Oakland Is Betraying Its Tolerant Reputation

What began as a trickle with the construction of the Oakland City Center on 12th Street, the city’s first privately funded downtown office building in 30 years, is now a flood of investment pouring into Oakland. Will the city be welcoming, gracious and magnanimous or hostile, guarded and, dare I say it, conservative in its response to the changing times? Because for a city that sees itself as a culturally diverse, racially tolerant place with room for people of all ilks and from all walks of life, few if any of those attributes are reflected in the words and actions of some citizens on this issue. A small sampling of those attitudes was on display at last week’s Oakland City Council meeting, called to lay the foundation for a housing equity road map, a long-term plan to provide tenant protections and affordable and low-income housing. Openness toward visitors and new arrivals has been replaced with open hostility, and xenophobia is sweeping through some sectors of the city. Oakland isn’t the only Bay Area city with rising housing prices and a critical shortage of housing for middle-class and low-income residents. Is the city going to be able to handle growth and gentrification in stride and adequately address it through public policy goals, or is it going to turn into another slugfest played out on city streets?