Oakland Homeless So Large In Number That Encampments Formed Under BART Train Tracks

Oakland Homeless. The number of homeless people in Oakland is now so great (estimated at over 4,000 people directly in Oakland) that small towns called “encampments” have formed in places, like under this elevated BART Train track on 12th Avenue near Fruitvale BART Station.

This photo was posted on Instagram just six days ago by someone who goes by the name NorCalLawyer, and captures the fact that people have set up what amounts to shanty towns in Oakland.

Homeless encampments in Oakland are a constant reminder of the economic inequality that plagues the Bay. No one should live like this when so many are doing well. #homeless #oakland #incomeinequality #tentcity #affordablehousing #homelessactioncenter #oaklandcitycouncil #libbyschaaf #pamelaprice #whereisthemayor?

A post shared by CK (@norcallawyer) on Aug 21, 2018 at 11:51am PDT

Oakland Homeless Need Money But City Of Oakland Doesn’t Want To Give It To Them

This s not a criticism of what they’re doing – they are working to just survive. The real crime is that Oakland, the City of Oakland, which does have vast comparative wealth, has done nothing to help them.

The best most simple way to help people in Oakland get off the street is to give them money. That Oakland does not do that is a reflection of selfishness and greed – there’s no other way to explain it.

Oakland’s Government would rather talk about ideas than take meaningful action. The only policy response has been the creation of “Tuff Sheds” but that does not change the financial position of the homeless person – just gives the City of Oakland a way to get that person off the street.

And it’s because at its very heart, Oakland feels that this is nothing more than an example of people who have not been able to make it. In other words, Oakland itself has become cold and darwinesque in its view of this problem. Oakland does not truly treat this as a problem of disinvestment.

So, Oakland does not invest in the people who become homeless. If Oakland did, it would take $20 million and distribute it.

A friend of mine recently posted that there were billionaires that could give more. Well, they have not. Meanwhile some of the same billionaires has no problem giving millions to others for product ideas they have not even made. And that happens every day in the same area of the United States – the San Francisco Bay Area.

The people on the street don’t need millions, just a few thousand. That can reduce the homeless population fast, but Oakland doesn’t want to do that.

Stay tuned.