Areas to avoid in Berkeley? (Oakland, San Pablo: rentals, to live in, homeless)

[NYMTman]

Hey guys, just accepted a software engineering position in Berkeley. Looking to live somewhere in Berkeley proper to be super close to work. Any areas I should avoid? Also, are there any areas that are nicer than the rest?

Thanks.

[rparz]

If you're trying to avoid hippies and stoners, it's impossible to do in the city of Berkeley.

[NYMTman]

Hippies and stoners are fine by me. I don't think hippies make an area 'run down'.

[rparz]

I'm still new to the area, but I'm not aware of too many sketchy areas in the city of Berkeley proper.

[DocGoldstein]

Anything near San Pablo is going to be seedy IMO, from Gilman all the way down to the park. Lots of homeless who will openly show their genitalia off to you, even if you are driving by. I had a friend who rented a two bedroom in the area on the 1st floor, some homeless guy literally tried to crawl into his bedroom window (not sure what for) until he told the guy he had a gun and was going to get it. There's also the street walkers, and the drug peddlers to deal with as well.

Remember, some might say "that area is okay if you're street smart", but you being from Montana, and not from West Oakland, or other known Bay Area hoods means you probably will find the San Pablo Ave area of Berkeley very shady (though not as shady as West or East Oakland).

[rkwalton]

There are sketchy areas of Berkeley. There are nice ones too. North Berkeley and Elmwood, where I live, are quite nice. I think the stretch along Ashby heading to the 880 is an area where I'd not like to be too late in the evening. I'm speaking just from experience as I grew up in a pretty rough area of L.A., but I think the bad areas of Berkeley are pretty good when compared to other cities.

[Nineties Flava]

SW Berkeley is well-known as the rough part of Berkeley but I also wouldn't choose to live in West Berkeley (numbered avenues around San Pablo, particularly by the Berkeley Amtrak Station).

[CAVA1990]

After yesterday I'd avoid Memorial Stadium. Tedford's gotta go.

[NYMTman]

Originally Posted by DocGoldstein

Anything near San Pablo is going to be seedy IMO, from Gilman all the way down to the park. Lots of homeless who will openly show their genitalia off to you, even if you are driving by. I had a friend who rented a two bedroom in the area on the 1st floor, some homeless guy literally tried to crawl into his bedroom window (not sure what for) until he told the guy he had a gun and was going to get it. There's also the street walkers, and the drug peddlers to deal with as well.

Remember, some might say "that area is okay if you're street smart", but you being from Montana, and not from West Oakland, or other known Bay Area hoods means you probably will find the San Pablo Ave area of Berkeley very shady (though not as shady as West or East Oakland).

I'm actually originally from Baltimore once upon a time. But would prefer not to return to that sort of environment, lol.

Thanks for the advice all.

[Ruth4Truth]

Any area near the Oakland border except for Elmwood/Rockridge and east of there. The area around Adeline and Alcatraz has some great rentals, but break-ins are common. South Berkeley south of Shattuck. Consider Kensington, which borders North Berkeley--beautiful area. Anywhere in the Berkeley hills. The general rule of thumb is: the farther east you go in Berkeley, the nicer it gets.