West Oakland: Upscaling Neighborhood, or Reviving Industrial Hub?

5 March 2010 - 10:00am

West Oakland's days as an industrial center are long gone, but city officials have a vision of rebuilding it as a clean energy mecca. Problem is, many locals have their own vision of upscaling the neighborhood with local eateries and condos.

Bobby White writes, "As the two camps have clashed, redevelopment of West Oakland has stalled.

The impasse comes as Oakland already is struggling to shore up its struggling economy. The city is grappling with a $15 million deficit for the current fiscal year and projecting a $32.7 million deficit for the next fiscal year. In addition, it faces high crime and unemployment—the city's jobless rate reached 16.3% in December, compared with 9.4% for San Francisco."

Source: The Wall St. Journal, March 5, 2010

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West Oakland Revitalization

Oakland city officials would be wise to allow Ms Holland and her renegade group of entrepreneurs to continue their revitalization efforts in the area. The approach they're taking is pragmatic and more realistic than the clean tech, manufacturing, industrial hub the city is proposing. In fact I predict that organic approaches like the one Ms. Holland is advocating for will become the new currency for 21st century revitalization.

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