It's like a sunnier Rosslyn, VA

Someone asked me the other day what it's like working in downtown Oakland. Because I lived in Washington, DC for many of my formative 20s, I use that place as a general frame of reference for questions of a comparative nature. I answered, "It could be Rosslyn, for all I know."

Rosslyn, for all you capital-phobes out there, is a "city" (more like an office park settlement with a Wendy's) across the Potomac River from Washington, DC. There's a Metro stop there, some big hotel and office buildings circa 1978, vehicle access points for the GW Parkway, but pretty much nothing else of interest can be found in Rosslyn, Virginia. (The Peace Corps used to have their administrative offices there, but I think they even moved) You can go a little further west to Clarendon and it only gets a TAD better because there are more restaurants. The problem with Rosslyn, as is the problem with Oakland, is that the place is a ghost town at any point in the day. There's nothing going on. There's hardly any stores. On the main drag, Broadway, there's hardly any cars! I'm looking down on the street right now, nearing rush hour, and I see exactly 6 cars down there. It's so quiet I can hear people whistling a tune on the street eight floors below me.

Word has it that the 12th street area of Oakland might be a little more chipper, so I will be more precise in the geography I am criticizing. I work at Broadway and 22nd Streets. Across the street to the north is a construction pit. To the south is a small parking garage. To the east is a commercial strip that has about 40% vacancy. To the west is another ground level parking lot. There are some hopeful spots: down Broadway is the Paramount theater, which looks cool, but they only have one booking every three weeks or so. There is a cool rooftop garden at the Kaiser Center. Also, Luka's Lounge is on our block, but I haven't been there because the last thing I want to do after working all day here in Oakland is to hang out here longer.

Oakland needs some revamping, that's for sure. Why does it suffer so? Does anyone know any gems of this part of Oakland? Also, does anyone know if the One Mile High club is still operating?

All these questions, it's almost as if I don't live here.