Neighborhoods
On a recent Friday at the Old Oakland Farmers’ Market, one stall kept people lingering for longer than usual among the rows of vendors offering produce and food. At a table decorated with a large zoning map and a wooden outline of Oakland’s skyscrapers, those who stopped weren’t there to buy but to share their opinion about the state of downtown. The Oaklandside is partnering with Oakland North and Oakland Lowdown to examine what’s working well and what isn’t for…
On a rainy Saturday morning in February, Josh Gunter organized the cleanup equipment for the day ahead — buckets and trash-pickers, elastic gloves and trash bags, coffee and water. Then he waited for volunteers from Friends of Raimondi Park to arrive for the monthly cleanup event. Gunter was among more than a dozen residents who braved the weather that morning to pick up trash, rake and sweep. Friends of Raimondi Park, one of the many groups participating in Oakland’s “Adopt…
More than 20 artists opened their studios in East Oakland’s Jingletown neighborhood last weekend during East Bay Open Studios, a bi-annual tradition where visitors can see both artists’ creations and their creative spaces. Inside the Gray Loft Gallery on Ford Street, nine artists showcased jewelry, paintings, and photographs. Jan Watten, the founder of the Gray Loft Gallery, has been participating in East Bay Open Studios for decades. “Open Studies provides an opportunity to put a bunch of work out, and…
“I’m a mechanic,” explains Cynthia Elliott, reclining in her chair and propping her feet on her office desk. A TV episode from the 1960s show “Wagon Train” plays in the background and drawings of human anatomy hang on the wall behind her. She continues, “I approach everything as: What’s broken and how do we fix it?” Elliott is not talking about her day job running an exercise equipment repair service. She is describing the after-hours work that has made her…
As global temperatures rise, the frequency and size of dangerous blue-green algae blooms are increasing worldwide. For East Bay residents, that means more warnings not to touch the water at local lakes and reservoirs. Warnings and closures have been seen across the East Bay in recent years, from Lake Anza in Berkeley to Lake Merritt in Oakland, where an algal bloom deprived the water of oxygen and killed thousands of fish in 2022. Coming into contact with the toxic algae…
For the past five years, many residents in East Oakland’s San Antonio neighborhood have been unable to enjoy trick-or-treating because they don’t feel safe going out at night with their children. Issues such as sex trafficking, gunfire, illegal dumping, and one of the largest encampments in Oakland have made life challenging for this community. Katie Schwarz, who lives on East 15th Street and co-chairs the San Antonio Neighborhood Council, said that during the past two years, the community has worked…
Oakland City Council recently approved the city’s first Environment Justice Element to address pollution, health food access and other health risks over the next two decades. But many of the recommendations Oakland residents put forth were ignored, some community leaders say. City Council approved the 222-page Environmental Justice Element last month as part of the city’s 2045 General Plan. While the city invited feedback from residents in low-income areas and communities of color — those most impacted by environmental pollution…
The Oakland Board of Port Commissioners on Thursday approved an agreement for construction of a sand and gravel facility. After reaching a settlement with the port last week, the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project has vowed to monitor the development. The resident-led environmental justice organization filed a lawsuit last year to block the 18-acre Eagle Rock Aggregates Terminal. The lawsuit argued the dust and pollution from the site, constructed less than a mile from West Oakland neighborhoods, would “expose an…
Oakland Chinatown is one of the communities deeply bothered by illegal dumping, even though the city has seen a nearly six-fold increase in the quantity of trash cleared from its streets in the past seven years. Liao Shen, an employee at D&K Market in Chinatown, said the store pays about $800 a month for trash services and then has to deal with trash overflow from illegal dumpers. “It is very frequent,” said Shen. “It happens all the time.” Businesses in…