Uptown Oakland
Encyclopedia
Uptown is a neighborhood in Downtown
Oakland, California
, located just north of the center of downtown. Its boundaries are ill-defined, but most definitions include the area bounded by Grand Avenue at the north, Telegraph Avenue on the west, City Center
plaza on the south, and Harrison Street on the east.
I. Magnin
. The Paramount Theater
is located here on Broadway, as is the Fox Oakland Theatre
, on Telegraph.
West of Telegraph Avenue
, the neighborhood was for many years been largely made up of parking lots and garages. Most of these due to the cut and cover method the BART line employed in construction, destroying many of the older residential and commercial buildings. The area has gone through several failed urban renewal
projects and proposals, including proposals for a shopping mall, an entertainment district, high-rise housing, and a professional baseball stadium.
, adjacent to a dog-friendly park called Fox Square. A new surface street, Rashida Muhammad Street, has been built and named in the vicinity of the Uptown project, and the stated goal of The Uptown has been to enhance and build a new community in the area. This complex will also feature the "Remember Them" sculpture by Mario Chiodo, a local artist. The sculpture will be one of the largest bronze sculptures in the United States. The 25 humanitarians honored in this sculpture include Oskar Schindler, Maya Angelou, Ruby Bridges, Cesar Chavez and Mother Teresa.
A number of restaurants and bars have opened. In particular, Telegraph Avenue between 16th and 21st Streets has a lively nightlife, including the Cafe Van Kleef The Den at the Fox, and Luka's Tap Room bars and the Flora restaurant. Ozumo Oakland and Pican are located on Broadway.
A large Sears department store is located in the center of the Uptown district, between Telegraph Avenue, 20th Street, and Broadway.
An art gallery district is located further up Telegraph Avenue at 23rd Street, including Mama Buzz cafe and gallery and the Rock Paper Scissors art collective and store. It becomes a crowded and eclectic street scene during the monthly "Art Murmur" "art-walk" event on the first Friday evening of each month. 21 Grand, one of the first galleries to open in this district, and fiscal sponsor to Rock Paper Scissors, is located close by near the intersection of 25th and Broadway.
Oakland's Pan Theater offers improv theater shows at 2135 Broadway on Saturday nights right in the heart of the Uptown distrirct. Shows are at 8pm and 9:10pm featuring improvised theater with Pan Theater performers. Pan Theater is a community improv theater.
Uptown is in the so-called Oaksterdam
district of medical marijuana clubs which have contributed to a resurgence in retail and pedestrian activity in the area.
The tallest building in the Uptown district is the Gothic Revival Cathedral Building
.
Uptown includes a number of classic Art Deco buildings, although some are now in disrepair. These include:
BART station is in Uptown, in a subway under Broadway. Oakland's Art Moderne Greyhound
bus depot is on the other side of the neighborhood, on San Pablo Avenue at Interstate 980. AC Transit
operates numerous local buses, and a bus transfer station on 20th Street between Telegraph Avenue and Broadway, including a free weekday shuttle called "The B" that connects the Uptown district with Old Oakland, Chinatown, City Center, Lake Merritt, and Jack London Square.
Downtown Oakland
Downtown Oakland is the central business district of Oakland, California; roughly bounded by 6th Street or the Oakland Estuary on the southwest, Interstate 980 on the northwest, Grand Avenue on the northeast, and Lake Merritt on the east....
Oakland, California
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
, located just north of the center of downtown. Its boundaries are ill-defined, but most definitions include the area bounded by Grand Avenue at the north, Telegraph Avenue on the west, City Center
Oakland City Center
Oakland City Center is an office and shopping and hotel complex in Downtown Oakland, California. The complex is the product of a redevelopment project begun in the late 1950s. It covers twelve city blocks between Broadway on the east, Martin Luther King Jr. Way...
plaza on the south, and Harrison Street on the east.
History
Uptown was Oakland's main shopping district in the early to mid 20th century. Many buildings from that era remain, including the Capwell's department store (now a Sears), and the Art DecoArt Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
I. Magnin
I. Magnin
I. Magnin & Company was a San Francisco, California-based high fashion and specialty goods luxury department store. Over the course of its existence, it expanded across the West into Southern California and the adjoining states of Arizona, Oregon, and Washington...
