RAE Sample Report — Oakland, CA (2025)
What This Is
This is a free glimpse of the Relocation Advisory Engine. I take a profile — real constraints, real trade-offs — and run it against the Collapse Compass scan. The result is blunt advice: where you can survive, where you should move, and where you should never set foot. Custom reports cost $75 and map your actual situation.
Sample Profile Snapshot
Devon, 27, freelance writer/editor. $8,200 in savings. ADHD meds are non-negotiable. Currently subletting in Oakland. Medium risk tolerance. Mobile, but exposed.
👉 Want to see how this plays out — and where Devon should head next? Keep reading.
Click here to get your own custom RAE Report for $75.
Is This You?
You’re Devon, 27, nonbinary, a freelance writer/editor working remotely. You’ve got about $8,200 in savings and a reliable used vehicle. You’re subletting—temporary and exposed. You depend on ADHD medication, so continuity in pharmacy access matters. Risk tolerance is medium, and while you’ve got a friend network in place, you’ve got no job tether or family anchors keeping you locked in. You’re mobile. You’re wired. But you’re parked in Oakland.
Collapse Compass Scan Summary — Oakland, California
Psychological Collapse – 3.5 / 5 (Overt Instability)
Youth trauma is multigenerational. Crisis lines are maxed out. Institutional trust is effectively dead. Despair has normalized. If you’ve stopped flinching at sirens and tents, it’s because this is now baseline.
Physical Collapse – 4 / 5 (Systemic Instability)
Triage hospitals. Burning buildings. Cracked roads. RV camps and food deserts stretch from East Oakland to West Grand. Basic city services are inconsistent or absent.
Social Collapse – 4 / 5 (Systemic Instability)
You live inside a patchwork—squatter collectives, tech fortresses, mutual aid pockets. Police don’t respond in full sectors. Armed theft isn’t rare. Evictions and inequality are hard-baked. There’s no center anymore.
Strategic Collapse – 3.5 / 5 (Overt Instability)
Governance is symbolic. Real power has migrated—into gated patrol contracts and tech-funded bunkers. Citywide planning has been replaced by revenue salvage operations.
Currency-Based Collapse – 3 / 5 (Functional Fragility)
Formal wages aren’t enough. Street economies are dominant. The dollar circulates, but not reliably. Food and rent consume more than they give back.
Debt-Driven Collapse – 4 / 5 (Systemic Instability)
Credit is a trap. Degrees are a joke. BNPL is normal for food and bills. You’re not failing—the system is.
Collapse Profile: Oakland isn’t spiraling. It’s already down. If you’re still “managing,” it’s either because you’re buffered—or because you’ve adapted to dysfunction as default. The city offers culture, community, and chaos—but no stability.
Relocation Advisory — Ray Mercer Reporting
Devon, I’ll be blunt: Oakland doesn’t want you stable. It wants you tired, overdrafted, and creatively productive just long enough to make rent—then start over. You’ve got more cushion than most. That makes this your exit window.
Your ADHD meds require consistent pharmacy access and insurance reliability. You need affordable rent, decent bandwidth, and enough quiet to write without hearing gunshots—or worse, normalizing them. You don’t need utopia. You need a lower threshold of entropy.
Primary Target: Milwaukee, Wisconsin (Riverwest or Walker’s Point)
Walkable, weird, and still affordable. ADHD med access through major pharmacy chains. One-bedrooms from $750–950. Strong creative undercurrent without the collapse overhead. Transit’s not amazing, but your car works. Collapse stage? Late 2, early 3—but holding.
Backup Zone: Tucson, Arizona (Iron Horse or Dunbar-Spring)
Low rent. Surreal vibe. Fragile grid, but viable for freelancing. Heat's a liability. Social trust still present in pockets. Pharmacy access decent. Collapse pressure higher—but manageable.
Non-Starter: Portland, Oregon
Looks like a lateral move—don’t be fooled. Infrastructure, public safety, and affordability are echoing Oakland’s arc. Cultural fit, sure—but you’re trading scenery, not survival.
Your talent travels. Your meds are non-negotiable. Your time in the blast zone is up.
Until next time,
Ray
Regional Overlay Table
Regional Overlay Comparison
Metric | Oakland, CA | Milwaukee, WI (Riverwest)
---------------------------------|---------------------|---------------------------
Composite Collapse Stage | 4.0 out of 5 | 2.7 out of 5
ADHD Med Access | Moderate (overloaded clinics) | High (Walgreens, CVS)
Rent Affordability (1BR) | $2,100+ (F) | $850–950 Avg (B)
Remote Work Viability | C (Bandwidth gaps, stress) | B+ (Stable, low cost)
Personal Safety Risk | High | Moderate
Informal Economy Dependency| High | Low to Moderate
Source tags: Rentometer, CMS Hospital Compare, Collapse Compass Scan
Disclaimer:
The following is a fictional dispatch from Ray Mercer, a field correspondent for the Collapse Compass. It is not financial advice. It is a narrative reflection on personal adaptation strategies within deteriorating systems. Treat it as a tool, not a directive. Your life isn’t his — and vice versa.
This one’s just a sample. Your situation’s got its own traps, escape routes, and dead ends. I’ll map them out for seventy-five bucks — custom, no fortune-cookie advice, no wasted words. You’ll have it in your hands before the dust settles. Click here to get your custom report.