Activating Columbia Road: Reframing a Missing Link

SAN PABLO AVENUE
Historically an African-American neighborhood with
a prosperous business, music and cultural scene,
the San Pablo Avenue area has experienced years
of disinvestment. Over the last decade, the area
has seen an increase in vacant land, abandoned
homes, and incidents of crime. 1 Gentrification has
pushed many long-time residents out of Oakland.
In 1980, African Americans made up 47% of
Oakland’s population, but in 2018 it was down to
24.7%. 2 In the 1950s, ‘60s and ‘70s, infrastructure
projects like the interstate highway system,
Bay Area Rapid Transit, and others displaced a
significant number of West Oakland’s businesses
and residents. 3
In 2014, the East Bay Asian Local Development
Corporation formed the San Pablo Area
Revitalization Collaborative (SPARC) to combat
the downturn the neighborhood was experiencing.
As of 2019, SPARC is a partnership of over 25
organizations, residents, and institutions. The group
developed a mission to improve the health and
wellbeing of the area’s roughly 8,000 residents
living along the 1.5 miles of the corridor, as well as
the surrounding neighborhoods in West Oakland. 4
When forming the Collaborative, the founders
made a conscious decision to not reinvent previous
work on the corridor, but to instead build upon
neighborhood assets, align efforts, and pool
resources to reach their collective goals. 5
1 East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation, “San Pablo
Area Revitalization Collaborative (SPARC).”
2 Voynovskaya, “A Black Cultural Corridor Takes Shape on
Oakland’s San Pablo Avenue.”
3 Ibid.
4 East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation, “San Pablo
Area Revitalization Collaborative (SPARC).”
5 Ibid.
By working together, SPARC has identified their top
priorities for action: 6
• Healthy Residents
◦ Healthcare
◦ Community & resident engagement
• Healthy Community & Housing
◦ Green spaces
◦ Housing options
• Healthy Economy
◦ Business development
◦ Jobs & work
SPARC has led a number of community projects to
improve quality of life for people on and around
San Pablo Avenue. One noteworthy project was
the Paint the Town mural project in partnership
with the City of Oakland. 7 A well-known dangerous
intersection on San Pablo Avenue was transformed
with a colorful music-themed plaza, creating
a road diet to decrease speeding traffic while
reclaiming space for people. At the end of 2018,
SPARC opened the first full-service grocery store
on San Pablo Avenue in more than 10 years. 8
In addition to healthy food options, the store
provides local jobs for residents and space to
hold community meetings. 9 SPARC is also offering
residents mini-grants and training to produce
their own community projects, which have so far
included median clean-ups, community gardens,
and other street beautification projects.
The City of Oakland lists commercial buildings on
San Pablo Avenue as “opportunity sites” for mixed-
6 East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation, “San Pablo
Area Revitalization Collaborative (SPARC).”
7 San Pablo Area Revitalization Collaborative, “Home.”
8 Ibid.
9 Ibid.
Figure 71: San Pablo Avenue Local Assets
90 Activating Columbia Road: Reframing a Missing Link