Beyond the Creek

Moraga Produce Opens in Rheem Valley Shopping Center

April 10, 2012 8:30 am

Some news off the beaten path: Moraga now has an alternative produce store besides Safeway. Located at 576 Center St. in the Rheem Valley Shopping Center, Moraga Produce offers a wide variety of vegetables and fruits, including an organic section as well. Take a look at the inside below:

I think I noticed Mexican Coca Cola being sold which is great as it uses real cane sugar instead of corn syrup. If the quality of the produce is good I can see this being a popular place to stock up instead of Safeway or a trip to Orinda or Lafayette.

Moraga Produce also has stores in Walnut Creek and Concord, has anyone been to one of them? How is it?

2 Comments

Blow Dry Bar – BDB Studio Opening April 20th in Walnut Creek

April 9, 2012 4:45 pm

BDB Studio, aka Blow Dry Bar, is opening up in downtown Walnut Creek on April 20th, replacing a Cosmetology Salon. They are located at 1639 North California Blvd. in the Mercer Apartments complex. Their Facebook page had this poster:

It looks like this is a shampoo and styling salon for in-between hair-cut appointments. Check out the inside:

As noted previously, other than Mike’s Bikes and The Counter restaurant at each end, the stores located below Mercer Apartments are generally beauty salons of one type or another.

4 Comments

“Hand of Peace” Artwork may be Displayed in Civic Park in Walnut Creek

April 9, 2012 2:30 pm

photo by Flickr user uzvards

According to a City of Walnut Creek agenda, a giant hand sculpture may be on permanent display at Civic Park in downtown Walnut Creek. The first choice, Alma Park was rejected due to, “future development”. From the agenda:

The panel felt the Alma Park Plaza site would showcase Hand of Peace in a high visibility area, which would serve as a “gateway” both to other downtown artworks, as well as the Walnut Creek Public Art Program itself, by sparking interest in public art. It was agreed that, upon its installation, Hand of Peace would become a prominent artwork on the public art walking tours, and a significant place-maker for Walnut Creek and Alma Park. After careful review and input from the neighboring residents and businesses of the Alma Park site, and considering the future development that would take place adjacent to the site, it was determined that the location would not be viable. As the alternate, the panel selected the Civic Park “Triangle” at the Library’s north entrance (Attachment 2), because they were drawn to the green, peaceful, and reflective qualities of the
park. This site is highly visible, and the panel saw great benefit in installing the sculpture in a downtown park location and within a green landscape. The Civic Park site has significant pedestrian traffic, street visibility, and the opportunity for park visitors to spend time enjoying Hand of Peace from nearby benches and open space.

An interesting side note is that the artist Beniamino Bufano, chopped off part of his trigger (index) finger and sent it to President Woodrow Wilson at the onset of World War I as a protest against the war. You can see an old video interview with Bufano here. When I saw the video and took a look at the sculpture again I thought maybe the shorter finger at right was a representation of his missing index finger top, rather than the pinkie.

0 Comments

Comparing Cities – New York vs. Walnut Creek

April 9, 2012 11:30 am

Last week I stayed in New York City, where I used to live in the 90s, for Easter break while still managing to post 3 updates per day to this blog which I’m quite happy with. As always, New York is a crazy, dirty, LOUD, over-the top place that is also exciting, fun, and offers endless dining and entertainment choices 24×7. It’s truly the city that never sleeps.

Walking around everywhere allowed me to see plenty of shops that also exist in Walnut Creek, including Urban Outfitters, Forever 21, Macy’s, even Brandy Melville. Some stores that haven’t yet arrived in Walnut Creek that I could easily see eventually include the Spanish fashion store Mango and the Canadian clothing store Joe Fresh, which recently opened several clothing shops in New York. Who knows, maybe even Uniqlo will show up one day.

Although Walnut Creek does not have the same gritty and lively feel that bigger cities like New York offer, I think downtown Walnut Creek offers plenty of things to do while still maintaining it’s suburban charm. I’ll take that over a strip or enclosed mall, so prevalent in other suburban cities, any day.

Anyway, take a look at the photo at top closely, and then look at the photo below:

Isn’t that cool?

2 Comments

Private Parking Vs. Public Parking in Walnut Creek

April 9, 2012 8:30 am

I was contemplating making this a “sign of the day” post, but I decided to focus on public vs. private parking in downtown Walnut Creek instead. The sign says, “PRIVATE PARKING” at top, and right below, “PAY PUBLIC PARKING”. Is this confusing to anyone?

I’m so used to these signs that I never really pay attention anymore, but it is somewhat bizarre, isn’t it? How could there possibly be both private and public parking in the same spot!? I believe what it means is that the City of Walnut Creek farms out these public spaces to a private company who manages them to earn revenue for both the company as well as the city, but I can only imagine the confusion to visitors to Walnut Creek. Maybe the wording could be changed, instead of “PAY PUBLIC PARKING”, to “CITY OF WALNUT CREEK” or something.

*UPDATE* A reader below notes that, “these are privately owned parking spaces that are made available for public use, for a fee. The City has nothing to do with enforcement, collection or revenue.”

In that case the sign should be changed from, ” PAY PUBLIC PARKING” to “Parking Meters Available to Public” or something.

The parking garage situation in downtown Walnut Creek is another confusing anomaly because the private garages are free, and the publicly own garages are fee-based. I bet there are quite a few visitors to Walnut Creek who assume the public garages are the best deal available. Or am I off base here?

4 Comments

Happy Easter!

April 6, 2012 4:30 pm

I hope everyone has a very happy and safe Easter Sunday!

2 Comments

Fish & Chips Every Friday at Stadium Pub in Walnut Creek

April 6, 2012 11:30 am

I spotted this outside the Stadium Pub sports bar in downtown Walnut Creek at 1420 Lincoln Ave. across the street from Radio Shack. Not sure whether this is a special menu only on Fridays; anyone like the food here? I’ve only ever had the hot dogs when I go.

4 Comments

Sign of the Day

April 6, 2012 8:30 am

Spotted at the Fujian Japanese restaurant in downtown Walnut Creek, the sign says:

Fire Station
of the
Walnut Creek Volunteer Fire
Department
part of the
Central Fire Department Protection District
1926 to 1965

0 Comments

Bench of the Day

April 5, 2012 4:30 pm

Spotted in La Fiesta Square in downtown Lafayette.

0 Comments

Judging Stores – Entrez! Open House in Walnut Creek

April 5, 2012 11:30 am

Entrez! Open House is a housewares and gift boutique located at 1507 Cypress St. in downtown Walnut Creek. From their website:

Entrez! Open House is an independent boutique specializing in European contemporary housewares, gifts, and furniture.

We carry over 30 different brands to make sure you find diversity in our items and prices range: Alessi, Iittala, Marimekko, Menu, Esteban, Pacifica, Galison, Sigg, and many more!

We also carry many locally designed and produced items: Elbow Grease Designs and punk rawk purl are the most popular.

Contemporary, Eclectic and European
are the main traits of the stores style.From stationery to dining set, we pick our products with extra care, and that’s what makes Entrez! such a unique destination.

They also have a store in Oakland. Check out the inside of the showroom:

I think this is a great addition to Cypress St. with a colorful and eclectic sense of style. Currently they are not open every day but they plan on expanding their open hours in the near future.

0 Comments