Emeryville, Berkeley, CA

stepper77 · #1 Posted **Mar 4, 2008, 11:32 PM**

Emeryville, CA

Downtown Oakland peaking into view

Emeryville is a big draw for business and retail despite its small residential population of 6,882.

A small, but, important transit hub. There is no Bart station, but the city provides free shuttles from the MacArthur Bart station in Oakland.

Emeryville has some great views of the city as well!

Berkeley, CA

Berkeley's raison d'etre

Hmmm...I know this is Berkeley and all??

A few panos to close the show

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Tour of California

1: Los Angeles, 2: Hollywood, Glendale, Pasadena, Beverly Hills, 3: Riverside, Santa Ana, Long Beach, 4: San Jose, 5: San Diego, 6: Fresno, 7: Stockton, Modesto, 8: Gold Country, 9: Eureka, Arcata, 10: Monterey, Carmel, 11: Santa Cruz, 12: Sacramento Pt One, 13: Sacramento Pt Two, 14: Roseville & Folsom, 15: Concord & Walnut Creek, 16: Tri-Valley

dktshb · #2 Posted **Mar 5, 2008, 1:18 AM**

Wow what wonderful photography of 2 great bay area cities. Kudos to Emeryville for that residential above the retail and commercial in the new TOD's!

Sekkle · #3 Posted **Mar 5, 2008, 2:55 AM**

Great photos. Thanks!

bigd · #4 Posted **Mar 5, 2008, 3:51 AM**

Great pictures.

holladay · #5 Posted **Mar 5, 2008, 3:54 AM**

Sweet shots... some great buildings, some great light, a few hot chicks, I'm sold. Now what does it take to convince them to let me into Berkeley for grad school!? ...

oak-sea · #6 Posted **Mar 5, 2008, 3:54 AM**

Thank you so much. Between Berkeley and Oakland is pretty much where I grew up, so all this brigs back so many memories, especially the pic of the bi-plane on a pile. Some of my earliest memories are as a kid in the back seat driving to SF on the East Shore freeway and seeing the bi-planes. PS- Emeryville is the reason Berkeley's retail life has died lately.

DFW LUV · #7 Posted **Mar 5, 2008, 5:56 AM**

Yay Area!

ColDayMan · #8 Posted **Mar 5, 2008, 6:41 AM**

Stunning.

BTinSF · #9 Posted **Mar 5, 2008, 8:01 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by oak-sea

Thank you so much. Between Berkeley and Oakland is pretty much where I grew up, so all this brigs back so many memories, especially the pic of the bi-plane on a pile. Some of my earliest memories are as a kid in the back seat driving to SF on the East Shore freeway and seeing the bi-planes. PS- Emeryville is the reason Berkeley's retail life has died lately.

Yes, great shots, making Berkeley look better than reality IMHO.

But I have to disagree about why Berkeley's retail life is sick, if not dead. Emeryville is a regular California place--clean, neat, new and welcoming to all sorts of retail including chains and bog box stores. Berkeley, by contrast, persists in its "progressive" way in allowing street people, druggies and rootless kids to make the sidewalks an unpleasant experience for "regular folks" who might want to shop there. They drove away Cody's and so much more. Berkeley is a wealthy town and ought to have thriving high end retail, but when people are given the choice of shopping in downtown Berkeley where they will have to step over intoxicated people lying on the sidewalk, dodge skateboarders and be endlessly panhandled vs the short drive to Emeryville where none of that is tolerated and they can find plenty of retailers Berkeley wouldn't allow to move in anyway (because they are big box or national chains), they drive to Emeryville.

SoFla951 · #10 Posted **Mar 5, 2008, 8:13 AM**

You really got around! And you took a picture of my dorm! I really love the Berkeley campus. Its one of the most naturally stunning campuses in the country with the bay views and hills. I'm going to do a photo thread showcasing the campus sometime in the spring, hopefully I can do half as good as you did. While BTinSF is right about Shattuck Avenue being somewhat depressed...major plans are in the works. Businesses on Telegraph seem to be doing fine..and though there are some homeless people it really doesn't bother me, but maybe it would bother the rich housewives that shop in Emeryville which is too sterile and platonic IMO. Emeryville could be any new moderately dense shopping center in the country. Also next time you should go down College Avenue....Berkeley's ritzy shopping corridor, its very nice and very different from Shattuck.

Also Berkeley is getting tougher on "street behavior" according to an SF article I read recently.

