Do you think you would have gone in the Ghost Ship If you knew it had existed?

That's true about people, but Oakland has a lot of catching up to do, and fast. This town has always been the red headed step child to the city (SF), and not much has been expected of it, that is until recently. We had a status quo, do nothing mayor for years, Jerry Brown used Oakland as a stepping stone for becoming governor, and another mayor after Brown who was qualified to throw parties, not govern a transitioning city of this size. We finally have a mayor who is from the area, and wants to see it recognized for all it has to offer, not just the where it's going to fall on the national crime chart. Gentrification has hit this city with a vengeance. There's a housing shortage here. Between 2012 and 2013 purchase prices rose 64%. There are approx 1,500 homes in some state of foreclosure, a significantly less number then a few years ago, but still a high number. Investors are coming in and swooping up these foreclosures, some flipping them and putting them back on the market at a significant price increase, making it impossible for people in the neighborhood to buy. Other investors, are fixing them up and renting them out at a much higher price then before. The city (SF) doesn't have any more homes available, so there spilling out over to Oakland, and these transplants can afford these high prices. High prices in predominantly black and latino neighborhoods. Long standing Oaklanders can't afford to stay here anymore. The only reason I get to stay is because my house is owned by a woman who lives on the East Coast. If she ever gets wind of what houses are going for, she could easily up my rent by $1,300/month, and still be below the current standard. Soon Oakland will be owned by people who don't even live in this country.

@rottenrobi: This is an unexpected insight into the situation of things. Your situation is not unique to your area. I live in Memphis and am feeling your same squeeze. The property value of my house has doubled in the years I have been here. In my opinion, just because some are duped into paying more than what houses are actually worth. There is a huge affordable housing problem here,mostly because of absentee owners who are trying to squeeze every dime out of their own "soon to be foreclosed property" to pay for the house they are living in now . I blame the banks for lending people money to buy something they can't really afford and the politicians who make the laws that allow them to do that . Not to sound disgruntled or anything 🙂

@rottenrobi: And it's happening everywhere! In our neighborhood prices for homes have tripled in just a few years! 🙁 We're not home owners either and lucky our rent has only been raised fifty bucks in the past few years, whew! It's scary, any of us could be homeless.

Really tragic. And it existed because of the ridiculous cost of living in Oakland now, like in San Francisco and most of San Jose. It was an artists' colony, but it wasn't legally zoned as a residence. My best friend's an artist, her son is, too---but they're both safe. I have a feeling he probably knew some of the people who were killed. I haven't gotten a chance to speak with him yet.