Day: November 8, 2009

Look At Montclair’s Olden Days

Have you thumbed through some Arcadia paperbacks about Oakland before?  They publish city-wide and neighborhood books chock-full of old photos and recollections – including a great one covering our Oakland Hills.

Oakland Hills, by Erika Mailman

Author Erika Mailman penned this Oakland Hills version, starting with a chapter called “Montclair and Environs.”  We hadn’t looked at the print edition in a while, but just discovered and wanted to share this online access.

You can actually page through the complete Montclair chapter on Amazon.com, in a legible size.  It’s a great record of Montclair’s olden days, with images displaying a remote and rural-looking place.

The photos prove it!  The Medaus, who owned and farmed most of the current-day village, are posed outside their homestead.  The Hayes school is shown, followed by the Montclair firehouse which replaced it.  And the undeveloped hills are snapped, along with an observatory built to attract real estate buyers.

Anyway, it’s a pleasant surprise to see this live Montclair chapter – click to look inside.

Cyclists, Drivers Debate Canyon Protocols

Shepherd Canyon has always been a challenging place shared by homeowners, bicyclists, drivers, walkers, soccer players, dogs – you name it.

Lately there’s been plenty of discussion about the appropriate protocols among the two-wheelers and four-wheelers who share the canyon road.  The terrain translates into few shoulders, many blind spots and no easy answers.

Shepherd Canyon Road, Oakland

The debates are lengthy, and depend on behaviors of rogues and law-abiding citizens.  We think it all boils down to these five perceptions:

  1. If rider is pedaling down the road, then that’s considered legal and appropriate behavior.
  2. If cautious driver follows rider, then driver needs to take heed and not surprise ’em.
  3. If rider gets angry at driver, then it might mean rider is concerned about life and limb.
  4. If driver is barreling down the road, then driver might put the rider ahead at risk.
  5. If rider uses railroad path, then walkers with and without dogs pose mutual risks.

We believe in using a little common sense and following the rules of the road.  We live in the hills, where terrain challenges are part of the bargain.  Are we missing anything here?