My "Third Place" in Rockridge

For my “third place” in the Rockridge neighborhood, I chose the Rockridge Public Library. A lot of people would not believe that a Library is an unofficial community gathering spot, but I found out through some of the residents, who go to the library on a daily basis, that the library is a great place to socialize with other residents/parents.

The Rockridge Public Library is located on College Avenue, in North Oakland and is open Tuesdays through Saturdays. There are many small programs and events that take place in the library for all ages such as story time and the Teen Anima club.

Every time I went to the library to do research on the neighborhood, there were always different types of programs going on in one section of the library. The second time I went, a preschool story time was taking place. While all the children were being active and listening to the reader, I noticed that the parents of these children looked as if this was the time they had for themselves or to socialize with other parents. I went up to two women chatting at the side of the room. They were very friendly and told me about how they met while taking their children to the library special programs. They both began brining their children to the library about six to seven years ago and have been friends every since. Their children all play together and will be attending the same schools. The two women went on to tell me how a lot of parents being to socialize with one another because of the similarities in regards to their lifestyles.

First Impression of North Oakland

North Oakland is an area in the East Bay located by Berkeley and Emeryville, California. It is an area that is comprised with small neighborhoods such as Bushrod Park, Rockridge, and the very-well known Piedmont Avenue.

As a resident of the East Bay for most of my life, I still knew little about North Oakland and its history and importance prior to this assignment. My first step to learning more about the area was to do research online. I retrieve information on which neighborhoods of North Oakland many Bay Area residents tend to visit and the differences between the neighborhoods.

I decided to make Piedmont Avenue my first destination to get to know North Oakland a little bit better. As I first drove though the street, there were pedestrians walking everywhere. The time I came was during the lunch hour, making it difficult to find parking. But after my third round of going back through Piedmont Avenue, I found parking right in front of an Italian restaurant called Dopo.

As I began looking around the street, I noticed all kinds of small businesses. There were medical offices, bike shops, bookstores, clothing stores, etc. I went in a few stores to see what type of people shop in this area. The shoppers were mainly younger women. The diners at the restaurants were on average middle aged men and women of Caucasian and African American ethnicities.

I kept walking down the street, and I noticed there was a huge line at Honeybaked Ham Company. I also purchase hams at this store every Thanksgiving for my family dinner. Passing by the long line of customers I could hear conversations of how good the ham tasted and which type of sauces went well with different flavored hams. The smell from inside can easily attract customers from a few blocks away.

After leaving Honeybaked Ham Company, I decided to venture into another area of North Oakland, the Rockridge neighborhood. Prior to getting to the area, I have heard through my co-worker that the views form the hills of Rockridge were amazing. When I drove up one hill and parked, I found that my co-worker was correct. The streets were very narrow, but the houses that made up the streets were designed as if they were mini mansions right next to each other. I thought the houses were beautiful. As I looked passed the houses, I saw the view my co-worker told me about. I saw the sun glistening on the bay as it sets and the Bay Bridge and Golden Gate Bridge in the far distance. As I stayed on the hill, many of the residents walking pass me greeted me or had a remark about the view. I found the residents to be extremely friendly.

I was only able to visit two areas of North Oakland, but so far my findings on this area have been exciting. I am very eager to learn more about North Oakland and its history as the semester continues.