Hilltop Mall, Revisited: Developers Envision Nearly 10K New Housing Units – But Critics Worry Current Residents Could Be ‘Priced Out’

When Cesar Zepeda, president of Hilltop’s Neighborhood Council, met with investors and developers prior to LBG’s purchase, he emphasized the Hilltop community’s vision: a mixed-use development that incorporates affordable housing units. But while housing is needed all over the Bay Area, Zepeda said the new owners and the community need to be “realistic and understand what the Hilltop area is able to give.”

It’s not 9,600 housing units, he said.

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Long waiting list for Head Start, despite new federal grant

A playground behind the Brookside Child center on Tuesday, April 18, 2016. (Yesica Prado/Oakland North)

Day after day, Criselda Feria waits for a phone call that will give her good news. Her name is stuck on a waiting list that will give her a slot for federally-subsidized child care. Feria’s 18-month-old son is one of the 2,074 children still on the Contra Costa County’s waiting list to receive Early Head Start child care.

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