. The Paramount Theater
Paramount Theater (Oakland, California)
The Paramount Theatre is a massive Art Deco movie theater located in downtown Oakland, California, USA. When it was built in 1931, it was the largest multi-purpose theater on the West Coast, seating 3476 Today, the Paramount is the home of the Oakland East Bay Symphony and the Oakland Ballet, it...
is located here on Broadway, as is the Fox Oakland Theatre
Fox Oakland Theatre
The Fox Oakland Theatre is a 2,800-seat movie theater, located at 1807 Telegraph Avenue in downtown Oakland, California. The theater was designed by Weeks and Day, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and reopened on February 5, 2009....
, on Telegraph.
West of Telegraph Avenue
Telegraph Avenue
Telegraph Avenue is a street that begins, at its southernmost point, in the midst of the historic downtown district of Oakland, California, USA, and ends, at its northernmost point, at the southern edge of the University of California campus in Berkeley, California...
, the neighborhood was for many years been largely made up of parking lots and garages. Most of these due to the cut and cover method the BART line employed in construction, destroying many of the older residential and commercial buildings. The area has gone through several failed urban renewal
Urban renewal
Urban renewal is a program of land redevelopment in areas of moderate to high density urban land use. Renewal has had both successes and failures. Its modern incarnation began in the late 19th century in developed nations and experienced an intense phase in the late 1940s – under the rubric of...
projects and proposals, including proposals for a shopping mall, an entertainment district, high-rise housing, and a professional baseball stadium.
Development
Recently, redevelopment has taken place by large upscale apartments and restaurants, bringing some much needed money and foot traffic into the area. The centerpiece has been the city government's 10K program, an effort to bring 10,000 addition resident to downtown. The largest of the new apartment complexes is a five story, three building apartment complex called The Uptown built by Forest City EnterprisesForest City Enterprises
Forest City Enterprises is a $9-billion diversified real estate management and development company based in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Its portfolio includes interests in retail centers, apartment communities, office buildings and mixed-use projects in the U.S...
, adjacent to a dog-friendly park called Fox Square. A new surface street, Rashida Muhammad Street, has been built and named in the vicinity of the Uptown project, and the stated goal of The Uptown has been to enhance and build a new community in the area. This complex will also feature the "Remember Them" sculpture by Mario Chiodo, a local artist. The sculpture will be one of the largest bronze sculptures in the United States. The 25 humanitarians honored in this sculpture include Oskar Schindler, Maya Angelou, Ruby Bridges, Cesar Chavez and Mother Teresa.
A number of restaurants and bars have opened. In particular, Telegraph Avenue between 16th and 21st Streets has a lively nightlife, including the Cafe Van Kleef The Den at the Fox, and Luka's Tap Room bars and the Flora restaurant. Ozumo Oakland and Pican are located on Broadway.
Points of interest
An art gallery district is located further up Telegraph Avenue at 23rd Street, including Mama Buzz cafe and gallery and the Rock Paper Scissors art collective and store. It becomes a crowded and eclectic street scene during the monthly "Art Murmur" "art-walk" event on the first Friday evening of each month. 21 Grand, one of the first galleries to open in this district, and fiscal sponsor to Rock Paper Scissors, is located close by near the intersection of 25th and Broadway.
Oakland's Pan Theater offers improv theater shows at 2135 Broadway on Saturday nights right in the heart of the Uptown distrirct. Shows are at 8pm and 9:10pm featuring improvised theater with Pan Theater performers. Pan Theater is a community improv theater.
Uptown is in the so-called Oaksterdam
Oaksterdam
Oaksterdam is a cultural district on the north end of downtown Oakland, California, where medical cannabis in a variety of competitively priced smokeable and edible preparations is available for purchase in multiple cafes, clubs, and patient dispensaries. Oaksterdam is located on the north end of...
district of medical marijuana clubs which have contributed to a resurgence in retail and pedestrian activity in the area.
Architectural landmarks
Cathedral Building
Located in Oakland, California, the Cathedral Building, originally named the Federal Realty Building, was the first Gothic Revival style skyscraper west of the Mississippi River. It is also called the "Wedding Cake" for its appearance, which resembles New York's Flatiron Building...
.
