The East Bay
- Thread starter garbribre
- Start date
^ Sadly, I was unable to attend the opening festivities last week or the Social Distortion concert the following night. N'huh?!? You read it right. The first booked show. What an odd one. Guess all their fans are too old and even more mainstream now to trash the place.
'I remember the day when Social Distortion and Rage Against the Machine played on the same bill and if you didn't slam dance yourself into one giant bruise, you weren't worthy.'
I'll stumble over to the theater and go inside some other time. Pictures of the interior restoration are on their website which I posted a page back.
Oakland's Lake Merritt Business District
A steroidal office park on a standard west coast street grid. Horrible. Dead zone. No hope for life. Rectified only by a bulldozer. Not during our lifetimes, though. Proving, as always, that big, tall buildings do NOT make a city. So get over that.
Yes, this is a dig at all you skyscraper wankers. (Meh, they never visit over here in this category anyway, do they?)
Aesthetically prettier pictures to come another day. Bed time.
'I remember the day when Social Distortion and Rage Against the Machine played on the same bill and if you didn't slam dance yourself into one giant bruise, you weren't worthy.'
I'll stumble over to the theater and go inside some other time. Pictures of the interior restoration are on their website which I posted a page back.
Oakland's Lake Merritt Business District
A steroidal office park on a standard west coast street grid. Horrible. Dead zone. No hope for life. Rectified only by a bulldozer. Not during our lifetimes, though. Proving, as always, that big, tall buildings do NOT make a city. So get over that.
Yes, this is a dig at all you skyscraper wankers. (Meh, they never visit over here in this category anyway, do they?)
Aesthetically prettier pictures to come another day. Bed time.
And now, for something completely different.
How architecture and design is in places we overlook, and its contribution to the environment in which we live.
Mountain View Cemetery, Oakland, CA
http://www.mountainviewcemetery.org/
Designed by Olmsted, though not carried out to his specifications.
Not as bucolic as Mount Auburn in Cambridge, yet still has a certain charm. Many people run and bike (steep inclines for cardio), visit famous Californians past, and take their dogs and kids for walks. Light picnicking is encouraged, too.
I go numerous times during the year to explore on my own. I had never done a formal tour until recently.
(There was a thread here years ago containing some random pics from here. Alas, those seem to be gone.)
Olmsted's Main Avenue, punctuated by four fountains (originally planned for statues and monuments in his plan).
His intent was to use few plants, all native species, and no lawns.
That didn't last, obviously.
According to information provided during the tour, there are many non-native species in the cemetery among the 130 or so plant species...I think.
Millionaire's Row
That'll be "Borax" Smith to you.
The views from Millionaire's Row are impressive. And steep. And treacherous. (And chilly.)
Downtown Oakland, center, background.
Oakland, mid-ground, left. San Francisco, background, right.
San Francisco, center, background, with Twin Peaks, Sutro Tower, and Mount Davidson lined up to the left, respectively.
The famous people here are many, including a few of our architectural heroes.
Julia Morgan, as personally unassuming as ever.
Maybeck is buried here, too. However, he was in an open-air, sunken, stacked trench--an outdoor extension from the mausoleum. Guess the stories are true--nobody liked him.
The Civil War Memorial plots, recently restored.
One of the cemetery's most notorious denizens, originally from Hyde Park, MA (or Medford, depending on what you read).
Image from Wikipedia. We couldn't find it ourselves after we broke off from the pack.
Elizabeth Short ... AKA--The Black Dahlia
So many people ventured west from New England to the Bay Area, including the family of those guys who make the daft comedies about Rhode Islanders.
Heheheh. If these people are related to the Rhode Island branch, that would be a hoot.
The docent said this was a Henry Richardson design. Couldn't get confirmation it is the same H.H. Richardson. It is evocative of his style.
This Adams family is from the Connecticut branch, not the Quincy branch. Their name also adorns my neighborhood in Oakland.
