In 1983 I accepted the job of Art Director of the Oakland Tribune, in Oakland, California. I had never been there but the title was good, the money was great, and that was my field of endeavor so why not. I was a bit nervous when my new boss said I should look for housing in Berkeley, the next town over, since Oakland had a lot of gang-related crime. Oh great, for this I'm moving? I had experienced lots of crime already in Washington, D.C., which was partly why I was looking to start somewhere new.
Anyway, I found a house in Berkeley and commuted 12 miles to work every day. An armed guard walked me to my car in the company parking lot each night after work.
No dummy, I read the tea leaves and got out of California with my brains and body intact. After moving back East, I heard rumors that the city was having a renaissance. Had I given up too soon? But then yesterday I read that the popular fast food chain, In-N-Out Burger, had closed one of their 417 locations, 236 of which are in California, because their employees and customers were getting carjacked and/or robbed at gunpoint too often.
So, 41 years later crime in Oakland is no better and is seemingly worse. Is this a great country or what?
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