Changing The Name Of Oakland's Airport Is Not The Answer
16.04.2024 - 22:00
/ travelpulse.com
/ North America
/ Rich Thomaselli
Let me just say at the outset that I love tourism, and I love the idea of seeing new destinations.
But the idea of renaming the Oakland airport to include ‘San Francisco’ in its new official title is just window dressing—it’s like putting lipstick on a pig.
At its worst, this is outright deception.
I understand the thinking of Oakland city officials. They want people to believe that the two cities of Oakland and San Francisco are only separated by a bridge and a bay.
But the two towns couldn’t be more vastly different.
And changing the name of the airport is not the answer. In fact, just walk out the door of the airport, and you will quickly realize that this is the worst place to start an image campaign. The area around the Oakland Airport is crime-ridden and terrible.
Even Denny’s is abandoning its restaurant because it fears for the safety of its employees.
Not that San Francisco is Nirvana, mind you.
The city by the bay has a growing homeless problem. The romance of the cable cars and the hilly streets are a thing of the past, but it still has the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, Nob Hill, great restaurants, cool neighborhoods and a lot going for it.
New York City is the same way. Central Park is cool, but it’s tough to embrace the town when you have people pooping in the streets.
Oakland is struggling, to the point where even its professional sports teams don’t want to be there. Basketball’s Golden State Warriors have moved to San Francisco, football’s Oakland Raiders have moved to Las Vegas, and even the Athletics are going to move to Vegas.
You can’t just change the name of the airport and think that everything is going to be just fine.
Oakland will still be Oakland. And the city does have some fine attributes. It is blue-collar and gritty, and there is much to be said for that. But the real change should be in its culture and not in its airport. You can convince all the people you want to fly into the airport, and they are still going to cross the bridge and act like turrets in San Francisco.
Not even renaming the airport will change that.
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