Since I started this blog, we have at least three ways to communicate within this neighborhood. I started the Millsmont/Nextdoor.com site. There is the Yahoo group (Mokeridge), and there is the Facebook group: Oakland's Millsmont Neighborhood Get Things Done. I've started a weekly coffee meetup that I call Coffee @ the Curb, thanks to the services of Get Goes Mobile Café, who added a stop to their Friday morning route (8:30am) at the intersection of Buena Ventura and Delmont.
The upside is getting to meet more people, recognizing who belongs and who doesn't. The downside is finding out about too much crime going on, alarming crime, petty crime, all detrimental to the quality of life. Knowing about it causes anxiety, retreat....But also empowers us.
A group is meeting to possibly stir up interest in a more formal neighborhood association, a way to raise funds, and get things done, in a more democratic way, I suppose. It's a learning experience, and takes patience.
I still take daily walks, but my dog is old now, and she moves slowly. I still meet people and find out things through my dog, though.
Today I spoke with a neighbor who was picking weeds, to get over her irritation at her next door neighbor who WASN'T picking weeds. Irritation is endemic. It's so hard not to get annoyed with those who live next to you, and don't have the same standards....whether it is weeds (which then encroach on your land), peeling paint, too many vehicles, barking dogs... etc. etc. Before I left, her neighbor came out, and she asked me to back her up. But I left, because their discussion seemed private. I hope they worked it out....
A daily dog walk reveals much about a changing neighborhood near Mills College, Oakland.
