Oakland is tough. Jerry Brown used it for profit and made it worse. Parking meters are everywhere and few get used. The Black Panthers (Bobby Seal and crew) became politicians in the 60’s and created racial tensions. The city gets few property taxes now. TBerkeley students who volunteer in Oakland schools see criminal behavior and stop volunteering. The news guys should have known better. The flat part of Oakland is to be avoided.
Bobby Seal and crew (Huey Newton Eldridge Cleaver).
When I worked through that area in the 70’s and 80’s, the tensions were palpable. Perhaps prior to WW2 it was a nice city, too long ago for me to know but from my experience there, it is the Newark of the West.