Making Connections in the Lower San Antonio
Children from a San Antonio soccer team laugh it up on the field. Photo: Jason Fritz
The Lower San Antonio district of Oakland serves as a Bay Area gateway for many immigrants, who make up almost half of this neighborhood’s population. The district is one of Oakland’s most culturally rich with significant Latino, Southeast Asian, Chinese, African American and Caucasian populations. Such cultural richness also poses its challenges. Intercultural exchange and interaction is not very common, which means that communication and networking in the area is fragmented, isolated and unorganized. The Lower San Antonio district has high numbers of low-income families and while economic development is improving, it is still anemic. Along 23rd Avenue, one of the neighborhood’s main economic thoroughfares, prostitution and crime are common. But the residents and community members of the Lower San Antonio are beginning to organize and come alive, facing civic challenges head on.
San Francisco State Students in the Public Journalism course in fall 2004, immersed themselves in the neighborhood and found a range of stories that have not been told. We invite you to look through the window they have opened into the lives of Lower San Antonio community members.