This is how Rome ended, too. No big collapse, just the slow decline of a civilization that lacked the self-respect to stand up for itself.

Know why you don't see a lot of "homeless" encampments and tents? Because without any stores there's nothing to shoplift, no parked cars full of stuff to steal, and no pedestrians to harass and rob. Mission accomplished Gavin!

The worst part? They move away and vote for the same damned things in the cities and towns unfortunate enough to have them settle there.

The bigger problem is once all of their own stores are closed, they'll come to an area near you to continue the insanity next.

I lived there for 12 years. I used to walk all around where you are walking. Oakland is a shell of itself. I grew up in Detroit on the back end of a massive city crash. You are documenting one in progress. Both San Francisco and Oakland politicians got cocky in not remembering that Detroit was the richest city in the country. Both cities are falling and they will probably take Berkeley with them. Keep up the good work, Metal Leo.

No accountability + no consequences = anarchy.

I left Cali in 2011. A couple or a few years ago I saw two mainstream media news reports about the decline of San Francisco - the homelessness, the drug addicts, the needles and poop on the sidewalks. When I was talking to an old friend (who lives in San Jose) on the phone I started telling her about what I had learned. I also criticized Nancy Pelosi for allowing our city to deteriorate so dramatically while amassing great wealth for herself while in public office. My friend shouted "That's absurd." and hung up on me. We have never spoken again.

Without law and order, there can be no society.

And they would vote the same way all over again. What is the definition of insanity?

Can you do a tour of the neighborhoods where the politicians who run the city live and juxtapose it with such decrepit ones to compare?

Glad to see the murals are still up. Oakland has it's priorities in order.

My niece and her boyfriend took a trip to California recently this summer and cut the vacation early and left. The homeless encampments and other BS they witnessed was enough for them. Good luck to California and all your woke politicians and people.

That’s what peace, love, justice and equity gets you.

I live in Oakland. The deterioration started with Barbara Lee and last 3 Mayors has turned it into a cesspool of crime. You dont see criminals because they are robbing the oakland suburbs ruthlessly and un-punished

Poster "We cannot stay silent" says it all. Good job Oakland, you got what you wanted.

America is closing everywhere, not just Oakland.

Got laid off from my downtown Oakland, CA tech job in May, left immediately after packing my car and I am glad that I did! Two weeks before my lay off, my car window was smashed for a $20 power bank. The city looked desolate then but now it’s somehow gotten even worse.

In the Cyberpunk films and games of the 90s the police buildings were absolute fortresses with no windows, just security cameras. Looks like we're here now boys.

Great looking city, lot of potential...if you are in the spray painting business

I am in Tucson and people - very wealthy people or developers - are pouring BILLIONS into this town. New buildings going up everywhere. Not sure of the intention.

When the police station is boarded up, you know not to open a businesses in that city. That is just insane.

I grew up in Oakland. I moved here in 1973. I was a Paramedic in that city from 1992 until 2015. The decline of that city has been literally insane. I will never go back. Perfect example of defund the police and liberal ideology.

Whoever is the mayor, governor is responsible for this. "Equity" is ruining this country. Get rid of the prosecutors and judges, who let these criminals go over and over and over again, and get rid of your governor and right down the line to the mayor and start all over!

The crossing signals sounds like a coo coo clock. Very fitting for the city that has gone completely crazy.

As a girl I used to take the bus by myself to downtown Oakland where my dad’s law office was and he would take me out to lunch. It was a pretty and safe city in the mid 60s. Went to Fairyland, Lake Merritt, movie theater, library. So sad.

Your videos harken back to real street level journalism. Rare these days.

It’s so beautiful, what progress California is making, vote BLUE Cali.

So good to see their policies working. I'm not going to shop in ANY big city stores. I'll continue to avoid them as they are plagued with a pox.

You know who deserves reparations? Any families who owned stores that were looted and stolen from so much that they were forced to close for good. Those are the people who deserve reparations. 😠

The US is quickly becoming a third world country. Very sad and I’m frightened for the future😢😢😢😮😮😮

I was relieved that you were able to complete your video journey without getting mugged or attacked strolling along Broadway in broad daylight!

