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Oakland Police Commission leadership conflict | The cost of free eggs | How should the county address the opioid crisis? | Rift in local NAACP

Natalie Orenstein headshot

Author Archives: Natalie Orenstein

Natalie Orenstein covers housing and homelessness for The Oaklandside. She was previously on staff at Berkeleyside, where her extensive reporting on the legacy of school desegregation received recognition from the Society of Professional Journalists NorCal and the Education Writers Association. Natalie’s reporting has also appeared in The J Weekly, The San Francisco Chronicle and elsewhere, and she’s written about public policy for a number of research institutes and think tanks. Natalie lives in Oakland, grew up in Berkeley, and has only left her beloved East Bay once, to attend Pomona College.

natalie@oaklandside.org
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Posted inHealth & Environment

Is a new regional agency the answer to the East Bay’s wildfire woes?

Natalie Orenstein headshot by Natalie Orenstein July 16, 2021July 27, 2021

Advocates in the fire-prone hills want Oakland, Berkeley, and other agencies to team up to create a prevention plan for the region. Cost could be an obstacle.

Posted inHousing & Homelessness

Homeless Oaklanders can start the day with a free hot shower in Temescal

Natalie Orenstein headshot by Natalie Orenstein July 14, 2021July 14, 2021

LavaMaeX offers something scarce for people without permanent housing: a place to get clean and warm up.

Posted inHousing & Homelessness

An Oakland homeless activist finds housing—in Fremont

Natalie Orenstein headshot by Natalie Orenstein July 12, 2021July 12, 2021

Pastor Preston Walker was a mainstay at protests and encampments. Now he’s exchanged that life for a washing machine and a queen bed in suburbia.

Single family homes in Deep East Oakland
Posted inHousing & Homelessness

How segregated is your Oakland neighborhood?

Natalie Orenstein headshot by Natalie Orenstein June 28, 2021June 28, 2021

A new study and interactive map from UC Berkeley researchers reveal that Oakland is the 14th most segregated major city in the U.S.

Posted inHousing & Homelessness

Watch: The pandemic and housing policy in Oakland

Natalie Orenstein headshot by Natalie Orenstein June 24, 2021June 24, 2021

Can the COVID-19 crisis teach us how to address Oakland’s housing crisis?

Posted inHousing & Homelessness

‘Depressingly’ behind on building affordable housing, Oakland looks for more money

Natalie Orenstein headshot by Natalie Orenstein June 23, 2021June 24, 2021

New data shows the city is still deeply short on meeting its housing needs, so the Oakland City Council may explore a bond measure and wants to hold a day-long brainstorming session.

Posted inHousing & Homelessness

Oakland tenants and landlords left in limbo waiting for COVID-19 rent relief

Natalie Orenstein headshot by Natalie Orenstein June 15, 2021June 15, 2021

Households are accruing debt as they try to navigate confusing applications and a patchwork of city, county, and state programs. Meanwhile, fear of eviction looms.

Posted inHousing & Homelessness

Have you experienced homelessness? Get trained as a leader in Alameda County

Natalie Orenstein headshot by Natalie Orenstein June 14, 2021June 14, 2021

A new “leadership academy” in the East Bay offers paid training in advocacy and policy for youth and adults with experience being unhoused.

Posted inArts & Community

This Oakland co-op wants to revive the legendary Esther’s Orbit Room and the Seventh Street corridor

Natalie Orenstein headshot by Natalie Orenstein June 9, 2021June 9, 2021

Revitalization without displacement? The East Bay Permanent Real Estate Cooperative is trying to bring back a thriving BIPOC economic and cultural hub in West Oakland.

Oakland considers banning ADUs in the hills to avoid fire danger
Posted inHousing & Homelessness

Oakland considers banning ADUs in the hills to avoid fire danger

Natalie Orenstein headshot by Natalie Orenstein June 3, 2021June 3, 2021

The fire department says adding more people and cars will clog streets in a crisis. Homeowners say a backyard-cottage ban would be misguided and inequitable.

Posted inHousing & Homelessness

Oakland leaders want to legalize more types of housing, including RVs and tiny homes

Natalie Orenstein headshot by Natalie Orenstein June 1, 2021June 1, 2021

Amid soaring construction costs and high rents, Mayor Libby Schaaf and City Councilmembers Dan Kalb and Sheng Thao say the city needs to embrace alternative ways of living and building.

Posted inHousing & Homelessness

Does Oakland need a rental housing registry?

Natalie Orenstein headshot by Natalie Orenstein May 28, 2021June 10, 2021

The city can’t easily enforce its rent control law, or communicate with tenants, if it doesn’t track rents. Landlords say the database would be overreach.

Posted inHousing & Homelessness

‘I was getting sicker and sicker’: Oakland renters sue landlord company Mosser

Natalie Orenstein headshot by Natalie Orenstein May 26, 2021May 26, 2021

Dozens of tenants say Mosser and other companies made life miserable through non-stop construction, utility hikes, broken elevators, and security issues.

Modern glass building, 4 stories
Posted inHousing & Homelessness

Behind on its affordable housing goals, Oakland looks to buy, not just build

Natalie Orenstein headshot by Natalie Orenstein May 18, 2021May 18, 2021

A new city plan reveals a massive funding gap, prompting Oakland to consider cheaper, quicker ways of creating low-income units.

Single family homes in the Upper Rockridge neighborhood.
Posted inHousing & Homelessness

Oakland wants to end single-family zoning. Can the city get it right?

Natalie Orenstein headshot by Natalie Orenstein May 13, 2021June 8, 2021

We looked at two very different neighborhoods that don’t allow apartments, in Rockridge and East Oakland. Can the city undo a legacy of housing segregation without recreating the problems of the past?

Posted inHousing & Homelessness

Oakland has $4 million for new homeless housing. Where could it go?

Natalie Orenstein headshot by Natalie Orenstein May 5, 2021May 5, 2021

Here are the vacant sites in each City Council district that may be used for tiny homes and RV parks.

Posted inHousing & Homelessness

Oakland landlords could raise rents if a tenant illegally sublets, proposal says

Natalie Orenstein headshot by Natalie Orenstein April 28, 2021April 28, 2021

The change is meant to stop renters from scamming the system. But the pandemic has forced some tenants into unusual living situations.

overhead geological map image of East Bay, with star icon noting a location
Posted inHealth & Environment

‘Was that an earthquake?’ How to find out what shook Oakland awake

Natalie Orenstein headshot by Natalie Orenstein April 26, 2021April 26, 2021

A 2.6 magnitude quake jolted parts of the East Bay early Monday. Here’s where to learn more and get prepared.

Posted inHousing & Homelessness

Oakland’s scathing encampment audit: Officials, unhoused people, and advocates react

Natalie Orenstein headshot by Natalie Orenstein April 22, 2021April 23, 2021

Daryel Dunston, Needa Bee, Nikki Fortunato Bas, and others share their reactions to a critical encampment report.

Posted inHousing & Homelessness

Eviction attempts plummeted during the pandemic in Oakland

Natalie Orenstein headshot by Natalie Orenstein April 19, 2021April 19, 2021

Newly available data show the major impact of Oakland and Alameda County’s eviction moratoriums on renters and landlords.

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