[sudo-discuss] Gentrification report proposes bold solutions to stop Displacement in Oakland

[Romy Ilano]

This is interesting, and it made me a little less depressed. I'm pro
development, building up, but the speed at which things are taking place in
Oakland has me taken aback. here is an interesting article someone passed
along to me...

http://oaklandlocal.com/2014/04/gentrification-report-proposes-bold-solutions-to-stop-displacement-in-oakland/

Proposals to protect Oakland's historic residents from displacement. Photo
by Laura McCamy ♦

Last week Causa Justa::Just Cause (CJJC <http://www.cjjc.org/>) released a
report titled Development Without Displacement: Resisting Gentrification in
the Bay Area. The 112-page document, prepared in collaboration with the Alameda
County Public Health Department <http://www.acphd.org/>, goes beyond
describing the public health
implications<http://oaklandlocal.com/2014/04/study-finds-gentrification-in-oakland-hurts-public-health/>
of
gentrification to proposing steps that cities like Oakland can take to stop
displacement of historic residents.

Six key principles create a framework for the report’s policy
recommendations:

   1. Baseline protections for vulnerable residents
   2. Production and preservation of affordable housing
   3. Stabilization of existing communities
   4. Non-market based approaches to housing and community development
   5. Displacement prevention as a regional priority
   6. Planning as a participatory process

“Because gentrification is an issue that crosses various different kinds of
aspects, you actually do need a variety of policy strategies,” said Maria
Zamudio, San Francisco Housing Rights Organizer with CJJC.  “There is no
silver bullet to take on the housing crisis.”
[image: Gentrification Map created by Alameda County Public Health
Department]<http://static.oaklandlocal.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Slide7.jpg>

The report classifies neighborhoods by their place on a spectrum of
gentrification. “Gentrification in different neighborhoods is in different
stages, so the need for policy interventions is different,” she said.

The report lays out proposed policies, including just cause
eviction<http://www2.oaklandnet.com/oakca/groups/ceda/documents/policy/dowd008118.pdf>
ordinances,
proactive code enforcement to make sure current affordable housing stock is
maintained, inclusive zoning that mandates affordable housing be part of
development projects, and community trainings to encourage resident
participation in planning processes. A proposed community health impact
analysis of new projects would be designed to help cities like Oakland
welcome much-needed development while mitigating displacement.
[image: Protesting urban renewal in San Francisco's Fillmore District.
Photo courtesy of Causa
Justa]<http://static.oaklandlocal.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/R3SD7k_HFUgLdfYBBWn_7X9KxTSITAofBUynIqCZpiBuKO1UMTndu6OMYtpE-VT_DQs190.jpg>

Protesting urban renewal in San Francisco’s Fillmore District. Photo
courtesy of Causa Justa

“Right of first refusal” and “reparation and return” policies would allow
residents displaced by habitability issues or urban renewal the opportunity
to return to their former homes. A “No Net
Loss<http://www.mapc.org/sites/default/files/One%20for%20One%20Affordable%20Housing%20Replacement%20Ordinances.pdf>”
policy would “require all affordable units lost through renovation,
conversion, or demolition be replaced within the same neighborhood if
possible and within the same city at a minimum.” Public data on civic
investment and demographic changes by neighborhood would highlight areas
of  neglect and displacement where resources are most needed.

The report advocates against the market-driven planning process that is the
norm in cities throughout the Bay Area. Instead, it suggests, cities should
invest in affordable housing through Community Land
Trusts<http://cltnetwork.org/>
 and Limited Equity Housing
Co-Ops<http://www.policylink.org/site/c.lkIXLbMNJrE/b.5137049/k.A9DF/Limited_Equity_Housing_Coop.htm>
and
levy taxes aimed at making real estate speculation less attractive to
investors.

[image:
zlqif57zdV_o-14iZUza4wMc081LuFM56QOlcrabHORjPhiTYlvBkAFZd3qd2pQb2w=s190]<http://static.oaklandlocal.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/zlqif57zdV_o-14iZUza4wMc081LuFM56QOlcrabHORjPhiTYlvBkAFZd3qd2pQb2ws190.jpg>“Policy
fights need to be organizing opportunities,” said Zamudio, highlighting
another recommendation:  to bring affected communities into the process of
preventing their own displacement. “Our policies are never going to be
visionary enough to take on the problem,” she said, without input from “the
most impacted residents of neighborhoods” experiencing gentrification.

Some of the proposals in the report are already being implemented in other
cities. San Francisco is listed as a model for a number of the proposals.
Yet displacement is, if anything, a bigger problem in that city than in
Oakland. “We’re seeing a compounding of impacts,” said Zamudio. “Planning
by the city has been in line with changes that the speculative market
wants.” She noted that demographic shifts, as working class residents are
pushed out, compound the problem by raising the median income and, with it,
the threshold for affordable housing. “The income of the city is
unbalanced,” she said, which leads to increasing challenges in finding
housing affordable to working class residents.
[image: Public development expenditures in Oakland. Chart by Causa
Justa]<http://static.oaklandlocal.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/i-3rCsd5nF7YeGPLF46LCpwVnoHmMGF7OnYjn2hIg7x2NJ2keegWLeYTaJU9ya9iGAs190.jpg>

Public development expenditures in Oakland. Chart by Causa Justa

Robbie Clark, Regional Housing Rights Campaign Lead Organizer with CJJC,
sums up the recommendations as “Community health upheld over profit.”

“Money shouldn’t dictate how much power people have in land use
developments,” Zamudio said, adding that community investment should also
have value.

Clark sees several opportunities to put these policy recommendations into
practice in Oakland, starting with keeping the pressure on the city council
to make sure the proposed rent control changes which strengthen tenant
protections, is approved when it comes before the council on April 22 and
May 6<https://oakland.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=305862&GUID=D21765D0-49F4-4451-976B-FEA59ACDF5BB&Options=info|&Search=>
.

In May, CJJC will begin a campaign to put an ordinance on the November
ballot that will go after some of the strategies landlords use to get
around just cause eviction laws: allowing units to become uninhabitable and
harassing tenants. “This is a problem that the city knows about,” Clark
said, noting that landlords may threaten to call the police or
ICE<http://www.ice.gov/> if
tenants complain about unhealthy living conditions. “We believe some
protections need to be put in place to punish landlords that do this.”

The ballot measure would institute fines for failure to maintain habitable
rental units and for threatening or harassing tenants. Pointing out that 90
percent of Oakland’s housing stock was built prior to 1978, Clark said the
aim of the proposed law is “making sure that people can stay in the places
where they live now.”
[image: Art by Design Action
Collective]<http://static.oaklandlocal.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/k-Tvc1dYsAa5yQwr-4bsj4NCYB6i_1lwZLytSyoBnd91dWYfAuP5hT_MT1d3pMDFVws190.png>

Art by Design Action Collective

“There has been a significant shift in who owns properties, especially in
heavily gentrified areas,” Clark noted. The rise in investor ownership of
previously owner-occupied properties has lead to more rentals in Oakland
that aren’t covered by the tenant protection laws. “This would be a
significant piece of legislation to protect all tenants and not just
tenants covered under the rent stabilization law,” he said.

“As we legislate against a problem, we’re never going to legislate a
complete solution,” Zamudio said. “Policy interventions will always have
loopholes and the market with continue to shift to find ways to make a
profit.” This is why, she added, organizing and strong community
involvement are crucial.

Get a copy of the full report
here<http://www.liberationink.org/content/development-without-displacement-resisting-gentrification-bay-area>
.

=============================

Romy Ilano
romy at snowyla.com
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