Oakland to launch alternative response program for nonviolent 911 calls
Following successful alternative policing programs in Denver and Newark, Oakland, California is the latest city to adopt such a program with an initiative to redirect nonviolent, noncriminal calls to mobile teams of civilians. Projected to launch this fall, the program is called Mobile Read More...
Oakland, CA to launch large-scale UBI experiment
After encouraging preliminary results from Stockton's universal basic income (UBI) experiment, another California city is testing out guaranteed income as a strategy for economic empowerment for marginalized groups. The City of Oakland announced this week that it will provide $500 a month to 600 Read More...
How car-free streets unite communities: A firsthand account from Oakland
The Optimist Daily has never been shy to support urban planning that favors pedestrians over motorists. Not only does it make the streets safer, but it can also clean up the air in a city dramatically. But beyond all this, perhaps the biggest benefit of clearing the streets of cars is that it turns Read More...
Oakland-based startup is 3D-printing homes in 24 hours
We have previously written about a nonprofit called New Story that was building the world’s first 3D-printed neighborhood for impoverished people in Mexico. Now, we present to you a startup that is taking 3D-printing to another level when it comes to homebuilding. The startup, Mighty Buildings, Read More...
Mayors want guaranteed income programs to help us recover from Covid-19
In early 2019, we published a story about Stockton mayor Michael Tubbs, who implemented a guaranteed income program in his city to help residents meet their basic needs. We have been closely following the program ever since, with the preliminary results from October showing that the 125 recipients Read More...
A community-designed solution: restorative justice arrives in Oakland
The United States has the largest prison population in the world and the highest per capita rate of incarceration. The punitive justice that lands people behind bars often hits communities of color and poverty much harder than other groups. In Oakland, California, one of the most diverse cities in Read More...
Colorful basketball courts for a brighter future
It is no doubt that sports and outdoor activities can have beneficial effects on a community. Rainbow Recreation Center in Oakland, California is taking the benefits to a new level. Dan Peterson has begun fixing up basketball courts in urban communities to bring people together and make the area Read More...
With its “virtual” power plant, Oakland looks set to move away from fossil fuels
When the demand for electricity surges in Oakland, California, a power plant burning jet fuel switches on, pumping pollution into the western part of the city. But the plant will soon close—and will be replaced in part by a network of solar panels and batteries installed in affordable apartment Read More...
Urban farming can alleviate food insecurity in American cities
Feeding people in major cities exerts a lot more pressure on the environment than you might think. Take the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area, for example, which has a total population of some 7 million people. Feeding that many people means importing 2.5 to 3 million tons of food per day over an Read More...
How Oscar Grant’s family is building bridges between police and the community
10 years ago, Oscar Grant III was murdered by a police officer in Oakland. The story behind his tragic death is heartbreaking, but the manner in which his family has responded to the injustice is absolutely worthy of praise. In the decade since his passing, Grant’s family has helped to create a Read More...