The Oakland as Brooklyn Comparison is Getting Old

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Temescal Alley may well be one of Oaklands's up-and-coming neighborhoods, with its growing affluence and its abundance of cool-kid style. But Beyond Chron's editor Randy Shaw balks at labeling Oakland as the Brooklyn of SF based on this small sample of a much larger region. It's an idea that has been around for a while now, but Friday's NYT article, "Oakland: Brooklyn by the Bay," is the spark behind Shaw's irritated response. He also points out that Valencia Street is often used in a similar manner by the media to illustrate SF's changing landscape:

"We read so much about Valencia Street because it appears to provide smoking gun visual proof that tech has made San Francisco a very different city. But as with Temescal Alley and Oakland, what really distinguishes Valencia Street is its exceptionalism from the rest of San Francisco."

So there you have it. Oakland is Oakland and Brooklyn is Brooklyn. There can be similarities, but they're far from the same.
· Oakland is not Brooklyn, and Valencia St. is not San Francisco [Beyond Chron]
· Oakland: Brooklyn by the Bay [New York Times]
· Jewelry Maven Lauren Wolf Gives an Insider Tour of Oakland [Racked SF]

Temescal Alley

Temescal Alley, Oakland, CA 94609