From K-QED. I'm Olivia Allen Price, and this is Bay Curious. We're starting today's

episode in Oakland, old Oakland, to be precise. It's a small neighborhood, just a few square blocks right next door to the

Oakland Convention Center. As its name suggests, walking around kind of feels like

stepping into a time machine. Brick-lined sidewalks lead into cute shops and restaurants and

many of the buildings are beautiful old Victorians that can seem very out of place.

It's surrounded by highway, it's surrounded by the downtown,

surrounded by Chinatown.

This is Spencer Barton, who lives just around the corner

from old Oakland.

It's sort of odd that you've got older buildings

and what appear to be older businesses that still exist I guess in an area that

I would have thought would have been maybe bulldozed and turned into skyscrapers.

Spencer asked Bay curious, basically what the heck is old Oakland doing here?

We'll have that answer after the break. Stick around.

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new favorite beer today.

Reporter Ryan Levy takes a story from here.

To help us understand the history of Old Oakland,

Spencer and I head to the neighborhood's heart,

9th Street and Washington.

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