OAKLAND

congrats! welcome to the neighborhood! I'm at 25th and Hampshire

― I'm Into that Japanese Pop-Funk (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, March 26, 2009 5:04 PM (14 minutes ago) Bookmark

hi dere 21st and AL

but this is a discussion for another thread

hey im not from oakland or anything but i bet its possible to remain critical of the opd and its history and policies and not actually be advocating a police-free city

http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/7425/imageuploadimage.jpg

live above the adams pt whole foods

You're not the guy that was playing Fleetwood Mac over and over again every afternoon a couple months back are you?

I can't imagine an ilx poster doing that

well, someone who lives in the building that's right above the adams pt whole foods did this! It was kinda annoying because I don't like Fleetwood Mac, but it was nowhere near as bad as the dude a few years back that played "Hey Jude" on his car stereo below our window around 1am for a couple weeks straight.

LOL i wish it had been me, but my gf and i just got to CA on 2/23 or something

seriously though, do you live on Vern0n Terrace?

just till tuesday but yeah!

I've known so many people who have lived on Vernon for some reason.

I live on Vernon, next to the "terrace" ... I feel sorry for everyone who has to get a moving van up vernon terrace. A while back some guys' van literally got stuck and had to get a tow.

i live right across from you, on the other side of the lake

yay! Maybe we should have an Oakland drinking expedition, Berkeley ilx-ors are invited as well.

that might be pretty cool. i don't really know any of the oakland/berkxlors, online or off.

Well hey I'm in adams point closer to fairyland. I have also been known to play "Over and Over" over and over.

I've never met any ILX people before, but I would participate if invited!

suggestions for cool places to meet? i don't really go to bars so i have no idea!

Easy Lounge has a cool happy hour. Geo Kaye's is good, too. So is Kona Club.

lol i have no idea where any of those are

geo kaye's is on broadway.

I don't drink but depending on when this was I might show up and drink water.

don't worry - i don't really drink anymore either, so you won't be on your own!

I had to look them all up but then remembered that Kaye's has been rec'd to me many times, and Kona is the tiki bar I have driven past approximately a gazillion times.

ned is in sf this weekend, maybe he could be persuaded to visit dirty ol' oakland

I might be interested in coming, depending on time...

hah, I used to live a few blocks from Geo Kayes. I think it was the first bar I went to in the bay area. Kerry House was a fave.

My brother, who's not very message board-savvy (i.e. he has a life), is moving to Oakland and wants to know what the safest, most affordable areas are. I guess affordable first and safety second, although I know for a fact he doesn't want to live anywhere that he's going to have to worry about home break-ins or hear shots ringing out all night. Do such places exist? We live in a relatively "rough" city right now, although I don't think it's Oakland-rough.

Also, how's the job market now? Not career-level stuff, but just like restaurant jobs, Trader Joe's type places, maybe working for a newspaper or magazine? That type of thing.

I think he'd like to have a roommate as long as he had his own room.

Is Oakland a fun place to live overall? How much time do you guys spend in SF vs. Oakland (those of you who live in Oakland)?

Thanks!

Generally, the safest areas are the least affordable areas. When picking a neighborhood to live in, he probably should consider his primary mode of transportation. If he's comfortable riding a bike in a city, there are a lot more options than if he doesn't have a car and doesn't want to bike.

Most of the folks I know that have moved to Oakland in the past couple years (as opposed to me who's lived in the same place for 11+ years) end up in the Temescal, North Oakland or just east of Lake Merritt. The first two are good for easy access to SF and Berkeley (the two places he's most likely to find work).

Except in a few neighborhoods, he wouldn't have to worry much about home break-ins or gunfire, but car break-ins and muggings are par for the course in a number of places.

out of curiosity, if he doesn't have a place or a job, what exactly is his reason for wanting to move to oakland?

temescal is still relatively cheap. I mean all of oakland is relatively cheap compared to SF or Berkeley. But temescal, even though it is cute and looks safe, has a lot of robberies (maybe fewer these days, but there were a lot of street robberies and muggings, I think they finally caught a few of the people responsible for most of these). even up on piedmont ave there are robberies and muggings. this happens because oakland PD is understaffed and criminals take advantage; they come into the neighborbood to rob, it's not like they live there. I'd say, if you're that worried about it, move to Montclair, but it's not cheap there and it's hard to get around, might as well live in Berkeley. Or just move to Temescal and try not to worry about it, you'll probably be fine.