There was something famous and unusual about this tree. Any botanists here?
(The docent is a notable landscape architect. However, much of her career-related information was Greek to me.)
Ubiquitous New Englanders again.
Many mausoleums dot the landscape both inside and outside the cemetery gates.
More famous people seemed to be inside the mausoleums than outside or in their own crypts. This picture is only a very small portion of the huge, main mausoleum--a Weeks and Day design. (Bad position of the sun made for no decent pictures of this structure.) Does it remind any of you San Francisco experts of anything?
This is inside the main chapel of the main mausoleum.
It's not what you think.
That's all steel, not wood.
Also, much of the detailing on the walls is painted canvas.
The columbarium's main axis foyer, I guess you can call it.
Detail of the ceiling.
One of many out-buildings, apart from the massive, main mausoleum. Originally, this one was used as a holding crypt when burials were prevented due to adverse weather... I think. That way, people could still visit prior to internment, if internment was significantly delayed.
Mid-century modern??!!
Time to say goodbye to Mountain View Cemetery.
I'm not expecting to visit it again anytime soon.
Well, not in this lifetime, anyway.
How architecture and design is in places we overlook, and its contribution to the environment in which we live.
Mountain View Cemetery, Oakland, CA
http://www.mountainviewcemetery.org/
Designed by Olmsted, though not carried out to his specifications.
Not as bucolic as Mount Auburn in Cambridge, yet still has a certain charm. Many people run and bike (steep inclines for cardio), visit famous Californians past, and take their dogs and kids for walks. Light picnicking is encouraged, too.
I go numerous times during the year to explore on my own. I had never done a formal tour until recently.
(There was a thread here years ago containing some random pics from here. Alas, those seem to be gone.)
Olmsted's Main Avenue, punctuated by four fountains (originally planned for statues and monuments in his plan).
His intent was to use few plants, all native species, and no lawns.
That didn't last, obviously.
According to information provided during the tour, there are many non-native species in the cemetery among the 130 or so plant species...I think.
Millionaire's Row
That'll be "Borax" Smith to you.
The views from Millionaire's Row are impressive. And steep. And treacherous. (And chilly.)
Downtown Oakland, center, background.
Oakland, mid-ground, left. San Francisco, background, right.
San Francisco, center, background, with Twin Peaks, Sutro Tower, and Mount Davidson lined up to the left, respectively.
The famous people here are many, including a few of our architectural heroes.
Julia Morgan, as personally unassuming as ever.
Maybeck is buried here, too. However, he was in an open-air, sunken, stacked trench--an outdoor extension from the mausoleum. Guess the stories are true--nobody liked him.
The Civil War Memorial plots, recently restored.
One of the cemetery's most notorious denizens, originally from Hyde Park, MA (or Medford, depending on what you read).
Image from Wikipedia. We couldn't find it ourselves after we broke off from the pack.
Elizabeth Short ... AKA--The Black Dahlia
So many people ventured west from New England to the Bay Area, including the family of those guys who make the daft comedies about Rhode Islanders.
Heheheh. If these people are related to the Rhode Island branch, that would be a hoot.
The docent said this was a Henry Richardson design. Couldn't get confirmation it is the same H.H. Richardson. It is evocative of his style.
This Adams family is from the Connecticut branch, not the Quincy branch. Their name also adorns my neighborhood in Oakland.
There was something famous and unusual about this tree. Any botanists here?
(The docent is a notable landscape architect. However, much of her career-related information was Greek to me.)
Ubiquitous New Englanders again.
Many mausoleums dot the landscape both inside and outside the cemetery gates.
More famous people seemed to be inside the mausoleums than outside or in their own crypts. This picture is only a very small portion of the huge, main mausoleum--a Weeks and Day design. (Bad position of the sun made for no decent pictures of this structure.) Does it remind any of you San Francisco experts of anything?
This is inside the main chapel of the main mausoleum.
It's not what you think.
That's all steel, not wood.
