DOVER STREET PARK

OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA

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There’s more than meets the eye at Dover Street Park in North Oakland’s Bushrod neighborhood. What at first glance looks like just a tranquil play space for the preschool set was once part of the old Merritt College campus, where the founders of the Black Panther Party met in 1961. After decades of disuse, the former parking lot and athletic area was converted into a neighborhood park in 2004. Echoing the food justice programs started by the Panthers, neighbors began working with Phat Beets Produce in 2010 to formalize the edible public garden at Dover Street Park that still thrives today.

Park Activities

Upon entering Dover Street Park, visitors are likely to notice the community toys and bikes left everywhere, seemingly dropped in mid-thought before chasing a butterfly or returning home for nap time. The toys radiate outward from the park’s central area where two play structures for toddlers and grade schoolers attract plenty of youthful attention. Traffic ebbs and flows during the day, leaving a hush that’s broken only by the quiet hum of passing BART trains. Bring a picnic blanket or a soccer ball, wander the fruit trees, vegetables and herbs in the community garden and learn more about volunteer-led pollination and composting programs. Reviewers call this well used play space “a great family outing” and a “fantastic community park” that is “beautiful…serene…a place away.”

Volunteer Welcome: Dover Street Edible Park is part of a growing movement of urban parks in which food is grown in order to provide food security to local residents. Neighbors volunteer their time to plant and care for many types of fruit trees and vegetables. Anyone is welcome to harvest from the gardens, and neighbors appreciate and need volunteer help from those who pick from the gardens. Regular volunteer hours are Wednesday 2:00-6:00PM and Sunday 11:00AM-3:00PM.