Oakland’s Italians still living la dolce vita

Hanging on the wall in the backroom of the New Oakland Tailor, between an assortment of family… Hanging on the wall in the backroom of the New Oakland Tailor, between an assortment of family photographs, is a large picture of the town of Abruzzi, Italy.’ ‘The air was so clear there,’ said Gino De Iuliis, the Meyran Avenue store’s owner, as he looked at the pictures and recalled his immigration from Italy to the United States in 1956. Like hundreds of other immigrants, he came from the small, hilly town in Italy to the streets of South Oakland. ‘There were about 500 of us that all moved over at once,’ said De Iuliis. ‘These streets used to be filled with immigrants.’ But despite the transformation of South Oakland from a primarily Italian neighborhood to a hub for students, the tight-knit Italian community thrives. It incorporated students into the neighborhood and remains a subtle underground staple of the Oakland community. Julia Puranti, the owner of Groceria Merante on Bates Street, said her store attracts much of the Italian population in Oakland. ‘If you walk in here and there are more than two of them in here, they’re not speaking English,’ said Puranti. ‘There’s this group of them,’ she added. ‘We call them the mourners, and when one of them dies they all stand out in the streets and cry and wail.’ De Iuliis, who bought his tailor shop from another Italian man 48 years ago, said he still keeps in touch with many Oakland families, even those that have moved away. Despite strong the cultural history of the neighborhood, students renting and living in the community sometimes present problems for longtime residents. ‘Universities throughout the country face problems with their student communities and ethnic communities clashing,’ said urban studies professor Carolyn Carson. ‘There’s very little integration.’ De Iuliis said he’s noticed the same thing. ‘Fifteen or 20 years ago, it was a different era with students,’ he said. ‘Kids went to school wearing neckties and sports jackets. Every year, you see a little change.’ The neighborhood’s demographics have shifted drastically over the past 30 years. In 2000, 83.5 percent of South Oakland consisted of non-family households and 55.7 percent of the neighborhood’s population fell between the collegiate ages of 22 and 24 ‘mdash; a far cry from the community’s family oriented past. In 1980, families still made up nearly 70 percent of South Oakland households. For business owners like De Iuliis and Puranti, having a new demographic of customers isn’t necessarily a bad thing. ‘We get a nice mix in here,’ said Puranti. ‘It’s getting to the point where alumni are bringing back their kids to see where they went grocery shopping in college. We’re like a miniature tourist spot.’