On the Way to the Mandela Farmers Market:

We decided to check out the Mandela Farmers Market, located on 7^th Street right near the BART station. During our last visit to West Oakland, we had trouble finding people to talk to so we thought the market would give us a ready-made opportunity for conversation.

We rode from downtown along 14^th Street, through layers of architectural history and part of the post-industrial heart of West Oakland. Massive plants stand empty, in various stages of decay, with huge signs to entice leasers or buyers. With the swift tide of gentrification, seems like it won’t be long before these buildings are reformatted into now ubiquitous luxury live-work studio spaces. One of the words that many people have used so far to describe West Oakland is ‘gentrification.’