Oakland Chinatown's Heart and Soul

Since August of 2015, our daughter has attended kindergarten at the high achieving Lincoln Elementary School in the Oakland Chinatown neighborhood.  Our involvement in the school has given us the opportunity to get to know the neighborhood and its deep connection to the school.

Oakland Chinatown is an important neighborhood in the city of Oakland’s history.  Chinese and other Asian immigrants began to arrive in Oakland as early as the 1850's and faced large obstacles to find permanent housing due to racism.  Several early Chinese neighborhoods were forced to relocate due to pressure from city leaders and in one case a mysterious fire.  In the 1870's, Chinese settlers began to move into the area of 8th and Webster which became Oakland Chinatown.  Despite racism and laws passed to restrict immigration from Asia, Oakland Chinatown thrived.  The Oakland Chinatown neighborhood became self–reliant by forming social and family networks which continue to exist today.

Today, Oakland Chinatown is primary made up of Cantonese speaking immigrants.  The neighborhood also has some immigrants from other areas of Asia such as Vietnam, Thailand, and Mongolia.  There are also a small number of Asian-American middle-class families who has chosen to raise their children in the neighborhood.

Many of the families in Oakland Chinatown are multigenerational (grandparents, parents, and children) and live in small apartments due to the lack of affordable single family homes.  Most parents work full-time and many hold several jobs in order to afford to rent an apartment in the neighborhood and send their children to an academically high preforming school.  Grandparents help parents by picking-up and/or dropping off children from school and providing childcare when school is not in session.  Children who are not picked-up by relatives directly from school will go to an after school program.  The after school programs are run by a diverse group of city, non-profit and for-profit organizations such as the Lincoln Square Recreation Center, Oakland Library -Asian Branch, Lake Merritt Childcare Center (run by Family Bridges), East Bay Asian Youth Center (EBAY) and Oakland Asian Educational Services (OASES), Chinese Community United Methodist Church, Shoong Family Chinese Cultural Center, Kumon Math and Reading Center, and Starlite Child Development Center.

Many community groups work inside Lincoln Elementary to provide important services and enrichment opportunities to the children.  East Bay Asian Youth Center (EBAY) and the OASES Mentors Program provide classroom assistance for teachers and afterschool tutoring for the older elementary school children.  The Purple Bamboo Orchestra & Chorus, run by the non-profit Purple Silk Music Education Foundation, provides music instruction to students.  Doctors and dentist from Asian Health Services visit the school to provide free medical and dental care to low-income students.  The librarian from the Oakland Library Asian Branch visits classrooms once a year to encourage students to use the neighborhood library and participate in library programs.  Wu Sung Community Service Club works to help better the lives of the children at Lincoln and in the neighborhood.  Some of the projects they have done in the last several years: they successfully raised money to restore the playground at Lincoln Square Park; they provided scholarships for students going to college; gave a grant to Lincoln Elementary for Lincoln’s 5th Grade Yosemite Science Camping Trip; every December, the club arranges a visit from "Santa Claus" and gives gifts to all the kindergartners at Lincoln Elementary.  The Golden Dragon Project, a non-profit founded by a group of Lincoln Elementary School’s parents, sponsors and organizes school events such as Lincoln’s Lunar New Year Celebration and the spring carnival.  The organization also raises money for enrichment activities for the students such as art classes and field trips.

The Oakland Chinatown neighborhood is always busy and active.  My daughter and I will often take the bus in the morning to her school and we see people out and starting their day.  We often see families shopping for groceries at the small mom-and-pop run grocery stores.  We watch adults practicing tai-chi and playing badminton in the local parks.  When school is not in session, we see many children playing at the Lincoln Square Playground.  We often see adults playing ping-pong at the recreation center or singing karaoke in one of the community halls.  The neighborhood is full of churches and temples, which have active ministries serving the community.  As I mentioned above, the Chinese Community Methodist Church provides an after school program to Lincoln students.  Chinese Independent Baptist Church provides Chinese language classes to residents.  This past summer, Cassidy and I went to the Buddhist Church of Oakland’s summer bazaar which was lots of fun. 