Also, much of the detailing on the walls is painted canvas.
The columbarium's main axis foyer, I guess you can call it.
Detail of the ceiling.
One of many out-buildings, apart from the massive, main mausoleum. Originally, this one was used as a holding crypt when burials were prevented due to adverse weather... I think. That way, people could still visit prior to internment, if internment was significantly delayed.
Mid-century modern??!!
Time to say goodbye to Mountain View Cemetery.
I'm not expecting to visit it again anytime soon.
Well, not in this lifetime, anyway.
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What! Nobody here likes cemeteries?
Could it be an aversion to Olmsted, then?
In accordance with the few I posted in the SF thread, some ferry-related views from an Oakland/Alameda perspective.
The ferries are a popular way to commute here, mainly because the weather makes them an attractive option.
Could it be an aversion to Olmsted, then?
In accordance with the few I posted in the SF thread, some ferry-related views from an Oakland/Alameda perspective.
The ferries are a popular way to commute here, mainly because the weather makes them an attractive option.
Ron Newman
Senior Member
- Joined
- May 30, 2006
- Messages
- 8,395
- Reaction score
- 9
I love cemeteries. I just didn't have anything to say about the photos other than appreciating that you took them.
I probably shouldn't have been so general about creating an East Bay thread. Thought it would be better than creating different threads for the four or more places I will post pictures from until my departure. All over the place, as usual. Heheh. Oh, well.
Since you mentioned it, Ron--not the Alameda tunnels, which I won't go through again, just to take a picture inside it--when I bike to Alameda Island, I head down to one of the bridges. These are not as convenient to downtown Oakland or where I reside, but are more scenic than the tunnel.
Going over the Park Street Bridge, looking northwest along the Estuary toward Coast Guard Island (big, white ship moored in the center) and City Center, Oakland (on the right in the distant background). Also, the ConAgra storage facility is on the right.
The Marin Headlands and Mount Tamalpias (Mt. Tam) are in the distance, far left. San Francisco would be out of frame to the left, under 15 miles away as the crow flies.
Now, random picures along Park Street and the surrounding blocks in Alameda, its traditional commercial center.
Alameda is sort of stuck in the early post-war years, architecturally and overall, design-wise. It becomes a curiosity of nostalgia with places such as this.
However, it has developed into its own form of a hip place--decent pubs, bars with live music, a wide range of food choices, numerous mom-and-pop-style establishments, old movie palaces now restored to their original uses (with some modifications, of course), and some dense, suburban, tree-lined streets. Residential sections can be part Newton-like, ummmmm, without the money or big yards, and part Quincy-like, without the mid-rises, with a little bit of the old west thrown in.
I love this sign and this block. Bad sun angle, though. Meh.
A recently restored theater, that was a gym for a few years, with new construction, including a parking structure, retail, stadium seating multiplex, and twinning of the original hall.
Unfortunately, too few of the old theaters in town survived to be re-used again. In fact, until recently, Alameda didn't have a up-to-date 'real' movie theater that wasn't stuck in the Sixties or even earlier.
A few facades remain from the old theaters, and a few have been converted into, what else:
This one is now part of a bank's grand entrance.
Another part of the city, closest to downtown Oakland and San Francisco is the Webster Street commercial district. It served the Alameda Naval Air Station when it was in full swing. With the demise of the Air Station, so went Webster Street. It has resurged in the past few years, though.
Uh-oh. Cannot find the pics. Will have to search for those later.
The former Alameda Naval Air Station maintained its large hangars, warehouses, barracks, and family housing units. It remains very occupied as well as a commerical/industrial AND residential area, if not the most scenic neighborhood in which to live. Lots of film production, too, in the vast open spaces of the abandoned airfields, warehouses and hangars.
The old, main airstrip. This was taken last summer during the Kid's Chalk Art Festival, The goal was to create the largest chalk art mural, which was to be photographed from 'space.' A chalkin' good time was had by all. (Oy. Just shoot me.)
