When I Try to Tell People What Has Happened to My Neighborhood They Think I'm Exaggerating

I realize that these photos are low quality and that yes, my car is very dirty - the air quality is so bad here that my car is covered in filth again one day after washing it, so sometimes it is hard to want to bother. But I had been thinking of doing a high quality photo documentary of the homeless situation in Oakland, California, for over a year now but don't have the means to cobble together sound enough security to do so, so I have been putting it off, putting it off. When I left the house today I got a wild hair and decided, whatever, I'm just going to do it, crappy cell phone photos in overcast weather are better than nothing. And the thing is, I am moving soon, I realized I would be upset if I never got around to taking any photos at all. Because when I try to tell people what has happened to my neighborhood, they don't really seem to believe me at all.

These photos were taken within two miles from where I have lived for several years now. The drug needles are starting to make their way to the sidewalk in front of my door. I don't dare let my daughter play outside alone. People have started randomly walking out into the street in front of cars. More of the cars are deciding to not stop at red lights. And I don't mean just 'Oops, I just barely ran that red light', I mean, blowing through halfway through a red light at 60 miles per hour. The cars aren't content to blow through the stop signs at 35-45 on my 25 mph road anymore, at night some of them are gunning through all the signs at what looks/sounds like closer to 65-75mph. Everything left outside that's not bolted down gets stolen. The grocery store just bought new carts but they are running out again because they all get stolen. There are no hand tools at the car parts store because they all get stolen (despite having security) so they stopped bothering. The dollar store that many poor people here depended on for groceries couldn't keep up with the thefts and decided finally close up shop.

These photos are by no means a comprehensive representation of even the 2 miles around me. I just happened to take these on my way out today. I should go take some photos of the RV caravans and the janked, stripped, burnt out cars that end up here far more frequently than you'd expect.

If I wanted to document all of the encampments in Oakland I would have to dedicate time daily for over a year.

I did not set out with any intent to take identifying photos of people or with a desire to stain their dignity or whatever the fake-liberals might accuse me of, but these encampments are occupied at all times. After taking notice of me, this man approached my vehicle to yell threatening obscenities at me and tell me what he thinks about me. I do not feel compelled to dignify people who act like gremlins and photographed people who approached me in case they tried to do something bad to me or my vehicle. This is one of the many faces of homelessness in Oakland.

After I snapped this photo, this female came out into the roadway to physically block my car and yell at me. I tried to back out a couple of times but she called a friend out of a tent to help her. I then took her photo. She started yelling threatening things and about how she was going to sue me for taking her photo, and she physically put herself on my car, so it did not by any means seem safe to try to nudge my car out of there. After writing down my license plate and taking a photo of my car with his cell phone, the guy appeared to leave to possibly gather help, so I called the police for assistance. Will these people send an army of goons out to case the neighborhoods for my car so they can vandalize it? Who knows. Of course the lady got off my car shortly before the police arrived but at that point I did not want to risk her jumping in front of my car as I tried to leave. The police were like Umm lady you can't be parked here. Lol sigh.

This particular encampment is too dangerous to get closer to to photograph. On the opposite side of the sidewalk, the side closer to me, there is a very large encampment hidden from view by that cement pillar. They have a bbq grill and everything. From time to time I see ladies in high heels get out of their cars to go fraternize with the men at this encampment.

So there you have it folks, a very tiny sliver of the streets of Oakland, California today. This is not a new situation, but it only gets worse and worse. I refuse to be the frog in the pot as it comes to a boil anymore.