Description
This is a modern day Hooverville. This should not be happening on the fringes of one of the richest cities in America. It is an outrage. If the structures of our culture have failed so many people that there's a shanty town on the sidewalk then the city needs to acknowledge the problem and create a space for them to camp that includes services like trash removal and toilets rather than just allowing these sidewalk camps to spread. It's reached the point where pedestrian access is completely blocked and piles of garbage are blocking a whole lane of traffic. These people aren't just the few that fall through the cracks they are an entire community. They are people who have been evicted and lost work and have nowhere to go. This is not normal! I understand that this situation is complicated and hard for the city to deal with but it should not just be ignored. We have been so patient with this but it keeps getting worse and as months pass it's having a very negative effect on our community. We don't want the cops to come in and break it up, it just forms again a day later on the other side of the street. We want these people to be given a place to be, some dignity and basic services.
49 Comments
應答 City of Oakland (Verified Official)
Polly (Registered User)
Z B (Registered User)
Elle (Registered User)
James (Registered User)
Just because it's under a freeway doesn't mean it's outside of Oakland. Our city must to take on this issue and provide transitional housing with services, right now.
Tents without any services are a factory for poverty, robbing people of their sense of self worth without providing hope of improvement.
Without a change in city policies, the number of people living on sidewalks in Oakland will continue to increase. We need a new direction.
Monika (Registered User)
Dan Dunkle (Registered User)
Big Sir (Registered User)
Lme (Registered User)
Aly Ash (Registered User)
RBaker (Registered User)
Wesley Frederick (Registered User)
Lisa (Registered User)
Please be humane and generous with our city resources before this slips too far down the slope to catch.
Sarah B. (Registered User)
Kara (Registered User)
JessP (Registered User)
Ariel (Registered User)
Vee (Registered User)
Sam (Registered User)
Bix (Registered User)
Jocelyn (Registered User)
Z B (Registered User)
The situation is as bad as it's ever been – lawless, filthy, drug-ridden, with fire hazards and objects blocking the road – it's a public health and public safety fiasco. On our own city streets, in one of the wealthiest regions in the country.
The sentiment and resentment building among Oakland voters about how this situation is being handled by city leadership (or more appropriately, not being handled) is palpable. We are not simply NIMBY complainers – we are looking for a sensible, equitable, humane solution to a horrific problem that impacts everyone – residents, local businesses, city visitors, and the homeless themselves.
The news yesterday about the investment in SROs was encouraging and a step forward, but I'm afraid it will be just one piece of the solution, and it is unclear how long it will take to put that program into effect. In the meantime, the streets of Oakland continue to burn.
We know there is no immediate panacea, but I hope, for everyone's sake, that City Leadership understands the depth and impact of the issue, and the frustration that is boiling over among residents and voters with the inaction from City Hall.
Glo (Registered User)
G (Registered User)
J (Registered User)
Gary Knecht (Registered User)
Sam (Registered User)
Elle (Registered User)
Gary Knecht (Registered User)
Noreen (Registered User)
guest (Registered User)
Nomore (Registered User)
From one homeless human being I thank you for you actions. Bless you all.
Nomore (Registered User)
winkingchef (Registered User)
BeeGee (Registered User)
Reasonable Neighbor (Registered User)
JMP (Registered User)
David Coleman (Registered User)
Nomore (Registered User)
Sandstep (Registered User)
P Turner (Registered User)
The homeless urinate and throw their cigarette butts, clothing and trash over our fence. There are abandoned cars all over the place. I do not patronize any of the local businesses because the parking is non-existent because of the homeless camps. i finally found a job out of the area and will be moving soon. This is the way the Mayor wants it so I've made my choice. Join me...there are plenty of places in the Bay Area that have control over their own problems.
Jacqueline (Registered User)
NICNIC (Registered User)
john (Registered User)
Let’s just be candid; the state of ..... has been nowhere to be found on the da-mn issue of homelessness.”
We haven’t been focused on this issue; there’s a reason things are the way they are. It’s because we haven’t addressed them. It’s happened on our watch over the last decade; in particular, it’s really gotten bad over the last decade. And we were just slow to respond.”
“You want to know who’s the homeless czar is? I’m the homeless czar,"
Dave (Registered User)
David Coleman (Registered User)
MrHoover (Registered User)
amarie (Registered User)
Please send emails directly to city council and city department members. They did a "deep clean" today of the park and let this man stay on the side of the road. Services have been offered to him repeatedly and he refuses, so they allow him to stay. I have emailed each of these (below), each in CC so they are all getting the same complaints from me, and I only have to send out one email:
Each email is @oaklandca.gov
Homelessness@
atlarge@
AMTellez@
KJones3@
JTombolesi@
TLove@
RBayeh@
OfficeoftheMayor@
CFife@
District3@
CityAdministratorsOffice@
TMorgan@
RBattersby@
sdjones@
PDunlap@
GMonares@
LSimmons@
TRubin@
Ffoster@
OAK311@
AMTellez@
Rbedoya@
sbedford@
ajeffress@
housingassistance@
sOlatoye@
parksandrec@
hduffey@
OaklandDVP@
ethicscommission@
@carrollfife.org
Joty@
plingus (Registered User)
The fact of this issue being posted over FIVE YEARS AGO and not resolved is just maddening and saddening. What has become of this city that our elected leadership and their administrative staff cannot seem to do anything to meet the urgent needs of this humanitarian crisis?
I am tired of being IGNORED and LIED TO by the city officials and staff that I've interacted with regarding my concerns around homelessness and the hazards it presents to both the unhoused and housed residents/businesses alike. If you are unable to do your jobs, dispense with the facade and just admit you are overwhelmed. I'll have much more respect for you if you did.
There will be a reckoning at the ballot box this fall, I can assure you of that. We need real solutions that carefully consider the needs of ALL stakeholders, and appropriate funding to ensure the city's policies can actually be carried out efficiently and effectively.