much better.

Developer poodle? Unlikely. Sean’s spent too much of his career working with poor people to kowtow to irresponsible development that would push them out. I’m no developer appologist either. In fact, my first contact ever with Nadel’s office was to submit a letter that condemned the Mandela Grand project as “Glittering towers from which the rich would look down upon the poor” because that was literally true.

If there’s one thing I can say for Sullivan above all others it’s this: I’ve had rigorous discussions with him, and I’ve seen him change his mind in the face of good reasoning which contradicted his point of view. Plus he’s really really nice. OK that was two things.

While I’m going over, I’ll add that Sean has pledged to work exclusively on the Council. How many hours a week do you think it takes to start a chocolate factory? How much energy and effort will be expended there and not on our behalf?

Oh, and the guy’s name isn’t Mr. Blair.

The only announced Fresh & Easy location in Oakland is at the Eastmont Mall, I think. So East Oakland will be getting another grocery store if F&E opens, but they certainly could use more than one. East Oakland often gets neglected on this blog because I’m so focused on downtown and District 3 issues, and that’s something I really do need to work on.

Another Westoaklander –

Regarding your comment that other neighborhoods don’t have multiple grocery stores, I have to disagree. Look at Rockridge. On College Avenue alone, you’ve got the Safeway at 51st and Broadway, right below the start of College, Market Hall, Trader Joes, Ver Brugge, Yasai Market, Safeway at College and Claremont, then Star Market a little further up the street on Claremont.

The People’s Grocery Mobile Market stopped operating quite some time ago.

For more information about how West Oakland is severely underserved in terms of food access, I recommend reading the Oakland Food System Assessment (PDF!).