HELLA TOWN.
Oakland's History of Development and Disruption
University of California Press, 2021. "Mitchell Schwarzer provides an engaging and comprehensive history of Oakland’s built environment. Meticulously researched, Hella Town examines the forces that shaped the city’s landscape and exposes the structural racism that created and maintained the societal inequities that persist today. The book is a must-read for anyone seeking to better understand this fascinating city."—Libby Schaaf, Mayor of Oakland. Item #26050 From UC Press:
ISBN: 9780520381124
Hella Town reveals the profound impact of transportation improvements, systemic racism, and regional competition on Oakland’s built environment.
Often overshadowed by San Francisco, its larger and more glamorous twin, Oakland has a fascinating history of its own. From serving as a major transportation hub to forging a dynamic manufacturing sector, by the mid-twentieth century Oakland had become the urban center of the East Bay. Hella Town focuses on how political deals, economic schemes, and technological innovations fueled this emergence but also seeded the city’s postwar struggles.
Toward the turn of the millennium, as immigration from Latin America and East Asia increased, Oakland became one of the most diverse cities in the country. The city still grapples with the consequences of uneven class- and race-based development-amid-disruption. How do past decisions about where to locate highways or public transit, urban renewal districts or civic venues, parks or shopping centers, influence how Oaklanders live today? A history of Oakland’s buildings and landscapes, its booms and its busts, provides insight into its current conditions: an influx of new residents and businesses, skyrocketing housing costs, and a lingering chasm between the haves and have-nots.
405 pages, hard cover Sept. 2021
Price: $26.95