Is Oakland safe? (Pittsburgh, Bloomfield, Dawson: apartments, to rent, crime)

[wahnsinn]

My husband and I have lived in Pittsburgh for a year, but we're looking for a new place to rent (just FYI, we're recent grads, enjoy urban areas, we're not snobs but we are concerned about living in a safe area, and we like to walk places). We have found two small houses that we really like: one in Bloomfield, and the other in Oakland. We're leaning towards the one in Oakland (especially nice since I work at the University of Pittsburgh) but I just want to know if it's safe. I think it's in South Oakland - the cross-streets are Dawson and Swinburne. Dawson Street looks really nice, from what I can tell. Here's what I'm concerned about:

1. Can I walk to work and back? I'm more worried about walking home around 5 pm in the winter when it's already dark but not really night-time.

2. We don't have an expensive car, but we would be parking on the street - are there a lot of car break-ins?

Just to give you some background, I went to college in downtown Detroit, but I've also lived in Munich (where you CAN walk around at night by yourself and not be worried), so I am familiar with two different extremes in terms of safety.

[vwscottie]

Alot of the crime in Oakland seems to be preying on college students. You often hear of people being robbed at ATM's. My fiance works at CMU and there are always bulletins going out to the students when there has been a student from Pitt or CMU involved in a robbery.

Car break in's seem to be more of a Shadyside past time than anywhere else in that part of the city. I do notice alot of cars parked in Oakland with those steering immobilizers on their steering wheel.

There are alot of people walking all around Oakland around the time of night that you are, so just be aware and I think you'll be just fine.

[Pghtebbie]

I work in Oakland, and would have to agree that *most* crime in the area is petty, done by college students or those preying on said students. The chance of your car getting broken into I would venture to say is fairly high- a coworker of mine who parks in the area has had her stereo stolen- and she drove an old Neon.

I would not however suggest it as somewhere to live. An example (although by no means the end-all-be-all on living in Oakland) is found in today's paper: Incursion of slobs rankles longtime South Oakland residents

Most residents of the area are students, paying ridiculously high rent for really crappy apartments, and the majority of them do not take care of their surroundings. Most homeowners are absentee landlords, of whom the city is finally taking action on.

[ChrisatDuke]

I went to Pitt, so I lived in Oakland for 4 years. Overall, I liked the area a lot.....a good variety of restaurants, bars, and shops. I liked the fact that you can pretty much walk anywhere you needed to go.

While at Pitt, I always heard stories of muggings and theft, but I never experienced this first hand. I don't think any of my friends did either. I didn't have a car there, so I wouldn't know anything about break-ins. I'm sure it happens though.