Posts Tagged ‘redevelopment’
Uptown named one of the “Great Places in America”
The American Planning Association recognized Oakland’s Uptown neighborhood as one of the “Great Places in America” in a ceremony yesterday. In the warm afternoon sun, APA Board of Directors member Kurt Christiansen and Hing H. Wong, president-elect of the organization’s California chapter, lauded the neighborhood’s homegrown artistry, entrepreneurialism and diversity. They also praised its revitalizing…
Read MoreFifth Avenue a “bohemian jewel” on the Oakland waterfront
For decades, the last block of Fifth Avenue has attracted artisans and craftsmen who find creative space amid the industry and decay on the Oakland waterfront.
Read MorePlanning, preparations underway for new Uptown Art Park in Oakland
Community activists bucked a proposal to turn an empty lot in Uptown into a parking lot, advocating instead for a temporary sculpture park. Years later, Uptown Art Park is almost ready to open.
Read MoreWhat comes next for Broadway Auto Row?
Residents, city employees and anyone interested in the future of the Broadway-Valdez district, which is located just north of downtown, gathered to ask questions of a panel of local experts at Temple Sinai on Monday night for an event called “Catalyzing Change: Revitalizing the Broadway-Valdez District in a Post-Redevelopment Era.”
Read MoreOakland to host workshop on redevelopment of toxic land
With California’s powerful redevelopment agencies and their corresponding powers now either extinct or on the fence, Oakland and other cities are facing a new problem: how to make use of toxic lands within their jurisdiction.
Read MoreInfographic: How Oakland is balancing the budget
With the dissolution of the Oakland’s redevelopment agency, the city is looking at a $28 million budget shortfall. In an effort to fill that hole, the city council passed a new budget Tuesday evening that includes dramatic cuts to city staff, scales back city services and consolidates several departments. (A full list of eliminated positions…
Read MoreAt town hall meeting, residents and councilmembers debate mayor’s budget proposal
About 20 concerned citizens, activists and advocacy leaders debated the mayor’s new budget proposal Monday night at a town hall meeting organized by Councilmembers Patricia Kernighan and Nancy Nadel.
Read MoreCity of Oakland to take over affordable housing programs, debt obligations after redevelopment agency is eliminated
The City of Oakland will take over the Oakland Redevelopment Agency’s affordable and low income housing programs, assume responsibility for the agency’s enforceable obligations and oversee the dissolution of the agency this spring. In a tense city council meeting that unexpectedly went into closed session Tuesday night, Oakland city councilmembers unanimously elected the City of…
Read MoreDespite meeting cancellation, community members talk Army base redevelopment at City Hall
About 40 people crowded the lobby of Oakland’s City Hall, demanding an impromptu audience with city councilmembers after a meeting of the council’s Community and Economic Development Committee was unexpectedly canceled Tuesday afternoon.
Read MoreOakland’s redevelopment agency dollars: A breakdown of how the city used them
The future of many city workers’ salaries is unclear, following the impending dissolution of hundreds of redevelopment agencies in California.
Read MorePopuphood launches in Old Oakland featuring homegrown and artisan wares
When entrepreneur Alfonso Dominguez and urban planner Sarah Filley teamed up to create “popuphood”—a cluster of locally owned pop-up stores aspiring towards permanence in downtown Oakland—they hoped, simply, that Oakland shoppers would actually show up.
Read MoreShould California Redevelopment Agencies give funding to school districts?
As the Oakland School Board moves forward with its plan to close five elementary schools in order to save $2 million, the California Supreme Court is considering whether redevelopment agencies should be required to give up some of their funding to support school districts and county services.
Read MoreAt council meeting, supporters protest cuts to the arts
Residents representing Oakland arts groups, libraries and redevelopment projects pled with councilmembers at Tuesday’s night City Council meeting to find alternatives to making drastic cuts to help close the city’s $58 million budget deficit.
Read MoreCVS superstore to stay open a little while longer
Much to many Oakland’s residents’ chagrin, over the past few months the CVS superstore on Broadway and Pleasant Valley has been packing up its wares. This colossal neighborhood general store, which has been around since the 1960s, carries everything from motor oil to shoe racks to extensive gardening equipment. The shopping center’s master leaseholder, Safeway, notified CVS in 2009 that it would not renew its lease in order to make way for a shopping center redesign. The mega-drugstore was initially slated to close this June.
Read MoreOakland film industry at risk due to budget cuts and redevelopment plans
The Oakland Film Office and Oakland Film Center, groups responsible for attracting filmmakers to Oakland and supporting them when they’re in town, are facing separate challenges that together put the future of movies made in Oakland in doubt.
Read MoreFormer Super Longs to close amidst extensive redevelopment plans
Long loved by East Bay residents, North Oakland’s mega-drugstore will close this summer due to plans to demolish and redevelop the shopping center where it is located. For decades this one-stop-shop has been a neighborhood institution, but now the store’s landlord has declined to renew its lease, slating it to close by the end of June.
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