Defend senior housing in Rockridge!
Oakland Planning Staff
There are some cool projects being proposed for Rockridge! The first of them is a seven-story senior housing proposal at 6230 Claremont Ave, right across the street from Safeway. It would include 159 independent living, 20 assisted living, and 24 memory care units.
We don't talk enough about how the housing crisis uniquely affects seniors. It can be incredibly difficult to find housing if you have accessibility needs: if you think it's hard to land a home in Oakland to begin with, just imagine ruling out every apartment that must be accessed with stairs! Right now, within three miles, there's only one senior bedroom for every 36 seniors, and that number stands to get far worse as baby boomers start reaching their late 70s and 80s.
Unfortunately, 6230 Claremont needs our help: A determined group of anti-housing advocates have already badgered the project into reducing the height and number of homes produced, and, having already extracted those concessions, continue to protest the project.
Currently, project review is slated to be handled by city staff, but if they hear too much objection, they may opt for a higher degree of scrutiny for the project, which would both increase delays and increase the risk of further changes and reductions. Staff knows that opposition is coming from a biased set of views, but for them to move the project along, they need to hear voices in support. Thank you for taking action!
Sponsored by
.png){kind=logo}
To:
Oakland Planning Staff
From:
[Your Name]
Dear Members of the Oakland Planning Commission, City Planning Staff, and City Council,
I am writing to express my strong support for the proposed senior housing development at 6230 Claremont Avenue in Rockridge, and to urge you to approve this project without downsizing it, extracting concessions, or adding further delays.
Our region is facing a serious and worsening shortage of housing for older adults. There are currently 36 seniors competing for every single senior housing bed within 3 miles of this site. Existing beds for seniors are getting repurposed to serve other vulnerable populations, such as the recently converted Bethesda Christian Home and St. Regis Hayward locations. This kind of fierce competition highlights how much we need more homes and more beds at every level of care for vulnerable populations. This project includes independent, assisted, and memory care units, allowing continuity of care for seniors living there. Baby Boomers are now turning 80, and the demand for dedicated senior housing is only going to grow. Projects like this one are urgently needed, and we cannot afford to let opportunities like this one slip away.
Adding homes for seniors can act as a release valve on the rest of our overstretched housing market, providing accessible places where seniors can live comfortably while freeing up other homes nearby. Indeed, some census tracts in this neighborhood are already upwards of 30 and 40% senior. Many of these residents live in homes that have become ill-suited to their needs, typically both too large and too difficult for the mobility-impaired. If we provide a better place for these people to live, that could free up homes for growing families around Rockridge.
This site is one of the best possible locations for senior housing in Oakland. It is less than half a mile from Rockridge BART, adjacent to multiple bus lines, steps from grocery stores, pharmacies, and local restaurants, and surrounded by the kind of walkable neighborhood infrastructure that allows older adults to live independently and remain integrated in their communities without relying on a car. Every senior who can walk, roll, or take a mobility scooter to BART or the grocery store rather than driving or getting a ride contributes to cleaner air and lower emissions for all of us.
I also want to speak to the importance of building in Rockridge specifically. High-resource neighborhoods like this one have historically been resistant to new housing, which has pushed development, and the people who need it most, toward poorer, industrial parts of town. Continued exclusion maintains the status quo by keeping the barrier to entry for wealthy enclaves at the level of a multimillion dollar home. State and federal fair housing law calls on cities to affirmatively further fair housing by opening high-opportunity neighborhoods such as Rockridge to new residents. Seniors deserve access to safe streets, good transit, and thriving neighborhood amenities just as much as anyone else, and this project gives them that.
The existing building on this site is vacant, boarded up, and in a state of disrepair. It generates no housing and no community benefit. Replacing it with a vibrant, well-designed senior living community is exactly the kind of infill development Oakland should be prioritizing. May we strive to replace it as soon as we possibly can.
Please approve this project and move it forward with urgency.
Thank you for your time and consideration.