SLO · #11 Posted **Mar 5, 2008, 3:59 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by BTinSF

Yes, great shots, making Berkeley look better than reality IMHO.

But I have to disagree about why Berkeley's retail life is sick, if not dead. Emeryville is a regular California place--clean, neat, new and welcoming to all sorts of retail including chains and bog box stores. Berkeley, by contrast, persists in its "progressive" way in allowing street people, druggies and rootless kids to make the sidewalks an unpleasant experience for "regular folks" who might want to shop there. They drove away Cody's and so much more. Berkeley is a wealthy town and ought to have thriving high end retail, but when people are given the choice of shopping in downtown Berkeley where they will have to step over intoxicated people lying on the sidewalk, dodge skateboarders and be endlessly panhandled vs the short drive to Emeryville where none of that is tolerated and they can find plenty of retailers Berkeley wouldn't allow to move in anyway (because they are big box or national chains), they drive to Emeryville.

Absolutely great pix stepper....

Not only that BT, but Berkeley could be a significant tourist draw. It is a beautiful area. Perhaps the the most liberal place in the US, but not in a good way. Its known as the place that people shake their heads at, for things that go on their. Its been several years since Ive been, but sounds like the same old Berkeley.

peanut gallery · #12 Posted **Mar 5, 2008, 6:43 PM**

Great stuff, stepper! Did you take any pix up in Tilden or the Rose Garden?

Regarding retail in Berkeley: don't forget about 4th Street, which is doing fine.

Buckeye Native 001 · #13 Posted **Mar 5, 2008, 7:45 PM**

Ah Berkeley. Crazy as fuck, but one of my favorite places to visit

stepper77 · #14 Posted **Mar 5, 2008, 10:07 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by peanut gallery

Great stuff, stepper! Did you take any pix up in Tilden or the Rose Garden?

Regarding retail in Berkeley: don't forget about 4th Street, which is doing fine.

No I have been meaning to go there for so long, but, never manage to have to time. So many things to do, so little time...and all that.

I am by no means any sort of expert on the retail scenes in Berkeley and Emeryville, but, I really don't think they compete with each other. The main retail area in Emeryville is primarily chains and, though attractive, does have a bit of the new, sterile vibe to it. But, it does serve its purpose for people who like to shop (or eat) at those places. A lot of people I work with who live in Oakland always go to Emeryville for shopping (and movies) because a lot of those businesses won't locate into Oakland proper.

Berkeley, on the otherhand, I think appeals more to local residents, students, or people who want to eat at a great, local restaurant. And, though you might not see them in my pictures (because I don't usually like taking pictures of people), I was all around downtown on a Tuesday evening (while a friend was teaching a class) and there were PLENTY of people walking around going here and there. So, "dead" is not a word I would to describe Berkeley's downtown.

northbay · #15 Posted **Mar 5, 2008, 10:30 PM**

nice pix!

havent made it to emeryville much (xcept to go to ikea

) so thanks for the photos

dl3000 · #16 Posted **Mar 6, 2008, 1:48 AM**

Awesome pictures. I recognized everything. From the looks of the movie theater and the trees next to the Campanile that its last summer.

rs913 · #17 Posted **Mar 6, 2008, 10:27 PM**

Getting pretty close to my home turf with these pictures, which look great, by the way! You captured much of the best these cities have to offer.

Berkeley is kind of a fascinating beast. What works against it is the city government, which is just ridiculously extreme (and seems to get even more extreme every year) in trying to keep the city exactly the same it was in the 1960s-70s, which IMO is an exercise in futility anywhere other than a small isolated mountain town. That's why much of Berkeley has problems with empty storefronts and unmedicated homeless wandering around, that you don't see in this photos.

But at the same time, Berkeley the place has a lot going for it that even the city council can't ruin...great views, great non-chain restaurants, proximity to SF, and the kind of vibrant atmosphere you can only have in a town with a large university like UC-Berkeley. Also well-captured in your photos.

alleystreetindustry · #18 Posted **Mar 7, 2008, 1:49 AM**

emeryville is just like atlantic station, with a spin of california. good documentation.

San Frangelino · #19 Posted **Mar 7, 2008, 1:58 AM**

Looks like there are plans for E-ville to get a 300 ft high rise. Here are the proposals for Bay Street site B.

http://www.ci.emeryville.ca.us/plann...n/12_06/03.pdf

They are also planning a 200+ tall tower for downtown Berkeley.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...AGUKPLK341.DTL

OhioGuy · #20 Posted **Mar 17, 2008, 4:10 AM**

Great photos!