Thread by @SFGate

Oakland has been locked in an ongoing battle with abandoned vehicles.

How did they get here? And more importantly, why is the city allowing them to accumulate?
sfgate.com/local/article/…

Just beneath the bustling Nimitz Freeway, there are hundreds, maybe thousands of cars.

They’re gutted and stripped, covered in graffiti, burned to pieces and exploding with trash.
sfgate.com/local/article/…

In the past year alone, there have been nearly 1,000 reports of abandoned cars.

They often pile up in West Oakland and the flatlands of East Oakland, clogging up streets and sitting for months at a time.
sfgate.com/local/article/…

Residents in these areas, many of whom are spearheading local beautification campaigns, complain that the city is allowing these cars to build up in Black and brown communities — subsequently lowering property values and fueling the cycle of poverty.
sfgate.com/local/article/…

Keisha Henderson, a public safety advocate and generational District 6 resident, says the abandoned cars are a byproduct of systemic racism.

She says wealthier districts are treated differently, and that resources from the city are unevenly allocated.
sfgate.com/local/article/…

“There's no way that would occur in Rockridge or Montclair,” says one Bay Area native.

“No one focuses on the pain here.”
sfgate.com/local/article/…