Market LEO: Thanks for another walk thru time; your commentary makes the agony less painful to see a once beautiful and proud city disappear like San Francisco. Keep the tours coming O.K. Thanks.

Imagine that when a private business can’t protect its own property from theft. Truthfully it’s all planned to fail so it can be sold.

I'm a Bay Area Developer, and have done a numerous amount of deals in Oakland. Not anymore. Went there 2 months ago after 2 years, it literally looks like an Afghanistan War Zone! 💯

It's so sad I see what happened to the Bay area. I grew up in Bay area. I used to work in Oakland. Oakland had a lot of industry. It makes me sad. To see what these politicians did .

Let's close every store in Portland and San Francisco also! Love it😊

People might watch your videos and say thankfully it's not happening here (where they are), but sadly this is happening more and more all over the US. It's just a matter of time till it hits home for all of us (I'm in NYC). Thanks for doing what you do, and for opening more eyes to the reality and gravity of the situation.

I remember watching the RIOTS of 2020. GOOD JOB, OAKLAND! You deserve this!

Warms my heart to see the free peoples of America get exactly what they voted for. "Black is beautiful" Indeed!~

Man o man, I lived there 26 years and left in 94. I don't recognize it now bro. Seeing no thugs hangin around it's a sure sign their damage has left it's mark. It's sad to see the remaining businesses trying to operate while boarded up. Fact is the entire state is in collapse until the criminal Gov leaders are taken out. Oakland, CA is also the city with the highest rate of homelessness on a list of top 20. It's a good place to be FROM.

The community caused this. They allowed and tolerated actions that led to this point!

These are the types of stories that news broadcasters used to cover. I used to watch shows like sixty minutes and dateline as well as local news broadcasters. They covered human interest stories such as these. Those unfortunately are the days of the past. Now we must rely on independent journalists on the internet like yourself. That is why people are watching shows like yours instead of the local news. Unfortunately, all of our news has been bought up by large corporations who do nothing but create propaganda for the government. Thanks for covering this topic. I had no idea how bad it had gotten out in california.

Crime doesn't hurt the stores it only hurts the residents! Good job Newsom!!!

actual oaklander here, i can say, downtown has been ups and downs through my 30+ years of living.

This is so disturbing and such a tragedy to these neighborhoods. This is what happens when robberies go unabated. Progressive policies and politicians helped cause this.

Yo I live in Oakland, these politicians ruined all of CA and other major cities. Thanks for showing the world how it really looks.

thank you so much for bringing us right there to see for ourselves first hand ! great video

The word has got around that you don't have to pay for the merchandise you take in Portland. You can't run a store with a profit doing that.When there is only 1 store open in a neighborhood, they will keep the doors locked up. Customers will wait outside a window they will say what they want and pay for it, AFTER that a clerk will bring them what they paid for. When the retail stores are closed someone will open a shopper's club in a wholesale warehouse. You buy a membership. You can't get in unless you have your member's card. If you get caught shoplifting you are banned forever.

I’m sure the community who voted for this over the years will come together and find a solution and not just move next door to you and do it all over again where you live. Make them stay there until you clean up your room

Not just Oakland , society as a rule is crumbling....

You Get what you Vote For... Congratulations, Y'all Won... Now Take Your Victory Lap.

Good job for keeping up the world. Be safe there

Hello Metal Leo, praying for your safety in Oakland. Don’t bother calling the Help it will take a while.🙏😮🙏😮

Lots of social justice signs, but no one actually doing any work to improve the community.

Much of this is from the beating that Oakland, among many major U.S. and world cities took during the pandemic. The retail apocalypse that started as a result of massive shifts in shopping habits well before the pandemic, coupled with the abandonment of traditional office work and downtown spaces by IT workers during the pandemic, have also been major contributors. I have lived in Oakland for twenty-five years and worked in the downtown for much of that time. We all know that the city is far from perfect. But much of the rapid decline and loss of vibrancy of the downtown started with pandemic. Unfortunately, there is some bias in this that gives an impression that all of Oakland looks like this. No one is going into many of the city's beautiful and busy neighborhoods and the hills, or its extensive parks and redwood forests that rival Muir Woods and are only minutes away from downtown. BTW: The Oakland Police Department was never defunded, despite some initial calls to do so, although budgets have been strained for years, as they are in most cities. A movement to defund has even been sternly rejected by the local NAACP. So if people are looking for simple answers that prove political points, well, you won't find them here as long as you're being honest.

glad i live in a state that has law and order and is RED . we don't have these problems we can walk down the street we have plenty of open stores , we leave our keys in the car and doors unlocked and no one steal it . we help people who need help not mug them . Nothing in these blue states will change until people do.

