Oakland Rockridge residents rally for affordable housing
OAKLAND -- Downtown Oakland isn't a ghost town but it's not exactly teeming with life, either. Many feel that what's needed is to have more people living in the area. Tina Robinson works in an upper Broadway shopping center and she would love to live nearby.
"I would move in there. I would come," she said. "I would come, because I'm working right there!"
At issue is a former Safeway shopping site at the corner of Broadway and Pleasant Valley Avenue.
Years ago, a new store was built next to it but the old lot has been empty ever since. The property owner has proposed other kinds of retail operations to be located there, the most recent being a Home Depot big-box store.
The city said the sale of building materials would violate the current zoning for the property. Residents in the community have other ideas.
"The community wants housing at this site and we're here to support that. It's the best use for a variety of reasons," said Casey Farmer, chair of the Rockridge Community Planning Council.
While other areas have objected to new housing -- especially affordable housing -- in this case, local business and community groups are lobbying for it. The four-acre site is next to a transit corridor, is surrounded by existing high-density complexes and could be built to just about any height without overpowering other neighborhoods or causing gentrification.
"Housing has not always come into affluent neighborhoods and it's an opportunity to do that here," Farmer said.
"People have said that this is probably one of the best locations to put housing in Oakland," said Joe Johnston, a steering committee member of Upper Broadway Advocates. "They recognize there's a housing crisis and this is a good place to have housing."
So far, the current owner has only been interested in building a strictly commercial project and Valerie Winemiller, with the Piedmont Avenue Improvement League, said there's a practical reason developers have been hesitant to build housing.
"For decades, the problem was the banks didn't want to lend in Oakland. If it had an Oakland address -- especially if it was multi-family -- Oakland got red-lined."
Winemiller said she thinks that may be changing now.
"I think so," she said. "It's more clear to the banks that there's money to be made here."
The state has mandated cities identify possible locations for new housing but, because of the Home Depot proposal, the Broadway site was not on the list. Housing advocates say, now that that has been disallowed, they hope Oakland will consider the site as a high priority for affordable housing.
Then workers like Tina Robinson might be more likely to stay on the job, helping with the city's revitalization.
"If they could have affordable living here, I think that'd be great," she said. "They could afford to stay."