Uptown includes a number of classic Art Deco buildings, although some are now in disrepair. These include:
- The Paramount Theatre is a massive movie theater. When it was built in 1931, it was the largest multi-purpose theater on the West Coast, seating 3,476. Today, the Paramount is the home of the Oakland East Bay Symphony and the Oakland Ballet. It regularly plays host to R&B, jazz, blues, pop, rock, gospel, classical music, as well as ballets, plays, stand-up comedy, lecture series, special events, and re-runs of classical movies from Hollywood's Golden Era.
- The Fox Oakland TheatreFox Oakland TheatreThe Fox Oakland Theatre is a 2,800-seat movie theater, located at 1807 Telegraph Avenue in downtown Oakland, California. The theater was designed by Weeks and Day, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and reopened on February 5, 2009....
is a 3,800-seat movie theater, located at 1807 Telegraph Avenue. The theater was designed by Weeks and Day, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and reopened on February 5, 2009 after extensive renovation. - The May Bowles Building at 1718 Telegraph Avenue was designed by Douglas Dacre Stone and features a blue-green terracotta frieze, and geometric window screens.
- J. J. Newberry'sJ.J. NewberryJ.J. Newberry's was an American five and dime store chain in the 20th century. It was founded in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, United States, in 1911 by John Josiah Newberry . J.J. Newberry had learned the variety store business by working at S.H...
on Telegraph Avenue at 19th Street features an extensive black and silver terracotta frieze with geometric and floral motifs. The former department store now houses The Uptown nightclub and the Flora restaurant.
Transportation
The 19th Street/Oakland19th Street/Oakland (BART station)
19th Street/Oakland is an underground Bay Area Rapid Transit station located at 19th Street and Broadway in Downtown Oakland. It is an official northbound transfer station along the BART system, since September 13, 2010....
BART station is in Uptown, in a subway under Broadway. Oakland's Art Moderne Greyhound
Greyhound Lines
Greyhound Lines, Inc., based in Dallas, Texas, is an intercity common carrier of passengers by bus serving over 3,700 destinations in the United States, Canada and Mexico, operating under the well-known logo of a leaping greyhound. It was founded in Hibbing, Minnesota, USA, in 1914 and...
bus depot is on the other side of the neighborhood, on San Pablo Avenue at Interstate 980. AC Transit
AC Transit
AC Transit is an Oakland-based regional public transit agency serving the western half of Alameda County and parts of western Contra Costa County in the western, Bay-side area of the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area...
operates numerous local buses, and a bus transfer station on 20th Street between Telegraph Avenue and Broadway, including a free weekday shuttle called "The B" that connects the Uptown district with Old Oakland, Chinatown, City Center, Lake Merritt, and Jack London Square.
See also
- Adams Point
- ChinatownChinatown, Oakland, CaliforniaThe Chinatown neighborhood in Oakland, California, is a pan-Asian neighborhood which reflects Oakland's diverse Asian American community. It is frequently referred to as "Oakland Chinatown" in order to distinguish it from nearby San Francisco's Chinatown...
- Jack London SquareJack London SquareJack London Square is a popular tourist attraction on the waterfront of Oakland, California. Named after the author Jack London and owned by the Port of Oakland, it is the home of stores, restaurants, hotels, an Amtrak station, a ferry dock, the historic Saloon, the cabin Jack London lived in the...
- Lakeside Apartments DistrictLakeside Apartments District, Oakland, CaliforniaThe Lakeside Apartments District neighborhood, also known as The Gold Coast, and simply as The Lakeside, is one of Oakland, California's historic residential neighborhoods between its Downtown district and Lake Merritt...
- Oakland City CenterOakland City CenterOakland City Center is an office and shopping and hotel complex in Downtown Oakland, California. The complex is the product of a redevelopment project begun in the late 1950s. It covers twelve city blocks between Broadway on the east, Martin Luther King Jr. Way...
- OaksterdamOaksterdamOaksterdam is a cultural district on the north end of downtown Oakland, California, where medical cannabis in a variety of competitively priced smokeable and edible preparations is available for purchase in multiple cafes, clubs, and patient dispensaries. Oaksterdam is located on the north end of...
- Old OaklandOld OaklandOld Oakland, formally known as the Old Oakland Historic District, is a historic district in downtown Oakland, California. The area is located on the northwest side of Broadway, between the City Center complex and the Jack London Square district, and across Broadway from Chinatown.The Old Oakland...
External links
- Rebuilding Oaktown - blog generally about the Uptown district.
- Concrete Rumors - blog and forums specifically for Uptown Apartment residents.