I know that at least one other member is from the good old town of Oakland, Ca. A lot of people think we are as bad as LA, Detroit, or Chicago. Well - we are not. Oakland is a very ecletic and diverse city. You can go all the way from the lowliest low at the San Antonio Projects, to Hiller Highlands and Shepard Canyon - Montclair with 5 million dollar homes with a view of the entire bay area. Very interesting place to call home. Oakland has a rash of murders -- 116 to be exact in 2003. I was interested in finding out just how many were gang or drug related. Fully 3/4th were just that. Out of those, about half were innocent bystanders. So, out of 116 murders, about 45 involved people selling drugs or involved in gang violence. Call me closed minded, but frankly, if you sell drugs or engage in gang criminal behavior, I beleive you have already forfieted your life. If you are killed engaged in this action, you should have already been dead. Therefore, as of now, Oakland has a 71 homicides. 71 too many... Enough of my rant, just getting something off of my chest. I hate gangbangers. I dealt with them as a youth, and I have to deal with them as a parent trying to keep my son away from them. Nothing warms my heart more than seeing gangbangers crying while facedown with a nice cop holding a shotgun to their head. Gangs, like terrorists, only understand pure violence. Anything less and they won't get the message. Just my two... what is your opinion?
I went to a high school job fair for northern california 3 years ago. There, the rep from Oakland was AWESOME. She started with, "If you want to make a difference come to Oakland". They give signing bonuses, they have MAJOR problems with gangs, etc. at the schools. You could feel her passion, b ut afterwards, not many went over to their table. She began going to the tables of the districts of the high income areas of SF. She swayed a few, it was sad. I spoke with her for a while. I was not intending to move, but wanted to get a perspective..... how do you teach children, when there are such serious issues there. It is nice to see there are teachers with that sort of passion, and that articulate.
It means nothing of the sort. I've lived in Oakland for the last 15 years. Jerry Brown, by and large, has been good for Oakland. His notoriety has raised Oakland up to compete with San Francisco on certain issues. He's brought a lot of new business and development to the downtown area. There has been much new housing and development here in the last few years. As Mr. Engineer states, Oakland is a city of extremes. The ghettos in Oakland, while perhaps not at the level of Detroit, are pretty bad - with all of the problems that plague inner cities. On the other hand, there are neighborhoods that compete with the most affluent in any city. The city is loaded with architectural landmarks and a rich history. I remember talking to a real estate developer years back who specialized in office buildings. This was BEFORE Jerry Brown, and he was lamenting how hard it was to find renters for downtown office buildings. It was interesting because he said that if you just described all the attributes of Oakland, without mentioning the name Oakland, such as the rich architectural heritage, the proximity to the bay (with an active port), a relatively affluent population, superb weather, etc., most people would jump at many of the typical buildings for rent or sale. The deal killer was the name "Oakland." To a large degree, that has changed. Some of that credit goes to Jerry Brown. The murders are a very big problem, as are the schools, which are among the worst anywhere. There are lots of incentives for teachers here, unfortunately the vast majority of new teachers burn out in a couple of years, and either leave teaching or flee to the burbs. Part of the problem with the murders is the local media's perverse obsession with counting off the murders one by one, and the effect on perception that goes hand in hand with that. There are more murders here than S.F., but for some reason the media really likes to play it up. There is a lot of culture here and many assets that contribute to quality of life. There must be at least a dozen colleges and universities within a 25 mile radius from my home: Mills College, Holy Names College, Cal State Hayward, UC Berkeley, Stanford, San Francisco State, USF, College of Arts and Crafts, Santa Clara, San Jose State. Plus there are tons of good community colleges. Oakland has a first rate museum, and a good symphony (though not on the level of San Francisco). Anyway, despite its problems, a pretty good place to live.
Well said Tom. I am proud to say that Oakland is my home town. I had a good time hanging out at the old Eastmont Mall (before it looked like a gang war had gone through it.) As far as a comment on another thread about spelling and non-educational topics, that is why I posted on this part of the forum. I can spell when I want, and I write very well. However, this is an open forum. You understood my meaning and I didn't feel I had to be the perfectionist that I usually am. Cheers..
