Brooklyn Basin: Enjoy The Sunny Side of the Bay
Oakland's Brooklyn Basin project revitalizes the formerly publicly inaccessible industrial site occupying sixty-five acres of Oakland waterfront adjacent to Jack London Square. When it has been completed, it will feature more than thirty acres of parks, 200,000 square feet of retail and commercial space, and 3,000 new residential units, including 465 affordable housing units for families and seniors.
The Brooklyn Basin development is the largest building project in Oakland in over half a century. It will revitalize the Town's industrial waterfront, creating public access to new recreational areas alongside a vibrant mixed-use neighborhood. These public spaces will offer new opportunities to enjoy the sunny side of the bay for rollerbladers, strollers, skaters, salsa dancers, and families out for strolls.
While construction continues, Township Commons park and adjacent common space surrounding the historic docks opened this summer. The park has quickly emerged as East Bay's most inviting outdoor venue. Still an Oakland secret, the area has attracted artists, dancers, comedians, salseros and soneros, soul belters and Afrobeatizans, aspiring jazz cats, and symphonic string players.
The award-winning landscape architecture firm Einwiller Kuehl designed the park and was inspired by the site's industrial shipping and natural history. Brooklyn Basin is named after a sailing ship called The Brooklyn, which in 1864 was the first passenger vessel to travel from New York to San Francisco. This 24,000 journey was completed by 238 men, women, and children fleeing religious persecution. After a harrowing 6-month long journey, many settled in what is now the Brooklyn Basin, building a bustling shipyard community that flourished well into the 1930s.
Urban design critic John King of the San Francisco Chronicle described Township Commons as "a startling act of urban reinvention that, with time, should pull people from across the city to an area that has been off the map." It's a space that welcomes Oakland residents back to their waterfront with a bold new definition of a park conceived with radical imagination.
With a backdrop of sailboats traversing the estuary and a glorious view of San Francisco behind the Alameda skyline, Brooklyn Basin has made a hell of a first impression.
Oaklandish created a tee designed by Volume Inc., the creators of the visual language that inspired the project. It celebrates the commons with a portion of the sales proceeds supporting the Oakland Parks and Recreation Foundation.
SHOP NOW > Brooklyn Basin Tee
