20 May 2021
Piedmont, California, is a small suburb with a population of 10,667 surrounded by the gritty city of Oakland, population 425,097. Piedmont is almost exclusively zoned for single family dwellings and is home to prosperous businesses.
Activists and politicians are trying to end that distinction by forcing Piedmont to build “affordable housing” and increase density by allowing multi-family units.
One activist put it this way: “This is really what people have been pushing for this desegregation of Piedmont,” Darrell Owens, a member of East Bay for Everyone, said in a
San Francisco Chronicle article about the effort to transform yet another American suburb to an urban neighborhood.
Piedmont residents wrestle with how to add more housing to exclusive enclave
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The Piedmont Racial Equity Campaign suggests that housing could be built in Piedmont Park as the city struggles to find land for development.Paul Kuroda/Special to The Chronicle
Piedmont and Oakland are neighbors, but the cities are very different demographically and in how they approach building housing. With new, much higher housing goals set by the state, small, wealthy Bay Area enclaves like Piedmont are suddenly being asked to plan for a lot more housing, including a lot more affordable homes. And some Piedmont residents want to look to Oakland for help.
Legislators are talking a lot about equity in housing, and could help more Black families buy their own homes. But advocates say lawmakers are failing to confront racial equity in many other ways.
What California Lawmakers Could Do To Boost Homeownership For Black Families capradio.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from capradio.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Will California lawmakers boost Black homeownership? calmatters.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from calmatters.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.