Finally, the biggest draw to Alameda is its Bay-side coastline.
Some ticky tacky apartments along the west-facing beaches are visible on the right. Kind of looks a bit like Revere, I guess, without the Boardwalk-like attractions. At one time, an amusement park did exist in Alameda, but it was near the other beach shown in the first beach pic.
That's it for the very general tour of Alameda. I may add more later, if/when I find the wayward pics.
Since you mentioned it, Ron--not the Alameda tunnels, which I won't go through again, just to take a picture inside it--when I bike to Alameda Island, I head down to one of the bridges. These are not as convenient to downtown Oakland or where I reside, but are more scenic than the tunnel.
Going over the Park Street Bridge, looking northwest along the Estuary toward Coast Guard Island (big, white ship moored in the center) and City Center, Oakland (on the right in the distant background). Also, the ConAgra storage facility is on the right.
The Marin Headlands and Mount Tamalpias (Mt. Tam) are in the distance, far left. San Francisco would be out of frame to the left, under 15 miles away as the crow flies.
Now, random picures along Park Street and the surrounding blocks in Alameda, its traditional commercial center.
Alameda is sort of stuck in the early post-war years, architecturally and overall, design-wise. It becomes a curiosity of nostalgia with places such as this.
However, it has developed into its own form of a hip place--decent pubs, bars with live music, a wide range of food choices, numerous mom-and-pop-style establishments, old movie palaces now restored to their original uses (with some modifications, of course), and some dense, suburban, tree-lined streets. Residential sections can be part Newton-like, ummmmm, without the money or big yards, and part Quincy-like, without the mid-rises, with a little bit of the old west thrown in.
I love this sign and this block. Bad sun angle, though. Meh.
A recently restored theater, that was a gym for a few years, with new construction, including a parking structure, retail, stadium seating multiplex, and twinning of the original hall.
Unfortunately, too few of the old theaters in town survived to be re-used again. In fact, until recently, Alameda didn't have a up-to-date 'real' movie theater that wasn't stuck in the Sixties or even earlier.
A few facades remain from the old theaters, and a few have been converted into, what else:
This one is now part of a bank's grand entrance.
Another part of the city, closest to downtown Oakland and San Francisco is the Webster Street commercial district. It served the Alameda Naval Air Station when it was in full swing. With the demise of the Air Station, so went Webster Street. It has resurged in the past few years, though.
Uh-oh. Cannot find the pics. Will have to search for those later.
The former Alameda Naval Air Station maintained its large hangars, warehouses, barracks, and family housing units. It remains very occupied as well as a commerical/industrial AND residential area, if not the most scenic neighborhood in which to live. Lots of film production, too, in the vast open spaces of the abandoned airfields, warehouses and hangars.
The old, main airstrip. This was taken last summer during the Kid's Chalk Art Festival, The goal was to create the largest chalk art mural, which was to be photographed from 'space.' A chalkin' good time was had by all. (Oy. Just shoot me.)
Finally, the biggest draw to Alameda is its Bay-side coastline.
Some ticky tacky apartments along the west-facing beaches are visible on the right. Kind of looks a bit like Revere, I guess, without the Boardwalk-like attractions. At one time, an amusement park did exist in Alameda, but it was near the other beach shown in the first beach pic.
That's it for the very general tour of Alameda. I may add more later, if/when I find the wayward pics.
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So I'll just be playing by myself over here.
At least DT Dave played with me a bit in the SF thread. (Thanks, Dave, now holed up again in Delhi--not the good Lower East Side kind.)
Alameda. Let's stay there a bit more.
Crossing the Fruitvale Bridge this time. Here, I am looking northwest toward the Park Street Bridge--Oakland to the right, Alameda to the left.
Now, I am on the Alameda side. Oakland is across the Estuary.
