The Clay Street Garage closed in 2016. Two city councilmembers say there’s a better—if costly—use for the site.
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
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.
Posted inHousing & Homelessness
A High Street love story: From teen romance to navigating a shared life on the streets
Alejandra and Sergio Ruiz grew up on the same East Oakland block. Now they’re married with kids and still living in their old neighborhood, in a tent at the moment.
Posted inHousing & Homelessness
Map: Oakland is crowdsourcing sites for 26,000 new housing units
A new interactive map lets the public weigh in on the city’s next big housing plan.
Posted inHousing & Homelessness
‘Mixed feelings’ as redevelopment of Black Panther Party headquarters moves forward
Oakland’s Landmarks Board asked for a deeper historical analysis of the site.
Posted inHousing & Homelessness
The Black Panther Party’s original headquarters in North Oakland may be replaced with apartments
The building’s current owner is behind the controversial plan—and he has the Dr. Huey P. Newton Foundation’s blessing.
Posted inHousing & Homelessness
Oakland Home Histories: How an 1800s Victorian became a land trust cooperative
The 12th Avenue building was made for one family. After years of turmoil, its current residents are giving communal living a go.
Posted inHousing & Homelessness
Help shape Oakland’s 8-year housing plan
Oakland’s Housing Element must plan for 26,000 new housing units, with a focus on equity.
Posted inHousing & Homelessness
New program lets homeless residents access clean drinking water from fire hydrants
After community members pushed for a safe, legal way to access water at encampments, EBMUD changed its policy.
Posted inHousing & Homelessness
COVID-19 outbreak shutters West Oakland homeless shelter
The St. Vincent de Paul shelter—which has served unhoused residents throughout the pandemic—was no match for the ruthlessly contagious omicron variant.
Posted inHealth & Environment
Having problems ordering your free rapid COVID-19 tests from USPS?
Roommates, large families, and live-work residents have encountered some challenges accessing tests from the federal government.
Posted inHousing & Homelessness
After a pandemic pause, Oakland ramped up homeless camp closures again. Why?
The city’s reasons for shutting down encampments aren’t always clear to those who are directly impacted. We reviewed two years of data to identify patterns.
Posted inHousing & Homelessness
How should Oakland tackle the housing crisis in 2022?
We asked community members and leaders to tell us their New Year’s housing and homelessness resolutions. Here’s what they said.
Posted inHousing & Homelessness
A year of protest, policymaking, and new ideas for using limited land
In 2021, Oaklanders debated what should be built in the city to ease the housing and homelessness crises, and how to use scarce land.
