Beautiful West Oakland, California

When you cross the Bay Bridge from San Francisco to Oakland, one of the first things you notice is the massive industrial cranes that line its shores. Those cranes have become a symbol of Oakland – one way the city showcases its importance and connection to the global economy. Every year, billions of dollars’ worth of goods are loaded into containers and onto cargo ships bound for the Port of Oakland. The supply chain that keeps goods flowing between Asia and the Bay Area has transformed modern life. Products are cheaper and they can arrive at your door in a flash. However, for residents of West Oakland, who live in the shadow of those towering cranes, the true costs of all this trade have been evident for decades.

West Oakland is a predominantly Black, working-class community. In his new book, The Pacific Circuit, Alexis Madrigal explores how this neighborhood has been shaped by the economic forces that connect Oakland to the rest of the world.

West Oakland was once the center of Black life in the Bay Area. Along 7th Street, you could find a bustling music scene, lively bars, and Southern food. As more Black migrants arrived in Oakland to work in the shipyards during World War II, the neighborhood became even more densely populated. Racial restrictions, widespread across the country, especially in the Bay Area, forced Black residents to live in the more industrial parts of the city.

When containerization in the shipping industry revolutionized global trade, Oakland city planners sought to sacrifice the residential parts of West Oakland to expand business at the port. Starting in the early 1960s, the Port of Oakland became the first container port on the West Coast of the United States. Money started to pour into the Bay Area. However this booming container port was not a boon for West Oakland; instead, it contributed to severe pollution in the community.

For decades, residents of West Oakland lived with alarming levels of pollution. Asthma rates in the neighborhood were seven times the state average. In the 1990s, local community activist Margaret Gordon founded the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project to address the area’s air quality problems. The group’s data collection confirmed what residents had been telling the city for years – trucks traveling to and from the port were the primary source of pollution. Every day, thousands of diesel trucks passed directly through West Oakland.

When Margaret Gordon successfully campaigned to become Port Commissioner of the Port of Oakland, she implemented a plan to address pollution in her neighborhood. It was the first time someone from West Oakland had a say in what happened at the port. Her plan is credited with dramatically improving air quality in West Oakland, leading to a 98% reduction in truck emissions.

Still, the fight for clean air in West Oakland is not over. A proposed expansion of the Port of Oakland would allow coal to be shipped through a new export terminal, once again threatening to increase pollution in the community.