Oakland is gearing up to distribute an additional $32 million to residents behind on rent payments. But hundreds of people have been waiting on city and state assistance for months.
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.
Posted inHousing & Homelessness
Watch a 100-year-old Oakland building get moved
See videos and photos of the 100-year-old clubhouse getting wheeled across an Oakland hills development site.
Posted inHousing & Homelessness
Oakland expects more state money for homeless housing
Both Oakland and Alameda County plan to apply for the expected next round of funds through Homekey, which lets local governments buy hotels and apartment buildings.
Posted inHousing & Homelessness
Giddiness, relief as Fruitvale affordable housing complex breaks ground after ‘30-year journey’
The 181-unit “Casa Sueños” is the final residential building at the East Oakland “transit village” by BART.
Posted inCity Hall & Policing
Caltrans report leads CHP to draw guns on unarmed advocate
State police held Vincent Ray Williams III at gunpoint after a California Department of Transportation worker at a West Oakland encampment claimed he was armed.
Posted inHousing & Homelessness
2020 census: Oakland’s population growth outpaces housing production
Oakland gained 50,000 people over the last decade, but only 9,000 housing units, most market-rate.
Posted inHousing & Homelessness
First-time homebuyers can now apply for down-payment assistance in Alameda County
The AC Boost program is offering down-payment loans of up to $210,000 per household.
Posted inHousing & Homelessness
Delta variant poses new threat to homeless communities in Oakland
Alameda County offers many places to get free COVID-19 vaccinations if you’re unhoused.
Posted inHousing & Homelessness
The city wants to close 2 prominent Oakland homeless camps. Not so fast, some residents say
The Athol Plaza tennis courts and Mosswood Park are on the city’s list this week.
Posted inHousing & Homelessness
Artists, landlords await verdict of rent control case at Fruitvale warehouse
Live-work spaces have dwindled in Oakland. Tenants say they need more protection, but the owners say the law is on their side.