I live in Europe. I see this and I‘m so so sorry for everyone left behind. It’s devastating to watch this. At what point did it become acceptable? The crime? The apathy? The homelessness? The drugs? The high taxes? When was it? I fear it could happen everywhere if this isn’t answered. I don’t pray, but my thoughts are with you all who aren’t a part of the problem.

Why have we allowed this to be done to our country? Is this peace, justice, and equity as the graffiti on the buildings say? I think not! Shame on us all for allowing this to happen.

Looks like downtown Portland too. All boarded up.

Nice can't wait too. See NYC like that.

Thank you for your ‘tours’ of the Bay Area Leo. I live very close by to S.F. and Oakland. I refuse to go look for myself in fear for my life. The local news is covering this up for the most part and candy coating the failures of the collapse by those in charge….so sad😢

Defunding the police has its consequences.

I lived most of my life in Oakland. Used to run up & down East 14th (international blvd) without fear. Went to Roller Derby games at the Exposition Bldg. Even went to the first Oakland Raider game at Frank Youel field. I left in 2004 after being burglarized twice. Such a shame how stupid leadership is ruining the state and its great cities !!

If mental asylums were re-opened and police were given the funding they needed, not to mention if people could open and conceal carry weapons without issues, crime would go down pretty damn quick.

Oakland has long had a sketchy reputation, so images of it today aren't as pathetic or disgusting as images of the major city across the bay are. Other cities like Detroit or Baltimore & nations like Venezuela or Argentina, etc, (assuming elections aren't too rigged) never change their political stripes. No reason to believe the Bay Area, Calif, etc, will be any different. So everyone is in for one l-o-oong decline. BTW, all those "no justice, no peace"-type walls throughout Oakland are quite fitting. Virtue signalling is very fun.

More to come in terms of these sorts of retail closures, especially within blue states, given their law enforcement reductions. Otherwise, this is setting the stage for the eventual death of brick & mortar retailers. Thanks to CV19, we’re gradually being socially reconditioned to order everything online now, under the guise of safety, convenience as well as modernity; whether it’s groceries, takeout food, clothing, transportation, etc. All while small mom & pop shops continue to vanish like dinosaurs.

I'm from New York, and I am fascinated by what's happening with the West Coast cities. We have our issues here, and Baltimore, Philly and other cities here are deteriorating, but not like the cities you have shown. What do you nthink happens to Oakland, San Francisco, Portland, San Jose, etc.? Continue to shrink and become more and more deserted? Bankruptcy and municipal services cut? Do the people left in these cities care to make the effort to reverse the rot?

This is what half of the population wants for all of America.

It turns out that if you trash every store in downtown often enough, they eventually go away and don't come back. Seriously, old oakland was starting to really comeback before the pandemic, and chinatown was in good shape. Now, its a whole different story. The people I really feel sorry for are all those people in west oakland who had been there for years, and were about to make a killing on their houses. I met a woman who ran a day care down there, her house had quadrupled in price, because she and her husband had toughed it out. I hope she sold before the pandemic.

I lived all my life in L.A. and even worked near the infamous skid row in downtown L.A. Your video reminded me how unsafe I felt when i visited San Francisco and stopped by Oakland.

Pretty good commentary here - the PD “boarded up” is a bit of a shock to me.

Thank you for your courage with these boots on the ground videos!

In 1973, I worked on the 5th floor of Capwell’s at 20th and Broadway. At lunch I would go across the street to the corner sandwich shop (where the folks knew me by name) or window shop along the myriad of retail stores that lined the road. This avenue is now completely unrecognizable. Gone. All, all gone.

