Sunday, June 29, 2008

I went to Oakland for a few hours

Jack London Square
Oakland, CA
June 16, 2008

First I saw some 3-D art on the wall of Jack's Bistro. Gee, I wonder how they came up with that name?


Then I saw a statue of Jack London.



Then I saw the U.S.S. Potomac off in the distance.



And then I left.


4 comments:

mad said...

Yeah, nobody likes to hang around Oakland all that much. I used to work there.

Anonymous said...

Reading between the lines I agree with you - its kind of sad. If you want some peace and quiet JLS is the place to come, but there isn't much else except for some unimpressive (and sometimes awful) random art, a few struggling stores and a couple of expensive chain restaurants.

The Port of Oakland that manages the commercial real estate there has completely run it down - but as you can see there is building all around which is ironically mostly about putting hundreds of thousands of square feet of Class A office space right on the water's edge. That'll be nice for some high paid attorney's or someone (maybe developers?) to have their office with awesome view. I know its awesome because I used to have it myself, but now my building has been surrounded by new office buildings and garages its gone. Oh well, that's progress.

At least eventually there will, in theory, be some people at JLS in the future so maybe they will be able to fill some of those rows and rows of empty store fronts. But you know its unlikely that there will be anything unique about JLS other than the stuff that is already there - Heinold's Bar and a few other historical items. Retail is just retail and a food based market will be just a knock off of so many others.

Better luck on the next trip - but don't hold your breath waiting for it.

pineapple said...

mad: It was really because I was on my way to the suburbia hell called San Ramon. In retrospect, I think I would rather hang around in Oakland.

anon: I can't imagine that I will be back through there anytime soon. Sorry you lost your view. Sometimes progress doesn't benefit anyone...

Unknown said...

Wow, that must be something to see!