Prescott, Oakland, California

The area was originally part of Oakland Point. It was a residential area of Victorian homes, many of which still stand, some in disrepair and some having undergone rehabilitation.[2]

The neighborhood has suffered from high rates of crime,[3] gang activity,[4] and poverty since the decline of Oakland's industrial economy in the late 20th century. The neighborhood earned its nickname after the construction of the Cypress Freeway in the 1950s that split the West Oakland neighborhood in two and isolated Oakland Point from the remainder of West Oakland. The one housing project is Campbell Village Court.

Seventh Street was an African-American cultural center of Oakland from the 1940s to the 1960s, due to nightclubs such as Slim Jenkins' Place, Esther's Orbit Room and the Lincoln Theater, which drew top blues and jazz performers from across the United States.[5] The area was sometimes referred to as "The Harlem of the West."[6] The decline of Seventh Street has been blamed on the construction of the Cypress Freeway, the Oakland Main Post Office—and subsequent BART elevated track lines, which took up much of the street.[7]

At the corner of Tenth and Center Streets, Huey P. Newton, founder of the Black Panther Party, was gunned down in an alleged failed drug deal on August 22, 1989.[8]

Prescott is undergoing gentrification,[9] similar to neighboring "Dogtown" area of West Oakland. Once the most devalued neighborhood in Oakland, Prescott now has some newly rehabilitated Victorian homes that have recently sold for well over $1,000,000. It is now a sought after area to live in because of its location as a historic center of the Bay Area and its proximity to BART, among other reasons.

The West Oakland BART station is located in Prescott, on 7th Street, and is one stop from downtown Oakland and downtown San Francisco. All lines except the Richmond-Warm Springs/South Fremont line stop at the station.

In June 2020, the BART Board of Directors approved a mixed-use housing and commercial development at the West Oakland BART station that will include 762 housing units, 30 percent of which will be designated as affordable, 50,000 square feet of retail space, 300,000 square feet of office space and various amenities such as wider sidewalks and more crosswalks for pedestrians.

Several community organizations are based in Prescott, including the Lower Bottoms Neighborhood Association, the Prescott-Joseph Center, UNIA, Alliance for West Oakland Development, Prescott-Oakland Point Neighborhood Association,[11] and the Lower Bottom Playaz theater troupe. Commercial outlets like City Slicker Farms, Revolution Cafe, Bikes 4 Life, and Mo Better Foods serve the community. In 2006, a locally owned full-service cooperative grocery store named Mandela Foods Cooperative (member of the Network of Bay Area Worker Cooperatives) opened in West Oakland, providing residents access to fresh produce, and focusing on nutritional education and affordable foods grown locally.

The entire neighborhood lies within the boundaries of Oakland's Downtown-West Oakland District 3 City Council seat.