“Bars don’t invite activism. They invite, well, drunkenism. So repressive regimes don’t always go after the beer bars, but they do shut down the coffeehouses and teahouses.”

Tim Holmes, owner and manager of San Leandro’s Zocalo’s coffeehouse, explains the transformative cultural and social role he hopes his business and other community centers play in Northern California’s East Bay neighborhoods. We discussed this over a sweet specialty Kahlua-flavored coffee, while tickling the feet of Juliet, the nine-month-old baby for which barista Sarah Hammitt is a nanny.

To Holmes, city council and school board positions are pivotal for shaping local society and also training grounds for creating broader-scale change. For these reasons, Zocalo’s hosts candidate forums and other nonpartisan events related to local city and county elections.

Several other gathering places, such as Alameda’s Crosstown and downtown Oakland’s It’s a Grind franchise, also facilitate and encourage community involvement in ways that make sense for the local residents of their distinctive areas.

Many people associate Northern California coffeehouse culture with San Francisco’s North Beach, Beatniks, hipsters, and artists and college students either independently wealthy or living off their families’ cash. However, diverse and distinctive neighborhoods throughout the East Bay’s commuter and family/bedroom community areas feature their own versions of these gathering places, which offer unique blends of entertainment, conversation, and empowerment.

A dispute over their building lease and economic pressures may force Crosstown out of business, and they already have to vacate their current location by Friday, July 24th. Alameda has a few other independent coffeehouses, along with a Starbucks and a Peet’s, but most close earlier and are smaller than Crosstown.

Several Crosstown baristas and managers said they invite the landowners to come in and visit their place and try some coffee, see how nicely they keep it up and how many community events occur there.

Zocalo’s and It’s a Grind’s management admit to also feeling the effects of the economy – people have not necessarily stopped coming, as some are forgoing expensive out-of-town vacations, but regulars tend to buy fewer items.

Nurtured by the dreams of an innovative faith community, Crosstown replaced a run-down, vacated High Street bar with the help of dozens of local volunteers. Initially, everyone, including their upper management, was officially a part-time employee, and people put in many hours of unpaid overtime.

“We all believed in the project,” explained now-general manager Faith McRory. “It doesn’t seem like work when you really get excited about something.”

“We have two large rooms here, “ their Thursday night open mic organizer explained, pointing in turn to the locations of the coffee bar and the stage/children’s playroom/conference room. “This [the coffee] funds and fuels this [the community center.]”

While sipping a soy Sweet Awakening high-energy coffee drink, to which they had added coconut after I complimented a smoothie on the overhead menu, I asked Faith to share any special anecdotes from her time there.

“Oh! I met my husband here!” she said and smiled, showing off her wedding ring as toddlers played and clapped to old American banjo music.

Crosstown management pitches in with cleaning and serving customers when necessary, and one day when she was behind the counter he caught her attention by patiently waiting in line behind several people ordering complex specialty drinks. Once his turn finally arrived, he graciously ordered a single cup of plain black house blend. They became friends, and he asked her out, and the rest is history.

The place also hosts playgroups for parents of young children, and open mic nights attended by many people, including a high school songwriters’ club. Several people have met their neighbors of many years for the first time at Crosstown.

Holmes also intentionally designed Zocalo’s as a community gathering place first and foremost. He received an English degree from Kenyon College in Ohio, and later moved to Silicon Valley for a marketing position with Apple Computers. “After all those years, I realized that a huge part of my job was really community-building, so I decided to do that full time.” The name Zocalo is the Mexican word for the town square – people refer to ‘meeting at the Zocalo’ in many towns, and he liked that concept.

Zocalo’s management donates coffee and supplies for a wide variety of charitable fundraisers for family violence and poverty-related organizations, and seeks to buy fair-trade coffee whenever possible. The establishment also welcomes nonprofit group meetings, including the East Bay Amnesty International chapter’s regular meetings and usually their annual-write-a-thon for the release of international political prisoners.

No stranger to philanthropic efforts to improve local life, Crosstown’s management proved receptive to a broad spectrum of community and charitable efforts. Responding to requests over the years from people who just walked in the doors, they collected books for needy children and food for the county food bank. Also, they showcased a variety of Alameda artwork, everything from full-size abstract paintings on the walls behind the stage to handmade stationery to self-published books, including Harold Gower’s Watershed: A Great Basin. Epiphany Poems and Reminiscences of an Old Desert Rat.

Launched as one of Alameda’s first certified green coffeehouses, Crosstown continued its environmental awareness with bulletin boards full of signs on how to recycle and save energy at home. Some of the owners, who are practicing Christians, described this emphasis as an outgrowth of the faith’s teaching on responsible stewardship of Earth’s resources.

Zocalo’s also follows sustainable practices, composting their coffee grounds and purchasing organic beans whenever possible. In the spirit of sharing reusable resources, both Crosstown and Zocalo’s offer lending libraries stocked with donated, used books. Even on the weekday afternoons when I visited, regulars relaxed with books of various sorts, taking a break from studying, telecommuting, or job-searching.

