Oakland: More hip than you think. (San Francisco, Sacramento: crime, houses, safe area)

[Cruithne]

Nice little selection of pics.
Oakland: More hip than you think - Lifestyle Galleries - The Sacramento Bee

I love Maison d'Etre in Rockridge shown here. Also Nathan&co for similar stuff and Waterlilies on Piedmont Ave which they missed.
Anyone else have any favorite stores in Oakland?

[bentobox34]

There were a couple things that bugged me in that article. First, when they said that "People may be wary of Temescal due to its proximity to Downtown"... just such a confused statement. First off, Temescal is not any closer to Downtown than any of the other neighborhoods profiled except Rockridge (in fact Grand Ave is closer). Secondly, if people are wary of Temescal it is due to its own history, as a neighborhood that was recently pretty dangerous in and of itself (probably moreso than Downtown), and directly east of some even more dodgy areas (ie. Bushrod, Longfellow). Another part that annoyed me was when they said that Grand Ave is all mom&pops, while Lakeshore is all chain stores. What? So unfair... Some of my fave mom&pop spots in the Grand Lake area are on Lakeshore.

Other than that, it was a decent article.

[Bozackin]

This article literally points out 4 streets in Oakland, not very representative of the entire city. Good press nonetheless, since it wasn't about a shooting.

[04kL4nD]

Poorly written article, for the reasons posted above

Plus, if you haven't been to Art Murmur or a show at the Fox, your Bay Area hipster card should be revoked indefinitely

[0'Farrell]

I love Oakland but ill be honest and say that its far from safe. But to be safe downtown San Francisco is even worst.

[capoeira]

Originally Posted by Kentmum

Anyone else have any favorite stores in Oakland?

De Lauer's Newsstand in downtown Oakland!

[jade408]

Oaklandish store (at selected farmers' markets and around 14th and Broadway) is always a winner. Gotta love the Local Love. Folks arts has a huge jewelery collection (on Piedmont Ave). I am also a big fan of Rockridge Home for interesting stuff. And someone already mentioned Nathan and Co, they have two outlets, one on Piedmont and one on College.

FYI: Oakland is as safe as the neighborhoods you choose to frequent. If you visit most of the places in the article, it is pretty safe. If you visit the areas where shootings happen all the time, it isn't safe. I don't know why people think a 60 square mile city has no safe areas.....

[ssmaster]

maybe there is more going on in oakland than you know. maybe the new york times knows more about the dining, art and music scene of oakland than you do.

Oakland Ranks #5 On New York Times’ List Of Places To Visit In 2012 « CBS San Francisco

[rparz]

Originally Posted by Venom Point

Funny how all these Oakland cheerleaders are trying so hard to promote the city. Look the reality is, Oakland is Violent, Dangerous and not very welcoming to families. In fact, you would be INSANE to even consider moving to a place with such a crappy school district and crime rate. The Only thing hip about Oakland is that you may get shot in the hip from a stray bullet.

At that rate its best to avoid city life all together and play it safe and get yourself a few acres of land to surround yourself out in the sticks.

[Carlite]

Right, other cities have no dangerous neighborhoods ...

As some folks above have noted, the article has nothing about Downtown Oakland. And that's really weird, because the big shift towards "hipness" if you will has been ocurring in Downtown and Jack London Square. New restaurants, bars, coffee houses, shops etc. The article feels about 5 years behind the times.