Digest 6

I'm not sure why this is the case, but this week's readings have been very Oakland-centric, so apologies in advance to my Facebook friends who came over expecting some awesome insights about the greater cultural universe. I don't have illusions that Oakland is at the center of that universe, but it is an awfully nice place to live.

How nice? It is now only the 9th most dangerous place to live in the U.S.! That's down from 3rd most dangerous last year, so a tip-o-the-hat to the OPD. Sad face for Saginaw, Flint and East St. Louis. I know nice people from those places, and they don't seem like criminals at all.

I also read an interesting article about how developing more housing in Oakland would be great for relieving SF rent prices (stabilize/drive them down). The article, which was an opinion piece by a real estate lawyer, also had a few suggestions for things that Oakland could do to encourage housing development, including mixed income housing, wondered why none of the mayoral candidates have a housing platform*, and pointed out that a regional housing strategy for the Bay Area would make a lot more sense than letting every municipality do their own thing. I can't link to the article because it's now behind the SF Chronicle's new paywall (I think), but those are good thoughts, aren't they?

*This is a great question, particularly given the cost of housing in Oakland, the rise in homelessness we've seen, and the economic boomlet we are experiencing that brings lower-wage workers to our town without giving them an opportunity to live near where they work.

Finally, now that Lew Wolf has been proven wrong, and the As have shown that they CAN win in Oakland, the City Council is starting to pay attention to how the Town benefits from the Team, and has signaled that it does not agree to the new lease that was negotiated. Here's an article about their "second thoughts" on the lease arrangement. The dispiriting part of the article is Wolf's continuing refusal to consider alternate Oakland locations. Hopefully he will get more friendly when/if San Jose loses against MLB.