Comments on: The 40th Street cut

By: Andrew

Andrew — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 01:45:50 +0000

Thanks, Michael, and congratulations on getting into today’s Oakland Tribune too.

I liked your project because it WASN’T a historical dissertation; it was an invitation to wonder, and it was rewarding to people of all levels of intimacy with Oakland’s landscape.

By: Michael

Michael — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 23:20:01 +0000

Thanks for mentioning the show in Oakland Geology. I appreciate your writing and am especially inspired by your active, creative relationship with our local geography. In our exhibit we did not attempt to present a historical dissertation about the Key System or Glen Echo Creek but rather an interpretation of our experience in this place and with these systems. It was great chatting with you at the gallery.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 19:48:58 +0000

The upper half is indeed on bedrock, a golden-colored sandstone. You’ll see it on both sides of Pleasant Valley Road at the top of the hill. It extends down to about John Street, at least I picked up pieces in an excavation there.

By: Mary

Mary — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 04:00:02 +0000

That sounds like an art show made for me. I love watching how areas change over time by both natural and human processes.

I always just assumed Thermal Hill was a bedrock hill, it never occurred to me it was a fan.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 03:47:43 +0000

It would be fun to see that article, Eric.

The 40th Street Cut show is charming, especially if you’re from the Piedmont neighborhood but worth seeing even if you’re not. The gallery is only open Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 11 to 5, so unless you have a day off it’s a lunch-hour outing, except for First Friday, March 6, when it’s open until 8 pm, and on March 19 when the artists give a talk from 5 to 7 pm. These artists and I are in the same business: opening people’s eyes to what’s around them.

By: Eric Fischer

Eric Fischer — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 05:44:24 +0000

Thanks for the local history! But it seems like a bit of an exaggeration to say that the cut was filled… it isn’t what it once was, but today’s 40th Street runs through it (40th Way is the old 40th Street). Somewhere I have a copy of an Oakland Tribune article from when the tracks were being torn up, with a mention of the Cerrito Ave crossing being closed to avoid having to rebuild the bridge.