Oakland (Winter Garden: middle-class, appointed, crime)

[schmitty8225]

Im thinking of moving to Oakland. I have seen crime data on the city and it says its well above the national average in every category. I find that hard to believe after driving through the town. Is it true there is that much crime there? There were 10 burglaries and 27 cases of larceny in 2009. Both of those are well below the 2 years before 2009.

[norrodh]

Not sure about the crime being that much but I know people in Oakland and we go to church there and its a great little town! I live in downtown Winter Garden right next to Oakland and I would hear about all this crime and I havent seen much! You just have to know the places to go and keep away from certain places after a certain time. We have had no problems and feel safe here. We did have a situation on our street just last week but it was domestic and wasnt random or anything which you will find alot of those statistics are family disputes and crime commited within a family or between friends. Anyway, we like Oakland very much!

[elmwood]

Originally Posted by schmitty8225

Im thinking of moving to Oakland. I have seen crime data on the city and it says its well above the national average in every category. I find that hard to believe after driving through the town. Is it true there is that much crime there? There were 10 burglaries and 27 cases of larceny in 2009. Both of those are well below the 2 years before 2009.

I used to be a planner for Oakland years ago.

A disproportionate amount of crime is confined to a very small area; bordered by West Gulley Avenue, North Nixon Street, West Sadler Avenue, and Jefferson Street. It's called "The Quarter", but old maps name identify this area as the "Colored Quarter". Many southern towns established after the Civil War had such neighborhoods; a section platted with smaller blocks and smaller lots, where recently freed slaves and their descendants lived. These few blocks are still quite poor; an island of poverty in an otherwise middle-class to well-off community. You'll see shotgun shacks in The Quarter, and $500,000 houses a block beyond its boundaries.

Outside of The Quarter, Oakland is very safe. It has a very large police force for a town its size, residents are generally very friendly, and elected and appointed officials are accessible.

[sp2007]

Oakland is a great little town. When we lived in Winter Garden, our daughter attended the Oakland Ave Charter school and we loved the experience.

[AONE]

Solve one of those burglaries and I bet you solve them all....

It's a pretty slow place otherwise.