I bike to Alameda Island and stay there most of a day, where I like to look at the houses. You often meet others doing the same. It's very flat and easier to navigate than Oakland, Berkeley or San Francisco. House peeping doesn't get old. I always find things I've never noticed/seen before. Better Victorian variety of styles than San Francisco or Oakland, I think. Alameda is lacking only the attached rowhouses. Parts of Alameda, structurally and visually, resemble Berkeley, in many ways, and Alameda's buildings are now better cared for than Berkeley's.
Heading west/northwest from the Park Street commercial district as it becomes more residential, within a few blocks.
The above Parks and Recreation Building faces this.
You get a lot of that in Alameda. You may find two or three similar styles in a row.
Then, there will be an ugly modern tract-style house, or an uglier motel-style apartment block.
(I know. I know! I won't show one of these again. Promise.)
It's almost all very tasteful in this part of town. The dichotomies are smile-inducing.
You may have this...
...diagonally sited across from this.
There are subsequent blocks of dueling churches. Too many.
(This is the first church established in Alameda during 1853, though this building is from 1909.)
Housing styles here are all over the map, but the Victorian style rules for most of the island, except on the extended western shoreline where the post-WWII ticky-tacky (frequently basementless ranches) abound on sandy landfill.
Also, the area northwest of Webster Street where the Naval Airstation was, is pretty barren, grim and ugh! Lots of this being built.
No more of that to be seen here anymore. Just going to stick with the pretty, fluffy, ornamental stuff.
Now for reduced verbiage. A cavalcade of pics.
What would you call this hybrid style?
Variety in a row.
In case you were pining for a taste of New England Colonial
Hunting lodge by the lake.
The Tudor awaits, too.
Country hobbit on steroids.
Mediterranean... something or other.
Elizabethan from ... Sears?
Many of these are on the same stretch of street, maybe not the same block, or within the same neighborhood. You can have a mansion next to an Arts and Crafts, two bedroom bungalow. Unfortunately, it was difficult to get the right angle to capture the absurdity of this. You'll have to come look for yourselves. I cannot do everything for you!
Stucco ... French Provincial ... Medieval ... Psshhh. Damned if I know what they were aiming for. Check out the two like-minded Victorian mash-up attempts in the background, too.
Grandma's house...
...with this behind it.
Or this row of misfits...
...punctuated by this -- from the drafting table of Mike Brady.
Far too many of these, which are alright, as long as they are intermingled with contrasting homes and aren't clustered like public housing...
...or military barracks.
Asking price: $1.1 million. Are they kidding?! 4 br 2 ba on a sizeabale 7K lot. Ummmm... are they living in this economy? (It's not waterfront, not even water view.)
Most of the East Bay flourished after the 1906 quake. Many people escaped smouldering and crumbled San Francisco and flocked to Oakland, Alameda and Berkeley by ferry with whatever they had remaining. Between 1907 and 1926, Alameda expanded, beginning with these displaced arrivals, especially the wealthy, who set up their former (and new) companies all over the county, and who built homes on larger, ready-to-build parcels than they could acquire in San Francisco.
I've done a few architectural tours in the city of Alameda. Though the buildings all look familiar and have some significance, like the one above, I can't recall any info about most of them.
On a house this big, what were they thinking?!
Then there's this house.
Must have been built by somebody who was working class but was showing off with some newly acquired wealth.
It is in a part of Alameda where the other homes are very basic cottages with minimal ornament, and are on small-ish, narrow, single lots.
Time to say goodbye to Alameda Island.
However, before we do, I did the following for you Ron and Beton Brut, even though I said I would never EVER do this again.
I biked, well walked the bike, through the Posey Tube from Alameda to Oakland.
A very narrow walkway. With the opposite side walkway closed, it's impossible not to brush up against the walls and railings...
...especially when another cyclist was coming toward me from the opposite direction. I had to lift my bike over his and we both had to squeeze by like some minor game of ... I dunno, telephone booth?
Here's some tunnel dirt for ya BB.
