QUESTION 12: Please briefly describe what you like about the Grand Avenue commercial district between the Grand Lake Theatre and Ace Hardware?
- I like how it is changing from funk and endless nail shops to something more defined and
- I like the preponderance of locally-owned, sole proprietor businesses. The “mall” chain store feel of Lakeshore Avenue is a nice place to visit, but I like to support small businesses when I can.
- Choices of restaurants and bars of different character and food offerings. There are also some really useful neighborhood stores, like the vacuum store, and it’s good to have those near home also.
- Small shops good restaurants
- Variety of stores and that some are open late in the evening increasing pedestrian traffic.
- Few chain stores, variety of restaurant options, fairly easy parking
- Food, restaurants and boutiques
- Very “neighborhoody” and walkable. Safe.
- Everything.
- I like how there is a mix of interesting shops. I am tired of the influx of alcohol on Grand Avenue. How did what was a furniture story (Monkey Forest Road) become a cafe and now a glorified bar? That and the wine bar is enough already. That space should be for other retail.
- I like that it seems to be improving with newer spots like Boot and Shoe and Monkey Forest Road and soon The Star. I like that some of the empty retail spots are filling in and more people are around at night. It is looking better and less junky. Monkey Forest Road is a huge change so the building isn’t just an eyesore anymore.
- the wide side walk and the variety
- variety of shops. mostly the theater.
- restaurant/entertainment vacuum store also
- Provides nearly all the services that an individual needs within walking distance.
- It’s in transition, and I have great hopes for it! I still prefer the Lake Shore side.
- I like Safeway and Ace Hardware and the Ace Garden Center
- Eating!
- We need more family friendly businesses. More cafes and restaurants would be great. Art galleries are fine too.
- convenience
- Variety of attractive and useful shops and businesses. I can walk there.
- A locally owned movie theater.
- I love the brief walk from the Farmer’s market to the bakeries, coffee shops and love that you can get a book or get breakfast (at lynn & lu’s ) or at BOOT AND SHOE!!!! I also love that there is bank or ATM nearby, so that I don’t have to jump in the car right away. the only thing I hate is that parking is expensive, but it’s worth it to walk around and run into people you know. I also love that i can get my grocery shopping done at the farmer’s market, then get my nails done afterward,. And when i’m done with all that stuff, i just hop back into my car to pick up some dirt, mulch or plants from Ace Garden and also pick up things from Safeway that I can’t get at the weekly market. I think this Safeway is lousy, so sometimes I add trader joe’s instead. proximity to other good things is a plus. i cannot wait for little star to open. boot and shoe is a date night place for us, but little star is great for grandma and the two children.
- I like variety. I like having various levels of restaurants, from cheap to very nice. I also like having various other types of businesses there – bakeries, inexpensive clothing, laundromats, etc. I would NOT like it if it turned into a “yuppie” destination, solely catering to pricey day-tourist type businesses.
- I like that it brings people out and provides community
- Diversity of offerings; walkability.
- It’s walkable from Adams Point, it provides an accessible commercial area for people who use the lake for recreation,
- not so wonderful actually, too many nail shops, too run down
- I like the oakland clientele that seems to be frequenting the coffee shops and restaurants. The bookstore is something we treasure. I think the last t hing that is need is another establishment with alcohol at its core. I’d like to see more restaurants like Camino and Boot&Shoe (maybe with less attitude). I’m all for redevelopment of this area, just not inclined to support the sale of alcohol.
- It’s evolving from pretty shabby to cool and chic, but not pretentious. Enjoy the evolution and improvement in the area!
- The impending openings of Red Whale, The Star, and Penrose. I like the recent opening of Panorama and the additional patio and wine services at Monkey Forest Road.
- I like the mix of the newer coffee shops and still appreciate the older establishments (Lynn & Lou’s, The Coffee Mill) and the upscale eye doctor office – I love the book store and hope it stays. The many, many nail shops have to go!!!
