Areas of Concord to avoid? (San Francisco, Oakland: apartment complexes, rentals, low crime)

[BurnInTheMil]

I'll be relocating for my current job very shortly from Louisville,KY to the Oakland/San Francisco area. My job gives me the flexibility to live up to 50 miles away from the San Francisco area and I definitely want to leave away from the main city.


I've been doing a lot of research and the majority of rentals that look nice and are also affordable seem to be in the Martinez and Concord area. I've heard some parts of concord are pretty rough and should be avoided. It's just my wife and I and I travel a lot so a safe area is a must. That being said, what parts of Concord should be avoided? We will be renting the 1st year, so any apartment complexes that are recommended?


All help appreciated

[Lockdev]

Affordable.
Safe.

In the East Bay, you're going to have to learn to pick one.

Much of Concord has a bad reputation, deservedly so:

Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed

You'll find much of the crime in the East Bay is mostly property crime though.

Violent crime rates are not really high.
Property crime rates are absolutely ridiculous.

[sav858]

Originally Posted by Lockdev

Affordable.
Safe.

In the East Bay, you're going to have to learn to pick one.

Much of Concord has a bad reputation, deservedly so:

Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed

You'll find much of the crime in the East Bay is mostly property crime though.

Violent crime rates are not really high.
Property crime rates are absolutely ridiculous.

No it doesn't, well except to those that don't really know anything about the city.

The worst neighborhoods for crime are the Monument corridor (Monument Blvd, Detroit Lane, Meadow Lane, Clayton Rd close to 242, Ellis St, Adelaide St, etc..) and the Grant St/Solano Way area. Both areas see the majority of violent crime (shootings, stabbings, and occasional homicide) in Concord. Some of the areas immediate around Concord BART don't seem to great either The best areas of Concord are off Clayton Rd going towards Treat/Ygnacio Valley Rd. Also areas that border Walnut Creek. North Concord doesn't seem to have a noticeable issue with crime but some of the people/homes can be kind of trashy.

Most of the apartment complexes in Concord are not in good area imo. The one's down Clayton Rd towards Ygnancio are pretty decent for the most part.

[Lockdev]

Eh, you're going to have good neighborhoods and bad neighborhoods everywhere you go.

Let's face it, Concord is dangerous.

If you feel comfortable living close to that type of crime, go for it.

An 8 out of 100 for safety on the "neighborhood safety" scale doesn't make me feel all warm and happy about a place.

I used to live in Norfolk, VA, which was similar. Bad neighborhood mixed with good neighboorhoods. Crime spilled over all the time.

[sav858]

Originally Posted by Lockdev

Eh, you're going to have good neighborhoods and bad neighborhoods everywhere you go.

Let's face it, Concord is dangerous.

If you feel comfortable living close to that type of crime, go for it.

An 8 out of 100 for safety on the "neighborhood safety" scale doesn't make me feel all warm and happy about a place.

I used to live in Norfolk, VA, which was similar. Bad neighborhood mixed with good neighboorhoods. Crime spilled over all the time.

Have you ever lived in Concord?

Parts of Concord are dangerous and have high crime, it's a city 120K with an overall relatively low crime rate. It's crime rate is about the same as Pleasant Hill.

[Lockdev]

The property crime rate is almost twice the national median.

Not exactly what I would call low.

[sav858]

Originally Posted by Lockdev

The property crime rate is almost twice the national median.

Not exactly what I would call low.

And it's concentrated in certain areas, like pretty much every decent size city.

You clearly have never lived in Concord so I'm not sure why you're giving advice on it. Anyone can look up stats online, doesn't say much about what it's actually like to live in a place though.

[Lockdev]

I live about 4 miles away. With the exception of the really expensive parts, you couldn't pay me to live there. Too much risk of crime.

[sav858]

Originally Posted by Lockdev

I live about 4 miles away. With the exception of the really expensive parts, you couldn't pay me to live there. Too much risk of crime.

Cool, so close yet so ignorant about it...

[clongirl]

There is NOTHING wrong with Concord. Yes, there a some shady areas--as most larger cities have. I own a house in a nice, middle class neighborhood where my tenants are a young family with a dog and two kids---They've not heard of any crime in the neighborhood since they've been living here-5 years now. There are a lot of very nice, safe, normal family neighborhoods.

I am in Concord ALL the time by myself...from the Willows Shopping center, the 99 Ranch Market, to Todos Santos Plaza, to Costco and all my favorite Mexican restaurants, El Molino and Salsa Verde... I've never felt unsafe or threatened. Ever. It's disconcerting when someone that just recently joined these forums and probably isn't from the Bay Area has nothing helpful or even truthful to add when someone's looking for information.

As Sav noted, there are some grubby neighborhoods that I would not encourage anyone to move---there is some gang activity, but again, it's not generally random stuff. The apartments are run down and ugly since they were built in 60's or 70's along Monument. Any shootings or assault type stuff is specific to certain demographic.