Lower Bottoms, Oakland, California

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The Lower Bottoms (also known as The Bottoms^[1]) is the informal name of a neighborhood of West Oakland in Oakland, California. The neighborhood boundaries are Mandela Parkway to the east, 7th Street to the south, West Grand Avenue to the north, and the former Oakland Army Base to the west. It includes the "central station development" of the former 16th Street Station, which served as a film location for the 2005 film Rent^{[citation needed]} and Vallejo rapper E-40's "Tell Me When to Go" video.^{[citation needed]}

1 History
2 Gentrification
3 Cultural character
4 Political representation
5 See also
6 References

[edit] History

The neighborhood has suffered from high rates of crime ^[2] and poverty since the decline of Oakland's industrial economy in the late 20th century. Most of the crime and violence takes place in and around the three major housing projects^{[citation needed]}. The Acorn Projects, Cypress Village, and the Campbell Village Court. The neighborhood earned its nickname after the construction of the Cypress Freeway in the 1950s that split the West Oakland neighborhood in two and isolated Oakland Point from the remainder of West Oakland.

[edit] Gentrification

The Bottoms is undergoing gentrification^[3] just as the neighboring "Dogtown" area of West Oakland. Once the most devalued neighborhood in Oakland, the Lower Bottoms now has some newly rehabbed Victorian homes that have recently sold for $700,000. It is now a slightly more sought after area to live in because of its location as a historic center of the Bay Area and its proximity to San Francisco.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Cultural character

An effective community organization in the Lower Bottoms is the Village Bottoms Cultural District, primarily responsible for project incubation. To date there have been a number of radio stories, interviews and articles written about the effort and visionary of Marcel Diallo, who is often referred to as "The Mayor of West Oakland". Diallo has been very active in city's efforts to promote the cultural integrity of the Lower Bottoms.^[4] Marcel's approach has been criticized by many neighbors who oppose his racial bias. At a recent meeting held at his "House of Common Sense", a speaker encourages participants to become suicide bombers to kill "honkeys".^[5] Marcel is often quoted referring to Whites as his enemy, a practice which has proven divisive in the multi-cultural neighborhood of the Village Bottoms. The Village Bottoms Cultural District is a grassroots effort to retain the Black population of West Oakland, in spite of the gentrification that is rapidly changing the landscape of the Bottoms; techniques used by the Village Bottoms Cultural Group include the development of Black-owned cultural institutions such as The Black New World Social Aid & Pleasure Club, Black Dot Cafe, Cornelia Bell's Black Bottom Gallery, Nganga Diallo's House of Common Sense and Soul Foods Cooperative. There is also a plethora of local community organizations that based in Lower Bottoms, including, Prescott-Joseph Center, UNIA, Alliance for West Oakland Development, Prescott-Oakland Point Neighborhood Association, The Lower Bottom Players theater troupe, City Slicker Farms and Mo Better Foods.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Political representation

The entire neighborhood lies within the boundaries of Oakland City Council District 3, represented by West Oakland-based council member and longtime West Oakland resident Nancy Nadel, who ran for mayor of Oakland in the 2006 election in a three-way race.