His wish to experience authentic West Oakland led Grabowicz to Kalay, who specializes in the virtual recreation of lost worlds. During the past decade, Kalay and his graduate students have used computeraided design to recreate medieval Cairo (an effort that was featured on PBS) and an ancient archeological site in Turkey. This spring Kalay and his students will help model and "build" historic West Oakland, while Grabowicz and his journalism students will interview elderly Oaklanders who remember Seventh Street in its heyday. Using oral histories, old photos and music history, they hope to "fill" the old neighborhood with its former culture.

Visitors will be able to log on, choose an "avatar" to represent themselves, and saunter down a virtual Seventh Street. They will be able to interact with this simulated West Oakland in the same way game players create civilizations and interact with strangers using SIM technologies online. Ultimately, Grabowicz and Kalay would like to see their virtual Seventh Street-and this unusual collaboration between elderly residents and college students-inform decisions about urban planning and policy in West Oakland today. To chart their progress and submit your own recollections of the neighborhood, go to the journalism.berkeley.edu/projects/jazzclubs for the virtual jazz clubs project.

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