About
Formed in 2014, the San Pablo Area Revitalization Collaborative (SPARC) is dedicated to improving health and wellbeing of 8,000 residents living near and along 1.5 miles of the San Pablo Avenue Corridor and the surrounding neighborhoods in West Oakland. Rather than reinventing what many others are already doing towards this goal, the Collaborative will build on neighborhood assets, align efforts, and pool resources to better achieve common outcomes. With the neighborhood’s help to inform priorities, SPARC has identified actions to implement over the next five years. Questions about SPARC? Please contact Annie Ledbury at ALedbury@ebaldc.org.
History
Decades ago, the San Pablo Avenue Corridor was a largely African-American neighborhood with a thriving business, music and cultural scene. Years of disinvestment in housing, schools and jobs have resulted in abandoned housing and vacant land and a neighborhood more often associated with crime than its rich history or its arts and community assets. Oakland is undergoing rapid changes that include new economic development and rising housing prices. These changes bring both opportunities and risks for the Corridor’s neighborhoods, attracting new investments but also creating economic pressures for low-income residents.
Neighborhood Statistics
- African American children born in West Oakland and the San Pablo Avenue Corridor live 14 years less than Caucasian children in the Oakland hills
- 83% of residents are people of color
- 55% of residents are between the ages of 19 and 55
- 34% of residents live at or below the poverty level
- 69% of residents do not have an associate, bachelor or graduate school degree
- 75% of residents rent their home and
- 57% of those residents spend more than 35% of their income on rent
- High blood pressure is one of the top reasons for visits to the emergency room visits
Healthy Residents
HEALTHCARE: Reduce ER and hospital visits by residents with high blood pressure.
SPARC partners will work with residents who have or are at risk of having high blood pressure and connect them to neighborhood clinics, healthy foods, exercise and health education.
COMMUNITY AND RESIDENT ENGAGEMENT: Increase resident participation and leadership.
SPARC will host leadership academies and resident-led campaigns to transform the San Pablo Avenue Corridor as well as host community cultural events and beautification projects.
Healthy Community & Housing
GREEN SPACES: Improve safety in the San Pablo Avenue Corridor by reducing blight and improving streets, parks and abandoned land to create more friendly, community spaces.
SPARC will target blight and implement low cost and creative projects that improve the neighborhood and bring residents together.
HOUSING OPTIONS: Increase affordable housing units and reduce the number of residents who have to move because they can’t afford rising rents.
SPARC will work with housing developers to create at least 300 units of new, affordable housing, connect residents to resources and work to get more legal protections for renters.
Healthy Economy
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT: Create a thriving main street atmosphere on the San Pablo Avenue Corridor by attracting resident-desired local businesses and supporting resident entrepreneurs.
SPARC will recruit new businesses to the Corridor and will host one-day community market events to stimulate business activity, strengthen existing businesses and bring more people to the neighborhood.
JOBS AND WORK: Establish local opportunities for residents to get good paying jobs, have access to job training and improve their financial health.
SPARC partners will work together to help residents have the opportunity to earn a living wage by getting the training supports needed to succeed in the workplace and helping them connect to financial programs and services that will help them save and protect what they earn.