- still has a micro neighborhood feel
- Convenient
- There’s stuff to do! Good food and coffee. Oakland needs more of this. My two complaints about Oakland are the crime and lack of great restaurants. once that changes there’s no reason to live in SF.
- Diversity of food and entertainment venues
- the restaurants, bars, cafes
- Being able to walk to movies at the Grand Lake, and that my kids can walk there with a friend. Infusion of new, higher-quality restaurants.
- variety of non-chain merchants
- Has become much more attractive. Has a good mix of old-school (e.g., The Alley) and contemporary (e.g., Boot & Shoe, Monkey Forest Road) Shops are neighborhood-serving yet also of a quality the encourages people to coming into the area to patronize them. This is good: we have the benefits of neighborhood-serving businesses that can thrive because they can appeal to a larger number of people than just those who live within walking distance.
- That there are unique businesses with no chain establishments.
- The variety of people, the homespun feeling of small businesses, the mixture of restaurants, coffee shops, retail, and health related options
- Independently owned high standard establishments such as Grand Lake Theater, Walden Pond Books, relative absence of chains (Domino’s is a sore in just about every respect by contrast), at least some above average quality food service establishments (and one that stays open later!), some of them still within the reasonable price range (as opposed to trendy yuppie hipster affluent foodie priced). Especially like the aspect of the longterm small business that I have seen here for twenty years or more. I am happy to see the little hot dog or cigar shop, and I am sorry to see Ford’s go, I appreciated the uniqueness.
- That there are restaurants, bars, and shops to frequent. I also very much like the farmers’ market.
- Variety of businesses that serve needs of my entire family. Small town feel compared to Lakeshore, lots of history.
- It’s quiet and has a small neighborhood feel. I like the idea of a wine shop. I think the Red Whale Fits into that idea of neighborhood, community and craft.
- I like it’s emerging atmosphere of energy and creativity where you can find good eats, good reads, and good shopping. I am very excited about the new wine shop/bar –The Red Whale. Gazing through the windows–now there is someone with creativity and vision. Great stuff for the district. With the existing spirits shop and the opening of the Red Whale –adding another alcohol establishment is a bit over the top. That’s my opinion.
- The burgeoning -variety- of establishments
- I appreciate the diversity and availability on Grand Ave. There is growing community and aeshtetic appeal to the avenue, that is increasing the traffic these days. I enjoy many of the restaurants, as well as shops, and I look forward to the presence of the new wine shop coming that has already been approved. It is fitting, elevating and a touch of class to the improving area.
- Variety of shops, relative ease of parking, pedestrian friendly, safe
- The shops and the restaurants present a nice mix of long established businesses and new exciting ones, with a nice mix of prices.
- It’s mix of retail and new restaurants; it feels more walkable and has become a destination for me and my partners as well as our visitors.
- I like the variety of locally owned shops and restaurants.
- I can walk to this area from Adams point, I love the rose garden, restaurants theatre.
- This is a great destination and I love that there is place to have fun, buy specialty products, have brunch.
- The district has everything I need — groceries, bank, dentist, insurance, furniture, book store, theater, etc. Great community. Great merchants.
- no comment
- I like that the restaurant scene on Grand Ave., with the exception of Camino, Boot and Shoe and the new one coming up across the street from B&S, seems to be stuck in the 1990s, but it doesn’t encourage me to eat at the other family restaurants. I think I am bemused more than anything else. They seem to follow a model of family restaurants that have high price points, but middling food. The newer restaurants offer much better food for comparable prices. I like that most (if not all) of the businesses are local. I like that people seem to recognize its potential and that its character seems to be changing a bit.
- The movie theatre provides a great anchor, both aesthetically and culturally for the neighborhood.
- Walkability, traffic-watching, variety of businesses.
