So it’s no surprise that some long-time residents are leaving. Spotted on Facebook:

Dear City of Oakland,

You probably haven’t even noticed I’ve left so I thought I’d write you this note. Even though I am glad to have moved on I also miss you, (my friend said this would happen). Life with you was not always bad though remembering the bad makes it easier to move on. I feel like I really tried to make it work but you are so stuck in your ways. To be honest, if you didn’t have so many guns I might have stuck around. But the guns, well, those scare me. And when you broke in my house while I was sleeping and stole my laptop with all my photos on it, well, that was messed up. I never really forgave you for that, even though I sort of understand why stuff like that happens sometimes. In the beginning I thought I could change you, silly, I know. But then I realized I just didn’t feel like working that hard, so I guess this is partially my fault.

I think you knew I would leave someday, didn’t you. You saw white flight written all over my face when I moved in, even as I was signing a 30 year mortgage. I wish things were different, but truth is I had to do what’s best for me. So I guess you were right cause now I’ve moved on.

Things are different here, or maybe I should say they are more the same, which I guess I was looking for in a way, but didn’t want to admit. Believe me I’m not proud about this, I just want to be honest.

Well, I just needed to let you know you will always have a special place in my heart. Please look out for my friends across the street, the ones from Yemen, and all of their 7 children. I don’t think I’ll meet anyone like them here. And watch out for all the rest of your kids too, I wish I could have done more for them. I really hope I will someday, you know, once some time has passed and we can be friends again.

Ok , well, that’s all I needed to say, I wish you all the best, really.

Be safe.

Love, Janis

Of course, what we like about the site is the user-gen-related stuff, like this impressive directory of over 200 Oakland blogs. Just some of the interesting sites listed there…

• Ghost Town Farm – chronicles of an urban farmer
• Home Girl – real estate stories in San Francisco’s East Bay
• Oakland Crimespotting – interactive map of crimes in Oakland and a tool for understanding crime in cities.
• Camelia Street Blog – neighborhood blog devoted to quality of life issues for those living and working in west Berkeley
• California Taco Trucks – issues related to mobile food vending in the Golden State

Gertrude Stein once famously said of Oakland, “There is no there, there.” That is clearly no longer true, if it ever was. And of course, this kind of locally based reporting, by professionals, semi-professionals, and non-professionals, exists in every community in America. If you know of any similar directories of local blogs and web sites (or the sites themselves) from your own area, please let us know.