suburban swing
This week a whole bunch of CEO’s got on board with the idea of workers being able to stay remote and work where they want. Forever.
I’ve long been bullish on the suburbs and rural areas — but I imagined that the impetus for people moving to greener, grassier pastures would be due to the arrival of driverless cars which would make it faster and easier to get around — not necessarily a global pandemic. Throughout history there’s often a pendulum swing on ideas - whether motivated by new information (the world went from flat to round and now a whole set of people recently started doubting this again for whatever reason), education (often exhibited through fitness trends or best practices on child rearing), agricultural lobbying (remember the grain-filled food pyramid?!) or a rebellion against previous generations (this usually comes through in fashion, the 90s are back, for example).
The suburbs boomed in the 50’s but cities have been on the move for decades with real estate prices reaching absurd heights as more and more young people flock to urban centers. But it seems the scales are about to tip back in the other direction, as young people are earnestly talking about communal living with friends and family with complementary skills, have already started basic farming and homesteading practices, embraced caring for indoor plants and seem to be yearning for more S P A C E - amid the pressure, intensity and general unpleasantness of city living while sheltering-in-place. This feeling is especially acute here in the Bay, where real estate prices are just beyond, but with companies now saying now that anyone can work from anywhere, this might change the conversation from how can we make cities more accessible, affordable and green - to how can we make suburbs more like cities?
I don’t think anyone wants the spread out strip mall (or mega mall) suburb full of empty paved parking lots where you drive from place to place just to grab a coffee. Today’s young people want the benefits of greenery, safety and space with accessibility and commerce. I’ve had my eye on the sleepy and charming cities Martinez and Benicia - as potential east bay mini-cities ready for growth. It may be because I grew up on the outskirts of a rust belt city, but when I see a charming, yet sparsely populated downtown area (particularly in the case of Martinez), I can’t help but romanticize the past heydey and imagine the future potential. Maybe all of California could become more affordable and accessible, if we’re able to better utilize the spaces we have?
(Photo from Martinez News Gazette)
As anyone that has lived in a city long enough knows, urban neighborhoods that are about to turn always start with a hip coffee bar and Martinez is home to one of my favorites (State’s Coffee) and has a flat, pioneer-town feeling downtown, with brick buildings, a lot of antique shops and emerging energy. Benicia has Farm & Flour, a wonderful local bakery where you’d find young local families and long-time residents, if we were still allowed to go out. (I should note that both places are offering take out and delivery). In both areas, residents can walk or bike to their homes and still access major freeways within minutes and even hop on a train to Sacramento. In a place as spectacularly beautiful as California, access to nature has always been important (John Muir even lived in Martinez) but in these trying times we realize even more how much more a sense of community matters. Now we just need the restauranteurs to get the memo that their pricey leases might not be worth the price and as the world opens anew, come east, dear friends.
If you could work from anywhere — would you move? Where would you live?
Now onto the goods:
Its a holiday weekend, which I completely forgot and feels irrelevant in this never-ending void of existence. In addition to remembering our troops - most people like to spend memorial day in front of a BBQ. If you don’t have the time or energy or will to cook - Eater assembled a helpful list of places offering BBQ to-go including Slow Hand in Pleasant Hill for takeout and delivery, plus a handful of popular spots like mainstays Everett & Jones and Berkeley’s KC’s.
🍕One of our readers, Jordan, tipped me off to a spot called June’s pizza that is only open from Wednesday thru Sunday. I haven’t been yet - but have been fawning over their instagram for days - they only make 40 pizzas a night - so get it if you can.
Farmer’s Markets are back! You can find a roster of local markets here and revisit a past edition of the east bae to read about some of my favorites.
Montclair’s beloved Perle winebar is now open offering takeout burgers, charcuterie and cheese alone with plentiful selection of beer and wine.
🍸Read about the history of the Martini, which originated in the aforementioned city of Martinez
Before all of this I told you about how beloved restaurant Doña just opened up their awesome new digs in Piedmont where you could get amazing cocktails and queso - but up until this week they had been closed due to covid. The good news is they are back and offering both takeout and delivery of their flavorful Mexican food plus cocktails like their Strawberry and Mezcal margaritas - every day from 12-8pm. Plus check out their sister restaurant Tacubaya.
🍶I don’t know about you but my wine consumption went up considerably at the start of all this. Now that things have normalized a bit so have my coping mechanisms and I’ve scaled back to imbibing 2-3 nights a week. But on those nights its always fun to try something different. Den Sake Brewery is an Oakland-based sake distillery and distributor which you can usually find in great local restaurants - but now they’re offering direct to consumer curbside pickup and delivery.
📰 Read this profile of the East Oakland Collective and how they’re serving 1,000 hot meals a week to people who need them
Oakland’s PieTisserie is still serving up pies for takeout and delivery. They have savory pot pies and sweet pies like strawberry rhubarb and chocolate and apple with double crust.
🌯 Chanchos is a new Mexican spot that was apparently hoping to open a full on restaurant and instead settled for virtual. They have a straight-forward SoCal mexican-style menu offering burritos and tamales to go or pickup. Read about them and other east bay food news in Berkeleyside.
🍒As anyone who knows me knows, its been a bit of a battle between me and the local birds and my cherry tree this season. Last year they ate it clean before I even got a chance to pick any. This year, I got a handful but was waiting one more day before the perfect ripeness to get my big haul - but somehow not deterred by the sparkly distractions I hung in the trees, the birds wiped everything out. Anyway - you can still head to Brentwood and pick your own from a bunch of local spots, read more in the Merc here.
Lastly - our readership has grown over the past few weeks so I do want to resurface an outdoor activity for you new readers - the hidden east bay stairs throughout Oakland and Berkeley are a great way to get some exercise and explore.
Enjoy your weekend, everyone!