Neighborhood Improvement WISH LIST

To voice your opinion about any of these ideas or help make them a reality, email DLMNG@DowntownLakeMerritt.org

1. Bring a Farmer's Market to Snow Park at Alice and 19th Street.


2. Install crosswalk on Jackson Street at 15th Street to make crossing Jackson Street safer and more pleasant for children, the elderly and the disabled, as well as the able-bodied.  The crosswalk, which may eliminate at least two parking spaces, could be artistic in some way.


3. Block off 15th Street between Madison and Jackson to automobile traffic and create a park there with benches, play structure, community garden, etc. See #4 and #5 for strategies to replace on-street parking spaces that would be lost.


4. Change parking spaces on Madison between 15th-17th from parallel parking to diagonal parking, which would increase the number of parking spaces on Madison by about 40 percent.


5. Work with the Scottish Rite Center to build a two-three level parking structure where their parking lot is currently located. The first level could include retail storefronts.


6. Advocate for park improvements at Snow Park, such as picnic benches, play structures for children and BBQ grills.


7. Undertake neighborhood beautification projects, including tree plantings, façade improvements, sidewalk repair, and “street furniture,” such as sidewalk benches.


8. Change Lakseside and Madison from a one-way streets to two-way streets to slow down cars and make it easier for pedestrians to cross the street.


9. Create a Community Benefits Disctirct for the Downtown Lake Merritt neighbrohood to generate revenue for neighbrohood improvements.


10. Create by-laws and apply for 501(c)3 status to make the DLMNG eligible for grants and other funding opportunities.

If you would like to form a Neighborhood Improvement Committee, such as Crime Prevention, Social Activities, Grafitti Cleanup, Development Projects or Neighborhood Beautification (i.e. tree plantings, façade improvements, sidewalk benches), email DLMNG@downtownlakemerritt.org

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

November 2008
The DLMNG held its 2nd annual neighborhood BBQ, which was attended by over 100 neighbors, who munched on grilled and potluck delights, got to know one another, and enjoyed a pleasant Sunday outdoors.

July 2008
After two year of persistence from the Downtown Lake Merritt Neighborhood Group, the Oakland Public Works Department change the street sweeping hours in our neighborhood from 12AM-3AM to daytime hours.  The old middle-of-the-night street sweeping hours were inconvenient and dangerous for Downtown Lake Merritt residents.

February 2008
The DLMNG successfully lobbied to have bicycle racks installed in front of Nature’s Best Foods on Jackson Street between 14th & 15th; adjacent to Good News Café on 17th Street between Jackson & Madison; and on Madison at 17th Street.

January 2007
Thanks to the work of DLMNG and others in the community, residential permit parking signs have were installed on Madison and Jackson Streets between 14th & 19th Streets.

With a residential parking permit sticker, residents are exempt from the two-hour parking limit anywhere in the Area F Residential Permit Parking Zone, which includes parts of Alice, Madison, Jackson and 17th Streets. Click here to get your residential parking permit sticker.

September 2006
The DLMNG persuaded the Public Works Agency, "Clean and Beautiful" division to install a city emptied litter can at 15th and Jackson. We are working with that division, on an ongoing basis, to ensure the can is emptied frequently.

We also organized an official Neighborhood Watch Group for the 1400 block of Jackson. Neighborhood Watch Signs have been installed and the group is expanding and attempting to formalize the Beat 4 Neighborhood Crime Prevention Council (N.C.P.C.) to obtain annual crime prevention funding from the city for the beat.

July 20, 2006
Nature's Best Foods was kind enough to team up with the DLMNG to install two community bulletin boards in the entranceway of their store. Residents can now post messages about community activities and meetings, and use the board to "get the word out" on important issues that could impact our neighborhood.