I've been living in Oakland since 2001. Both of my children were born in Oakland. Aside from a two year stint in Lake Merritt, which is where I lived when I moved here from San Francisco in 2001, I've always lived deep in East Oakland, near the Oakland Zoo. I've been a staunch defender of Oakland over the years, constantly and forcibly p…
I've been living in Oakland since 2001. Both of my children were born in Oakland. Aside from a two year stint in Lake Merritt, which is where I lived when I moved here from San Francisco in 2001, I've always lived deep in East Oakland, near the Oakland Zoo. I've been a staunch defender of Oakland over the years, constantly and forcibly pushing back on the perception of my colleagues - especially those that live in places like Palo Alto or Mountain View - that Oakland was a dangerous place that should be avoided at all costs. But now I find that I cannot with a clear conscience defend the city anymore.
I've lived here through some dark times, such as the murder of 5 OPD police officers in 2009 at the hands of Lovelle Mixon, the shooting of Oscar Grant on BART, and the Ghost House fire. In all those cases, I was always able to find a glimmer of hope that while things may seem to be deteriorating, life in Oakland was actually getting better. And there was plenty of evidence suggesting that to be so. When I lived in Lake Merritt in 2001, I regularly rode my bike through what is now the "Uptown" part of downtown, and it was overrun with blight. 10 years later, it was almost unrecognizable - and in a good way! Now though, the deterioration feels permanent and irreversible.
To me, the turning point was the rioting in the summer of 2020. There was bad looting and destruction just blocks from my house. I actually went down to MacArthur Blvd and E. 14th streets in San Leandro to see what was going on, and I was appalled at what I saw. This wasn't a protest in support of any cause. It was lawlessness for the sake of lawlessness. It was a celebration of criminal behavior, and it was largely excused by Oakland city leaders. It's been downhill ever since.
I'm in downtown Oakland every Monday afternoon, and I see signs of car break-ins every time I'm down there. Glass on the streets, cars with windows smashed in. My own car got bipped a few weeks back. Lake Merritt is overrun with people permanently living on piles of trash next to the lake. Recently, I've seen homeless encampments under the freeway overpass at San Pablo and West Grand, burning trash in metal garbage cans. Its like a scene from "Escape from New York." On MacArthur Blvd, between 106th and 98th, there are dilapidated RV's that have been parked there for at least two years, in front of people's businesses and homes. The scene on W 12rh street that one witnesses from BART between Fruitvale and Lake Merritt stations is appalling - shanty towns built on top of huge piles of trash. All of this should be a source of intense shame for Oakland's leaders and yet I see little evidence that they care at all.
The irony is that Oakland city leadership, which seems obsessed with tearing down what they see as unfair systems of privilege, actually operates like a trust fund fail-son. Despite their repeated failures and incompetence in improving the lives of every Oaklander, they avoid accountability simply because Oakland enjoys the privilege of geography. If it were 100 miles inland, it would be like Flint, MI - a failed city whose best days are behind it. Instead, Oakland remains relevant simply because its located on one of the most beautiful areas of the country, if not the planet. So they implement stupid policy after stupid policy - like the 2017 decision to stop discretionary traffic stops - without having to worry that those will kill the city as some number of people will always live here due to where its located.
I will probably leave once my kids are done with school. I never thought I'd be saying that, but then again, I never thought Oakland would deteriorate in the way that it has.
I've been living in Oakland since 2001. Both of my children were born in Oakland. Aside from a two year stint in Lake Merritt, which is where I lived when I moved here from San Francisco in 2001, I've always lived deep in East Oakland, near the Oakland Zoo. I've been a staunch defender of Oakland over the years, constantly and forcibly pushing back on the perception of my colleagues - especially those that live in places like Palo Alto or Mountain View - that Oakland was a dangerous place that should be avoided at all costs. But now I find that I cannot with a clear conscience defend the city anymore.
I've lived here through some dark times, such as the murder of 5 OPD police officers in 2009 at the hands of Lovelle Mixon, the shooting of Oscar Grant on BART, and the Ghost House fire. In all those cases, I was always able to find a glimmer of hope that while things may seem to be deteriorating, life in Oakland was actually getting better. And there was plenty of evidence suggesting that to be so. When I lived in Lake Merritt in 2001, I regularly rode my bike through what is now the "Uptown" part of downtown, and it was overrun with blight. 10 years later, it was almost unrecognizable - and in a good way! Now though, the deterioration feels permanent and irreversible.
To me, the turning point was the rioting in the summer of 2020. There was bad looting and destruction just blocks from my house. I actually went down to MacArthur Blvd and E. 14th streets in San Leandro to see what was going on, and I was appalled at what I saw. This wasn't a protest in support of any cause. It was lawlessness for the sake of lawlessness. It was a celebration of criminal behavior, and it was largely excused by Oakland city leaders. It's been downhill ever since.
I'm in downtown Oakland every Monday afternoon, and I see signs of car break-ins every time I'm down there. Glass on the streets, cars with windows smashed in. My own car got bipped a few weeks back. Lake Merritt is overrun with people permanently living on piles of trash next to the lake. Recently, I've seen homeless encampments under the freeway overpass at San Pablo and West Grand, burning trash in metal garbage cans. Its like a scene from "Escape from New York." On MacArthur Blvd, between 106th and 98th, there are dilapidated RV's that have been parked there for at least two years, in front of people's businesses and homes. The scene on W 12rh street that one witnesses from BART between Fruitvale and Lake Merritt stations is appalling - shanty towns built on top of huge piles of trash. All of this should be a source of intense shame for Oakland's leaders and yet I see little evidence that they care at all.
The irony is that Oakland city leadership, which seems obsessed with tearing down what they see as unfair systems of privilege, actually operates like a trust fund fail-son. Despite their repeated failures and incompetence in improving the lives of every Oaklander, they avoid accountability simply because Oakland enjoys the privilege of geography. If it were 100 miles inland, it would be like Flint, MI - a failed city whose best days are behind it. Instead, Oakland remains relevant simply because its located on one of the most beautiful areas of the country, if not the planet. So they implement stupid policy after stupid policy - like the 2017 decision to stop discretionary traffic stops - without having to worry that those will kill the city as some number of people will always live here due to where its located.
I will probably leave once my kids are done with school. I never thought I'd be saying that, but then again, I never thought Oakland would deteriorate in the way that it has.