Waterfront Waste

Waterfront Waste

Letters from our December issue.

The voters of Oakland spent years negotiating a general plan that included converting Brooklyn Basin to a grand park for all the city. The park would have been a catalyst for development in the neighborhoods along its full length. Signature Development’s middle-class ghetto takes the park our voters wanted and turns it into money—until the seas rise and flood it.

Don Perata made the taking possible by creating an exception for it in state law. Voters were so angry about him that they voted anyone-but-Perata when he ran for mayor. So we got Quan, who’s also ignoring the voters’ general plan.

Now we’re stuck with another waterfront development that will never quite succeed, like so many of the projects that already litter the estuary.

Mike Bradley, Oakland

 

West Alameda Represents

Great article in Alameda Magazine about Webster Street, Alameda’s historic business district.

From Choose Alameda @ChooseAlameda

 

Enjoyed this: “How West Alameda Acquired Its Character: It’s a tale of bogs, bridges, bathing, booze, and boxing.”

From Ken Arneson @KenArneson

 

Meanwhile, Over at NewBallPark.org

Marine Layer, aka Rhamesis Muncada, blogged on Nov. 3: Apparently I’m some sort of international regional man of mystery, so it was only a matter of time before I was profiled in some periodical, somewhere. Such is the case in the November edition of [Alameda] Magazine, where Steven Tavares (of East Bay Citizen) figured out a way to devote 750 words to me. There are also quotes from detractors, though not from me directly. Tavares asked me for an interview a few weeks ago, and I declined, simply because I’d rather not draw further attention to myself. It’s about the ballpark and the process, not me.

My favorite tidbit goes like this: “… some of Muncada’s detractors responded to photos he tweeted from his seat at the Coliseum by attempting to triangluate his location at the ballpark.” … Whether you believe I’m rational or evil incarnate, I’m sure you’ll enjoy the read. I know I did.