There is one exception to the neighborhood’s overall health; Oakland Chinatown’s businesses have struggled to keep their doors open in the last several years.  Sadly, a combination of the economic downturn and growing competition from Asian-run businesses in the suburbs has caused many businesses and restaurants to close in the neighborhood.  Vacant storefronts and new graffiti have become an eyesore for the community.  However, there is an attempt to beautify and bring more business to Oakland Chinatown. The Dragon School, a nonprofit started in 2015 by Luqman Lin (who grew up in Oakland Chinatown) is teaching the children in the neighborhood to paint dragons (and other Asian inspired images) on vacant storefronts and buildings.  The Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce holds a yearly Chinese New Year Bazaar (which Cassidy and I attended this past January) to cater to those who are preparing to celebrate the Lunar New Year.  The bazaar is full of booths over two square blocks and offer red envelopes, scrolls, decorations, cut plum blossoms, plants, and holiday fruit trees.

During the last several years, there has been a discussion within Oakland City Hall to help "revitalize" Oakland Chinatown.  My fear is that an attempt to "revitalize" could bring in businesses and housing for higher income earners and push out families and the elderly.  I hope that Oakland leaders remember that Oakland Chinatown’s heart and soul comes from the residents who live there.

Decline of African-American owned businesses in Adams Point

Since the end of Oakland's foreclosure crisis, my family has noticed a visible decline in businesses owned by African-Americans in the Adams Point Neighborhood.  In 2006, my husband and I moved into a neighborhood which had a sizable number of businesses owned and operated by African-Americans.  The businesses were diverse: clothing stores, hair stylists, barbers, cafes, a bar, a photographer, and a funeral service.  Now, many of these businesses have gone out of business or moved because of fewer customers and rising rents.

The African-American community in Oakland was one of the hardest hit ethnic groups during the foreclosure crisis and the Great Recession.  In Oakland, many African-Americans lost their municipal jobs due to large budgetary cut-backs.  Additionally, a large number of African-Americans were displaced due to their homes being foreclosed.  The result was that African-American owned businesses lost their customer base due to decrease spending and displacement.

It is unclear if the remaining businesses will survive; those left will need to be able to attract non-African-American clientele and adjust to rising rents, if they wish to keep their doors open in the Adams Point Neighborhood.

This African-American barber shop is one of the few African-American businesses still operating in the Adams Point Neighborhood.

Bay Grape Wine Shop (shop with a grape leaf hanging in front) now inhabits a space that used to be occupied by an African-American run hair salon.

Photo of vacant storefront behind green and yellow cars.  Vacant storefront used to be home of Positive Images which was run by an African-American photographer.  The store is now inhabited by Oaktown Spice Shop.  When we moved to Adams Point Positive Images and an African-American clothing store were operating on this stretch of Grand Ave.  Both are now gone.

New signs drawing attention to the Adams Point Neighborhood

From Affordable to Luxury in the Eastlake Neighborhood

In recent months, I have been walking with my neighbor around Lake Merritt and passing by 1824 Lakeshore Avenue in the Eastlake Neighborhood.  From 2001 to 2006, Manny and I lived in a one-bedroom apartment at 1824 Lakeshore Avenue; we left the building when we purchased a two-bedroom condominium on the other side of the lake in the Adams Point Neighborhood.

The building has a spectacular view of Lake Merritt and downtown Oakland and is located in the Eastlake neighborhood- a predominately Vietnamese and Chinese immigrant community with a median household income of $30,000 a year.  Our building, like other buildings in the area, was affordable.  When Manny and I lived in a one-bedroom at "St. Bards" (the name on the awning of the apartment building), we paid $1,275 a month for the apartment with a fantastic view and its own parking spot.  During the four and a half years we lived in the building, the rent was only raised once from $1,275 a month to $1,325 a month.  Studio apartments in the building were rented out for around $800 a month and one-bedrooms were rented out for around $1,000.  The building was mixed with long-time residents as well as newer residents who were young professionals.  Manny and I were among the newer residents who chose Oakland for its relatively affordable housing stock.  During the time we lived in the building, we frequented the local Vietnamese owned restaurants, local video store around the corner (no longer in existence), Parkway Theater (no longer in existence), Albertson Supermarket Store (now Lucky's), and the Merritt Restaurant and Bakery.

