I'm back in Oakland now. I've returned to work in Uptown Oakland (yes, that's a name and it is a thing). It's nice to be back and even better to take a rest from driving.
When I'm in the East Bay, I take public transit. BART is my preferred form of transportation. Although, I would seriously consider a job in the city (that's what we call San Francisco here now) if I could ride the ferry boats again. I miss riding a ferry boat to work. When I was doing that, I always felt that I was living in a different time and place. The ferry allows you to act like a tourist right here where you live. You sit back and let the boat take you to the Ferry building. You can wear nice clothing to augment the experience. Better yet, the time on the boat is all yours and you don't have to deal with traffic or crowded spaces. There is always a seat for you on the ferry. It's definitely the way to go if you have to work in the city.
Alas, I don't work in the city. I work in Oakland. I grew up in Oakland and this city has changed quite a bit. All of the people that can't afford to be in San Francisco are now in Oakland. They are "discovering" it. There's a lot of gentrification going on here. I get it. People need to find a place to live. Everyone is entitled to that. However, I think that everyone is forgetting how to act in the process of moving in here and displacing people that have already been here for a long time.
There has been a lot of new development happening in Oakland and the main downtown area is being spiffed up. A major tenant coming to Oakland is Uber. Just in case you are wondering, Uber is still not profitable nor is it a public company. What they have done is to buy the old Sears building which used to be the old Emporium Capwell store. I remember that store. It was a posh destination for shoppers. I actually went to the basement of the store looking for literal basement bargain prices on expensive dresses and clothing. I remember seeing a Bob Mackie creation being sold for just over a hundred dollars. Something like that right now would be a priceless museum piece. It was fun looking at all of the excess of the upper class.
The building sits on top of a major BART transit station, 19th Street. I recall that there was an entrance into the store from the BART station. So, you never had to take the escalator or the stairs to go up and interact with the neighborhood. I'm willing to bet that people working in that building won't bother to go up. They'll go straight into the offices. Essentially, they can work there and never really see the downtown area. That's a shame. More than that, it will perpetuate the techie stereotype--the one that comes into a neighborhood and gentrifies it. Hopefully, I will be proven wrong.
There's still a lot of graffiti in the adjacent streets of Broadway. And, there are many small businesses still struggling to survive. Slowly, coffee houses and beer gardens are popping up--you know who goes to those places. More upscale restaurants are also making an appearance and so the cycle goes. I wouldn't be surprised to see a different Oakland in less than 10 years. Is it inevitable? We'll see.
One thing that you won't find in Oakland is a sign admonishing against entering a building with concealed or open guns even though crime does exist here. That's because California doesn't allow guns to be carried by ordinary citizens. The NRA doesn't have any pull here. So, what if I told you that I saw such a warning posted in a hotel lobby?
Feast your eyes on the warning that I saw in Amarillo, Texas on my trip. Contrary to what I should have felt, I didn't feel safe.
This was posted in front of the hotel lobby. They posted it in Spanish, too. Chilling.