Rev. Jesse Jackson to East Palo Alto: Fight gentrification

Some may call it gentrification but it's really a city going through it's natural growth towards a safer and more habitable place to live and work. EPA has a significant number of people who turn a blind eye to gangs, drugs and the crime associated. If it's residents haven't figured out how to mitigate that crime which overflows into neighboring cities, maybe it is time for change.

I loved going to the old BBQ restaurant called Uncle Franks when I was attending college in the early 90's and had many conversations with Frank about the state of his community, he wasn't happy to say the least.

It is a shame because a few people in such communities are ruining it for the rest of their residents by engaging in a criminal based lifestyle. This has kept property values low and investment in EPA low. Now that we've reached critical mass, don't you think it's time to clean EPA up once and for all.

Coming from a family who grew up poor in the Bronx, NY and seeing their neighborhood (Parkchester) turn into an absolute ghetto in the 80's by predominantly black and Puerto Rican drug dealers and criminals, will change your perspective. My 80 year old grandmother refused to move out of her apartment she lived in for 50 years, even after she had been mugged and strangled about a dozen times. The neighborhood has since changed and is now safer, cleaner and more orderly than it was during the heyday of the scumbags who tried to destroy it for the rest of the good people who lived there.

If EPA residents haven't figured out how to grow their community into a respectable, safe and thriving community by now, don't you think it's time for change and improvement?

Major disconnect.

Those of who live west of 101 have been dealing with an onslaught of development, with two enormous projects planned for El Camino. Redwood City, Stanford, and Palo Alto are also seeing huge new development or expansion of existing development. We are getting squeezed on all sides.

The quality of life in Menlo Park is eroding, fast. And the response from the powers-that-be is that we need to accept it. Our community -- where we have invested our housing dollars, where we are raising our kids -- is vanishing. We're foolish to think we should be able to live in homes with gardens when it's much more efficient to pack us all into high density housing on the train tracks.

Why on earth does East Palo Alto think it should be immune to this "progress?" Those neighborhoods are changing too, perhaps even faster than on the west side because they have been undervalued for so long. Expecting more handouts from tech companies? Really? Facebook has already been exceedingly generous, but EPA's major problem is not the gang fights (unless you join a gang) but the fact that too many EPA/Belle Have residents have gotten dependent on charity instead of pulling up their socks and taking care of themselves.

Maybe Jesse Jackson's message resonated in the 1960s, but this is 2015 and change is happening, yes, even on the east side. Fight gentrification? What pathetic advice.

lessons:

"pathetic advice" from Jesse Jackson. What a shock. This is just a set up for this race baiting con artist to shake someone down.

The improvements in East Palo Alto have been breathtaking and positive. If I recall correctly, it began with the addition of IKEA and a new sales tax base which was quickly augmented by the shopping center.

While gentrification has been problematic for some neighborhoods, I think it is preferable to witnessing a nice, working class neighborhood devolve into a poorer and unsafe area (this does not apply to EPA!). And besides, its nice to see residents experience the appreciation of their property values.

Of course increased wealth serves none of Revered Jackson's causes.

Sounds like many of you commenting are somewhat ignorant of EPA's history. Most of the families living in the area are hard-working, low-income families. The majority are of color, though the demographics have shifted over the years. For a great read on how the city became what it is now, check out this article. Perhaps you'll develop some more empathy for the situation many there face:

Web Link

casey - what a great article. Thanks.

Casey, thank you for the interesting article.

Regarding Palo Alto's annexing of land SE of EPA: there are a couple factors into that move not mentioned in the article:

1) Oregon Expressway in Palo Alto was dealing with the ramifications of increases in traffic (even then!) through what was-and-still-is a single-family-home neighborhood. The neighborhood was up-in-arms about the traffic.

Initial versions of traffic flow to/from the Dumbarton Bridge project initially included having a roadway between Dumbarton and Oregon Expressway. The creation of the airport and golf course was meant to thwart that route; obviously they were successful.

2) The reason EPA wasn't upset about Palo Alto's maneuvers was because the EPA town government at the time WANTED traffic to come through town, under the assumption that people would stop in EPA to shop. Obviously that didn't happen, and now EPA has traffic backups daily through their town.

"2) The reason EPA wasn't upset about Palo Alto's maneuvers was because the EPA town government at the time WANTED traffic to come through town,"

Wrong - the creek was rerouted and the area which now includes the golf course and airport was annexed by Palo Alto from the unincorporated area of San Mateo County in 1964. East Palo Alto did not incorporate until 20 years later.

Never know what to think of the whole gentrification issue. My wife - who is Taiwanese - works in early childhood education. She's got a master's degree, but the field doesn't pay well. So - before we got married - she bough a house in Belle Haven (technically, Menlo Park, but it has more in common with EPA than the rest of the city), because it was the only place she could afford.

We dated, we get married, I'm in Belle Haven. I wouldn't sought to live in this neighborhood had it not be for the relationship, given the crime reputation. As a professional, I could afford to live elsewhere, but I didn't. I've grown to like the neighborhood a bit. I certainly don't like the crime, but - particularly in the past year - it seems to be under control. Otherwise, beside the mariachi music being a little louder than I care for, it's a lovely place. My immediate neighbors are good, honest people. It's conveniently located. We have a large enough yard to do stuff. Not bad.

Still, I'm accidental gentrification.

On the one hand - since we own - of course, it's nice to see the value of the place rise like everywhere else around here. On the other hand, people like my wife would've never been able to afford to buy had such affordable neighborhoods like this existed. The working class people who need places like this, who are law-abiding, who rent and do not own - where are they going to go?

Small correction to my previous post. Peter was right that the town technically didn't exist at the time of Dumbarton's creation. I'll amend my statement for correctness:

I should have said:
"2) The reason EPA wasn't upset about Palo Alto's maneuvers was because the EPA community leaders at the time WANTED traffic to come through town,"

I once saw a video about the history of Ravenswood which was amazing.

I am unable to find it on google or YouTube - perhaps someone will have better luck than I did.