Oakland: Take the Bad with the Good

Well, we finally made the big time. Oakland was the above-the-fold story in the New York Times Sunday Styles section this week. It’s the latest validation of the renaissance of a city I’ve lived in for sixteen years, a surge fueled by the crazy money pouring into the city on the other side of the Bay Bridge. The logic is that as tech millionaires push middle class homeowners and first time buyers out of San Francisco, they’re discovering Oakland, just a hop, skip, and a $5 toll ride away. Houses go on the market in Oakland, fifteen seconds later there’s a bidding war, and BAM! we have new neighbors.

I welcome our newest neighbors to the 5-1-0. And I have a counter-intuitive request: please don’t overlook the bad in your hurry to see the good in your new home city.

I’ve often thought of Oakland as “The City That Almost Could.” We get sooooo close to doing things right, only to collapse steps away from across the finish line. Schools are getting better! The superintendent leaves. The police force is ramping up! The mayor is waffling on her support of the chief (again.) The Lake Merritt estuary opened so even more people are walking around the lake! Where they are targeted for smart phone theft.

A half block away from the Oakland studio where my daughters study dance, there’s a corner building that someone recently spruced it up. They painted it a cool purplish-gray with lime trim, and added a big sign out friend advertising live music. “Wow,” I thought. “A new venue, and so close to my house!” I drove by it the other day and the entire new paint job has been tagged with graffiti. So Oakland.

It’s tempting to look past those imperfections and focus on all the things that work in our city. But the problem with ignoring the darker aspects of life in our city is that they proliferate.

So many families move into our neighborhood when the young wife is hugely pregnant with her first child. Then, as soon as that kid turns 4, they move out to the eastern suburbs without ever giving  Oakland public schools a chance. As someone who sent one child to a private middle school because it was the best fit for her, I totally support the right to choose. I also know that no school – not even the private ones – are perfect. If you want Oakland public schools to be good enough for your child when he or she is old enough for kindergarten, get involved and help make them that way. And if your kids have already graduated, stay involved – those schools are raising up the young people who will run this city some day, so it’s not a selfless act.

Same goes with retail. Do you love our charming little stores and locally owned businesses? Then frequent them. I choose that verb with care: go there frequently. It’s easier and often cheaper to order everything online, but when you need a last-minute gift, or a personalized recommendation from an actual person, or a retail center that offers something other than coffee houses and nail salons, you have to buy things from those stores, a lot. The stores that give Oakland their charm can’t pay their bills otherwise.

Hold the politicians’ feet to the fire. Vote. Go to City Council meetings (the entertainment factor ALONE is worth your time.) Ask why things can’t be better, but don’t expect someone else to fix them. You’re here in the ‘Town now, baby. It’s your job, too.

Recently I’ve been writing bios of  notable alumni for the Centennial Celebration of my daughter’s public high school, Oakland Technical. My research makes something clear: Oakland has always been a city of problem solvers and action takers. Sure, there are the marquee alum like Clint Eastwood and Rickey Henderson and Marshawn Lynch, and a plethora of early twentieth century sports figures with nicknames like Brick, Bud, and Cookie.

But Oakland also raised up generations of people who saw problems and opportunities and jumped in feet first. Ruth Beckford (Class of ‘47) opened up the first recreational modern dance department in a city Parks and Rec department in the whole country. Jack Soo ‘34, best known as Detective Yemana from Barney Miller, took a stand against roles that were demeaning to Asian Americans. Huey Newton ‘59 started the Black Panthers Party. These were people who challenged the status quo, didn’t just pretend that the problems they saw were inconsequential.

Now that you’re here, I hope you will enjoy everything Oakland has to offer: perfect weather, lots of restaurants (and parking), swaths of green parkland, and a truly diverse population. Buy a shirt at Oaklandish and wear it to an A’s game. Check out the First Friday Art Murmur. Take a paddleboat around the lake.  Local love, baby: it’s hella tight.

But when you see something about Oakland that pisses you off, don’t brush it off. Ask, “How can I make that better?”

That’s the only way this City That Almost Could will ever become The City That Can.

Great alt-hip hop song from Oakland’s own Latyrx, filmed all over the ‘Town…

***So thrilled to share that I’ve been chosen as a BlogHer 2014 “Voice of the Year,” in the Humor category, for my post “How to Maximize the Drama Inherent in a Wild Turkey Encounter.” VOTY has been a goal of mine for a looong time, so grateful I finally made the cut (especially when you see who else won!) 

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