Just 7km across San Francisco Bay, the city of Oakland has been steadily establishing itself as a creative capital to rival its smaller and more famous neighbour. Cheaper rents have lured the arty crowd priced out of San Fran, the restaurant scene has exploded and hip independent stores are thriving – with the city being dubbed the “New Brooklyn”.
“We’re a little bit like Brooklyn,” mayor Jean Quan told the National Journal. “Because Oakland is so much more affordable than San Francisco, the whole arts scene has shifted over here. The food scene has taken off. Those kinds of cultural things have made Oakland very desirable.”
At the heart of the new cultural vibrancy is the area around Temescal Alley – described as “Williamsburg-esque” by fashion website Style.com – and nearby Telegraph Avenue, where the monthly street festival First Fridays takes place. Festival organiser Sarah Kidder says: “As well as the financial benefits, artists and entrepreneurs are drawn here by the space to open new places and the community support – there’s an exciting feeling of renaissance, there’s always something new happening.”
Lately the scene has spread to Grand and Lakeshore Avenues, near Lake Merritt, where new, trendy restaurants are luring gourmands and off-beat boutiques are popping up alongside nail salons and car-repair garages.
“I love the diversity here,” says Tim Nugent, a restaurateur who, with fellow Top Chef contestant Jen Biesty, opened Mediterranean-inspired Shakewell in Lake Merritt this summer. “And it’s nice to see the food scene finally compare to that in San Francisco.”
Shakewell joins Michel Bistro, a Provençal brasserie launched in April 2014. Last winter, Bay Area culinary celebrity Charlie Hallowell (Chez Panisse), opened Penrose here, one of the city’s most talked-about eateries. On Grand Avenue, Ordinaire, a wine bar and shop opened last year, hosts pop-up dinners featuring top Oakland chefs in the upstairs dining room.
It’s not just new restaurants that are finding a home here – the latest shop openings reflect the youthful, DIY atmosphere. Women’s boutique Posh, showcasing Californian designers, recently joined cool vintage store Maribel on Lakeshore, while on Grand, eclectic Knimble, opened last year, buys and sells used clothes, and sells locally made eco-friendly toiletries.
The two bustling avenues are not architecturally memorable, unlike Oakland’s old historic core. But as evident in the string of other recent business openings – a hair salon, a dance studio, and Scarecrow Popcorn, which sells Chicago-style cheese and caramel maize kernels — the entrepreneurial energy is palpable and young creatives continue to move in.
But one of the area’s biggest draws might be the Saturday Grand Lake Farmer’s Market, with live music and a growing number of stands selling the best of California’s bounty. Here, you’ll see Oaklanders of all stripes, proving that Lake Merritt isn’t trying to copy Brooklyn’s “hip-ification”, but coming of age as a place of great diversity.
