What comes to mind when you hear the word Oakland?

What do you think when you hear the word Oakland? When people hear the word Oakland, most think that it’s dirty and tagged. We asked people what they think of when they hear “Oakland” in order to understand their feelings about the community. We conducted a series of interviews during the month of February at Latitude High. Perhaps the most common answer was that Oakland is a good place except for the homeless problem. When I walk around Oakland, I see a lot of homeless people, including next to the school, so I can agree that there is a problem with homelessness in Oakland.

Some people said otherwise such as Jorge, who is a freshman at Latitude High. He said,“Oakland is the goodest {sic} place because of schools, homes and restaurants.” I agree with him because it’s nice, but it still has homelessness.

On the other hand, some had different responses, such as Alex, who is a sophomore at Latitude High. His response was,“Oakland is ghetto, a lot of people on the streets, a lot going on in a small place.” I also agree because last time I went to my friend’s house someone got killed across the street. Other people including Enzo Choi and Roman DiFalco mentioned good things about Oakland, like there are nice people, beautiful graffiti, and the Oaklandish logo.

Overall the trend in people’s answers seemed to be that Oakland is a good area that has a homelessness problem.