You can see the body-brushed marks left on the walls as people squeezed by each other. Disgusting! (Where's my vent scrubber! Heheh)
Out the other side.
Whew. Deafened, dirty, and one year down on lung capacity. Worth it? Nope. Sorry. Look what I do for you.
Back in Oakland, deposited into Chinatown, pedal home like the Dickens to scrape off the soot.
At least DT Dave played with me a bit in the SF thread. (Thanks, Dave, now holed up again in Delhi--not the good Lower East Side kind.)
Alameda. Let's stay there a bit more.
Crossing the Fruitvale Bridge this time. Here, I am looking northwest toward the Park Street Bridge--Oakland to the right, Alameda to the left.
Now, I am on the Alameda side. Oakland is across the Estuary.
I bike to Alameda Island and stay there most of a day, where I like to look at the houses. You often meet others doing the same. It's very flat and easier to navigate than Oakland, Berkeley or San Francisco. House peeping doesn't get old. I always find things I've never noticed/seen before. Better Victorian variety of styles than San Francisco or Oakland, I think. Alameda is lacking only the attached rowhouses. Parts of Alameda, structurally and visually, resemble Berkeley, in many ways, and Alameda's buildings are now better cared for than Berkeley's.
Heading west/northwest from the Park Street commercial district as it becomes more residential, within a few blocks.
The above Parks and Recreation Building faces this.
You get a lot of that in Alameda. You may find two or three similar styles in a row.
Then, there will be an ugly modern tract-style house, or an uglier motel-style apartment block.
(I know. I know! I won't show one of these again. Promise.)
It's almost all very tasteful in this part of town. The dichotomies are smile-inducing.
You may have this...
...diagonally sited across from this.
There are subsequent blocks of dueling churches. Too many.
(This is the first church established in Alameda during 1853, though this building is from 1909.)
Housing styles here are all over the map, but the Victorian style rules for most of the island, except on the extended western shoreline where the post-WWII ticky-tacky (frequently basementless ranches) abound on sandy landfill.
Also, the area northwest of Webster Street where the Naval Airstation was, is pretty barren, grim and ugh! Lots of this being built.
No more of that to be seen here anymore. Just going to stick with the pretty, fluffy, ornamental stuff.
Now for reduced verbiage. A cavalcade of pics.
What would you call this hybrid style?
Variety in a row.
In case you were pining for a taste of New England Colonial
Hunting lodge by the lake.
The Tudor awaits, too.
Country hobbit on steroids.
Mediterranean... something or other.
Elizabethan from ... Sears?
Many of these are on the same stretch of street, maybe not the same block, or within the same neighborhood. You can have a mansion next to an Arts and Crafts, two bedroom bungalow. Unfortunately, it was difficult to get the right angle to capture the absurdity of this. You'll have to come look for yourselves. I cannot do everything for you!
Stucco ... French Provincial ... Medieval ... Psshhh. Damned if I know what they were aiming for. Check out the two like-minded Victorian mash-up attempts in the background, too.
Grandma's house...
...with this behind it.
Or this row of misfits...
...punctuated by this -- from the drafting table of Mike Brady.
Far too many of these, which are alright, as long as they are intermingled with contrasting homes and aren't clustered like public housing...
...or military barracks.
Asking price: $1.1 million. Are they kidding?! 4 br 2 ba on a sizeabale 7K lot. Ummmm... are they living in this economy? (It's not waterfront, not even water view.)
Most of the East Bay flourished after the 1906 quake. Many people escaped smouldering and crumbled San Francisco and flocked to Oakland, Alameda and Berkeley by ferry with whatever they had remaining. Between 1907 and 1926, Alameda expanded, beginning with these displaced arrivals, especially the wealthy, who set up their former (and new) companies all over the county, and who built homes on larger, ready-to-build parcels than they could acquire in San Francisco.
I've done a few architectural tours in the city of Alameda. Though the buildings all look familiar and have some significance, like the one above, I can't recall any info about most of them.
