Oakland residents have contributed countless hours over several decades to help shape our local urban landscape. In the 1990s, key elements of the General Plan—often called the City’s blueprint—were adopted, including the Historic Preservation, Open Space, and Land Use and Transportation elements. Recent updates have emphasized equity and community engagement.
Today, this framework is being challenged by California Senate Bill 79, which requires Rockridge and other “high-resource” areas to allow significantly more housing near transit areas. Unfortunately, new construction can happen without full consideration of what makes our neighborhood so desirable: walkability, a viable commercial district, open space, neighborhood-scale housing, and its historic character.
How will increased height limits affect sunlight access for solar rooftops or neighboring gardens? Will these new developments include room for ground-floor commercial businesses? What about benches and other human-centered design elements to enhance the overall look and feel of our environment?
This topic will continue to be explored in Rockridge Voice, along with articles showcasing the best that Rockridge has to offer. Send us your opinions too — add your voice to the conversation… and share this with your friends and neighbors!
Anna Marks, publisher/editor
Here’s a look at what’s inside this newest edition:
If It’s Tuesday, It’s Mah Jong Night at Belly’s
by Carol Kasparek
Every Tuesday night, Belly restaurant at 5634 College Avenue reverberates with sounds of laughter and the staccato of tiles in motion. Owner Alice Woo shares her love for Mah Jong with Rockridge, creating a destination for everyone who wants to enjoy this iconic game.
Guest Author
On April 13, the Rockridge Neighbors for Sensible Housing (RNSH) steering committee met face-to-face with Ellis Partners, the developers behind the proposed senior living project. While the meeting was intended to find common ground, the dialogue revealed a troubling “business-as-usual” approach from the development team.
Hands-On Model-Building Workshop for Thriving Small Businesses in Oakland
by James Rojas
Have you ever thought about owning your own business or wished a certain kind of business existed in our community? Anyone can join Rockridge neighbors for a free, hands-on, PLACEIT! brainstorming workshop where participants imagine and construct their ideal small business using small abstract objects.
Annette Rahbek Floystrup
Spring is in full swing, and noticeably longer and warmer days beckon us to step back out into nature. For many of us living in Rockridge, that trip can be as short as just stepping outside our homes into garden spaces, large and small.
Spring Plant Sale & Open Garden at Claremont Middle School
by Anna L Marks
Lovers of plants, community, and spring are invited to a Plant Sale and Open Garden on Sunday, May 3rd, 10am, at the Claremont Middle School Garden, 5750 College Avenue (enter at Birch Court). The plants available for purchase were grown by volunteers from the school community, and proceeds will go to the CMS PTA, which contributes to the school’s general fund.
Anna L. Marks
Kolby Hatch launched his newsletter, Oaktown.co, in July of last year as an experiment—partly inspired by his professional work with media companies and partly by a gap he saw in his own community.
What’s Blooming in Rockridge? Aeonium ‘Cyclops’
by John Kamp
In this column, I continue to feature not simply plants that are in bloom in Rockridge, but ones that can grow and thrive in un-irrigated environments. There is a wide, wide world of plants out there that hail from Mediterranean climate zones (such as ours), where it rains in the winter but almost never in the summer.
Anna L. Marks
Measure C is an Oakland Business Relief Program aimed at providing tax relief to new and existing small businesses. The measure will be voted on during a Special Municipal Election on June 2, 2026, alongside the Statewide Primary Election.
From Oakland Hills to Oracle Park: Gerald Kaminski’s Baseball Journey
by Judy Berne
A newly minted resident, Jerry Kaminski moved into the Merrill Gardens at Rockridge from the Oakland Hills senior residence this past September.
Opinion
by Kevin Charles
Guest Author
The majority of California voters passed Proposition 14 in 2010, creating a single primary ballot for many offices, including governor. The Democratic and Republican parties were no longer guaranteed a spot on the November ballot for these offices.
Opinon
by Glen Jarvis
Guest Author
Distances specified in SB79 derive originally from studies of how far people are willing to walk to public transit. On the current zoning maps, the distances are shown as radius distances rather than actual walking distances from the inner blocks, which is not realistic.