I been in Oakland most of my life..I remember my beloved Raiders,A's to the East Mont mall..I remember when Oakland was the place to be but now it's a piece of s__t..A strong Mayor system that Jerry Brown started and a pathetic progressive government has ruined this city..The people don't care..All the city leaders care about is getting a paycheck..I used to love Oakland but not anymore.. Jerry Brown and Libby Schaaf are both racist..Shang Tao is another clueless progressive will never get it.. I'm glad the A's are moving and I salute John Fisher for doing what's best for his team.. Oakland didn't try to keep none of these teams and this will demonstrate Oaklands inability to get things done.. I'm leaving Oakland and I will always remember the old Oakland..I hope that one day Oakland gets back what it lost..

No one is trying to kill you for having a lighter shade skin tone, so its better than South Oakland.

I am glad I live in the mountains in East Tennessee. There is no way this city is safe to live in. One word: sad!

Stay safe. This is pure devastation on so many levels. People lost their businesses and had to let their workers go . How do people live nearby and get their goods and essential services.❤

I left California year ago no regrets

I went here recently with some friends to go to a brewery in Oakland. My friend's rental card got broken into in board day light. He's from east coast and said he'll never be back again. I feel for the business owners still there who have to deal with this shit. The unsafe public areas around these businesses are a HUGE deterrent for people who want to come spend money there. IMO, local residents need to vote for someone who can enforce the law and get repeat offenders off the street where they f*** up life for everyone else.

Stay safe man, I hope you don't live there because it really is dangerous. Walnut Creek and even Alameda are like a night and day comparison to this and SF

That’s what , “ peace love justice and equality “ gets you.

Amazing that the police station walls are not covered with graffiti.

Left Oakland in 2018 to move to Chicago. Unfortunately, Chicago is not far behind Oakland in terms of its decay, its crime, business fleeing. And the insanity of bail no longer being required for criminals.

It's now very clear where all that, "Peace, Justice, and Love" leads to.

I lived in Piedmont for years. I shopped in Oakland and enjoyed many wonderful restaurants. Never did I feel unsafe. Jack London Square was a fun place, took many visitors there. We bailed from California in 2012 for Tennessee and never looked back. It’s bittersweet seeing these videos. None of this had to happen. California committed suicide.

My friend lives in Oakland and he is genuinely concerned to be standing outside when in the city. Police are in siege mode and citizens are on their own. Organized crime from Oakland spills over into neighboring communities. I blame the government 100%.

This is what the people of California wanted and voted for, this is what they got. They should be happy and very proud of how they destroyed their home.

When you see the "main" street basically empty during the day, you are done. Imagine being there at night when the criminals own the streets.

You are a brave man for taking that walk.

All boarded up with that Darth Vader-ish façade, the Oakland PD building could fit right into the set of the movie "1984."

Use to commute down through those same streets back in the day. I think I’ve even been a patron at some of those closed business. Wow! Unbelievable! Stay safe and thanks for the showing.

This is really sad. I’m originally from Chicago and the decline of our beautiful cities is so disturbing.

How goes California so goes the nation.... behold the Lefts vision for the US....

It's the same group of people that destroyed and robbed Oakland that have also been allowed to destroy SF. They are also spreading out into other areas and wreaking havoc on society. The Oakland element is destroying so many areas of not only the Bay Area, but also other areas of the country. You can spot many of the people from Oakland.

This is coming to everyone’s neighborhood soon if we don’t get rid of the politicians responsible

Plenty of Marxist graffiti everywhere

Lived in Oakland in the 70’s. Lord what has happened to Oakland.? Now I live in Fairfield Ca. Never going to visit Oakland again depressing to dangerous 😢

It's a tragedy what's happening in California's big cities. I left 8 years ago and bought property in 4 corners area of Colorado Colorado. Everything is reasonably priced and there are very few homeless

I've read recently about the issues of getting in touch with emergency help nowadays in Oakland area. Just very depressing to see and hear that you can't even rely on 911 to get in touch for help when needed. Just like that one guy in an interview about this, that he doesn't even bother trying to dial 911 when something goes wrong. But that's what happens when you "defund" the very defense needed for the public. I hate to say it, but you get what you voted for.

I am so lucky I escaped this. Thank you for showing the world what I have been telling everyone since I left.