2025 Rise East Walking Tour

The best way to get to know a neighborhood is to walk it – and that’s exactly what roughly 20 investors, prospective donors, and stakeholders of Rise East did on Oct. 30, as they toured eight locations that illustrate some of the initiative’s ‘first and future’ investments.

Under a pleasant clear blue-sky, the walking tour began at the recently-purchased Sankofa Sanctuary building near MacArthur Blvd. and 71st Ave. in what’s known as the “40x40” neighborhood of Deep East Oakland. Long abandoned, the building has already undergone modest renovations and will serve as a community resource and food distribution center – which is also located directly across the street from the future Liberation Park affordable housing development and cultural center; which sits kitty-corner to the new Roots Community Adult and Pediatric Clinic.

The clustered area of investments gave visitors an on-the-ground view of how Rise East’s “commercial corridors” are designed to return density, vibrancy, and jobs and economic development to the 40x40. 

“We’re just seeing folks start to remember who we were,” said CJ Johnson, CEO of the Black Cultural Zone, and a 40x40 native. “We know that we’re bringing with activities here. We’re waking up, and we’re coming back to reclaim what we know we deserve, and to assure the future for our future generations.”

The two-hour walking tour included stops at a family-owned dojo that will be converted into a new cinema and cafe, and a chain-link fenced lot that will soon house a pop-up car detailing business before its conversion into a multi-use commercial development. 

At one stop, participants viewed the seeds of the Rise East investment – literally. A once-vacant asphalt lot had already undergone its conversion into a community youth garden, where residents can learn how to build planter boxes and grow their own food. The leafy green oasis has already drawn in curious residents. 

“This was a parking lot three months ago,” said Kenyata Dibiase, operations coordinator at Roots Community Health. “You cover it with a bunch of mulch, you put some boxes in, you invite the youth out – and you can get anything you want going.”

Watch the video – and don’t miss the next Rise East walking tour!