Two years ago, I had my San Francisco dreams dashed. How was I supposed to know that the very tech boom that was allowing me the luxury of my dream would be the same to make it unaffordable to live it out. Working on a freelance salary that couldn't sustain the rent, and refusing to becoming the real-life woman who lives in a shoe, I turned to the East Bay, settling in Oakland.
In the last four years of living in Oakland, I’ve enjoyed great weather, a bustling food community, hidden hiking trails, Blue Bottle Coffee, bike rides to First Fridays, and a sizable apartment (close to public transportation) for a fair price. I know I'm not the only one who's moved here recently, and apparently, there are many others behind me who are looking to the East Bay as their next move. Rumors that Silicon Valley has its eyes on to Oakland, have been reaching a fever pitch recently.
Oakland has a lot of commercial real estate to spare, public transportation, freeway options, and a cheaper cost of living and doing business expenses than San Francisco – it’s already the home to Pandora and Ask. Wouldn’t it be great if Oakland strengthened its commercial tax base and became the next tech hub at the same time?
I don’t know, man.
Oakland has well known problems, from incompetent local government to a myriad of societal problems, the obvious gentrification has tackled and changed some neighborhoods. But not enough. Could courting on-the-verge companies like, Evernote and Box, be a way for Oakland to compete with San Francisco for prized tourism while giving its name a make over?
It sounds great on paper but good lawd, I hope not. I enjoy not being regularly subjected to overheard conversations about VC funding while in line for coffee.
I get it. People want to live near their work, and not be stuck in traffic everyday for three hours or more. And what 20-something wants to live Silicon Valley? But I can’t help resist against the tech companies treading on Oakland, one of the Bay Area's last, non-homogenized frontiers where broke, artistic weirdos can actually still afford to live. For now.
If it wasn’t for living in Oakland, I’m pretty sure my dog would of already eaten my face off if I forced him to live in a closet that passes for a studio in the Tenderloin.
Come on, new money has already taken over the Mission, can’t they leave Oakland alone? I hear Danville is nice.
Attacking Google buses in West Oakland can’t change the inevitable though, Oakland has too much of a good thing going on. And until California goes the Colorado or Washington way, relying on property tax alone won’t cut it. But it’s not to say that the powers that be haven’t already tried to reach out to tech companies.
Last year, a friend of mine took a job at a now defunct startup, who was incentivized by Oakland. In the heart of downtown Oakland, off of 19th Street BART, an area in the midst of a development revival for businesses, their office was a former dog bakery. As it goes in certain areas of Oakland, by day, the neighborhood was filled with the comings and goings of 9-to-5ers. By night, the business experienced a number of break-ins during off hours, car windows shattered, neighboring offices getting held up at gunpoint.
The business failed for similar reasons that most start-ups do but I’m sure the theft of several of their Mac computers didn’t help.
I love Oakland despite its problems, and because it won't just lie down and give in. But if change is going to happen, and it will, shouldn't we learn from what's happening in San Francisco and make sure we retain this city's color and character? And shouldn’t Oakland fix its root problems, but others come in and create their own?
Photo by Pontus Edenberg via Thinkstock