- Boot & Shoe and Walden Books have great synergy and create active sidewalk culture. I love that Walden is open late so you can wander in before/after dining. I keep reading about Grand Ave galleries in splash pad newsletter but have no idea where they are; ground floor galleries interspersed with restaurants and bars would enhance cafe culture feel. Continued facade restoration projects will enhance the street. There are enough used furniture/thrift stores although a store offering truly vintage or antique items could be ok addition. Coffee Mill is a great location and I wish it would turn over to a new operator who would improve the food and overall cleanliness. I’m excited about the new Little Stars and Penrose; I have been hoping for more casual but hip dining options where you could take your kids if you go early and that offer healthy “slow” food.
- I like that it is has unique shops that will attract more positive attention and hopefully upgrade the neighborhood even more. This area has pretty much everything necessary. It’s a “one stop” destination where you can gas up your car, park it and take care of all your errands on foot and find entertainment and a nice variety of restaurants, not to mention additional attractions like the Farmer’ Market and Lake Merritt.
- Great food. Great people.
- Vibrant community
- Great locally-owned restaurants, historical, first-run movie theater, and a continuing upgrade in tenant caliber and diversity. Great local and hip vibe occurring!
- Close to home. Within walking distance of home.
- Locally-owned shops, diverse products and services, wide sidewalks encourage stopping and chatting,
- Locally owned, very mixed.
- Close
- lots of options for food. Growing retail establishments such as Oak Common. Close to home
- variety, small interesting businesses, neighborhood feeling, variety of restaurants,
- Need to explore more to be able to describe
- It’s my neighborhood. I like to frequent it.
- I enjoy walking around the area
- It is a friendly, mixed use area. Though is lacks the intensity of the now improved Lakeshore area. It’s a great place —- lacking general personality but a great place. Many of the new entries Monkey Forest add tremendously.
- I like the increase in upscale restaurants and the rehabbed facades. Grand is beginning to attain the levels of improvement and attraction already seen on Lakeshore.
- All of the businesses except the nail salons.
- The direction it has been taking in the last year or so. Monkey Road and a couple other new spots are the right direction.
- local businesses
- I love the new additions of Boot and Shoe and Monkey Forrest Road. I also love The Alley as I feel it has a great homey feel and nice patrons. Some of the other bars and nail salons I’m not to thrilled about and therefore don’t support.
- Convenience Locally owned shops and businesses Good food!
- I like the specific businesses I visit. I like that it is very convenient to my home.
- Local mom and pop stores, unlike Lakeshore, which is becoming distressingly chain-store focused.
- I love the restaurants and bars and the community feel to the stretch.
- I moved to this neighborhood 15 years ago and never used Grand Ave. Now I am there all the time. The upscale shops and restaurants that are now there appeal to me. Parking is getting tighter, but I enjoy the area much more. I would appreciate a beat cop or more police presence, especially at night.
- The variety of shopping options and restaurants. Having dry cleaners, copy shop, flower shop, a theatre, (even nail salons although I do not patronize them), a major grocery store, a great framing store which I have used many times,physical exercise options, consignment store, bakery, flower shops, etc. I live very close to Grand Avenue and the street has options for almost all my daily needs plus opportunities for small adventures. At the same time it is a restful and gentle space. Clearly the variety of the restaurants at different price levels is excellent.
- Walking distance to multiple entertainment and restaurants. Feels like part of the neighborhood and close to Lake Merritt.
- Friendly “local neighborhood” feeling. Quiet evenings. Considerate neighbors.
- Atmosphere
- I enjoy going to dinner in the evening and coffee in the mornings. While I’m there, I stop in local shops, such as Walden books. As more food and beverage establishments open, our neighborhood becomes more valuable and desirable to home owners who want to invest in our neighborhood.
- It’s close, it’s comfortable, it feels like it could be more alive.
- Walkability
- There are a lot of restaurants to choose from, which in my opinion makes it a neighborhood worth visiting. There’s better parking and more diversity than on Piedmont avenue. I like the proximity to Lakeshore and Lake Merritt. It all feels very Oakland.
- Improving all the time. Seems to have hit the proverbial ‘tipping point’. High quality new entrants are making it more and more attractive to go there for a night out.