Temescal is safe, close to things, GREAT for biking. Also Geta Sushi, mmm..

also, a Burma Superstar just opened there.

When I lived in Oakland, I lived between Piedmont and Broadway, between 40th and Pleasant Valley. Further east it gets a little more pricey, further west it gets a little sketch (I think I have my directions right - it's been a while). This area is freakin' great. If I ever had to move back to Oakland, I would look here first.

slugbaiting, that is almost exactly where my friends live or have lived in the past. very awesome area.

xp that area used to be relatively cheap, but isn't anymore.

Also, how's the job market now? Not career-level stuff, but just like restaurant jobs, Trader Joe's type places, maybe working for a newspaper or magazine? That type of thing.

I know a lot of people who are out of work. It's isn't great.

i live by the parkway theater just east of the lake, and my apartment got broken into and robbed. my friend lived in piedmont for awhile (off the corner of pleasant valley and howe) and a guy smashed her window and crawled in at night, although her husband chased him off with a bat. you're really rolling the dice anywhere in oakland, although i still like living here and try to defend it most of the time. just live somewhere decent, like in the grand lake, temescal, or piedmont areas, and get renter's insurance.

as I said above, everyone I know who lives in temescal has been mugged, a few of them at gunpoint; only one of them got hurt though (hit in the face...by teenagers!). none of them this year though.

I live in Temescal and have never been mugged. The only time my place got broken into was when I lived in the gourmet ghetto in North Berkeley, ironically enough.

Yeah, when I lived in Piedmont there was a rash of muggings-at-gunpoint by a group of three teenagers. Nobody got hurt, and they were never caught. Some dudes tried to mug me walking back from MacArthur BART station at like 11pm one night, but I pushed through them and ducked into a well-lit liquor store. Shit like that just happens in Oakland. I also lived a few blocks from the Coliseum for about a year, but the only thing that happened to me out there was being stalked by wild dogs on the way home from work.

A friend of mine got cold-cocked by some teenage dickhead and now has a bunch of false teeth.

jeez, oakland sounds pretty grim

in my limited experience, if you take the same precautions you would in any big city, you will be fine in oakland. this is not to discount the above experiences or diminish the fact that some parts of oakland are pretty tough, but you can certainly find places to live in a variety of neighborhoods that dont involve living in constant fear or anything.

gourmet ghetto in North Berkeley

I just heard of this area yesterday (casually surveying housing listings) - wtf with this neighborhood name

I just heard of this area yesterday (casually surveying housing listings) - wtf with this neighborhood name

The neighborhood is sometimes more formally referred to as "North Shattuck". It received its nickname due to the high concentration of fine eating establishments in the area, including Chez Panisse and the Cheese Board Collective, as well as the first Peet's Coffee.

(Also there is a high concentration of Jewish residents, in my experience.)

i like lakeshore and temescal -- adams point is cool, too, but im a little unclear on where that ends and lakeshore starts. some new movers-to-oakland like west oakland. i havent spent too much time there, but theres a lot of controversy over the high prevalence of liquor stores there and zero grocery stores.

xp: from my understanding, Adams Point is directly north of Lake Merritt; Lakeshore/Grand Lake neighborhood is northeast of the Lake - where the Grand Lake theater is. That's an okay neighborhood - a few friends live over there - there's a Trader Joe's, a few good dive bars, and stroller people during the day.

West Oakland: also a lot of controversy about white people gentrifying the traditionally black neighborhood; also plenty of drug dealing and murders. A friend of mine who used to live there before moving to Europe once called the police to report a guy across the street beating up a woman, and they asked if she was bleeding. He replied, "Do you want me to go outside and find that out for you?"

Here is your handy map, which has probably been posted before but is still relevant:

http://oakland.crimespotting.org

they asked if she was bleeding

ahhhhhhhhhhhh

also that crimespotting map is a really nice presentation (of wild data)