Hella Town: Oakland's History of Development and DisruptionHella Town reveals the profound impact of transportation improvements, systemic racism, and regional competition on Oakland’s built environment. Often overshadowed by San Francisco, its larger and more glamorous twin, Oakland has a fascinating history of its own. From serving as a major transportation hub to forging a dynamic manufacturing sector, by the mid-twentieth century Oakland had become the urban center of the East Bay. Hella Town focuses on how political deals, economic schemes, and technological innovations fueled this emergence but also seeded the city’s postwar struggles. Toward the turn of the millennium, as immigration from Latin America and East Asia increased, Oakland became one of the most diverse cities in the country. The city still grapples with the consequences of uneven class- and race-based development-amid-disruption. How do past decisions about where to locate highways or public transit, urban renewal districts or civic venues, parks or shopping centers, influence how Oaklanders live today? A history of Oakland’s buildings and landscapes, its booms and its busts, provides insight into its current conditions: an influx of new residents and businesses, skyrocketing housing costs, and a lingering chasm between the haves and have-nots. |
Contents
| 1 | |
| 12 | |
Industrial Powerhouse | 50 |
Space for Automobiles | 83 |
The Politics of Parks | 109 |
Major League Venue | 136 |
The Promise and the Reality of Freeways and BART | 169 |
In the Wake of Deindustrialization | 200 |
Housing Injustice | 229 |
Downtown Renewal and Ruin | 264 |
Shopping Centers and Storefront Streets | 291 |
Coda | 323 |
Acknowledgments | 329 |
Select Bibliography of Books about Oakland | 393 |
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acres airport Alameda American apartment Association automobile Avenue BART Bay Area became Berkeley blocks Bridge Broadway buildings built California cars Central century changed City city’s civic close College Company completed construction container County decades Department District downtown earlier early East Bay economic Engineer followed Freeway Highways hills History housing improvements included increased industrial John Lake land later leading lines located lots major manufacturing March Merritt miles million minority Motors moved Museum neighborhood North Oakland Tribune opened operations Pacific Park Plan plants Politics population Port Press production projects Redevelopment regional Report residential residents retail roads route San Francisco San Francisco Chronicle Second shopping center space stations Street streetcar structures tion took town traffic transit transportation turned units University upper hills urban urban renewal West Oakland World York zones