Changes in the Domus proposal are welcome news -- but let's get the details. The fact that Domus has a viable 80-unit project means that Domus played games with the community when it proposed 120 units. And the same may be true at 80 units.

The revised proposal leaves dozens of cars to seek parking on the neighboring streets every day -- not only by project residents but also by outside clients of a Self Help for the Elderly center.

The proposal still makes no sense for senior housing. Will senior citizens walk down the hill and back up in order to visit the Fruitvale supermarket, post office, etc.? No, many residents would be completely isolated, except of course by car, theirs or the cars of visiting assistants.

Do we want ten townhomes or 80 one-bedroom units? Remember, too, that when the government mortgage is repaid, the obligation of these units to remain senior housing will end. The apartments would rent on the general market, and the vehicle density would increase even more.

Domus made concessions because Oakland News published an expose, because a steady stream of comments established neighborhood opposition, and because the editor of the MacArthur Metro publicly called for changes.

On the other hand, as soon as Domus came forward, councilmember Jean Quan said it was either Domus's 120 units or a vacant lot for five years. Quan may have naively swallowed that line, but the community did not fall for a scare tactic.

Ten townhomes are a viable project, given a reasonable land sale by the owners of the former Hillcrest Motel. We should not resign ourselves to ruining the Dimond district, whether overstuffing the lot with 120 units or with 80 units. We need to keep pushing until Domus or someone offers a project that enhances the community.

Charles is right. I got over-excited and swept myself away when I saw that a developer was making any concessions at all, especially a politically connected developer.

When you think about the state budget and the city budget you need to visualize two deflated water
balloons. Yet Ms. Kang is certain that she will be
able to get the last few frops of water (housing fund money) from each. We know that Jean Quan is Kang's banker in Oakland; we're just going to guess that Assembly member Wilma Chan is doing the same
thing in Sacramento. The Domus architect, Yui Hay Lee and his Planning Commissioner Wife, Suzie, both gave Jean Quan money for her campaign. Is this circle a coincidence? You be the judge.

Is the design and the political funds incest of this project beginning to stink or is there a pig loose in my monitor? Why do so many Oakland elected officials seem to view the city treasury as their own private sandbox open only to their cronies and them? And even more disheartening, why aren't more of we plebes blowing whistles and raising red flags?

Beyond the rank political odor of the project, I would like to second Mr. Pine's observation that the topography of the lot will be seriously challenging to many seniors. And I'm not talking about "junior seniors" in the 55 to 65 age group. Most of these folks only call themselves seniors when they're pursuing a restaurant discount.

I'm referring primarily to the over 65 group. That's when life really presents the bills for the sins and excesses of one's youth. Hip, knee, and shoulder joints become angry, the spine gets stiff and creaky, cancer knocks at the cell doors, the arteries and lungs clog and the heart doesn't like it, the nerves begin overlooking some messages to the brain--like "you're about to fall"--and the brain begins to respond more slowly and with garbled content--like "move your right foot quick; no, make that the left . . . strike that. Now pick yourself up, dummy."

All seniors need daily exercise and walking is a great one. But walking the steep hills that surround Lincoln and MacArthur, especially carrying shopping bags in summer heat or winter rain, is a higher bar of exercise than many seniors are capable of performing without negative consequences. And sometimes the consequences can be life threatening: heart attacks, falls, exhaustion to the point of confusion and disorientation.

When I heard this kind of talk as a young man, I dismissed it as exaggeration or a sympathy ploy. "Vigorous exercise is what these old duffers need," I thought. Now that I'm the old duffer, I've changed my tune. Steep hills, with or without difficult weather and heavy shopping bags, are not what bad joints and sluggish circulatory and nervous systems need.

It is unfortunate that Domus and other developers of senior housing and the bureaucrats who award them taxpayer dollars don't talk to their grandparents enough to learn what seniors really need in their living accommodations. In summary, even if the public choose to once again overlook the apparent sandbox insider politics, I think the location of this project dooms it as a positive addition to the city's inventory of senior housing.

I could say more but it's time for my nap!

The neighborhood won't tolerate anything larger than a single family home on that site. The site, in a neighborhood underserved by parks deserves a park there, though it should be one open only to the neighborhood. We need to keep out all the undesireable elements from elsewhere. Let's build a big fence around it with a big lock that only the neighbors can open.

Frank,
You and people like you are the problem.
Larry

No Larry, Frank is right. It's you and people like you who are the problem.

Besides the political stink associated with this development, unfortunately, the neighborhood is so relieved to be rid of the motel (or maybe they are so tired from fighting to get the motel closed)that they are ready to accept almost anything as being better. The Dimond Improvement Association even wrote a letter of support to go with the Domus application.

No developer in the recent history of Oakland has EVER proposed an infill development consisting of a single family house of similar size to the ones already existing in the neighborhood.

I'm sure that Domus could make money if they cut it down to TWENTY units, but we'll never know, because that isn't how the game is played.