- I like that it recently is getting spruced up. Lots of new businesses and restaurants since I moved to the neighborhood 6 years ago. I like a mix of bars/ restaurants and retail, exercise, coffee shops. I love the Theater. I would come more often if I lived a little closer. I only live 3 blocks from Lakeshore and so go there much more often. But I want to spend more time on Grand, especially with all the new places coming in.
- Right now it is changing. You still have some downtrodden vendors that should go. One is the liquor store that is within 1000 feet of this application.
- The diversity of businesses, relatively easy parking, locally owned businesses, walkability, relatively safe and clean.
- It is a walkable district with a variety of shops housing in interesting buildings. As a North Oakland resident I have hardware stores and grocery stores closer to my home, so I mainly visit Grand Ave for dining, entertainment, and specialty retail.
- Great bars and restaurants and a nice safe neighborhood.
- We love the mix and diversity of shops and restaurants, and the walkable nature of this area.
- Good restaurants.
- The restaurants and coffee (MFR)
- I like the mix of small-scale, non-chain shops and restaurants that collectively serve a diverse set of customers.
- It’s my neighborhood
- Sidewalk tables, consignment goods, needs more plantings
- Beautiful, old restored buildings.
- The potential to be a beautiful street has been there forever…
- It has a local feel…a bit gritty, but welcoming, no chains
- It is convenient and has a variety of options for every need.
- It is accessible and open.
- It’s a relatively large area, but still feels “neighborhood-y”. Also it is close to where I live and I would patronize businesses in that stretch of Grand Avenue, especially if there were more to choose from beyond what’s already there.
- A variety of nice restaurants and food/wine suppliers is within walking distance
- Many options for food and drinks.
- Friendly, safe, walkable, easy to find parking.
- It is close to my house! Wide variety of restaurants. Parking available under highway.
- It’s looking up with the addition of new restaurants.
- Many useful businesses that I use frequently, and lots of dynamic changes over the years.
- Diversity of retail; presence of a high caliber independent book seller; strollable with at least some street trees; absence of chain retail.
- It’s within walking distance from my home and I want to also support local businesses not chains, which war what mostly one can find here.
- I LOVE the bookstore and the two dogs that hang out there. What a great vibe!
- The variety
- Variety of restaurants and small businesses within walking distance
- A great neighborhood with great potential and getting better every day. Very walkable, relatively clean and safe.
- I live on santa clara, I am delighted with Monkey forrest road ,Boot and shoe , The Oak. Making a presence in our neighborhood. I am truly appalled by the amount of nail salons, and dry cleaners. Also the run down Chinese restaurants. It is about time we get more high ended retailers that are boutique type concepts , rather than junky run down stores that have no interest in keeping the look of Grand
- better. I can name quite a few that should have never been ok’d to be on Grand, yet this concept of high end liquor store is being fought against. Shame on Oakland planning.
- New upscale establishments moving in
- I like that there are a range of options for food and drink, from the Alley to Kingman’s to Camino.
- I like the fact that it is gradually moving in the direction of higher end restaurants with good food such as Boot and Shoe, nicer retail shops such as Monkey Forest. I am also happy to see that some of the building facades are being restored or upgraded.
- So much going on, I love it! More, more, more and variety is great! Can’t have too many restaurants!
- I like the variety of shops and businesses.. I would like even more different kinds.
- I think it has vastly improved over the past 10 years with the addition of Boot & Shoe Service, Monkey Forest Road, and others. I’m looking forward to the addition of the LIttle Star pizza establishment.
- I feel new businesses, especially upscale ones like the proposed wine shop, increase desirability , and therefor increases property values. Plus it is nice not to be able to walk instead of drive/park to restaurants, shops, theaters, etc.
- Walkability. Feel of stores and vendors. Neighborhood connection and being able to get nearly everything I want close by
- Variety of food and entertainment options combined with proximity to my home. Great food and drink available in a range of prices, tastes and levels of formality. I enjoy being able to leave the house undecided, walk up and down the block, see what looks good. Also, I can have a drink and not be concerned about driving home.