On a house this big, what were they thinking?!
Then there's this house.
Must have been built by somebody who was working class but was showing off with some newly acquired wealth.
It is in a part of Alameda where the other homes are very basic cottages with minimal ornament, and are on small-ish, narrow, single lots.
Time to say goodbye to Alameda Island.
However, before we do, I did the following for you Ron and Beton Brut, even though I said I would never EVER do this again.
I biked, well walked the bike, through the Posey Tube from Alameda to Oakland.
A very narrow walkway. With the opposite side walkway closed, it's impossible not to brush up against the walls and railings...
...especially when another cyclist was coming toward me from the opposite direction. I had to lift my bike over his and we both had to squeeze by like some minor game of ... I dunno, telephone booth?
Here's some tunnel dirt for ya BB.
You can see the body-brushed marks left on the walls as people squeezed by each other. Disgusting! (Where's my vent scrubber! Heheh)
Out the other side.
Whew. Deafened, dirty, and one year down on lung capacity. Worth it? Nope. Sorry. Look what I do for you.
Back in Oakland, deposited into Chinatown, pedal home like the Dickens to scrape off the soot.
Last edited:
Ron Newman
Senior Member
- Joined
- May 30, 2006
- Messages
- 8,395
- Reaction score
- 9
I would definitely not enjoy walking or riding through that tunnel even once, let alone on a daily commute. Why did they close the other sidewalk?
http://www.alamedainfo.com/Posey_Tube.htm
The experience I had going through the tunnel/tube is common. I've read testimonials from people who commute through that tunnel five days a week! I don't know how/why they do it. It's torturous. Disgusting. A pain in ass. Their weekly clothes cleaning bill alone must make it preferable to take the bus or even drive! All my clothes, my bike, my backpack, and me were smuged with soot, and I was being cautious not to scrape the wall or railing, except during the passing bicycles lift maneuver I described.
I think the opposite side walkway was closed for safety reasons. You seem to have to cross onto the medians on both the Oakland and Alameda sides to access it. I have never found anything to fully explain why, even after searching online a bit today for an answer. I know that during retrofit construction, they were switching sides and even tunnels for both pedestrians and cars. Maybe they discovered flaws/dangerous conditions. I know parts of the newer Webster tube were falling off.
http://www.alamedainfo.com/Alameda_CA_post_cards.htm
Lots of old postcard pictures from all over the Bay Area, mostly from the East Bay and Alameda, though. Go to the bottom of the page in the above link. You'll understand what I mean. Don't forget to click the *next* button/symbols at the bottom of some strings of photos, too, for more pages he's added since he started assembling this collection.
You may recognize some of the buildings/locations in the old postcards from my pics.
The experience I had going through the tunnel/tube is common. I've read testimonials from people who commute through that tunnel five days a week! I don't know how/why they do it. It's torturous. Disgusting. A pain in ass. Their weekly clothes cleaning bill alone must make it preferable to take the bus or even drive! All my clothes, my bike, my backpack, and me were smuged with soot, and I was being cautious not to scrape the wall or railing, except during the passing bicycles lift maneuver I described.
I think the opposite side walkway was closed for safety reasons. You seem to have to cross onto the medians on both the Oakland and Alameda sides to access it. I have never found anything to fully explain why, even after searching online a bit today for an answer. I know that during retrofit construction, they were switching sides and even tunnels for both pedestrians and cars. Maybe they discovered flaws/dangerous conditions. I know parts of the newer Webster tube were falling off.
http://www.alamedainfo.com/Alameda_CA_post_cards.htm
Lots of old postcard pictures from all over the Bay Area, mostly from the East Bay and Alameda, though. Go to the bottom of the page in the above link. You'll understand what I mean. Don't forget to click the *next* button/symbols at the bottom of some strings of photos, too, for more pages he's added since he started assembling this collection.
You may recognize some of the buildings/locations in the old postcards from my pics.
