Daniel Timothy Wood, who is in digital advertising, had a few moments Thursday between his lunch at Vik’s Chaat Corner on Fourth Street (which he says is the best Indian place on the planet) and an appointment with a client in San Jose.

So the Portland, Oregon resident and a few friends walked along the train tracks in West Berkeley to look at the graffiti painted on the backs of buildings. It’s a walk Wood has taken before, as he enjoys photographing graffiti. (His Flickr site has shots from around the world.) He thinks many of Berkeley’s taggers are gifted artists.

“We saw a couple of nice pieces,” said Wood. “A lot of them were over two years old, so I can see other people find them of value and aren’t painting over them.”

Frances Dinkelspiel, Berkeleyside and CItyside co-founder, is a journalist and author. Her first book, Towers of Gold: How One Jewish Immigrant Named Isaias Hellman Created California, published in November...