- I love how lively it is and that it’s becoming a desirable part of town. The emphasis on art, started by oak common’s backstock gallery, really boosts the cultural and entertainment aspect of the neighborhood, along with the delicious food at the various restaurants and amazing baked goods featured at boot and shore and monkey forest road.
- I like the diversity. It’s great to see the mix of restaurants (both low and high end), dry cleaners, the vacuum store, a couple of bakeries, Safeway and the Ace. I’m marginally opposed to this new wine/spirits store because it seems unnecessary. Buckingham on Lakeshore has a very good selection, and I think it’s a mistake to pretend that Lakeshore and Grand are separate shopping districts.
- The restaurants.
- quality restaurants (Boot and Shoe, Camino, Star on Grand), cafes (Boot and Shoe cafe, Monkey Forest Rd), grocery store businesses that attract nightlife and foot traffic–theater, restaurants, Lucky Lounge bookstore dry cleaner can walk to many businesses
- i walk this stretch twice a day on my commute – very different vibe at 8 am vs 8 pm. I don’t always feel safe at night.
- I like the mix and the people and think that it is developing visual appeal
- Good restaurants, the theatre, bookstore. Nice mix of businesses. Good parking.
- It’s improving, I like the newer stores, and the stalwart ones like Walden Pond Books and The Coffee Mill. I like the mix of services-optometrist, body-work, w/ food and wine stores. Wish Monkey Forest Road had more reasonably priced items I love that place.
- I like being able to walk to so many things, from a great dinner at Boot and Shoe to a carton of milk at 7-11. I like the diversity of shops and the ability to get so many essentials.
- Shoe store, retail stores that we do not currently have now, a gluten free bakery, I find Boniere to be a rather tasteless bakery. No more nail or hair salons are needed.
- Love the shops and restaurants and ambiance.
- The growth of local small businesses!
- Allows for lower rent uses of high local value such as dry cleaners, hardware, printers. The Alley. Not overly cute but still in need of attention.
- with the exception of a few retail establishments that have invested in upgrading their shops, not much
- I like the mixture of uses and good restaurants.
- I love being able to eat, socialize and get basic needs met within walking distance from my house.
- It is walkable from my house. It is diverse in offerings. It is getting better and better over time.
- It houses a wide variety of increasingly interesting shops, restaurants, and night life. I love the book store, the clothing shops, and the restaurants, which seem to improve with each new one that opens.
- I like that it is mostly independent businesses with very few chains (as opposed to Lakeshore where several chain stores/restaurants have moved in).
- The variety of retail establishments, although somewhat limited, lends vitality to the neighborhood. It’s not as diverse as Lakeshore between Lake Park and Mandana, from a retail standpoint, but if the projects in this survey are able to join the mix, it’s an improvement.
- Since there is no additional comment section, I didn’t realize the bottled liquor license is for the establishment location (not the business). A wine shop is ok but a liquor store is not so I now am against it. Furthermore there are no restrictions in the proposal on fortified wines and barardi 151 style spirits. I love the fancier new restaurants, but I’m worried trying to convert Grand Ave into an “entertainment destination”
- Walking distance from home, convenient access for nonresidents (easy access from 580), high-traffic area leading to increasingly safer “feel,” and the wonderful Walden Pond bookshop.
- Availability of good food and coffee, neighborhood serving retail (dry cleaning, shoe repair) and an active pedestrian realm.
- That the street is predominantly small businesses rather than chain-stores, and includes some of Oakland’s best restaurants.
- I like the mix of fine of locally owned businesses.
- walkable, great stores and restaurants
- Diverse, unique, up-and-coming, historic, walkable
- Much of the original architecture has been retained and in the past several years, many of the facades have been restored. There’s a lot more history on Grand versus Lakeshore — thanks to the preservation of the Grand Lake Theater, the Alley and the original Dreyer’s Ice Cream factory perched on the hillside above Monkey Forest Road. MFR is a story in itself — possibly the finest contemporary commercial interior in Oakland. Another positive attribute is predominance of locally businesses and the absence of chain stores.