was Oakland kind of like Little Harlem at one time?

[silverkris]

Originally Posted by LeavinOnAJetPlane

IT sucked ass in 1990 when I too went to college there. I saw plenty of people get knifed near the park.

Well I also was a student in that era and my experience differed considerably from yours - statistically speaking even back then NYC was safer than, say, Atlanta. I also remember when the 1992 Rodney King riots happened in LA and felt that relations between different groups in NYC, while not without friction, was and still is better than in LA because people mix more thanks to density and common use of public transportation.

[WizardOfRadical]

The Fillmore in SF was probably the nearest thing to Harlem that the bay area had.

The black population in California was not really significant until WW2 broke out. Then the second wave of the great migration really added to that after the war.

But it's hey day was probably the bee bop era of the mid-late 1940's. Tons of jazz joints, hop heads, night clubs, and whatnot. Unlike Harlem, you can barely tell the Fillmore district was once a thriving black area.

[silverkris]

Originally Posted by WizardOfRadical

The Fillmore in SF was probably the nearest thing to Harlem that the bay area had.

The black population in California was not really significant until WW2 broke out. Then the second wave of the great migration really added to that after the war.

But it's hey day was probably the bee bop era of the mid-late 1940's. Tons of jazz joints, hop heads, night clubs, and whatnot. Unlike Harlem, you can barely tell the Fillmore district was once a thriving black area.

Yes, the difference is that Harlem is still around, continuously, as a center for black culture. The Fillmore, sadly, was mostly bulldozed in the name of "urban renewal" during the 1950s and 1960s.

West Oakland too was a thriving black community (settlement came about from the terminus of the great railroads and the port) but was later sliced up by the freeways and later BART.

[WizardOfRadical]

Originally Posted by silverkris

Yes, the difference is that Harlem is still around, continuously, as a center for black culture. The Fillmore, sadly, was mostly bulldozed in the name of "urban renewal" during the 1950s and 1960s.

West Oakland too was a thriving black community (settlement came about from the terminus of the great railroads and the port) but was later sliced up by the freeways and later BART.

Yea but West Oakland was not where the culture was, in terms of black arts, music, entertainment, nightlife and what not.

West Oakland was more a place where lower paid black longshoremen/factory workers lived, as well as those who wish they had a longshoreman job. It was never really an entertainment destination the way "The Mo" was.

[daepro]

Architecture is quite different. Most buildings in Harlem are large apartment buildings or even larger NYC Housing projects.
Growing up in NYC I was struck how Oakland is generally made up of single family homes.

[bentobox34]

Originally Posted by green papaya

do you think Oakland was once kind of like a little "Harlem" like they have in NYC

Oakland is 78 square miles and Harlem is about 4 square miles, so no I wouldn't say that Oakland is "little Harlem."

[bentobox34]

Originally Posted by ilovewaffles

And Oakland is a toilet as well. Overpriced. At least Harlem was cheap and next to Manhattan. Oakland is next to another overpriced toilet, the great city of San Francisco.

Harlem is in Manhattan, not next to it.

I'm not sure why you switched from past to present tense in your comparison ("Harlem was..." / "Oakland is..."). Both Harlem and Oakland were cheap, and both have seen comparable rising rents and gentrification pressures in recent years.

[silverkris]

Originally Posted by WizardOfRadical

Yea but West Oakland was not where the culture was, in terms of black arts, music, entertainment, nightlife and what not.

West Oakland was more a place where lower paid black longshoremen/factory workers lived, as well as those who wish they had a longshoreman job. It was never really an entertainment destination the way "The Mo" was.

Yes West Oakland wasn't a nightlife or entertainment district to the extent that the Fillmore was, but it did have its establishments, along 7th Street:
Virtual Oakland Blues & Jazz