Starting in July, landlords of rent-controlled properties can raise rents by 6.7%, because of inflation.
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
Homeless youth tell Oakland officials to take action
At a City Council hearing, young people told harrowing and triumphant personal stories and asked for more resources.
Posted inHealth & Environment
Redwoods, housing, and traffic: ‘Map Atlas’ illustrates Oakland’s systems
A new resource created for the city’s General Plan process is a treasure trove of information on Oakland’s neighborhoods and resources.
Posted inHousing & Homelessness
Thousands of tenants and landlords asked for rent relief, but Oakland’s running out of money
Applications are currently closed for the city’s rent relief program, due to high demand.
Posted inHousing & Homelessness
Home Depot or housing? Residents push back on proposal for giant Rockridge lot
The property at Broadway and Pleasant Valley Avenue has sat vacant for years, as development has filled in the rest of the intersection.
Posted inHousing & Homelessness
Report: 800 homeless people died in Alameda County in 3 years
The main causes of death were overdoses and medical conditions, many “preventable.”
Posted inHousing & Homelessness
Oakland and Alameda County’s eviction moratoriums are still in effect
News about California’s eviction and rent relief programs has caused some confusion for local tenants and landlords.
Posted inHousing & Homelessness
They built tiny houses on an abandoned lot. Then it was sold out from under them
The county is required to auction off tax-delinquent properties. But the Coyote Bush Collective wants to preserve their garden site in West Oakland.
Posted inHousing & Homelessness
Man dies in RV fire in West Oakland
The Wood Street encampment fire destroyed six vehicles and displaced five people.
Posted inHousing & Homelessness
Find out where your grandparents lived in Oakland with new 1950 census records
Details from 72 years ago are available for the first time, and paint a clearer picture of life in Alameda County and beyond.
Posted inHousing & Homelessness
Oakland Home Histories: A legacy of Black homeownership in Maxwell Park
A family buys a charming Tudor house in a moment of immense transition.
Posted inHousing & Homelessness
After a fire, more problems for city’s Eastlake tiny-home village
Dewey Academy, the OUSD school next to Lakeview Village, sent a letter to the city demanding changes.
Posted inHousing & Homelessness
Kaplan and Fife urge city to seek affordable housing on more public properties
The Clay Street Garage closed in 2016. Two city councilmembers say there’s a better—if costly—use for the site.
Posted inHousing & Homelessness
Fire destroys tiny homes at city-run homeless shelter near Lake Merritt
Nobody was injured but five people were displaced, said the Oakland Fire Department.
Posted inHousing & Homelessness
Oakland names new homelessness administrator
Daniel Cooper will be the third person to lead the city’s overall response to the homelessness crisis.
Posted inHousing & Homelessness
Lake Merritt Lodge homeless shelter will remain open until December. Then what?
The transitional housing program has been unusually successful, but the city is struggling to find funding to keep it open.
Posted inHealth & Environment
Fireplaces are illegal to use on some winter nights. Has that helped Oakland’s air?
Wood burning is outlawed on Spare the Air days, but data shows that enforcement is rare.
Posted inHousing & Homelessness
Will Newsom’s ‘care court’ support homeless Oaklanders with mental illnesses, or force treatment on them?
Mayor Libby Schaaf is backing a proposal to overhaul mental health care in California, but some call it coercion.
Posted inHousing & Homelessness
Volunteers conduct long-awaited homeless count in Oakland, Berkeley
The pandemic likely worsened the homelessness crisis, but a crucial population count was delayed until now.
Posted inCity Hall & Policing
Oakland police headquarters could be demolished and moved to make way for housing
The City Council voted to seek proposals for a 600-unit project at the Police Administration Building site downtown.