When Cherry Chan moved back to Oakland last year after living in Hawaii, she found a city that was struggling with a host of social issues, among them, brazen property crime. Chan works at a shoe shop in Oakland’s Montclair neighborhood, where she says she often sees car break-ins. “It’s become like the wild west,” she said. Early this year, In-N-Out Burger closed its location near Oakland International Airport “due to ongoing issues with crime.” Then Denny’s Restaurant followed suit. Shop owners…
When Chien Nguyen closed his boba shop in East Oakland in 2023, he turned his focus to another venture: revitalizing a nearby park and its community center. Over the past eight years, Nguyen said he has watched the deterioration of Clinton Park, where he used to bring his daughter, from a once safe space into a public safety hazard. From the expansion of homeless encampments, to open crime and drug use, Nguyen said families and kids have stopped going to…
The East Bay Regional Park District began during the height of the Great Depression with a ballot measure asking voters to institute a property tax for the purpose of creating a park system. Despite the hard economic times, voters overwhelmingly agreed to tax themselves so they could have more parks. Ninety years later, about 25 million people a year enjoy what has become the largest park district of its kind in the nation, a network essential to the active, outdoor…
Over 250 people made their way to San Antonio Park in East Oakland Friday evening. Among the bright, inviting murals and delicious smells of popcorn and spaghetti launched Family Friday, a new program to give families a safe space to get to know each other and build community. The program, started by Trybe, a nonprofit serving youth and families, is a continuation of Town Nights, a program by the city’s Department of Violence Prevention that hosts events in parks around…
The Oakland Ballers delivered in their inaugural season, reviving the city’s baseball legacy with a wining season and a playoff berth. “Welcome to the next chapter of baseball in Oakland,” blares a voice over the public address system in Raimondi Park, the B’s home field in West Oakland. Fans have flocked to the bleachers, nearly 2,000 on average at each home game. Only a few thousand more have been going to the Coliseum to see the A’s play their last…