Are You Ready To
Play In The Streets?    

Oaklavia, Oakland's car-free open streets initiative, returns to a two-mile stretch of State Hwy 123, aka San Pablo Avenue, bringing community, art, walking and biking into the street.

The North Oakland neighborhoods of Golden Gate, Santa Fe and Longfellow, and West Berkeley and Emeryville neighbors join forces to temporarily close San Pablo Avenue to cars from Ashby to Stanford on Saturday, June 4, 2016.

Want to help us make the magic happen? Join in:

• Be a part of the event: become a sponsor, join the local planning team, host an activity on the event route, or volunteer to keep participants safe and rolling on the day of the event. Email the local planning committee loveourhood [at] gmail [dot] com

• Sign up to receive updates on the June 4 event

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SATURDAY!

The February Oakland Urban Paths walk will be Cleveland Heights and "Borax" Smith!

Join us for a study in contrasts between four different urban stairways in four different states of access. We’ll also explore where the F.M. “Borax” Smith estate was, see a house that was owned by Henry J. Kaiser, and more.

The walk starts at the bottom of the Cleveland Cascade on Lakeshore Avenue. Here’s a map of the route. This 3 mile walk includes several stairways and hills.

Heavy rain cancels, light rain forge on. Dogs welcome. Check the OUP website for updates.

SUNDAY!

Back by popular demand, The Wheels + Walls Mural Ride returns, this time on The East Side. Follow us for a leisurely bike tour of East Oakland's most gorgeous murals; starting with the Fruitvale Bart parking lot. As always, the gawking comes free!  

Meet up Sunday, February 10th 11:00 AM at the Fruitvale BART Parking Lot. Speaking of friends bring em' along. Members ride free, donations appreciated. 

Oakland Policy Update 

Oakland Ready to Recruit New Director of Transportation

Thanks to a big push from WOBO, Transport Oakland and Bike East Bay, Oakland City Council, on February 2, authorized staff to start a recruitment process to hire a new Director of Transportation. We have been asking for this for over a year now. Bloomberg & Associates are in town to work with Mayor Libby Schaaf's office to hire this new position and to start work on a Strategic Plan for the new Department--also great news. However, there remains much work to do to ensure that a vertically-integrated, full-service Department of Transportation is created, and there will be resistance to this in Oakland Public Works. For now, send a thank you email to your City Councilmember.

 

Plan Downtown Oakland Decides Appropriate Amount of Growth

Plan Downtown Oakland is a new Specific Plan for the downtown area. It's street redesigns are wonderful and Walk Oakland Bike Oakland fully supports them. Implementing these new innovative designs will happen in the years to come as part of the new Department of Transportation. For now, Oakland is deciding what is the correct amount of growth in downtown that redesigned streets need to support, and how to make this growth affordable and good for Oakland's current residents and businesses. For the next 6-8 months, the City seeks input, and will do so at neighborhood meetings and a variety of department and commission meetings, all open to the public. Learn more and weigh in on the City of Oakland's webpage.

One Down, A Few More To Go  

WOBO welcomes a new board member, Rebecca Pollon; The search continues for a few more Board members, plus a couple of paid positions.

Rebecca is a medal-winning landscape designer who has been practicing since 2005. She has worked with companies ranging from boutique firms to the largest landscape contractor in America, and holds her masters degree in Landscape Architecture from the University of Melbourne in Australia. Her specialty is improving quality of life by creating environments that promote interaction between users and their surroundings, as well as improving access to nature in urban areas. She currently runs her own design and consulting practice.



WOBO seeking Board members! Folks out there who want a great experience working hands-on with transportation leaders and visionaries, who are looking to listen, learn and collaborate with neighbors to bring great streets to Oakland, who can commit to at least a 2-year term to lead WOBO into its next phase of growth, learn more about this terrific leadership opportunity and sign on!

Want a paid gig? We're looking for another talented, self-motivated individual to take us through our adventures in 2016.  Love working with community members? Got some organizing chops for events like Bike To Work Day and WOBO Weekends? Have some mad people skills and are comfortable using contact and donor management databases? Send us your resume and tell us how you would be the PERFECT WOBO Outreach and Membership fellow.  Monthly stipend ranges from $400-$500 per month, approximately 8 to 10 hours per week, and commitment to be available evenings some days of the month.  

Another paid (commission-based) gig! So with a couple of major Open Streets events coming up in June and October, we are seeking qualified and experienced fundraisers to work with the Open Streets Steering Committee to raise funds for Love Our Neighborhood Day and Sunday Streets Berkeley.  Want to know more? Email us.

2016: Year of the Quick Win 

Thanks to everyone who joined us at Ale Industries and brought their thinking caps along!

On January 20th, community members gathered at Ale Industries to brainstorm the best ways WOBO can help bring safety improvements and placemaking opportunities to Oakland streets. The conversation revolved around “quick wins” – projects that can be completed in under 18 months for under $250,000, which is a stated priority of the Mayor's Office. We poured over city maps and plans as Ale Industries poured the beer and identified dozens of locations that are ripe for a quick win project. WOBO will summarize and present these ideas to City Staff in the months ahead, just as the new Department of Transportation and Infrastructure is being formed at City Hall. Thanks to everyone who came out to the meeting, as well as to Ale Industries for being such a wonderful host! 

Stay tuned for details and opportunities to get involved as we get rolling on several quick win campaigns for 2016! Have an idea for a quick win? Send us an email and we’ll get on it!

Help us shape our advocacy! 

We're conducting our annual survey and want to hear from YOU! Complete the survey and you'll be entered in a raffle for a prize!