Current homeowners are the #1 beneficiaries of gentrification. Why? Because an influx of new homeowners tends to raise the home values of current residents. Also, gentrification gives retail a reason to locate in a neighborhood. Those retail establishments provide jobs, which also lifts up a community.

Governments are the #2 beneficiaries of gentrification. To start with, Oakland makes money from transfer taxes when a home is sold. Then Alameda County makes money from real estate taxes from the newly-bought home. A new homeowner is likely to buy new stuff for the new home, and hopefully, that stuff will be bought in Oakland. That provides sales taxes for Oakland.

Believe it or not, renters can also benefit from gentrification, assuming they can cope with higher rents. With new homeowners come new business, new services, and a new willingness to protect their investments by looking after the community.

So the “middle class” does benefit from gentrification. In fact, I think the only people who do NOT benefit are chronic renters who cannot handle rent increases. However, what is gained usually outweighs what is lost. That’s why I applaud City Councilman Larry Reid for encouraging development along MacArthur Boulevard.

Now, back to factories. I find it interesting how cities like South San Francisco and Emeryville are able to transition away from having a bunch of factories, yet people in Oakland tend to whine about the lost jobs instead of preparing for the new economy. Thank God for people like Van Jones and the Ella Baker Center! They will hopefully drag Oakland into the post-manufacturing future.

As for the rest you have some excellent points.

Artists may benefit temporarily, but the likely long term outcome is that we’ll create stability and beauty in old warehouses, and then the speculators will benefit when land values go up and its time to kick us out. It’s true artists don’t want to create gentrification, but we also don’t like being surrounded by thugs and junkies.

The “middle class” you speak of won’t benefit from gentrification either.

As for why no political will… SOMEONE must be benefitting from all this crime. Otherwise, it wouldn’t happen.

Who’s benefitting?

* real estate speculators/developers: lower cost land purchasing
* local warlords, aka gang/ethnic mafia leadership: drug dealing shot callers
* whoever runs and operates prison systems around the US — many CA inmates get shipped to private, for-profit, corporate prisons out of state in small towns which formerly had FACTORIES and now have penal pens shuffling around urban city inmates, as “jobs”
* emeryville, san francisco
* CashAdvance loan shark operators
* liquor store/laundry mat owners
* any shops needing cheap rent to survive (how many tattoo shops r on Telegraph?)
* artists and others who consider themselves not of the “gentrification” crowd
* nonprofits and charities which focus on low income/domestic violence
* local hospitals, insurance companies which process injured citizens at high cost
* security service companies: ADT, etc

Who’s NOT benefitting:

* 90% of Oakland residents (mostly former “middle class” americans)
* neighboring cities’ residents

Other reasons we have so much crime, besides a Lame Duck Police Chief (Wayne Tucker) and no more high paying factory jobs (well, at least our largest private banks, aka “federal” reserve, and the growing CHINESE middle class have money!!)

(Start clip)

When Dellums added a new deputy chief of staff last month, he did so in typical Dellums fashion _ quietly.

The mayor made no announcement about it, but Leslie Littleton joined his staff March 10. Prior to that, she had worked as a district director for Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, for about a year.

Asked what her duties would be Rose said “to support the mayor and chief of staff on day-to-day operations in the Mayor’s Office.”

Rose said there was no particular reason why Dellums didn’t publicize the hiring when it happened.

“Leslie’s been out in the community talking to community organizations, talking to residents of Oakland and introducing herself proactively,” Rose said. “There’s no decision not to send anything out.”

(End clip)

Out in the community talking to community organizations? Fine, but not on my dime.

yet we get flooded with cheap asian imports from china/india/et al.

http://elainemeinelsupkis.typepad.com/war_and_peace/2008/04/jimmy-carter-ta.html

read more here.

at least nadel’s opening a chocolate factory. small, but every factory we can commandeer, counts.

V -

The jail was not staffed by officers, it was staffed by 75 corrections officers that were fired when the city gave up the jail.

They had people in place within that infrastructure to do transports.

V- why did the jail close? what’s it being used for now? can I shoot my women’s prison movie in it if I call the right people?