9 results found

1. Match ugly garbage cans with mosaic artists, community groups and supporters!

   There are many neighborhood groups that have started sponsoring trash can mosaics. But there are many many many mroe ugly trash cans to cover. Everyone loves them, so we need a simple way to match sponsors (businesses, neighbors, etc) with trash cans and mosaic artists. Old Oakland Neighbors has created a simple video and sponsorship page which has worked well to cover over a dozen trash cans in Old Oakland: https://www.gofundme.com/oldoaklandmosaics . But we need a way to scale this idea city wide!

   https://www.facebook.com/OldOakDistrict/posts/10153941642742174

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2. Tracking Affordable Housing Stock (or Lack Thereof) in Oakland

   What currently constitutes affordable housing in the city and how can gathering this information address growing housing inequality?

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3. Where should I send my child to school?

   Would it help parents to provide a website consolidating information on all school options? Could data (graduation rates, truancy rates, student/teacher ratios, college placement rates, student satisfaction ratings) complement descriptive information (mission statements, types of programs offers, extra-curricular activities) to better inform parents and students in choosing a school?

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4. Reduce litter by shaming (educating) known litterbugs.

   For the past 3 years, Old Oakland Neighbors have been fighting to rid Oakland streets, sidewalks and storm drains of club promo cards. We have made substantial progress, but the postcards are still a nuisance issue in Old Oakland (and downtown in general). Distributing postcards on cars and to people on the street is illegal and must be curbed.

   I imagine a website where the public can submit a form like this:
   https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1JGHx64kfloD5-jFsg8Fp2E7WoxkB0r-HbWdOupCPSRI/viewform (this currently populates a google sheet). Upon finding a postcard or promotional flyer on the sidewalk or car, I could enter it online, take a photo and enter some data. The business owner would either get a call or email or text that says, “Hey, your business flyer ended up in a storm drain at 7th and Washington. See this photo? Can you please stop distributing flyers and polluting our streets and waterways?”

   I’ve attached some photos that I took around the neighborhood.
   Unfortunately, this is an all too common image lately, and it seems to be getting worse as more and more marketers leave postcards on car windows. In particular, I've noticed several disturbing trends:
   -An increase in the number of postcards placed on each and every car door in one night - as many as 7!
   -Piles of left over postcards dumped near the storm drains
   -A wider range of services advertised: hair braiding stores, CD's now available on iTunes, restaurants, are now being marketed, in addition to the regular club events (sometimes even City of Oakland events!)
   -A wider range of venues throughout Oakland and venues in other cities such as Alameda and San Francisco

   The problem seems worst on Washington, Clay, 9th and 10th Street, essentially 2 blocks around the clubs/bars at 9th and Washington. There are several problems with this marketing practice:
   -HOAs, property managers, and the City has to spend more time cleaning the postcards up each morning
   -The postcards that don't get cleaned up tend to last for ever and linger in our tree wells, on our sidewalks and in corners of building entrances
   -The postcards blow and scatter all over our neighborhood, so it is impossible to walk 20 feet without seeing one
   -Postcards dumped, swept or blown into the storm drains cause bigger problems for the environment downstream
   -Without any intervention, the problem is just going to get worse

   We’re not alone. A recent next door thread titled:
   "Pizza Nation and China Hut Littering Our Neighborhood” had over 40 comments detailing the problem of restaurant menu flyers and the lack of capacity of the city to enforce. One neighbor suggested putting restaurants that litter out of business by posting negative reviews on Yelp. We can do better!

   We have in the past worked with the special permits office (who “monitor” night club permits) to send out warning letters to night clubs that flyer cards, but we need a way to scale the reporting and followup because there is only so much the small staff can do. And they don’t oversee littering by restaurants and other business.

   The good news is that we know exactly who the offenders are, their phone numbers, where they work, emails and often even where they will be partying next. So if we know the offenders, can’t we just go straight to them?

   We'd like to work with the public, The Special Permits Office, City Council, and possibly even the City Attorney's nuisance/blight team to increase the penalties for businesses that flyer on cars. Advertising on cars in not allowed per the city code, but I don’t know of any penalties. But in the mean time, we need to collect data and address this at the source and call out and shame business owners into stopping this wasteful practice. The data collected could also potentially inform the downtown metro team of large events hosted by promoters so adequate street patrols can help make sure patrons get to their cars and home safely when events end - a time when crime and other incidents (shootings, noise complaints, etc) have traditionally occurred. And the Special Permits office could check the list of complaints before renewing permits, in case additional conditions or enforcement penalties need to be added.

   There is so much to gain in doing so. Cleaner streets, sidewalks and storm drains, less property management expenses, better ways to address clubs/bars located outside the city and maybe even more creative and innovative ways of marketing. And less litter is definitely better for the environment.

   Old Oakland Neighbors created a simple google form at the peak of the littering in 2013 in hopes we can get the community's assistance to help track who the offenders are (and where they will be partying next). We tried to keep it up, but this issue is much bigger than just one person. It's also much bigger than Old Oakland, for that matter, so we need help from anyone else willing to join the good fight (thank you neighbors and others for also collecting postcards). We need a lot of real data and this is one way we can track the impact of our efforts. Maybe the publicity alone will help reduce the amount of cards left on cars.

   I hope you can help.

   Reference:
   5.06.030 - Advertising in public streets.

