San Francisco is famous for its steep streets, but Oakland has as many vertigo-inducing neighborhoods, and not just up in Montclair and the high hills. The big alluvial fan that underlies north and central Oakland has a fairly gentle slope, but where the local streams cut into it some real gorges are the result. Dimond Canyon is the most dramatic, but Pleasant Valley and Trestle Glen are contenders too. The northernmost of these is occupied by Glen Echo Creek, which runs from left to right across this view up Monte Vista Avenue. As far as I know, the valley doesn’t have a name. But Mountain View Cemetery sits at its upper end, and this street is also named “mountain view,” so that’s what I’ll call it.
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