Comments on: Where is the DTO?

By: Where is the DTO? 2 « The DTO (Downtown Oaktown)

Where is the DTO? 2 « The DTO (Downtown Oaktown) — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 23:10:12 +0000

[...] by the Downtown Lake Merritt Neighborhood Group and Old Oakland Neighbors, I’ve revised my DTO map to have slightly different neighborhood boundaries. Several questions are raised by this map: is [...]

By: Eric Fischer

Eric Fischer — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 22:36:51 +0000

I don’t have any useful comments about the boundaries, but you seem to have West Oakland BART about a mile from its actual location at 7th and Mandela.

By: dto510

dto510 — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 22:27:17 +0000

Downtown, because of its size and diversity, can’t be understood without appreciating its distinct neighborhoods. I was inspired by community groups including yours (DLMNG) to try to bring that understanding to a general audience. I’m also concerned about wayfinding – most people around the DTO don’t actually live here, so they have a tough time figuring out where things are.

I will post another map within the month, with updated information about what’s going on in different DTO districts.

By: Chris K.

Chris K. — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 23:59:19 +0000

“I’d like to help create a new map and a new way for thinking about the DTO.”

Sir, could you please elaborate and explain the driving motivation behind your desire to create this new train of thought?

-Chris K.

By: dto510

dto510 — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 20:52:31 +0000

It’s true that the newest buildings tend to be more expensive, and in this map I did not include Jack London Square as part of downtown. I will address that Friday when I post again about the map.

In terms of your neighborhood, I don’t think we have much of a disagreement over where it is. The Downtown Lake Merritt Neighborhood Group identifies a very similar section of the DTO as my map above. I’m sure that the existence of rent control contributes to the diversity you write about, but I don’t see any problem with the simple economic fact that new construction is more expensive than older buildings.

I don’t see “a coming war of ideas.” The General Plan represents a clear community consensus, and I think we can all agree that there are different parts of downtown that perhaps could use some sort of different recognition (as the GP calls for). In the meantime, I’d like to help create a new map and a new way for thinking about the DTO.