This City Struggles With Abandoned Cars

Today we’re talking about an issue that’s troubling one Californian city, but it could expand to others, even outside the state.

There are many factors at play with this crisis. Analyzing them could help other cities take action before this problem catches up to them.

However, for this Californian city, a solution might be further than it would like.

Key Takeaways

Don’t have much time? Here’s the summary of what we’re talking about:

• Oakland struggles with abandoned cars

• These become hotbeds for crime

• The problem worsens when you consider that storing a car isn’t easy, due to the footage needed

• The solution seems more distant than people would like

LONG READ

Oakland’s Abandoned Car Problem

Abandoned cars litter the streets. Their windows are shattered, and graffiti covers the burnt shells of vehicles that aren’t necessarily old.

Some have been there so long that plants started growing. Others have drugs and empty shell casings. No one is picking them up, and they're piling on.

It's not a post-apocalyptic scene. Instead, it's 2024. Those abandoned cars are overwhelming one of the most expensive cities in the US, according to the Council for Community and Economic Research.

The problem is worsening in Oakland, and no solutions are on the horizon. Still, many wonder why this city suffers so much when others don't.

Not only that, but one question remains: is there something someone, anyone, can do to stop this? These cars have to go somewhere, but finding a place to dump is almost impossible.  

How big is Oakland's abandoned car problem?

San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland are so close that they're often considered one but differ in several aspects.

Population-wise, San Francisco and San Jose are jam-packed with people, as the following chart shows.

San Francisco has 809,000 inhabitants, and San Jose has around 972,000. Meanwhile, Oakland has 431,000.

But when it comes to abandoned cars, the story is entirely different.

The following chart shows just how massive this difference is.

According to ABC News, San Jose has the lowest estimated number of abandoned cars, with 7,237. San Francisco has around 9,900, and Oakland has almost 14,000.

Oakland might be the least populated of the three cities, but it doubles its number of abandoned cars. This fact alone is a concern, but it's not the only one.

This crisis happened suddenly. It's estimated that these 14,000 abandoned cars appeared in six months, leaving the city with its hands tied.

Any vehicle that's not moving is a problem. It's dead space, and you have to put it somewhere.

It happens with your car when you get home. You have to park it somewhere.

Now, imagine 14,000 vehicles that aren't going anywhere, have no owners, and many don't even run. Not only that, but these are vehicles that the city never planned to keep.

Authorities and neighbors wonder if there's any way to fix this problem. Still, before reading about the creative ways the city is looking to solve it, there's a question to be answered: How did this happen?

Why are there so many abandoned cars in Oakland?

It's your backyard, but there's little to do if you wake up and there's an abandoned car in it. You call the authorities, and they might be able to tow it to a yard, but there's a chance that it won't happen.

This is the story of many Oakland inhabitants. Abandoned and trashed cars suddenly appear on their properties, and this happens not only for the reason you might think.

Of course, car theft is a crucial factor in this crisis, and California is no stranger to it.

According to Market Watch and the National Highway Traffic Administration (NHTSA), California ranked first in total motor vehicle thefts in both 2022 and 2023. It's a clear reflection of a national problem.

From 2019 to 2022, car theft has increased 25% and, in 2022, for the first time in history, there were more than 1 million registered car thefts in the country.

If you want to dissect these stats more, you can check out this fascinating article by Market Watch.

Colorado might rank first in vehicle thefts per 100,000 people, with Pueblo, Colorado, having 1,086.44 vehicle thefts per 100,000. Still, these three cities, Oakland, San Jose, and San Francisco, are not far behind.

The trifecta ranks eighth in the country with 699,30 thefts per 100,000 people.

Authorities in Oakland understand and recognize that theft is the root cause of abandoned vehicle problems, but it's not the only reason. Oakland is costly, and it's becoming increasingly populated.

An obvious reason for this problem is space. Ironically, keeping a car in a city that's becoming increasingly expensive can become unsustainable.

Paying for parking is becoming considerably more expensive as every day passes. So, people in dire straits would much rather abandon the car where it sits.

Oakland faces a fascinating conflict. It's part of a massive tech hub, the world-famous Silicon Valley, but such success has caused housing prices to skyrocket.

Oakland has been hit the hardest, as high-tech jobs aren't as common in the area, yet rent prices don't reflect reality.

So, in certain areas, such as Wood Street, homeless encampments have grown in size.  

These are the same areas where people abandon their cars. Directly below the maze of concrete and hardwire supporting thousands of commuters, abandoned and stripped vehicles become part of the scenery.

The obvious and not so apparent problematic of abandoned cars

Thousands of dilapidated vehicles present an obvious problem, but some issues can be surprising. If one of those vehicles starts and operates, people can use it to their advantage.

It can quickly become a weapon or device for mischief if it so happens that the vehicle hasn't already been used for that.

As this article from SFGate reports, other uses include "turning tricks," becoming battering rams, and even a place to sell drugs and stash weapons.  

Then, there are more extensive problems. Areas littered with vehicles might become dirtier, attract plagues such as rats, and lower property values. In a region where homelessness has increased, this is the last thing they need.

Finally, there's the span in which this happened. Six months is nothing if you envision the problem as just beginning.

If authorities want to slow down this crisis, they must first stop it from happening and, that's almost impossible.

The solution is harder to come by than people think

Many would say the ideal solution is to tow and scrap the vehicles, but that's not always possible.

Every scrapped vehicle has to follow due process (as the owner could reclaim it down the line); meanwhile, you need space to store it.

Oakland doesn't have space. It's so desperate for any area to store abandoned vehicles that it's leasing massive terrains to stack cars on top of each other. While it might provide a quick solution, it could become prohibitively expensive in the long run.

Yet, the city was so desperate that it started leasing terrains almost immediately.

Then, there's reporting the vehicle.

Imagine that someone abandons a vehicle in front of your driveway. You call for a tow truck and if authorities agree to tow it, but you might not be home free.

The problem is so frequent that the city can no longer handle the calls. Between the chaos of keeping track of all the abandoned vehicles and the risk of towing a car that isn't abandoned, the city has to act cautiously.

This has direct consequences and there are some cases in which the person filing the complaint has had to pay for the tow, even if the car was not theirs.

So, to cope with this crisis, the city has come up with a solution. It's basically prompt vehicle towing. You can think of it as "tow first, ask later", and it could pay off but only in one sense: collecting the vehicles.

What happens next is still a mystery. For Oakland, it's a race against time and space, but the solution seems too distant, too unattached to the problem.

Meanwhile, those in Oakland continued to struggle with abandoned cars. The streets are clogged with massive debris that isn't easy to remove.

That's where we wonder: other cities are becoming more expensive and prone to car theft. So, one can't help but wonder if this could happen in another city.

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