Community

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…

Mental health and relaxation professionals across Oakland say they are seeing heightened levels of election-related stress and anxiety among the city’s residents.

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…

A feathered creature glides across a white-pillowed sky, flapping its wings as though to maintain pace with the whisking winds. Its ivory body nearly blends into the backdrop, but its smoky tail soars in opposition. Attracted by a clear lagoon, it lands. The seagull plops its webbed feet unto the waters of Lake Merritt, as its eyes meet the stares of geese. Unbothered by the others, it paddles. Western gulls share Lake Merritt with other birds including Canada geese and…

The gentle breeze carrying a cool mist from Oakland’s Inner Harbor, hits the faces of people scattered around the docks of Jack London Square. The area is without much activity and the water is calm. The sky is filled with clouds, but the wind is quickly shuffling them away, revealing the warm rays of the sun. The few people sitting on benches are either keeping up with the latest news or making tough life decisions. “Do you want to get…

Second grade children come out to the basketball court. They are all coming from the school next door to the Lincoln Square Park in Chinatown, Oakland. Almost all in uniform, they are all dressed in white tops and beige pants. But there’s one little girl who sticks out. She wears her jet-black straight hair in a ponytail, and is wearing a navy blue skirt and black tights that don’t quite match. The kids’ homeroom teacher instructs them to stretch. He…