I just glanced at the letter again and noticed that Meea used the word "scheme"- yeah, it's a scheme all right. I wonder if the 2.2 million price was agreed upon ahead of time with the owner of the motel, just so the whole thing could play out exactly like it is. Once she gets the approval, it turns out she's only paying $900,000.

Jane, you ignorant slut.

Froth away!

The letter from the Dimond Improvement Association is available at:

(Actually, click on Charles' name below to access the letter. Eds)

The letter is a curious document, since it 1) lists parking and several other concerns, 2) declares with no evidence that senior housing is a good use for the hilltop site, and 3) says DIA will watch the project closely yet recommends approval for Domus.

The chair of the DIA is Hoang Le Banh, who until this past May was on Jean Quan's staff. Councilmember Quan started out in support of Domus's project, but I have not seen public comment by her after people voiced so many telling objections.

Larry Fine's comment in not acceptable. I know that's the line that was used on Saturday Night Live by Dan Akroyd to Jane Curtin, and it was funny then. It isn't funny here when people are having a serious
discussion.

Jeannette,

You call this a "serious discussion?"
Lincoln/MacArthur is on a hill too steep for seniors?

Where are the positive suggestions? All that is on this site is negativity and cliched eruptions of neighborhood bile.
The way it is described Lincoln Avenue/ MacArthur Blvd is Mt. Killamanjaro ---an impassable summit fraught with hazards. If the bus doesn't run you over, out of control thugs will knife you. Omigod. help, help, the sky is falling, the sky is falling.
Any of you ever read a story called the "Boy who cried wolf?" It's also applicable to women, and whatever other genders there are out there.

You're pushing your luck, Larry.

If you want sweetness and light and people who are a few fries short of a happy meal, Oaklandnews is not the site for you. Yes, we bitch, we moan, we throw figurative rocks- that is what we do. We do it because no one else does, because our local paper hardly ever dares. The City and the developers always want everyone to play nice- why? Because that way they win every freaking time! An informed public is what the city fears most. There are plenty of people who are happy to propose "solutions"- although usually a "problem" has to be made up first (see the now thankfully dead Catholic cathedral proposal at the southern end of the Lake. And by the way, I was part of the group that solved that problem for real-by proposing the Lake Merritt Boulevard Plan which will turn that end of the lake from a freeway to a landscaped boulevard, thanks to Measure DD.)

Numero two-o: Men rarely understand how much more dangerous the world is for women, particularly elderly women. No, the Dimond District is not crawling with muggers. On the other hand, seniors make easy prey. Regardless, the hill from Lincoln down to Fruitvale is pretty damn steep. I would be quite careful walking down it now, and if I were older and had osteoporosis I don't think I'd risk it at all.

Numero three-o: The way the game is played is that we have to voice concerns about parking and safety and building height in a vain attempt to stop projects we don't want in our neighborhood because people like you will scream NIMBY otherwise. Do you think the Leona Quarry neighb ors are reaaly concerned about drainage? They don't want the damn development at all! But that isn't how CEQA is set up.

Anyone who's paying attention realizes that a politically connected developer gets whatever they want in this city, and neighborhoods have to scream damn loud to get a development cut down to something that's only twice as big as it ought to be.

And don't start on me about Smart Growth and Density Near Transit- it's crap, just like urban renewal was in the 1960s. It just a new way to destroy cities.
I personally am waiting for Domus to throw in an Asian-American Cultural Center or something for "The Children"- so we can be accused of racism and being against children as well.

The Sky is Falling, the sky is falling!!!!!
If you could read your own arguments without the myopic blinders, I thing you would see how foolish they sound...(Lincoln/MacArthur too steep, smart growth=urban renewal)
As an aside, it will be nice when "Lake Merrit Blvd plan" is put in place---I sincerely hope we all live long enough to see it. Thanks for trying to improve that. It would be nice to have something in the interim though...
yes, unscrupulous developers hide behind "Smart Growth" because real smart growth projects do make sense on many levels. But you go around throwing out many babies with the bathwater. (I am not calling the Hillcrest site a smart growth site, however it is within walking distance of shopping and some shops and more variety---Farmer Joes, Food Mill---are a short bus ride away. It would be foolish to severely restrict development at a site along a major commercial corridor.
As far as Leona Quarry goes, sadly, we live in an urban area and it is going to be developed. It's on a fault line---big deal, so is the BofA bldg in downtown SF, and that is 52 stories high. There are people called engineers in this world, good ones know how to build safely. There are people called inspectors and architects too. Oh, there are also lawyers, they act as a counterbalance to the system. Is there corruption in the system? Yes. Are people dishonest? yes! But to me, this half baked stuff only undermines what you are trying to accomplish.
I'm certain you are very intelligent, but you really do nothing but marginalize yourself with a lot of zany arguments. Then you complain about being marginalized by the media and ignored by the politicians.