Oakland Marriott

[jade408]

Originally Posted by mayorhaggar

Just to warn you though, downtown Oakland does still feel pretty sketchy in the area around the Marriot, especially at night--some homeless people and hoodlum types hanging around looking sketchy. But there's also a lot of great places to eat and drink around there, and BART is right there.

I felt like this was true a few years ago, but the Downtown BID has made some definite changes in the wake of Occupy Oakland. The last few times I was over there at night I didn't see much at all. It was pretty quiet. I think they have been pushed into some other blocks or something, Broadway was looking pretty cleared.

OP: I've been going to that area at night since about 2001. It was much less safe in 2001 and I felt fine as a single female using basic common sense. Now it is much safer. But even during the "bad periods" in the early 2000s it was actually decent.

[ashlandbus]

there is a lot of private security roaming the streets too. i think the uptown merchants hired them to show a presence. interesting... i hadn't seen this anywhere else in the states... i have only seen in bogota. it is a good concept tho, in a town with an understaffed police force.

i also catch the bus at 12th and broadway at all hours of the night and other than some people smoking pot (common pretty much everywhere, in oakland or SF, at any hour of the day) or being loud and boisterous (but harmless), the area is fine.

[matt345]

I walked around downtown Oakland at night for the first time in probably 3 or 4 months this past weekend and was amazed at how certain sections now come alive after sundown. During the day downtown has always been very lively, but things always seemed to shut down and become eerily quiet after 6pm. I saw that a few new restaurants/bars have opened up in Old Oakland and the businesses seemed more packed than they have been in the past. However, the real pleasant surprise was Telegraph between about 20th and 16th in the vicinity of the Fox Theater. I’ve never seen so many people out in downtown Oakland at night other than during the Art Murmurs.

The challenge now seems to be fixing what is really a dead zone between the Uptown and Old Oakland areas. Walking Broadway from 16th to 10th at night doesn’t necessarily feel dangerous – it’s just very quiet and seems to discourage pedestrian movement between the two districts.