City Government

As Oakland Allows Luxury Development, Advocates Question ‘Trickle-Down Housing’

Published

6 years ago

November 14, 2019

Construction project on Union and 5th Streets in Oakland. Housing advocates are concerned that only 7 percent of new Oakland housing construction has been affordable since Mayor Libby Schaaf committed to building 28 percent affordable units about four years ago. Photo by Zack Haber.

In the wake of a Nov. 5 City Council meeting during which the City of Oakland denied the East 12th Street Coalition’s (E12SC) appeal to stop UrbanCore from building a luxury housing tower on public land next to Lake Merritt, housing justice advocates are questioning the city’s ongoing plans to construct far more market-rate units than affordable ones.

“We are advocating for maximizing affordable housing on this precious piece of public land and Mayor Libby Schaaf and half the City Council is ensuring that a luxury tower will be put in our community,” said Dunya Alwan, a member of E12SC and a neighbor to the site. She says the luxury tower would contribute to “trickle-down gentrification” in her neighborhood, which she describes as “the single remaining working-class community by the lake.”

Her statements came after Schaaf gave a final vote to deny E12SC’s appeal, clearing the way for UrbanCore’s luxury housing tower. Schaaf’s vote was necessary as a tie-breaker as Council President Rebecca Kaplan and councilmembers Nikki Fortunato Bas, Noel Gallo and Sheng Thao voted to approve the appeal, while Council Members Larry Reid, Lynette Gibson-McElhaney, Loren Taylor, and Dan Kalb voted to deny the appeal.

UrbanCore’s luxury tower plans to have 253 market-rate housing units and 18 units for those that make 80 to 120 percent of the area median income. On the same public land, the East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation will build a mid-rise building with 90 affordable units. The E12SC had proposed an alternate development that would have 133 homes housing nearly 700 people entirely in affordable housing.

Schaaf’s vote aligns with public statements she has recently made claiming that constructing market-rate housing for those moving into Oakland helps to keep Oakland residents from being displaced and helps the city to construct more affordable units.

“New people are moving to Oakland…and we’re Oakland, we welcome all,” said Schaaf during a Sept. 18 recording of the Podcast “Gimme Shelter: The California Housing Crisis.”

“If I don’t build new housing for the new people, they are going to push you out and price you out of the lovely Lake Merritt apartment you have today. That is a rule of supply and demand.”

Peter Cohen, who for 10 years has co-directed the Council of Community Housing Organizations — a non-profit coalition that promotes developing permanently low-income housing — said Schaaf’s method is called “filtering.”

He said the method could be effective in helping to create affordable housing in some suburbs where land is cheaper and development is slower but it doesn’t work in crowded cities with expensive land. Some advocates have called filtering “trickle down housing.” The Alliance for California Community Empowerment Action (ACCE Action) has planned the March For Housing Now which is calling for East Bay residents to come to Mosswood Park on Nov. 23 to protest against “trickle-down solutions” to housing.

“When people throw filtering out there as a validation for market-rate development policy,” said Cohen, “it’s essentially a fallacy when you’re mostly talking about urban markets.”

Councilmember Bas called filtering into question at the Nov. 5 council meeting.

“Over the last four years we have approved over 9,000 units of luxury housing,” Bas said, “in that same time our homeless population has doubled. Luxury housing is not working in terms of fixing our housing affordability and displacement crisis.”

The Mercury News reported in March that in the last three years only 7 percent of new Oakland housing units were affordable, although Schaaf had originally pledged that 28 percent of new housing construction would be affordable.

Despite the shortfall, Schaaf has stuck to her plan and has begun adopting impact fees for market-rate developers to help create affordable units.

“Market-rate units create a need for protected affordable units,” said Schaaf in the Gimme Shelter Podcast, “so developers have to include protected affordable units in those new buildings or they have to write a nice big check to our affordable housing fund.”

Cohen is weary of relying on market-rate developers to fund affordable housing.

“[Local mayors] have started this narrative that market-rate housing is how you pay for affordable housing,” said Cohen. “I don’t agree with that, but I also think it’s a very risky place to go…because what it means for housing advocates is you’re now putting all your outcomes (dependent on) the private real estate market.”

Zack Haber

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Oakland Post: Week of December 24 – 30, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of – December 24 – 30, 2025

Published

4 days ago

December 25, 2025

Oakland Post

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Alameda County

Oakland Council Expands Citywide Security Cameras Despite Major Opposition

In a 7-1 vote in favor of the contract, with only District 3 Councilmember Carroll Fife voting no, the Council agreed to maintain its existing network of 291 cameras and add 40 new “pan-tilt-zoom cameras.”

Published

1 week ago

December 21, 2025

Oakland Post

At the International Association of Chiefs of Police Conference, Flock Safety introduces new public safety technology – Amplified Intelligence, a suite of AI-powered tools designed to improve law enforcement investigations. Courtesy photo.

