Martin Luther King Jr. Way - Oakland

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Martin Luther King Jr. Way (formerly known as Grove Street) is a major street in Oakland and Berkeley that begins just southwest of Embarcadero West at the edge of the Howard Terminal. When the street crosses Codornices Creek in the Northbrae section of Berkeley, the name changes to The Alameda. The segment in Oakland between 52nd Street and the Berkeley border (between 61st and 62nd Streets) is the widest street in District 1 and is designated as an arterial street.

Naming

Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday became a state holiday in 1981, and was first observed January 15, 1982. This was in part thanks to the efforts of a group of high school students at Oakland Tech known as The Apollos.

The City Council of Berkeley changed the name of Grove Street within the Berkeley city limits to Martin Luther King Jr. Way pursuant to the adoption of Resolution 52,001-N.S. on November 8, 1983.¹ The action was controversial, with many people – especially businesses and residents located on Grove Street – opposed to the renaming, although the Council ended up voting 6-2 in favor of the renaming.² Among the people advocating for the name change was Betty Reid Soskin. The action was also confusing, in that it was not initially clear whether the suffix "Jr." was part of the name and would appear on the street signs, although the resolution (and later the street signs) did include the suffix.³ The Oakland City Council began its process of renaming the street just one week later, with the Council's Civic Action Committee authorizing city staff to conduct a feasibility study on the concept, including a survey of residents and business owners along Grove Street to try and avoid the type of controversy that arose in Berkeley.⁴ The Oakland City Council unanimously voted to follow Berkeley's lead and change the street's name to Martin Luther King Jr. Way on July 24, 1984, with a two-year transition period.⁵

part of 1937 redlining map

According to Wikipedia, "Grove Street, which stretched for several miles north from Downtown Oakland into North Berkeley, was renamed Martin Luther King Jr. Way in 1983-4. The street had once represented the dividing line between neighborhoods where minorities could and could not live or buy property." This can be seen on the 1937 redlining map. While it was not the only boundary to people of color buying property elsewhere, it was a significant one.

In a San Francisco Chronicle article by staff writer Vanessa Hua, published in 2003, outlined the following issues with Martin Luther King, Jr. Way:

"Berkeley changed Grove Street to King in 1984, and Oakland followed suit months later."
"During the 1950s and '60s the street served as a de facto color line, with minorities living on one side and whites on the other."
"In some cases, activists do not have the influence to persuade their local government to name a prominent street after King and have to settle for one in an economically depressed area."
"In Oakland, MLK cuts through neighborhoods that are 64 percent black, compared with 35.7 percent citywide. Median household income in these neighborhoods is $21,931, in contrast to $40,055 for Oakland as a whole."
"In 2000, the city adopted a 30-year redevelopment plan for part of the neighborhood, from MacArthur Boulevard to 40th Street on MLK. No specific projects are under way now."⁶

History

It's not yet known when Grove Street was first laid out, but it appears on the 1868 Boardman map created by county surveyor, William F. Boardman.

Grove Street was the site of the first electric streetcar in the East Bay. The Oakland and Berkeley Rapid Transit Company started service up Grove on May 12, 1891.