How is the East Palo Alto area, is it safe to live? (San Jose: apartment, crime)

[City Boy]

Originally Posted by Coffee Mate

Hi.
Sadly I'm intimately familiar with the crime in Detroit...South Chicago....New Orleans...Gary Indiana....
East Saint Louis.....Richmond...Oakland....Vallejo....Sacrame nto....East Palo Alto....Hunters Point.....and a long long list of other places.....
Those crimes I noted in this post and a bunch of others…......are not some wild-eyed made up fiction....they actually happened...[unfortunately]....
Is Palo Alto dangerous? Well.....read the papers........does the violent brutal rape of a 17 year old girl sound "KEWL".......Nope...didn't think so....There are plenty of towns in the U.S. where there are NO murders…and NO rapes for years and years….IMAGINE THAT….
Ahhh…..but alas….these towns are not “hip” or “trendy”…They have no “KEWL” clubs in dangerous parts of town to hang out at……well…..you get what you look for…..

Moderator cut: Please no personal attacks! I live in West/Downtown Oakland. LIVE there not visiting or passing through or rely on BS news stories like you, and I can tell you it's only bad and terrifying if you're a paranoid loser who grew up in the suburbs and black people scare you.

[nyasiandudeinnj]

Can we refocus on the ORIGINAL topic? The original poster asked about safe areas to live.

Let's face it: Crime is crime. Any sane person wants to keep their family safe and that's why there's city-data.com/forum to assist with this important decision.

So, can we continue onward with that awesome list that gives a quick description of a particular area, the good, the bad and the ugly?

Thanks.

[arymas78]

i'm from east palo alto, i no longer live there, but i still have people that live there
Its not the most beautiful city, and yes there is crime...but not like richmond, oakland, san francisco.. cities in the bay that are much much worse.
While these cities in the bay area have rising violent crime rates, over the years, the viloent crime rate of "epa" has gone down significantly.
Now...your stuff might get stolen, but that happens everywhere. Would I suggest a person from outside of the bay area to move there...probably not. But its not a place to fear and it was only the murder capital one year, '92. So people should not refer to it as the murder capital.

[arymas78]

The crime rate in East palo alto can not be compared to those of oakland, richmond, DETROIT!?! Please! I agree... Moderator cut: Please no personal attacks!

[Coffee Mate]

Read the news lately?
Shootings in East Palo Alto, Oakland, Richmond and the Mission District of San Francisco....
No amount of wishful thinking is going to change any of this........

[sonarrat]

Still, arymas is right. There's no way you can compare EPA to Oakland and Richmond. The numbers just don't add up (at least, not anymore). EPA is run down and depressing, but it also gets beat down more than it really deserves just because it's such a contrast from the gobs of money in evidence as soon as you cross the county line into Palo Alto. It's a highly visible, convenient whipping post.

Personally, I wouldn't live there because it doesn't smell that hot.. some bayshore areas definitely smell better than others. Foster City is OK. Alviso is awful. East Palo Alto is a little bit too close to the latter. And from what I've heard, it also gets noise pollution from the Shoreline Amphitheatre.

[parshub]

Dear Coffee Mate,
you have listed the bad areas in Bay Area, and I must say thats a comprehensive list.
Now, can you give a list of some family-safe,good school,preferably multi-racial neighborhoods as well that wouldn't cost me a fortune to rent out ?
I have to work in VMWARE that is in Palo Alto.
My budget is 1500 USD.
thank you.

If anybody else can help, that'll be great.

[sonarrat]

$1500 for.. what? A two-bedroom? That's going to be a challenge. The more desirable areas are:

Redwood City - western (I live in the Roosevelt neighborhood - safe and friendly area with decent schools, but my street is very noisy)
Atherton
Woodside/La Honda
Menlo Park - western
Palo Alto
Portola Valley
Sunnyvale - southern, basically the part with Cupertino schools
Cupertino
San Jose - Cambrian, Almaden Valley, Silver Creek, Alum Rock & Evergreen foothills
Milpitas - further east in the hills (btw, there's an express bus from the Great Mall Park & Ride to Palo Alto, including VMWare)
Los Gatos
Monte Sereno

Of those, you -might- be able to get a 2-bedroom for $1500 in Redwood City or the nice part of Sunnyvale.

[eureka1]

The movie was "Dangerous Minds". And the teachers don't look like Michele Pfieffer.

[Coffee Mate]

Dear parshub;
1500$ USD per month is going to be tight in Palo Alto. I was never able to afford the rent in palo alto, even on a 6k/month salary. I would suggest looking at some areas of Mountain View, much more 'upscale' now than in years past. Also some areas of Menlo Park and Redwood City might work for you. Also look at Santa Clara and Sunnyvale, both offer some 'decent' places to live and the commute to Palo Alto is not too difficult with public transit options as well. In general the closer to the hills the better. But as always check the exact location FIRST...then make a decision. Look at the location several times during different times of day and night, weekdays and week ends. Don't think that a place that is quiet on a Tuesday at 10am when everyone is at work.... is going to be livable on a Saturday at 2pm when the soccer game is on...If you have children look and LOOK HARD at the schools. See what kind of 'kids' are there. Watch the school at recess. If it makes your hair stand up on end and you can't tell if the kids you see are gangsters or junior high students...if you hear language that you would never use even in a fit of anger....and YOUR shocked.....think how it will be for YOUR kids....Best of luck.

California Uber Alles.....