By Post Staff

The Oakland City Council this week approved a $2.25 million contract with Flock Safety for a mass surveillance network of hundreds of security cameras to track vehicles in the city.

In recent weeks hundreds of local residents have spoken against the camera system, raising concerns that data will be shared with immigration authorities and other federal agencies at a time when mass surveillance is growing across the country with little regard for individual rights.

The Flock network, supported by the Oakland Police Department, has the backing of residents and councilmembers who see it as an important tool to protect public safety.

“This system makes the Department more efficient as it allows for information related to disruptive/violent criminal activities to be captured … and allows for precise and focused enforcement,” OPD wrote in its proposal to City Council.

According to OPD, police made 232 arrests using data from Flock cameras between July 2024 and November of this year.

Based on the data, police say they recovered 68 guns, and utilizing the countywide system, they have found 1,100 stolen vehicles.

However, Flock’s cameras cast a wide net. The company’s cameras in Oakland last month captured license plate numbers and other information from about 1.4 million vehicles.

Speaking at Tuesday’s Council meeting, Fife was critical of her colleagues for signing a contract with a company that has been in the national spotlight for sharing data with federal agencies.

Flock’s cameras – which are automated license plate readers – have been used in tracking people who have had abortions, monitoring protesters, and aiding in deportation roundups.

“I don’t know how we get up and have several press conferences talking about how we are supportive of a sanctuary city status but then use a vendor that has been shown to have a direct relationship with (the U.S.) Border Control,” she said. “It doesn’t make sense to me.”

Several councilmembers who voted in favor of the contract said they supported the deal as long as some safeguards were written into the Council’s resolution.

“We’re not aiming for perfection,” said District 1 Councilmember Zac Unger. “This is not Orwellian facial recognition technology — that’s prohibited in Oakland. The road forward here is to add as many amendments as we can.”

Amendments passed by the Council prohibit OPD from sharing camera data with any other agencies for the purpose of “criminalizing reproductive or gender affirming healthcare” or for federal immigration enforcement. California state law also prohibits the sharing of license plate reader data with the federal government, and because Oakland’s sanctuary city status, OPD is not allowed to cooperate with immigration authorities.

A former member of Oakland’s Privacy Advisory Commission has sued OPD, alleging that it has violated its own rules around data sharing.

So far, OPD has shared Flock data with 50 other law enforcement agencies.

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Black Arts Movement Business District Named New Cultural District in California

Located in the heart of District 3, the BAMBD is widely regarded as one of the nation’s most important centers of Black cultural production — a space where artists, entrepreneurs, organizers, and cultural workers have shaped generations of local and national identity. The state’s recognition affirms the district’s historic importance and its future promise.

Published

1 week ago

December 20, 2025

Oakland Post

Councilmember Carroll Fife celebrates major milestone for Black arts, culture, and economic power in Oakland. Courtesy photo.

By Post Staff

Oakland’s Black Arts Movement Business District (BAMBD) has been selected as one of California’s 10 new state-designated Cultural Districts, a distinction awarded by the California Arts Council (CAC), according to a media statement released by Councilmember Carroll Fife.

The BAMBD now joins 23 other districts across the state recognized for their deep cultural legacy, artistic excellence, and contributions to California’s creative economy.

“This designation is a testament to what Black Oakland has built — and what we continue to build when we insist on investing in our own cultural and economic power,” said Fife.

“For years, our community has fought for meaningful recognition and resources for the Black Arts Movement Business District,” she said. “This announcement validates that work and ensures that BAMBD receives the support it needs to grow, thrive, and continue shaping the cultural fabric of California.”

Since taking office, Fife has led and supported multiple initiatives that strengthened the groundwork for this achievement, including:

Restoring and protecting arts and cultural staffing within the City of Oakland.
Creating the West Oakland Community Fund to reinvest in historically excluded communities
Advancing a Black New Deal study to expand economic opportunity for Black Oakland
Ensuring racial equity impact analyses for development proposals, improving access for Black businesses and Black contractors
Introduced legislation and budget amendments that formalized, protected, and expanded the BAMBD

“These efforts weren’t abstract,” Fife said. “They were intentional, coordinated, and rooted in a belief that Black arts and Black businesses deserve deep, sustained public investment.”

As part of the Cultural District designation, BAMBD will receive:

$10,000 over two years
Dedicated technical assistance
Statewide marketing and branding support
Official designation from Jan. 1, 2026, through Dec. 31, 2030

This support will elevate the visibility of BAMBD’s artists, cultural organizations, small businesses, and legacy institutions, while helping attract new investment to the district.

“The BAMBD has always been more than a district,” Fife continued. “This recognition by the State of California gives us another tool in the fight to preserve Black culture, build Black economic power, and protect the families and institutions that make Oakland strong.”

For questions, contact Councilmember Carroll Fife at CFife@oaklandca.gov.