Many people suddenly find themselves job-searching these days, and both Holmes and Mary Forte, owner of the downtown Oakland’s It’s a Grind franchise, mentioned the challenge of locating employees who mesh with the vision of their establishments.

“You’ve got to have a decent work ethic, and show up on time every day,” said Forte. “We get a lot of people where this is their first job right out of school, and they don’t know how to handle it.”

Over vegetable quiche and one of It’s a Grind’s distinctive beverages, a blend of orange juice and white chocolate, Forte pointed out how professional development had to function as a two-way street. She said she would work hard to mentor and coach the younger baristas, but expected discipline and responsibility in return.

Zocalo’s also holds its employees to high expectations, getting to know them over a three-month trial period and a whole series of interviews. Those who belong at Zocalo’s show commitment to their position, and understand that other staff members have to take time to fill in for them when they do not come in to work.

“On the other hand,” Holmes said, “once I know Zocalo’s is important to someone, once they’re a good fit, I know there’s a balance there and I work with them. No one here has to call and say they’re sick when they just need a break or want to go somewhere.”

The place did seem fairly relaxed in some ways related to their employees, as one young man behind the counter had dyed hair and an earring. Crosstown hires staff of all ages, bucking the cute young barista stereotype, and It’s a Grind’s workers casually joked with Forte and each other during slow portions of the morning.

Large red, yellow, and black art pieces featuring Louis Armstrong and other jazz singers decorate the upper walls of It’s a Grind, and Augusta Collins, who has played with dozens of well-known musicians over the decades, performs live about every other Friday.

“The manager was totally receptive. I just walked in and introduced myself about a year ago, and she said I could play,” said Collins.

Zocalo’s displays a variety of different types of art, and Holmes is open to considering all kinds of styles and media. A gentleman walked in during our conversation to offer his hand-fired ceramic pottery, and quickly received approval to put up his pieces.

A small sign above the counter’s coffee menu mourns the loss of American civil rights after the Patriot Act passed – yet the rest of the public space remains politically neutral. “We’re not here to preach at you,” Holmes said. “None of us – not me, not the baristas – will lecture you or listen in to your conversations or tell you what to think. People can come in and advertise if they want, but the goal is to help people get information to make up their own minds.”

Crosstown also intentionally steers away from proselytizing, even with the church affiliations of many of its managers. Some of the flyers for community events and local volunteer opportunities involve church programs and activities, and the Crosstown website does mention spiritual conversation as something which may spontaneously happen in the place.

Synchronized Chaos Magazine published a (completely secular, with LGBT characters) story last winter from David Mitchell, a Crosstown regular, who mentioned that he visited the coffeehouse all the time and found the place friendly and conducive to his writing.

Both Crosstown and Zocalo’s have a tan and grey color scheme from their tables, chairs, and floors, which Zocalo’s complements with greenery and artwork, and which Crosstown decorates with colorful paintings from Alameda locals.

It’s a Grind’s menu and appearance are slightly less under manager Forte’s control because the place is a national franchise, although she chooses to celebrate the United States’ and Oakland’s jazz heritage through art and performances. She’s also hosted book signings, poetry readings, and other events.

Recently spotlighted in Bay Area BusinessWoman, Forte comes from an information-technology background, having spent 30 years supervising large groups of employees at Chevron Texaco. Not a real coffee drinker herself, she was more attracted to the idea of starting a safe, local community gathering place.

There’s already a Starbucks and other places in the neighborhood, and I asked her what makes her place unique. “Well, I think the coffee’s better, for one thing. And we really emphasize friendly customer service.”

It’s a Grind is located on the bottom floor of a 21-story office building in a highly corporate downtown area, and Forte gets many customers who grab coffee on their way to work or who are attending business meetings. She also makes sure the place recycles and practices basic environmental responsibility, and makes donations to shelters and other nonprofits.

When asked what advice she had for other entrepreneurs, or would-be business owners, she advocated starting with a franchise and taking advantage of pre-existing structure and support. Also, Forte recommends that business owners prepare to work very hard and understand that they will likely have to think about their businesses every day they are open.

“Running It’s a Grind is very different from my corporate job. I have to make many more decisions, and there’s more physical work, running around checking on things. I definitely don’t sit at a desk all day!”

Crosstown’s management urges other business startups not to enter into matters blindly. “Do your research, be intentional, get the professional advice that you need. Talk to realtors, accountants, financial planners, advisers, lawyers – anyone who can help,” said Dave Kreiss, another member of the management team.

Zocalo’s Holmes says profitability is the key, and one’s business has to make sure to have a way to survive. He pointed out that entrepreneurs should count the cost before starting out, be prepared to invest hours of personal time and also quite a bit of capital.

“It also helps to sell something addicting!” he joked.

Even with the economic downturn, and even with Crosstown’s current severe challenges, no one mentioned in this article regrets having started his or her own business.

“The espresso maker, the chairs, the tables – they’re all mine. There’s a real sense of ownership here I didn’t have before,” said Forte.