Oakland: ‘Keys To Equity' Project Helps Low-Income Black Homeowners Build In-Law Units

By John Ramos, CBS San Francisco:

OAKLAND (KPIX) — The high cost of real estate isn’t a problem to those who can afford to stay put. But it’s causing some African Americans to sell their homes and move. Now, a new program from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative is giving low-income Black homeowners a chance to profit from their houses without having to leave.

In the 1980’s Oakland was 46% African American, the largest Black-dominant city in California. But since then, the city has lost nearly 40,000 of its Black residents, some of them because of the skyrocketing cost of housing. Gentrification is taking its toll on low-income communities and it’s changing the character of Oakland.

“We have gone from a city really abundant in arts and culture and high social life to something a little more sterile,” said third-generation Oaklander Bobby Arte. “The neighborhoods are starting to all look the same. There’s not that eclectic feel and vibe of the city. And we definitely don’t see as much diversity.”

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