Forty randomly selected Oakland residents will convene for the first time this weekend to discuss how to transform the city’s many vacant retail spaces.
It’s Oakland’s first “civic assembly,” a group of people selected by lottery and compensated for their time to help solve some of the city’s thorniest issues. Members, known as delegates, will spend three weekends together between now and October to deliberate on how to revitalize empty storefronts and private lots and create a report with recommendations for local leaders.
Oakland has roughly 3,500 vacant commercial spaces and lots, and organizers are inviting the public to add any vacant lots, storefronts, or industrial spaces that concern them to a crowdsourced mapping tool on the project’s website…