Have the community noticed that Oakland has changed based on gentrification? Gentrification is the process of renovating and improving a house or district so that it conforms to middle-class taste. Is gentrification a REAL topic people should care about? In this blog, It will explain why gentrification is affecting Oaklanders. Based on the research and interviews, Oakland’s History and city is changing because of gentrification and it’s a problem for people of Oakland who stayed here for the longest.
Oakland has been dealing with gentrification ever since Trump became president. People who have been in Oakland for the longest, has noticed that buildings are getting destroyed and getting replaced by new modern and tall buildings. Therefore, people who are middle class are coming and looking for jobs and places to stay. If there’s more construction, more of the rent is getting raised up which is making the people who used to live there move away because they can’t afford to pay their rent. As an Oakland resident who’s lived here for a long time, I’ve noticed that the neighbours have moved away because they couldn’t afford to pay rent anymore. What they’ve done to the house is re-molded it and now there are white people moving in because the houses are getting renovated. This means that the more they raise the rent, they’ll try to kick out the ones who can’t afford paying rent and will have new people as in wealthy people who are privilage because they won’t have a problem to pay the rent.
Oakland is changing every month because of gentrification and with gentrification, the community is changing as well. Based on an article called Gentrification in Oakland on the rise by Megan Cove, she states, “With the decrease of affordable housing driving the loss of its cultural and racial diversity, Oakland in every aspect of the word is no longer what it used to be”(Cove). Since rent has changed, the people and the cultural has gone away because Oakland was a place for being affordable housing and now it’s not. It’s important to Oakland residents because Oakland residents are getting thrown out because of the rent going up and because of that it’s making people move and leaving their hometown and all of it’s culture that’s left behind. Oaklanders are the root of the culture and being the root of Oakland matters because people have so much stories about livng here since way before incuding the Ohlone people, and for Oaklanders leaving, there won’t be anymore culture to tell.With all the modern buildings that they’re constructing and taking over stores so hey can build something “useful”. But instead with all the new modern objects people have in Oakland, people will start coming here and trying to move in because they want to use it and will love it here. An article called What does economic evidence tell us about the effects of rent control? by Rebbecca Diamond, she states, “While rent control appears to help current tenants in the short run, in the long run it decreases affordability, fuels gentrification, and creates negative spillovers on the surrounding neighborhood”(Diamond). With the rent going up this is making neighborhoods having an impact because they are trying to get them move it because there’s people who don’t have that much money and other problems that they need to handle. With the situation of gentrification, it’s affecting the affordability of housing. It’s affecting people because mentally. They are worried that someday they will have to move away when they could’ve never had the thought of moving away.
In conclusion, Gentrification is a real problem that’s happening to Oakland and it’s having a huge impact in the city but also the people who live in it. Instead of building houses or apartments that are modern why can’t people donate the money to schools in need and build something that people of Oakland are in urgent need of. People of Oakland need their voice heard because out of all the places they will want to make our place the place people of Oakland call home.
Annotated Bibliography
Alvizures, Ana Mariela, and Ashley Rodas. “Gentrification .” 22 Nov. 2019.
The interview was about how Oakland has changed and why it has changed. I asked her about how gentrification is making an appearance specifically in the bay area. She said how she noticed how there’s a lot of white people and new modern houses in her neighborhood. There’s been construction in the roads which is making more people passing by and they’re building the houses and putting them for sale so when someone passes by they’ll notice that the neighborhood is “unproblamatic” because is has been worked on. And since the rent has been up, there’s more people needing to move out because they can’t afford to pay rent. Therefore, there’s people coming in who CAN pay the rent.
Annotated bibliography
Rodas, Ashley, and Roman Hill. “Gentrification .” 24 Nov. 2019.
This interview is about how Oakland’s roads and buildings has changed but also because Oakland’s culture has changed. He states that Oakland’s culture has changed because the Oakland founders moving away because of rent getting overpriced, they’re taking the culture away with them too because they’ve been here for the longest and they have seen the progress and the natural beauty of the old buildings there is today. Roman also stated that because of the new buildings that are open, there are more jobs for new people to work for. He noticed that with the more people who’s leaving, the more houses is getting re-molded and it’s getting quieter because there’s white people who don’t have that much noise.
Ashley,
Thank you for sharing about this important topic that is clearly impacting Oakland and many other cities in the United States. You have shared a number of negative consequences of gentrification which are really helpful to understand. I’m curious about the timeline that you mentioned and whether you think that gentrification started before Trump’s presidency. I would think that it is a longer pattern in the city, but I’m curious what your sources said. I’m also wondering about solutions. I know you mentioned that rent control doesn’t tend to help in the long run. What about policies that require that there is mixed income housing spread out through out the city? What else do you think would help in terms of affordable housing? I appreciated your idea that Oakland residents who have higher incomes should donate to the public schools.
Best,
Erica
Dear Ashley I think your post was very good and interesting because it talked about how people are getting pushed out of Oakland due to high rent, you also talked about how more white people are moving into the neighborhood which you later stated that was gentrification. A line that stood out to me was “If there’s more construction, more of the rent is getting raised up which is making the people who used to live there move away because they can’t afford to pay their rent.” That line stood out to me because it connects to all of your evidence and your claim. Thanks for writing and keep it up.
Dear Ashley, you post, “Oakland’s Downfall” is really interesting. Your writing is intriguing. And now that I realized it, gentrification is removing the culture that is in Oakland. A sentence from your post, reads “Oaklanders are the root of the culture” and I completely agree with this. The fact that high rent is the reason why POC leave their homes just proves that Oakland is obviously doing nothing! Which leads to us to fix this issue. But how? How will we stop gentrification? You’ve listed all the problems, but what are the solutions? Another problem that strikes Oakland is racism. Oakland is one of the most cultural cities in the bay area (in my opinion) but oppression still surrounds the place. In an article named “We’re being pushed out’: the displacement of black Oakland” by Sam Levin, he talks about when police were being called for black people doing a barbecue. The article reads, “While African Americans in Oakland have been steadily displaced by gentrification, others who remain are treated like criminals in their own hometown.” (Levin). Gentrification is affecting TONS of African Americans which results to them leaving. While the other AA receive discrimantion and racism in the homes they own. They are LITERALLY getting disrespected at the town AA been leaving for more than a decade. While people who are just arriving to Oakland and getting to know the city, have the audacity to oppressed the ones that are more knowledgeable than they are. Thank you Ashley for this great piece of writing. This topic has open new perspectives. I look forward to seeing more of your work, Ashely!
Ashley, what you’re focusing on is very interesting and a very important topic, I didn’t know that stopping gentrification was that important to you.
Thank you so much for reading my blog. The part of your comment that stood out to me was how you didn’t know anything about gentrification and you learned from it.