Sí ¡Yes!

I saw this sign walking around the edge of downtown Oakland yesterday. It's a sign of the current tension in Oakland between anti-development and pro-development factions.

The site is a little used private garden that used to be part of the Schilling estate, of Schilling spice fame. The proposed building is not the most brilliant design, but I find it hard to accept the arguments for those who oppose its being built.

They say that the private park is historic and should be preserved and that towers so tall shouldn't be built near Lake Merritt. They also complain about building high-cost condos for yuppies rather than much needed affordable housing.

But I think those attitudes have helped put Oakland in the predicament it's in. It's in the middle of a metropolitan area with some of the highest housing costs in the country, and, yet, it's plagued with tons of underutilized land and a serious crime problem. It doesn't make sense to me. In many other cities, the neighborhood where this tower is proposed (between downtown and the major city park) would be a bustling district, filled with urban amenities such as cafes, restaurants, etc. In Oakland, it's a mix of empty streets and apartment buildings built between 1920 and 1960, all in various states of repair.

But, on the other hand, one of the things I like about Oakland (and what makes it possible for me to afford to live here) is that much of the city feels like it's been in a slow state of decay since 1932.

So I say sí, build the tower, but only after I've been able to afford my house!