Don’t. Be. Fucking. Douchebags!

It’s really that simple.

Be considerate. That little old Hispanic lady at the bus stop? Help her onto the bus instead of loudly bitching about how she’s going to make you late to your meeting at The Creamery.

Be respectful. This neighborhood was here before you and will be here after you leave. It’s not your trashcan, your toilet or your playground. Understand the history and the culture and the people and act in a manner that isn’t stupidly offensive.

Be sensitive. The traditional residents of this neighborhood are not rich and never will be. Flaunting your wealth and your opportunities is a douche move. 

chris tacy. gawker, 11.06.13.

i’m glad (for the most part) of the common (mis)conception that oakland is dangerous, ridden with crime, blah blah blah…

hopefully those false(-ish) fears will keep deterring people from coming to oakland, although the nytimes has named it one of the top cities in the world to travel to, and although a consistent string of good acts come to play at the beautifully renovated fox theater.

cuz we don’t want oakland to become the “new mission”, right??!! (although a sfweekly post i read a couple months back proclaimed that oakland is “the new mission” already. but i disagree.)

there really exist people who live in SF (not native sf bay area peepz) who HAVE NEVER been to the east bay. like wow, wtfsrsly I can NOT be your friend. don’t tell me you’ve never taken BART before, either. (it’s an eleven-minute BART ride SF—oakland.)

but whatever, right? snobby, douchey folks should just stay out. we don’t want you here. you won’t contribute to our diverse city.
they don’t know what they’re missing out on. but hey, more chill space for us. (until the SF rents peak spreads across the bay and we can’t afford it here, either… gotta make more headlines involving shootings? :P)

Well, we found someone who is enjoying their BART ride. Ex-BART Manager-turned Golden Parachuter Dorothy Dugger has reportedly been cashing in her six-figure salary while “sitting at home.”

The Bay Area News Group (09.06.13) investigated the former manager who resigned under pressure in 2011; at that time, she was criticized for her ridiculously high salary and her $1 million resignation package. Despite all that, she still managed to finagle more money out of BART, and in 2012 she brought home more than the current General manager of the transit agency….

Here’s a fun factoid for those of you who have been scrounging the change bowl at home for BART rides: Last year, Dugger’s gross pay could have bought 52,837 round-trip BART tickets between downtown Oakland and San Francisco’s Financial district.

sfweekly, 20.06.13.

Three big urban planning moves that could transform San Francisco.

Replacing I-280 with a surface boulevard would create many opportunities for improvement, including the creation of new green spaces that would help to link many neighborhoods together.

read more: SPUR’s report in the Urbanist, Issue 524 • June 2013.

previously: Ben Caldwell, a masters student at UC Berkeley’s Dept. of Urban Design, has a project analyzing the removal of the 280 Fwy. In place of the freeway, he proposes a new gracious Potrero Boulevard. 13.02.13.

A man riding a bike modified for the water strolls around Lake Merritt during the Love Our Lake Day celebrations of renovations to Lake Merritt in Oakland, Calif. on June 9, 2013. Photo: Ian C. Bates

“It’s been a long time coming,” said Avi Rose, 59, a nonprofit director who was at the festival with his daughter, Aviva, 10. “I remember when the lake wasn’t so nice. But now it’s become this great community gathering spot.”

Eileen Sugai, 45, a project manager, said the lake is a major asset for her family. Her husband now walks along the lake to get to work, they often rent boats on the weekend and it’s become a favorite dog-walking spot.

“Now, when I tell people we live by Lake Merritt, everyone gets it,” she said. “It’s so beautiful; we’re lucky to live here.”

Even Gov. Jerry Brown was gushing abut the lake on Sunday. The former Oakland mayor and current resident spoke briefly at the new amphitheater before a crowd of several thousand.

“This is evidence that with enough money and good taste, you can do beautiful things,” he said. “I wish that it happened faster, but this is pretty good for government work.”

He also called Oakland “the best city in California” and told residents to call him if they ever needed anything.

sfgate, 09.06.13.

I should be there or at the Oakland Indie Business Awards party right now..

Crews that built the railing committed what experts called a basic mistake — they welded the bolts in place firmly in their slots rather than leaving a small amount of room to accommodate a natural expansion of the bicycle path that happens in hot weather.

As a result, scores of the 1-inch-diameter bolts have been sheared off along the 1.2-mile bike path on the southern side of the span’s skyway section. All of them, along with hundreds of others that were solidly welded, will have to be inspected and possibly replaced, a Caltrans spokesman said Tuesday.

The problem pales in comparison with the failure of 32 steel rods crucial to seismic-stability structures on the eastern span and questions that have been raised about the soundness of more than 2,300 similar metal fasteners. But it also adds to skepticism about how Caltrans managed construction of the bridge, which is scheduled to open to traffic Sept. 3 — a timetable that is now very much in doubt.

sfgate, 28.05.13.

holy sh-t wtfeezy caltrans??!!!