Why does the Pizza Hut on Fruitvale Avenue (Oakland) have bulletproof glass? Why are there so many liquor stores in Oakland? Why are people afraid of Oakland? Is it really better in other neighborhoods, like Berkeley and San Francisco? What do people in other Bay Area neighborhoods think of Oakland? If you’ve ever wondered about these questions, this is the blog for you!
From May 19th to June 6th 2008, our group of students will visit, explore, and analyze different neighborhoods throughout the Bay area, and produce our own stories, pictures, videos, and audio clips to answer these questions, AND YOURS! Please submit your questions below, and check back here later for the answers.
A critical look at the San Francisco Bay area, from the perspectives of East Oakland youth
Postings:
- WHYs Up!
- Walnut Creek: May 20, 2008
- Walnut Creek: Food
- Walnut Creek: Economics
- Walnut Creek: Safety
- Walnut Creek: Health and Accessibility
- Walnut Creek: Aesthetics
- Walnut Creek: Diversity
- Fruitvale: May 23, 2008
- Fruitvale: Food
- Fruitvale: Economics
- Fruitvale: Safety
- Fruitvale: Health and Accessibility
- Fruitvale: Aesthetics
- Fruitvale: Diversity
- Oakland Chinatown: May 27, 2008
- Oakland Chinatown: Food
- Oakland Chinatown: Economics
- Oakland Chinatown: Safety
- Oakland Chinatown: Health and Accessibility
- Oakland Chinatown: Aesthetics
- Oakland Chinatown: Diversity
- Rockridge: May 29, 2008
- Rockridge: Food
- Rockridge: Economics
- Rockridge: Safety
- Rockridge: Health and Accessibility
- Rockridge: Aesthetics
- Rockridge: Diversity
- Old Oakland: May 30, 2008
- Old Oakland: Food
- Old Oakland: Economics
- Old Oakland: Safety
- Old Oakland: Health and Accessibility
- Old Oakland: Aesthetics
- Old Oakland: Diversity
- Lakeshore: June 2, 2008
- Lakeshore: Food
- Lakeshore: Economics
- Lakeshore: Safety
- Lakeshore: Health and Accessibility
- Lakeshore: Aesthetics
- Lakeshore: Diversity
- The Castro: June 3, 2008
- The Castro: Food
- The Castro: Economics
- The Castro: Safety
- The Castro: Health and Accessibility
- The Castro: Aesthetics
- The Castro: Diversity
- Alameda: June 6, 2008
- Alameda: Food
- Alameda: Economics
- Alameda: Safety
- Alameda: Health and Accessibility
- Alameda: Aesthetics
- Alameda: Diversity
- Food around the Bay Area
- Economics in the Bay Area
- Safety in the Bay Area
- Health and Accessibility around the Bay Area
- Aesthetics in the Bay Area
- Diversity in the Bay Area
Our Contributors
finding answers to the WHYs that define our community
8 comments:
It's just crossing a short 350-foot bridge, but it seems like a world away. Why does Park Street and the surrounding neighborhoods in Alameda feel so different than 29th Street just across the bridge in Oakland? The first time I crossed it I thought it was a portal to a different world.
What makes a community? What do people do to make their neighborhoods great? What are you planning to do with the information you gather?
What community groups in your area bring different cultural groups together and why?
What are the beleifs people from the age of 15-20 have about the their future in reagrds to jobs, family structure, and their spirtual vision for their community?
When you (the students) visit the neighborhoods do you feel that people treat you different in different neighborhoods? How is that for you? What's your explanation of these differences if any?
Go
How are the neighborhoods different? Do they differ in population, social life or work environments for example?
Does each neighborhood have different subcultures?
Why did the people decide to live in that particular neighborhood and not another?
Good luck with your project.
Jeanne
There are many “Oaklands” in many cities around the world in which the human qualities of compassion, cooperative endeavour, creativity and achievement of a person’s highest potential, are surrendering to buildings with bulletproof glass and a cycle of lost opportunities.
Your project (and your school) however tells us otherwise. It tells us of the strength in a group of students who are working through the disadvantages of their environment to address issues, and in their own way become an inspiration for their community and for other Oaklands around the world. Great work guys. Go to it.
My question (and challenge) to you is in two parts:
1. What can you discover about the strengths in your community and what ideas, initiatives, projects or other would make your community a better place to live in; and
2. What can we learn from your community and your research that may help other communities around the world with similar issues
Thank you
from Australia
Hi Everyone.....now that you have completed your mission, don't forget to build on what you have learned by considering what aspects of each community you found were shared by all, and which aspects you observed as unique. Begin exploring the deeper questions under the observations - don't accept 'cut and dried' definitions for 'diversity', 'community', 'safety', etc., but find your own, and use your own intellect and personal experience to inform your analysis. If you have loved doing this work, consider building your skills by finishing high school and going to college. Be tomorrow's social and evironmental scientists, economists, anthropologists, doctors, teachers, community workers and civic leaders.
From the point of view of one of your many readers, I would just like to tell you how much I valued your work, and how much I learned about the area through your eyes. I will now look forward to visiting all of the Oakland area when I come, and I will always have your comments in the back of my mind like a personal guide or an insider's joke when I see what you have seen through my own eyes. Thanks very much all of you!
Colleen from Australia
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