Big changes are in the air in regards to our old building and to the make-up and character of the neighborhood of Eastlake.  St. Bards at 1824 Lakeshore has been transformed into a luxury apartment building.  Over a year ago, the old residents of the building were kicked out so the building could be gutted and remodeled.  Currently, the property management company, 2B Living, is seeking new tenants for the newly remodeled building.  2B advertises 1824 Lakeshore Avenue as located in a neighborhood with businesses such as "Portal Oakland, Fitness SF Oakland, Whole Foods, Peet's Coffee & Trader Joe's, and the Merritt Restaurant and Bakery."  2B Living is not shy about the new demographic they wish to rent to- 2B posts on its website: "Oakland- the new San Francisco."  Furthermore, the company brags that 1824 Lakeshore has such amenities as "white oak engineered wood flooring", "quartz counter tops", "top of the line stainless steel appliances", "high-gloss white cabinets", "personal washer and dryer in unit", and my favorite "shared, enclosed bike room."  2B Living is trying to attract a younger and wealthier tech crowd who may be enticed to move from San Francisco if they feel they can get more for their dollar in terms of location and price.  The rental prices listed for the units show that 2B Living does not want to rent to the working-class Vietnamese and Chinese families who have traditionally made up the Eastlake neighborhood- junior bedrooms start at $2,150, 1 bedrooms start at $2,550, and 2 bedrooms start at $3,550.

In a nut shell, an affordable apartment complex has now been turned into high price luxury housing.  The real estate moguls hope that neighborhoods like Eastlake will transform into high price areas.

My photo album showing a photo of "St. Bards" at 1824 Lakeshore and a photo of me on our old balcony taken in 2006

Photo of 1824 Lakeshore taken in April 2015

No more Sears

A title wave of change is coming to downtown Oakland.  When Manny and I moved to Oakland 14 years ago, downtown Oakland (and the area of downtown now called Uptown) was littered with vacant storefronts.  Friends and neighbors warned us to walk with caution in downtown because of street crime and even minor drug dealing.

Yet despite the noticeably high business vacancy rate and crime, Manny and I quickly discovered that downtown did have vibrant businesses and restaurants.  During the 1970's and 1980's, Oakland began a steady economic decline.  Yet, many businesses were able to stay open despite the economic downturn.  Today, there are many mom-and-pop restaurants, delis, coffee shops, convenience stores, and specialty shops which cater to a racially mixed middle-class workforce employed by large governmental and private organizations such as the City of Oakland, Alameda County, the Superior Court, the Federal Court, University of California, California Department of Transportation, Clorox, the Marriott Hotel, Kaiser Permanente, and the Oakland Tribune.  The mom-and-pop businesses in downtown are owned by African-Americans, Whites, and immigrants from Africa, the Middle East, China, Vietnam, and Korea (to name a few).  (On a side note: over the last 10 years there has been an influx of pot clubs and artists who were originally attracted to the area because of its central location and relatively affordable rents.

However, now that the tech boom is moving across the bay from San Francisco, I fear that the small mom and pop businesses will be forced out of downtown Oakland.  Once the tech industry is established it will push up rents and will bring a wealthier and predominately White workforce who in turn will demand higher-end restaurants and specialty shops.

I have personally witnessed this type of change when I worked on Market close to Fell Street (about 3 blocks from San Francisco City Hall).  About 6 years ago, Market had a high business vacancy rate and street crime was more prevalent.  However, there were many small mom-and-pop businesses that catered to employees from City Hall, the Superior Court, State Fund, and Bank of America.  I remember the wonderful Filipino family who ran a cafe on the corner of Market and Fell where I would get my morning coffee; the kids would help with customers before their dad would walk them to school.  Next door was a very popular sandwich shop owned by a transgender Chinese woman.  Next to that shop was a long established bar that served long-time San Francisco residents (I think the average age of the patrons was 65 years).  All this changed when the city began massive layoffs during the "Great Recession."  The mayor decided to invite the tech industry to "revitalize" Market and make the area more inviting to developers and tourists.  The mom-and-pop businesses I remember are all gone because they could not survive in the new climate.  Many of there clients disappeared due to lay-offs.  Twitter moved in and brought a wealthier workforce.  Today, the block has a high-end restaurant, high-end candy shop, and a high-end cafe.  My husband and I were told by one of the waiters at the restaurant that Twitter employees make up the majority of their customers during the weeknights.  The only thing that continues to be the same on Market are the homeless that sleep and huddle in doorways of vacant store fronts.

To sum up my feelings about the future of downtown Oakland: I am worried that new prosperity in downtown Oakland will not be shared.  The small mom-and-pop businesses who kept downtown alive during the lean years will be forced out of their centrally located shops.  They will either need to find a new location or possibly go out of business.  Below are photos I have taken showing that some of this is already beginning.  My prediction is it will increase when tech companies move into the old Sears building in 2016.

