Big changes could be in store for Oakland’s Chinatown as plans move forward to finalize the Lake Merritt BART station area plan (Photo by SFBayWalk).
The station sits on three blocks of Chinatown and Oakland Local reports the plan could be finalized by the summer.
“I think the big issue right now is making sure the plan has a concrete mechanism for making sure it provides community benefits for this neighborhood,” said Julia Liou, Program Planning and Development Director for Asian Health Services. “We have done so much and worked so hard to keep our community engaged. Urban planning is often a foreign concept.” She added, “They want to see positive things happen. Everyone does.”
The Chinatown Oral History Project has looked into the history of the three blocks, talking to many of the people who used to live there until being displaced by the Lake Merritt Station.
“We thought it was really important to document what life was like on those blocks before displacement,” said Roy Chan, Project Director for the Oakland Chinatown Oral History Project, “as a way to kind of advocate for Chinatown’s needs for those blocks.”
You can read about some of that rich history as well as changes that could come with the new plan in Oakland Local.