Places Of Note

Twittering About Montclair

Have you heard of Twitter?  It’s a way to send out short messages or “tweets” which your friends, family or colleagues can follow.  Communications are under 140 characters, short and sweet.

That said, I decided to search Twitter messages about Montclair.  It’s amazing how many different things are shared this way, but the most depressing one is below.  Are Montclarions really that snooty and awful?

Twitter Montclair

Most messages are straightforward, and simply trying to stay in touch with others:  “Time for coffee – anybody in Montclair area of Oakland?”  or “@devBear try our area Montclair in Oakland. You might like it.”

Others are a bit more profound: “At Montclair Park for the last time this month.  Family moving out of Oakland.  Weird thinking about being out of 510 after 10 years.”

It feels a little voyeuristic, since all the messages are public.  Thus if you decide to twitter, you will be giving shout-outs to those who care – along with the entire world.

The First Signs Of Rainy Season

After taking our weather for granted, this storm is a quick reminder of the rainy season ahead.  It’s admittedly beautiful in some ways, as we’re watching the fog pour through the hills.  The rains are not torrential yet.

Here’s a virtual tour of how a Montclair rainy day looks and feels, up in the parks.  We begin with a snapshot of a local chihuahua, who’s clearly stressed by the muddy trail walk.  He (or she) is properly pampered and protected from the raindrops, but that doesn’t seem to help much.

Next, the earthworms emerge from even the slightest rain showers.  (Personally I prefer the banana slugs, but they have not yet arrived on the scene.)  In this photo, a lone earthworm has surfaced on top of the rocky soil, and will likely be joined by others soon.  Of course, they have nowhere to go and may get trampled.

Finally here’s an peaceful image of a foggy and rainy day taken in Redwood Park, which should be familiar to Montclarions.  To me, the rainy days actually tamp down the noise levels in the parks.  It’s very comfortable walking among the trees.  For Hollywood mavens, we’re about to see something evil unfold – Blair Witch Trial, anyone?

We haven’t had any rain in so long, and are still suffering from drought conditions.  This weekend provides just a taste of the rainy season we desparately need.  Yet we have to whine a little – it’s sometimes difficult to stay upbeat with the doom and gloom surrounding Montclair.

Soft Landing For Montclarions

In this recession, we can only hope that Montclarions have a “soft landing” economically.

Montclarions and all 94611 zip code residents start with a strong foundation.  We’re quite blessed with educational and professional advantages, as compared to other Californians and Americans.

Courtesy of the U.S. Census, the chart above shows the score.  More than a third of us have graduated from college (35%) or grad school (32%) respectively.  We’re about double the college grads and triple the post-grads of everywhere else.

What are we doing with that education?  On the occupational front, nearly two-thirds are managers or professionals (64%) and that’s around double the state and country averages.  A sizable number hold sales positions (21%) as well.

Certainly the correlation between education and employment should be obvious, except that we live in interesting times!  If you’re in financial services or venture-backed companies, it’s already a cold and desolate winter.

I’m hoping that we won’t get hit too hard but haven’t learned much from coffee house chatter.  We discuss the economy, the city budget, gas prices, real estate, and some investments that have gone bust.

However, I’m wondering exactly where and when the recessionary fallout hits us even harder and becomes truly life-changing – or if most of us will experience a soft landing.

Walking Montclair’s Steeps

While there are all kinds of great ways to view the topography of Montclair, the most practical one is Walk Oakland! This cool map shows the specific pitches of streets, and helps you get around on foot or bicycle.

Click here to see the map, and magnify any Montclair neighborhood.  You’ll notice the streets are graded by color, with deeper pinks as you head up the hills:  0-3% white; 3-6% light; 6-9% medium; and over 9% dark.

Take a closer look at this Montclair snapshot.  If you know your area, then you’ll agree the pitch colors are remarkably accurate – depending on whether they head up or transverse the hills.

What I like best about this map is that is reveals some ideal walks.  Why do I always restrict to walking up to Skyline?  Probably nothing more than habit.  As an avid walker, the map encourages me to check out some other places rather than my typical routes.

This walking map also manages to label the streets and neighborhoods clearly.  While we don’t commonly use the original neighborhood names, they honor our history.  In addition to Hiller Highlands, Montclair and Piedmont Pines, you can zoom into Forestland, Merriewood and Fernwood too.

Of course, it’s fun to fly around Google Earth and see actual satellite images.  It’s even more useful to have these pitch measurements – and there’s no other place to find them.

What Montclair Might Look Like

Did you see what Montclair might look like with a renewed streetscape?  Recently the Montclair Village Association (MVA) provided some before-and-after images.

Here are the “after” images with various sidewalk, crosswalk and banner concepts superimposed on village streets.  Those banners seem to honor our hills and trees, in purple and yellow hues.  Montclair already feels like a friendlier destination!

At the behest of the MVA, landscape architect Leslie Golden was brought into the planning process early.  Her firm has done all kinds of streetscapes and parks, which reflect the sense of place.  You know that island and palm entrance to the Oakland Airport?  That’s Golden Associates at work.

Anyway, the MVA held initial meetings where Golden was able to solicit ideas from merchants and villagers alike.  She asked what kinds of improvements were desired, and then shared preliminary ideas for our consumption.  The plans were not getting dictated or handed down to us.

A few weeks back, I wondered what would happen next and how improvements might get funded – which was putting the cart before the horse.  We’re not quite ready yet.

“Having a Master Plan to work towards is needed before any funding can be solicited,” explained Roger Vickery, MVA executive director.  The Association is trying to establish a long-term vision, with improvements rolled out over several years.

The MVA is requesting your reactions to the preliminary plans now.  Everything is up for review, right down to Village logos shown on their site.  Please email them at montclairvillage-at-sbcglobal.net.