Recently closed Sears building to be remodeled for incoming tech businesses

Three of the five businesses on this block have closed or will close.  The only business on this block which is thriving is "Donut Savant" (high-end donuts for foodies)

Vo's Restaurant and Bar owned by an Afro-Amerasian woman has recently closed.  According to the sign a Cuban Tapas restaurant will open in its place.

Small mom and pop businesses hire local artists to paint on store fronts in hopes of keeping taggers away

Cassidy in front of a long time vacant business on Broadway which has a sign that a new restaurant will be moving in.

Cassidy in front of mural at 19th Street Bart Station.  19th Street Bart has recently remodeled in order to make it look more attractive to commuters.

City of Oakland's push for gentrification

Broadway Auto Row (now being renamed and redeveloped as Uptown)

Broadway Auto Row (now being renamed and redeveloped as Uptown)

Old 1/4 lb Giant Burger drive-in in the Uptown neighborhood 

Old 1/4 lb Giant Burger (not clear if it will stay burger drive-in or redeveloped into different business)

Oakland is changing rapidly.  The City of Oakland has made it no secret that it is rolling out the red carpet to developers.  The first two photos show old auto dealerships which are being redeveloped.  Oakland City Council wants to transform Broadway Auto Row into an area for high-end retail businesses and restaurants.  Over the last two years, I have noticed auto dealerships moving out and slowly being replaced by restaurants and clothing boutiques.  Broadway Auto Row was created in the 1990's as a way of creating jobs and bringing people outside of Oakland into the city to spend money.  The development project was successful.  However, Oakland's city leaders believe the city can make more money by attracting high-end retail and restaurants.  The city has already replaced the signs designating the area as Broadway Auto Row with signs designating the area as Uptown.  The Uptown redevelopment pushed by our former mayor Jerry Brown was originally planned for only the north end of downtown Oakland.  Jerry Brown assured city residents that the Uptown development would not disturb the neighborhoods north of downtown or around Lake Merritt.  However, the Uptown development project has fueled gentrification beyond its borders.  The residential neighborhoods (Pill Hill, Oak Glen Park, and Oakland-Harrison corridor) next to Broadway Auto Row a.k.a Uptown will all be greatly impacted by the redevelopment.  Once restaurants and high-end retail moves in, the surrounding areas will be seen as "desirable" to live in.  Older residents will be pushed out (if they were not lucky enough to buy) and they will be replaced by wealthier people who most often are white.

The bottom two photos show an old drive-in at the edge of the north side of downtown (within the Uptown redevelopment area).  Up until recently, Oakland has been home to old drive-ins, mom and pop run restaurants, diners, and bars.  As Oakland changes these old businesses are being replaced with restaurants and bars which cater to hipsters and wealthier customers.  The 1/4 lb Giant Burger has been in business on Telegraph Ave. for as long as anyone can remember.  Now, the drive-in has been shut down and workers have arrived to work on the building.  It is unclear if it will continue as a drive-in.  If it stays a drive-in it most likely will be remodeled to appeal to a hip, younger, and richer crowd.

Police sirens and helicopters all night

For more than two weeks, we have had a police helicopter hover over our apartment in the Adams Point neighborhood as it temporarily rests from its long circle of travel over downtown Oakland in its search for protesters in the streets.  The protesters have mostly stayed in the downtown area, but occasionally they have marched up Harrison within a couple of blocks from us chanting and keeping traffic at a standstill until the Oakland police push them back into the Uptown area.  Throughout the evenings, we hear the loud hum of the police helicopter and the sound of speeding cars and blaring police sirens drive by our apartment.

Oakland has always been a hot bed of political activism, but over the last several years the demonstrations have become more frequent, larger, and more volatile.  In 2006, community activists organized many immigrants and human rights alias to protest bill H.R. 4437, and large marches occurred down International Avenue from the Fruitvale District (a historically Mexican-American working-class neighborhood) to Oakland City Hall for rallies.  In 2010, large and volatile demonstrations were held in reaction to a jury's conviction and sentencing of Bart police officer Johannes Mehserle to two years in prison for shooting and killing a young Black man named Oscar Grant on a Bart platform in Oakland.  In 2011, the nationwide Occupy Movement spread to Oakland and large marches and rallies were organized to protest income and social inequality.  During that time there were many violent clashes between demonstrators and police.  In one of these clashes, an Iraqi War veteran was seriously injured.   The demonstrations were so intense that my family found sleeping at night difficult due to the non-stop circling of police helicopters over our area.  We even heard police setting off canons during these clashes.  The Occupy demonstrations were the largest we had ever witnessed in Oakland.

