Remember the old Walgreens on Broadway near Sprouts? Well, it now has a new makeover, and the majority of locals seem to love it. In fairness, there’s not much good that a huge abandoned building does for an area – so you may as well make the most of it and give it a nice paint job. This is exactly what happened to this old Walgreens.

Recently, an unknown artist decided to paint a huge mural over the side of the building which used a purple color scheme throughout. This huge piece mostly featured children playing with the Oakland city skyline, as if they were toy building blocks. Many interpreted this move as a nod toward the future, to show the value of nurturing the creativity of our children, who would then go on to look after the city in the future. In general, it offered a very wholesome message which gained widespread applause.

Interestingly, certain people are sometimes against murals and view them as common street graffiti. However, the fact that the vast majority loved this piece shows just how successful it was. Hopefully the city will keep it, as it’s definitely unique and adds character to a previously mundane eyesore.

Having said this, it’s not quite a happy ending. As seen towards the right of the mural, you can see a couple of graffiti tags. One local said, “It’s such a great mural. I saw the artist working on it one day and had to stop and tell him how much I loved it. So angry it’s been ruined by graffiti.” With this in mind, it will be interesting to see how the mural holds up in the future, or whether it will struggle with maintenance and rival graffiti artists.