Dimond Neighborhood News

by Hoang Le Banh

Streetscape Meeting November 18 Input is needed from Dimond and Fruitvale residents and merchants at the first Fruitvale Alive! community meeting, at Patten University, 2433 Coolidge Ave., November 18, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. This will be the first of four very important Streetscape and Transportation Planning meetings for the Dimond and Fruitvale neighborhoods, funded by the Caltrans Environmental Justice (EJ) Grant. CHS Consulting, which also worked on the Chinatown EJ project, will conduct studies and other tasks while facilitating these community meetings over the course of a year. After community consensus is reached on a project list, we will apply for capital funds to implement the projects. For more information, visit the Streetscape section of the DIA message board (www.dimondnews.org/forum), or contact Hoang Banh at hbanh\@lmi.net. Curious About Sequoia? Sequoia Elementary School is having its annual Prospective Parents Night on November 9, 7 p.m. Childcare will be available. It's Official Farmer Joe's will expand by opening a second store, this time in the Dimond. If the city permitting process goes smoothly, it should open by next summer. Farmer Joe's has also applied for the city's Fa?ade Improvement Program, so we should see improvements to the exterior of the old Albertsons/Crazy John's building. More Dimond History Dimond History Night was a hugely successful joint effort of the DIA and the Sons of Norway in lovely Bjornson Hall. Histories of both organizations were shared as neighbors nibbled on Norwegian cookies, local restaurant delights, and neighbors' home-baked goodies. Local historian and Metro writer Dennis Evanosky also shared a history of Dimond and Oakland and introduced his new book, East Bay Then and Now, expected out in December. Mills College Professor Andrew Workman came to talk about the Oakland Living History Program, created to record the stories of Oakland residents who experienced the city's transformation over the last half-century, starting first with neighborhoods around Mills. If you have memories to share about MacArthur-corridor neighborhoods, especially before, during, and after construction of freeway 580, please contact Professor Workman at 430-2347 or aworkman\@mills.edu. Betty Marvin from Oakland Heritage Alliance and the city's Planning Department was also on hand to answer questions about historic fa?ades in the Dimond. Erika Mailman, of the Montclarion, announced that she will be at Dimond Library on December 6, from 7 to 8 p.m., to discuss and show slides from The Oakland Hills, her new historic photographic book that includes the Dimond. If you have pictures to contribute to the neighborhood archive, please speak with Dimond librarian Catherine Nichols. Your pictures could also be displayed at next year's History Night! Hoang can be reached at hbanh\@lmi.net, and more updates are available at www.dimondnews.org.