Category Archives: Oaklavia

Return of the 2nd Annual Love Our Neighborhood Day

Biking, Events, Oaklavia, Walking

It’s WOBO’s fourth year producing open streets events in Oakland (and in collaboration with Berkeley and Emeryville).  On Saturday May 30, San Pablo Avenue between Ashby and Stanford transforms from a state route into a community space filled with activities, music, performances, and best of all, a car-free roadway for people to enjoy on foot or on pedal power.

See what we’ve planned for you! Love Our Neighborhood Day activity and event map 2015

For media: MEDIA ADVISORY                                                    

May 26, 2015

East Bay Open Streets to Launch with Love Our Neighborhood Day this Saturday, 5/30 

Press Conference slated for this Thursday, 5/28, 1:00 pm; details below

Oakland/Berkeley, CA — Thousands are expected to take to the streets of North Oakland and Southwest Berkeley this Saturday, May 30, from 11 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. for car-free family fun at the 2nd Annual Love Our Neighborhood Day in North Oakland/Southwest Berkeley. It is the first of three events presented by East Bay Open Streets, a new multi-city open streets program of Walk Oakland Bike Oakland (WOBO), in association with the Downtown Berkeley Association, North Shattuck Association and Livable Berkeley.

A one-mile stretch of San Pablo Avenue from Ashby to Stanford will be closed to vehicle traffic to make way for the public to walk, bike, skate, dance, stroll, play and experience the evolving neighborhoods of North Oakland’s Golden Gate and Southwest Berkeley in a whole new way. More than 60 activities are being hosted by neighborhood groups, nonprofits, community organizations and area businesses. The main focus of the free community-driven open streets events is to bring residents and visitors out for exercise, movement and cultural enrichment on car-free, carefree city streets.

Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates and Oakland City Councilmember Dan Kalb (North Oakland) will join with community leaders and event sponsors for a press conference this Thursday, 5/28 at 1:00 pm (details below).

More information on East Bay Open Streets/Love Our Neighborhood Day can be found in the Press Release – East Bay Open Streets – May 30 Love Our Neighborhood Day.

WHAT:            

East Bay Open Streets Press Conference

Press conference to launch East Bay Open Streets, a regional program of Walk Oakland Bike Oakland (WOBO) that kicks off this Saturday, May 30 with the 2nd Annual Love Our Neighborhood Day in North Oakland/Southwest Berkeley. 

DATE/TIME: Thursday, May 28 at 1:00 pm

WHERE: In front of the Marchant Building, 3100 San Pablo @ 67th Street, on the border of Oakland/Berkeley/Emeryville. Tenants of the building include Clif Bar and TCHO Chocolate.

WHO:  Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates; Oakland City Councilmember Dan Kalb (District One – North Oakland); Henry Hilken, Director of Planning, Bay Area Air Quality Management District; Sal Bednarz, owner, Actual Café; Chris Hwang, Board President, WOBO.

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Media Contact:

Samee Roberts, East Bay Open Streets openstreetsdirector@gmail.com, 510-220-8140

Oaklavia – Love Our Lake Day September 14, 2014

Advocacy, Biking, Blog, Events, Oaklavia, Walking

What began as a WOBO pilot project in 2010 has grown into a delightful annual rite of passage going into its third & fourth iterations in 2014.  Oaklavia (oaklavia.org) is produced by Walk Oakland Bike Oakland to bring car-free streets to Oakland. The main objective of Oaklavia is to invite the public to “Come Play in the Streets.”  The first Oaklavia created an event route that stretched from Broadway in Downtown Oakland into Old Oakland, and terminated at 7th and Brush Streets in West Oakland.

On Sunday, September 14, 2014, 11am to 4pm, Oaklavia – Love Our Lake Day returns to Lake Merritt.  Why?

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The streets belong to the people!  We are encouraging friends, neighbors, co-workers and visitors to experience the streets as they should be, demanding that we re-think, and advocate for how we build and use our roadways to support healthy, vibrant, livable and sustainable places for Oakland. We want to share with you the incredible diversity of resources along the route, the vastly improved Lake Merritt as a result of a voter-approved tax measure (that’s right, Oaklanders are paying for these improvements), and the joy of reconnecting with each other in order to realize how far we’ve come in fostering a strong and resilient Oakland, and how far we have yet to go.

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Oaklavia – Love Our Lake Day brings back some of the same energy from last year’s event. But this time, we’re lining up even more community resources on a 3-mile (mostly) car-free route that spans Lakeshore Avenue on the eastern flank of Lake Merritt to Downtown Oakland, Latham Square.

Zach photo at amphitheater

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Get ready to dance, stroll, scoot, bike and kickbox your way through 3 stages, an Eritrean/Ethiopian New Year Festival, a yoga class, acupuncture sessions, information booths to help you learn how to adjust your daily routines to become part of the solution for creating a sustainable Oakland.  Through movement, exercise, experience, WOBO hopes event participants will walk more, and maybe try bicycling more as a viable way to exercise, to run errands, and to commute.  And best of all, WOBO hopes you will feel energized to help shepherd Oakland into a bright future.

Click HERE for an early snapshot of what we’ve got planned for you.  

Catch you at Oaklavia!

 

Tell us about your experience at Oaklavía!

Blog, Events, Oaklavia

Love Our Lake Day – Oaklavía marks another magnificent day in Oakland.  Were you there?  Tell us about your experience and get a chance to win a gift certificate to some of our favorite local shops: Cato’s Ale House, Transport, Walden Pond Books, Peet’s.  But you must submit responses by July 4.  We want to hear from as many people as possible to help us bring fun and meaningful events to Oakland, so share the survey widely.

**Thanks to all who offered feedback and suggestions.  We’ll be reviewing and honing our future Oaklavía plans.  Raffle winners will be notified by email!