'Oakland 2025': master plan for major neighborhood to take shape
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Matt Bartko holds some of the seedlings he and other neighbors in South Oakland will plant in May in this garden area he created near the ballfield on Frazier Street.
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Even in compact neighborhoods with little going on, a long-term community plan often results from an unwieldy and raucous journey.
Then there's Oakland. One of the state's top commercial hubs with four neighborhoods and two historic districts, it is overshadowed by universities, hospitals, civic and cultural institutions.
Tonight, Oakland will begin grappling with this octopus of interests to create its first master plan since the 1980s. The meeting is open to all who have interests in Oakland from 6 to 8.30 p.m. at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral, 419 S. Dithridge St. It includes a complimentary dinner and entertainment.
Called Oakland 2025, the plan should take a year to complete, said Wanda Wilson, executive director of the Oakland Planning and Development Corp. OPDC is leading the process with five partner organizations.
The first challenge will be casting a wide enough net of inclusion.
"Bringing the community together is the biggest issue to improving life in Oakland," said Ms. Wilson.
Housing, transportation, youth and family services, commerce, greenspace and recreation are at the heart of a neighborhood plan, but Oakland's overarching issues are institutional expansion and the impact of irresponsible students and landlords.
"Pitt and the medical complexes have a voice" in the plan, said Nathan Hart, president of OPDC's board. "To some degree, the future of Oakland is in their hands. If they buy into a certain vision it is more likely to happen. If they don't, it's not likely to."
But Oakland is more than its institutions, he said.
"This is a dynamic place, where things do change faster" than elsewhere. "We are seeing demographic shifts in terms of age and ethnicity, a wider range of ethnic groups and businesses," such as Asian and Mexican groceries, a Middle Eastern butcher and a Korean market among them.
First Published March 24, 2011 12:00 am
