The City of Oakland’s General Plan Update team has released a summary of community feedback collected over the past year as part of its ongoing engagement efforts. According to the team, more than 1,300 residents participated in various activities such as pop-up events, walking tours, listening sessions, and focus groups. The outreach also included a project with students from Oakland High School.
The feedback was organized into 12 main themes. Residents from all districts expressed pride in Oakland’s diversity and community spirit but highlighted the need for more equitable services and opportunities. Common priorities identified by participants include safer streets, better mobility options, increased investment in affordable housing across the city, and ensuring that economic growth benefits all residents.
“The community engagement process demonstrated both the resilience of Oakland’s neighborhoods and the urgency of their needs. Residents across all districts expressed pride in the city’s diversity, creativity, and community spirit, while calling for more equitable delivery of services, resources, and opportunities. We saw shared priorities around creating safer streets and more reliable mobility options, investing in affordable housing citywide, and ensuring economic growth benefits all Oaklanders,” stated the report.
In addition to gathering general feedback, the team conducted an Options Survey that received 757 responses. The survey asked participants to rank different development approaches for Oakland’s future. Option A: City of Neighborhoods emerged as the top choice among respondents. This option favors distributing housing, jobs, and amenities throughout Oakland rather than focusing on transit-oriented or waterfront development.
“We have also summarized the results of the Options Survey. We received 757 responses and, overall, people ranked Option A: City of Neighborhoods as their top choice, followed by Option B: Connected Corridors and Gateways. People preferred distribution of housing, jobs, and amenities across the city over transit-oriented development or concentrated waterfront development. They want to see improvements in first-last mile connectivity between neighborhoods and transit stops, as well as improved maintenance of existing parks,” according to the report.
The input gathered during this process will be used to develop a Draft Land Use Framework scheduled for publication in February 2026.