In 2013, demonstrations returned to downtown Oakland to protest the acquittal of George Zimmerman who killed an unarmed Black teenager named Trayvon Martin in Florida.

Now as I write this blog post, I learned that today protesters chained themselves to the doors of the Oakland Police Headquarters and hung a flag with the words "Black Lives Matter" to bring attention to police killings and excessive force in African-American communities throughout the country.  The recent protests are in reaction to recent grand jury decisions not to indict police officers in regards to their involvement in the killings of unarmed Black men in Ferguson, Missouri and Staten Island, New York.

My hope is that these more frequent and volatile demonstrations will transform into nonviolent and productive movements for social and economic changes in Oakland, the state of California, our country, and our larger world.  Oakland has always had an economic and racial gap.  There is a long history of distrust in the African-American community of Oakland police.  During the recession, these problems became bigger and despite the economic recovery the social and economic problems continue to grow in Oakland.  My hope is that the people of Oakland can come together to work for real change.

 The photo below shows an Occupy demonstration that occurred on Harrison Street in 2011.

From Foreclosures and Short Sales to Expensive Rents and Real Estate

In January of 2006, when my husband and I were looking for a condo to buy in the Lake Merritt area our real estate agent tried to discourage us from buying in Oakland.  She told us that Oakland was not a good place to raise a family. Oakland had long suffered from a stigma of high crime and a poor ranking of public schools.  We ignored her advice and insisted on keeping our search for a home in the neighborhoods surrounding the lake.  In March of 2006, we purchase a two bedroom condominium in the Adams Point neighborhood.  From 2001 to 2006, we had happily lived in the East Lake neighborhood (historically called Clinton Park) on the south end of Lake Merritt.  East Lake was predominately composed of Vietnamese and Chinese immigrants, but there were also African-Americans, African immigrants, Latinos, and Whites.  When we moved to Adams Point, we noticed the neighborhood had a larger White demographic but the neighborhood was still very ethnically mixed.  The neighborhood's ethnic mix as well as having students, working-class families, and middle-class professionals all living together was an important factor for us when we decided to purchase the condo.  We quickly fell in love with our home and we enjoyed the slightly shorter commute to our jobs in San Francisco.  At the time we purchased the condo, we were at the height of our careers.  My husband was working as an underwriter at a large insurance company and I worked as a paralegal at a law firm.

When the housing market collapsed, we were trapped into paying a large mortgage on a home that was quickly depreciating in value or face the risk of defaulting on our loans.  Soon the housing bubble led to the great recession and large numbers of good paying jobs were eliminated by companies in an effort to maintain high profits for their shareholders.  By 2009, the neighborhood soon became littered with foreclosures.  Every week, we noticed listings in the newspaper of home and condo sales for rock bottom prices.  We ourselves would not be able to escape the great recession; while I was home full-time to care for our 18 month old daughter, my husband was laid off from his underwriting job.  We found ourselves unemployed and with a huge mortgage to pay.  The banks (we were given two loans to pay for the condo) refused to negotiate.  After watching an unemployed neighbor go through foreclosure, we decided to call our old real estate agent to arrange a short-sale.  In 2012, we sold our condo for $225,000.  We had originally paid $439,000 for our condo.  We then were cast out into a difficult rental market.  The Oakland rental market had become saturated with people who lost their homes and now had to become renters.  There was also a small but growing number of individuals moving to Oakland from San Francisco for cheaper rents.  We lucked out and found an apartment in our price range in the neighborhood.

For the last two years, we have lived in our rent control apartment and watched the neighborhood change as the rents and real estate prices have gone through the roof.  Due to the large influx of people from San Francisco and long-time residents being shut out of the expensive housing market, Adams Point is suffering from a housing shortage.  We see more people with sizable incomes move into the neighborhood and this in turn is fueling the creation of high-end shops and restaurants in the area.  Landlords are now fixing up old properties so they can charge large sums of money for their rental units.  When my husband and I moved to Adams Point we saw a healthy vacancy rate and many people easily moved into and out of the neighborhood.  This has all changed. The biggest change to Adams Point has been the rapid transformation from a racially mixed neighborhood to a predominately White neighborhood.