Also: social housing on the ballot, homeless shelters, and more from the City Council meeting.
Category: Housing & Homelessness
Landlords can’t raise rents above 3%, Oakland City Council says
The controversial policy from Carroll Fife applies to all rent-controlled buildings.
Lake Merritt BART project: Senior housing coming to site of past displacement
BART tore down houses to build the Oakland Chinatown station in the 1960s. Some say it has a chance to help heal old wounds.
Your apartment could go in a registry of Oakland’s rental housing
Tenants say the database would increase transparency and help people follow the law. Landlords fear a privacy violation.
Oakland’s top homelessness officials are leaving the city
Three of the city’s primary homelessness policy staffers have left this spring.
Hundreds more Oaklanders are living in cars and RVs these days
Policymakers have tried to respond to the massive increase in vehicle dwellings.
Oakland’s homeless population surpasses 5,000 people during the pandemic
But emergency COVID-19 measures prevented a “catastrophic increase,” new data shows.
Could Oakland take a page out of the A’s Howard Terminal plan to build more affordable housing?
Some officials want to set up an “infrastructure financing district”—similar to the ballpark funding proposal—but to build more homes across Oakland.
Oakland rent increases would be capped at 3% under new proposal
Councilmember Carroll Fife wants to further limit price hikes for rent-controlled buildings.
Oakland’s population is shrinking, after a decade of growth
The number of residents in the city dropped by 1.3% in 2021, but it’s unclear who exactly is leaving.
Oakland Home Histories: Living in a long lost lesbian bar
A queer couple who own a bright blue live-work space in East Oakland were delighted to learn about its past as The Jubilee.
Oakland tenants facing highest rent hike in decades
Starting in July, landlords of rent-controlled properties can raise rents by 6.7%, because of inflation.
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.
Major West Oakland housing development delayed again
Community and environmental advocates still have concerns about the proposed 222-unit Golden West complex.
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.
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.
Report: 800 homeless people died in Alameda County in 3 years
The main causes of death were overdoses and medical conditions, many “preventable.”
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.
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.
Man dies in RV fire in West Oakland
The Wood Street encampment fire destroyed six vehicles and displaced five people.