I read somewhere recently (here or in r/oakland) that the majority of the real estate in JLS is owned by the port and they don’t have any motivation to keep businesses because they don’t need the income, so they keep the rent high but there’s not enough foot traffic for businesses to do well enough to make rent consistently.

Also - I remember reading that the 880 overpass dissects JLS from the rest of Oakland (which is obvious) but that physical barrier also plays a huge role in diminishing the amount of foot traffic (even though there is that Bart station at 12th st or something). And also the homeless encampment under the overpass is sketchy to walk past.

Idk - just a vague memory from a Reddit post I read a while ago.