We get a LOT of questions
Here are some of the more common ones.
We’ll add more over time, but please reach out if you have any questions not answered here!
Is this legal?
We’re not sure what you mean by “this,” but whatever it is, it’s likely a very gray, worn-out-Oakland-asphalt-colored area. We’re citizens doing what it takes to make unsafe situations safer until the city gets its act together — we aren’t heroes, we’re just fed up.
Who are you?
We’re a few people just like you who got sick of seeing the streets of Oakland decaying around us every day as the city continues to debate how to spend our tax dollars. We’re transplants and East Bay natives who decided we didn’t need to wait for help that might never come — we believe that giving back to our communities is the East Bay way.
Can you fill my pothole?
We’d love to, but that’s not the way this works. We give you the tools (asphalt and a tamper) to fill your own pothole for the greater good.
Why not?
We aren’t Uber for potholes. You can probably imagine some of the reasons why “Uber for pothole fixing” wouldn’t scale well. In this way, we do sympathize with the problem facing municipalities. There are a number of reasons why we can’t guarantee that we can fill your pothole: some potholes aren’t just potholes, and are a symptom more complicated road and infrastructure issue (think sinkholes), while some areas are actually so far gone that the entire street needs to be repaved, etc.
For large donors (over $500), we’re willing to discuss what can be done to address specific potholes, but we can’t guarantee we’ll fix it for you.
How does your repair job compare to the city’s?
We use the same asphalt the city uses for spot repairs (EZ Street Asphalt), and we use it the same way they do. Like all pothole fill-ins, these are not meant to be permanent solutions—they’re meant to take a dangerous situation and make it safe until the street can be completely repaved. Nothing is better than a job well done the first time, and our city needs to be more aggressive with completely repaving streets that have long been neglected or patched repeatedly.