Economic Culture

As we walk International boulevard we kept track of the variety of shops that we passed by. At 3pm on a Saturday, the sidewalks of International Boulevard were bustling with people, and many shops were open and each had a handful of customers in them. In addition to the people in the stores shopping, there were also people on the streets panhandling and looking through the trash cans for recycling to turn in for cash.

Of the different types of shops we saw we generally saw money exchanges, mobile phone stores, boutiques, restaurants, clinics, bars, liquor marts and grocery stores. Where were the coffee shops? Internet cafes? Book stores? Recreation/sport stores? Movie theaters? Electronic stores? All of the shops that we saw were small family owned operations that were not well organized on the outside, nor on the inside. Most boutiques and health stores were not refurbished and simply had high ceilings, fluorescent lighting, and items piled upon low shelving units, or even just sitting upon the floor.  There are also weekly farmers markets that occur in the Fruitvale station as well as flea markets that are scheduled at a nearby drive-in movie theater lot.

There is also a side of Fruitvale that involves the illegal economy of drug deals and sex trafficking. This appeared nonchalantly during the day on International Boulevard, as witnessed by group members, and was definitely not an uncommon occurance. Most of this illegal activity occurs at night on International Boulevard, and as a local fireman said, "You don't want to be on International after dark."

Economic Census
While looking at the US Census of Oakland, CA we found some informative statistics about the local economy and thought it gave a unique perspective of what life in Oakland is like.

• Educational services
• 130 establishments
• 1,118 employeees
• Payroll of $26,097,000
• Average of $23,342 per employee
• Healthcare and social assistance
• 1,231 establishments
• 27,120 employees
• Payroll of $1,619,470,000
• Average of $59,715 per employee
• Art, entertainment and recreation
• 118 establishments
• 3,225 employees
• Payroll of $230,752,000
• Average of $71,551 per employee

The most profitable business was Healthcare and social assistance with over $3.5 billion of "employer value of sales, shipments, receipts, revenue or business done." It beat out wholesale trade, professional scientific and technical services. This is not surprising considering the number of clinics and health establishments we saw in the Fruitvale district. To read more about this, please click on "Medical Resources" in the links above.