   It is unlawful for any person upon any public sidewalk or in any street in the city, to carry, bear or support any banner, sign, transparency, framework, device or emblem used, or purported to be used, or intended, as an advertisement of any trade, profession or business, place of business, office, store or occupation, or to distribute, by hand or otherwise, upon any sidewalk, street, square or other public place, or to throw upon any sidewalk, street, square or other public place, any advertisement, bill, poster, flyer, notice or advertisement, device or emblem used, or purporting to be used, or intended as, an advertisement or notice of any article or merchandise, or of any trade, business, profession, office, store, or occupation of any person.

   (Prior code § 5-3.03)

   5.06.040 - Advertising matter in motor vehicles.

   It is declared to be unlawful for any person to place, stick or affix, or cause or permit any other person in his or her behalf to place, stick or affix, any broadside, booklet, card, circular, dodger, handbill, poster, or any other advertising medium of a like or similar nature, in or upon any automobile or other motor vehicle not in such person's rightful possession, while said automobile or other vehicle is in or upon any public street, highway or other public place.

   (Prior code § 5-3.04)

   For the past 3 years, Old Oakland Neighbors have been fighting to rid Oakland streets, sidewalks and storm drains of club promo cards. We have made substantial progress, but the postcards are still a nuisance issue in Old Oakland (and downtown in general). Distributing postcards on cars and to people on the street is illegal and must be curbed.

   I imagine a website where the public can submit a form like this:
   https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1JGHx64kfloD5-jFsg8Fp2E7WoxkB0r-HbWdOupCPSRI/viewform (this currently populates a google sheet). Upon finding a postcard or promotional flyer on the sidewalk or car, I could enter it online, take a photo and… more

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5. One go to place for public to get information on Oakland's new development pipeline.

   Here is our attempt at tracking units in the pipeline downtown. We're trying to figure out how many 2 and 3 bedrooms are planned for downtown. Simple question, but it is cumbersome and manual and incomplete: https://infogr.am/app/#/edit/d10cc321-ad8f-4f1e-965a-44df85a65dc6

   Help! Everyone is very concerned about all the new development "popping up" but the reality is that this information is known well in advance of the final City Hall meeting when it is approved. The information is online, but it's not very accessible and most residents aren't actively monitoring it to see if a new development is going up on a vacant parking lot near by. I've been told by city staff that the only way to tell if there is a property of interest is to scan the planning commission agendas every week to see if there is a new address being discussed. What we really need is a simple map residents can monitor. A lot of neighborhood tension could be relieved by simply having more accessible information at the right time.

   We need a simple data set attached to a map that shows: project name, developer, city staff, status, proposed total units, current unit mix, impt milestone dates, link to staff reports, etc...

   The City has been using the same pdf template for the last 15+ years: http://www2.oaklandnet.com/oakca1/groups/ceda/documents/agenda/oak049918.pdf It is not sortable and does not include proposed unit mixes (# studios, one bedrooms, 2 bedrooms and 3 bedrooms). It is also not clear when public feedback would be useful, and what the best way is to give that feedback. It is also only a list of Major Projects, not every project.

   There is a little more info on Major Projects at http://www2.oaklandnet.com/Government/o/PBN/OurOrganization/PlanningZoning/index.htm but the reality is that even a small project next door to you might seem like a major deal.

   It would be awesome if the public could see the pipeline data and filter it in a way that would be useful for them. For example, we created this manually: https://infogr.am/app/#/edit/182bbe64-33f1-4540-836d-725e302cb627 and it was not easy!! Furthermore, it is not complete as the multi-family data is virtually inaccessible.

   As it stands now, most Oaklanders wait till the media puts out a list on residential and commercial construction: http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/feature/oakland-structures/2015/ But even then it's outdated the minute it's published.

   I hope you can help with this project as it is a critical need during this time of rapid change, development and displacement.

   Here is our attempt at tracking units in the pipeline downtown. We're trying to figure out how many 2 and 3 bedrooms are planned for downtown. Simple question, but it is cumbersome and manual and incomplete: https://infogr.am/app/#/edit/d10cc321-ad8f-4f1e-965a-44df85a65dc6

   Help! Everyone is very concerned about all the new development "popping up" but the reality is that this information is known well in advance of the final City Hall meeting when it is approved. The information is online, but it's not very accessible and most residents aren't actively monitoring it to see if a new development is going up on a vacant parking… more

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6. Crime in Oakland, and available data about it

   Crime in Oakland, and public data about it

   As the Code For America Summit made clear, these are exciting times for those hoping for open data concering "21st Century Policing." A recent survey gives one perspective on how the Oakland Police Department compares to other cities in terms of the data it provides its citizens.

   Let's get together to see what we can do with the data currently available, what data we wish we had, and what we might be able to do to get it!

   3 votes

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7. Community Owned and Operated Internet Network

   PeoplesOpen.net is a non-profit community owned and operated internet network in the SF East Bay. It's mission is to connect neighbors, support local businesses, and enable community collaboration and cultural production.

   Instead of paying a for-profit corporation to access the internet, we can build our own infrastructure to create an alternative ISP as well as a local area network.

   For more, you can watch our intro video:
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qva1SQSBDyE

   or see http://peoplesopen.net

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   4 votes

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8. Protected bicycle lanes ("cycle tracks") on Oakland city streets

   Replacing bicyclist danger with joy on old Key Route boulevards, in "Safe Routes to School" project areas, and around Lake Merritt by installing bicycle lanes with physical separation from motor vehicles. Let's try to anticipate objections ("removes parking spaces," "slower traffic leads to congestion," and so on.

   2 votes

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9. Streetcars back to Oakland

   Streetcars on Broadway, market, international, grand, MacArthur and more

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