Talk:Oaksterdam, Oakland

To whomever wants to merge Oaksterdam with Downtown Oakland
My first thought, bad idea, until I hear your rationale. Oaksterdam is kind of a sub neighborhood within downtown Oakland proper. I'm hesitant to label its boundaries but I'd say it's roughly bordered by 15th street on the Southwest, Webster Street on the Southeast, 19th Street on the Northeast, and Telegraph Ave on the Northwest. It's characterized by mixed use office and residential buildings with unique historic architecture older than the skyscrapers south of 14th St, and an abundance of ground floor retail shop spaces and restaurants and cafes. It has it's own history and cultural undercurrent also, which is distinctly different than the daytime office worker fabric south of 15th Street. I also believe it's geographically, anthropologically, and economically distinct enough from the rest of Downtown Oakland to warrant it's own article. Critical Chris (talk) 10:38, 26 February 2008 (UTC)
 * Icamepica, funny you nominated this for merge on the day of an AP news story, which I just found out about an hour ago before linking it up to this article just now. Why do you believe the articles should be merged?  I'm inclined to boldly remove your tag immediately, absent any forthcoming rationale on your part.  I will leave it up for a week or so, to let other editors weigh in.Critical Chris (talk) 10:13, 27 February 2008 (UTC)
 * If no one objects, I'd like to remove the merge tag.Critical Chris (talk) 17:47, 4 March 2008 (UTC)

I object. Oaksterdam isn't a neighborhood. It's a nickname used by the canabis culture. Nobody's heard of it outside Oakland. Its also shrinking fast. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.81.240.236 (talk) 02:03, 3 March 2009 (UTC)

Oaksterdam is indeed a cultural district in Oakland, as well as a movement in itself. There have been thousands of students since 2007 who have learned the "Oaksterdam method" of medical cannabis preparation and business. With cannabis legalization in California being led by Oaksterdam, it is a noteworthy inclusion to wikipedia in its own entry. Do not merge with city of Oakland. U62 (talk) 08:17, 25 February 2010 (UTC)

This article should be merged with Downtown Oakland
"Oaksterdam" is a fad name for a small area where medical marijuana activity has been tolerated for the last 8 years or so. The neighborhood has been referred to as simply "downtown" for over a century. The medical marijuana tolerance in Oakland should be covered in the Downtown Oakland article, but nobody but stoners calls this area Oaksterdam, so as a neighborhood name it deserves only a peripheral mention. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.81.240.236 (talk) 17:23, 29 January 2009 (UTC) Wow I agree. And I live in Oaksterdam.unsigned comment added by Special:Contributions/192.168.0.1 (talk) 17:23, 25 May 2009 (UTC)  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.188.106.245 (talk)
 * Agree, though it seems there is concensus to keep it when there probably is not. It's a cultural destination but not a neighborhood proper (much like the "Koreatown" on Telegraph Avenue). Perhaps a new discussion on merge is in order...--Chimino (talk) 09:10, 13 April 2011 (UTC)

In response to the statement about medical cannabis users being called "STONERS",we fell this may be too negative.This community of "STONERS" has done more to improve a failing downtown economy than many other small businesses combined.When these "STONERS" use their medicine or recreational drug they seem to have a severe side effect of hunger.Those hungry "STONERS" are going to nearby food venues and eating and then maybe going to stores like Sears.The point is these "STONERS" spend money are are well behaved compared to the "INEBRIATES" who tear up bars sometimes and start fights in the streets just for the fun of it.Oakland has such a wide arrange of cultures and diversification that some cities dream about and the "STONERS" are a perfect fit.Since the name hasn't officially been changed don't worry this is no different than "Koreatown"on Telegraph which also is a great destination for food when the side effects of cannabis hit.

Someone changed Jim McClelland's name to Mickey Mouse in the Oaksterdam Wiki.I Tim Giangiobbe changed it back and now will vigilantly be checking.Jim McClelland was an Oaksterdam pioneer who founded a dispensary in Berkeley called Berkeley Patients group.Jim McClelland (an AIDS patient who died) and Tim Sidwell(an AIDS patient who died) was some of the brave Oaksterdam pioneers from the Oakland Buyers Cooperative who went AROUND THE CORNER after the Federal authorities shut down Oakland Buyers Cooperative (OCBC) and opened up another clandestine dispensary less than a block away from OCBC called the Zoo that was well stocked with good deals and they had clones.Their bravery while they had their own medical issues was an unselfish act of courage.____

Cleaning up the history
I'm currently working on cleaning up the history section of the website. It seems that whoever contributed to the history section copied half of the text straight from some cannabis-friendly site and it is still rather biased. I just want to get some facts straight before diving into the actual material. SirHank (talk) 00:37, 31 May 2012 (UTC)


 * That's a noble effort on your part, because IMO this article should be deleted outright.--Chimino (talk) 13:27, 16 June 2012 (UTC)