Community

Saved from staggering by the blue bench beneath him, a man sits. It’s Thursday at Mosswood Park and, perhaps, this is his usual spot. The sun reflects off his balding head, which is framed by salt and pepper puffs of hair and connected to a beard that’s more salt than it is pepper. He gazes across the basketball court, staring at no one in particular. A group of folks make a diagonal beeline across the court. They are a motley…

A 30-something, slightly overweight woman clad in yoga pants, Adidas and an electric blue athletic pullover, as if she frequents an overpriced workout class, stares begrudgingly at the stairs before her. She waits, looking at those stairs, like they have done something personally to her. Finally, after what feels like 30 minutes, she lets out a long “huff” before taking her first step on the gray cracked stairs at Joaquin Miller Park. It’s a wonder she hasn’t fallen on the…

The janitor sings when no one’s around. 11 a.m. is quiet at Macarthur BART Station. The bike racks are full: the morning commuters are long gone. The janitor leans up against the ticket machine in a BART-blue jumpsuit, looks out at the forecourt, and scats. His voice—broad, electric—reaches round the bare concrete, swells in the crevices. Jazz. Loud, secret. After a moment, a low hush builds overhead. A whistle, the universal sound of wheels on track, and a high hum…

Town Park is a community skate park at deFremery Park in West Oakland. Night or day, there’s always someone hanging out, whether neighborhood kids after school or future professionals honing their skills. Click on the audio button below the photos to hear what was going on at the stake park on an ordinary Thursday.

At the center of Oakland Chinatown, Pacific Renaissance Plaza presents a mix of Asian culture and American daily life. At 11 am, the smell of roast duck and chicken gradually floats into the air, along with the loud noise of chefs striking their knives onto cutting boards coming from the kitchens of restaurants. Shops around the building have Cheongsam and Chinese traditional paintings hanging in the windows. People walk through the plaza, some with a burger or coffee, at a fast pace, and others with…

In an empty Jack in the Box on Telegraph Avenue and 45th Street, a fast food worker wearing a black sweater vest and a short-sleeved dark red button-down shirt is moving slowly, trying to keep herself busy cleaning tables after the morning breakfast crowd had gone. All they left behind were burger wrappers and half-empty soda cups on tables; some had landed on the floor. It’s an overcast Thursday morning. The cashier behind the counter says, “It’s slow,” commenting on…

At 11:02 am, five people stand in line at Bakesale Betty, a small corner shop on Telegraph and 51st St that opens at 11:00 am. The soon-to-be customers are quiet, shuffling forward incrementally, eager for fried chicken sandwiches, but not making a fuss of it. Inside, it smells like seasoned oil and hot cookies. Customers order from the smiling, blue-haired Betty herself, who hands out paper bags pre-loaded with the joint’s specialty. Outside, the decadent aroma is swept away by…

On a Thursday morning, the slate-gray plaza is peppered with about a dozen black tables and chairs, some occupied, some conspicuously empty. Near a wood-topped concrete bench are two concrete planters, each hosting a handful of well-spaced shrubs and spiky plants. The building behind those planters houses chains both local and national (1st United Credit Union, Great Clips, and Philz Coffee) and the building behind them houses the main attraction of the plaza: a Safeway. The plants seem to be…