Oakland, Richmond named among the most dangerous cities (San Francisco: crimes, employment)

[N CA]

I work in downtown Oakland, and I love it. It's much nicer than when I was a kid. I attend evening classes at Laney, and walk to the 12th Street BART station (rather than take Lake Merritt and transfer). I used to babysit for a family who lived on Pippin in East Oakland.

I've never had any problems (over many years), and would have moved there if it wasn't so expensive. Especially now that they have school choice in the Oakland Unified School District.

[gizmo980]

FYI: I deleted a bunch of posts for personal bickering, so please try to keep that to a minimum on here (it seems to have stopped).

And in response to the original post, tell me something I don't know. I work in both of those cities, so I know first-hand how dangerous they can be... but I also know how nice they are in some parts, and how good most of the people are. Can't judge a book by its cover, although I wouldn't recommended reading these books alone at night - LOL.

[Taboo2]

Originally Posted by aswedc

4. Oakland, CA
9. Richmond, CA

The annual list of the most dangerous cities in America is out again and the Bay Area is well represented. A variety of news stories on the study can be found easily enough on Google News.

Any thoughts on why there is such a serious crime problem within close proximity to one of the wealthiest and most educated cities in the world?

I thought Oakland was #5. I believe the reason Oakland and Richmond are high on the list because those people cannot afford to live in SF. The poor people gotta live somewhere in the area so they congregate where it is cheaper. Whenever you have a large amount of poor people together, you have higher crime because they feel they have no hope or chance of a better life, which means they do things most of us would not do. They lose some respect for other human beings and they really have to focus on just surviving.

When you are poor you lose a little bit of your humanity and that is such a sad thing.

We should care for our poor and inspire them (especially the children) to set realistic goals and help them achieve them instead of wasting our energy and money fighting other people's wars like in Iraq.

[DjRey]

Originally Posted by Alexus

Because the beautiful bay area is truly a place where one can create their own reality.

If you have knowledge of self, You can create your own reality anywhere.

[DjRey]

Originally Posted by Slauson Rosecranz

Compton isn't on this list?

Highly dubious.

I totally agree..Oakland and Richmond aren't nearly as bad in crime as say Compton,East LA, Philly(South), New Jersey(Irvington,Newark). I been to all those places as well. There's spots in New Jerz that make Richmond look like the suburbs. Real talk.

[serpent_of_old]

Originally Posted by DjRey

I totally agree..Oakland and Richmond aren't nearly as bad in crime as say Compton,East LA, Philly(South), New Jersey(Irvington,Newark). I been to all those places as well. There's spots in New Jerz that make Richmond look like the suburbs. Real talk.

born and raised in philly
south philly???
come on
how about north philly or what west philly is turning into???
actually, center city is getting really bad in the last 3 years
its like many people have gotten ultimately desperate and losing their damn minds
i expect to come to oakland and see everyone as a joke...am sure they have a lesser sense of self than people in philly....but still, a monkey can pull a trigger, so i guess it doesnt matter

[Jonotastic]

Originally Posted by Taboo2

I thought Oakland was #5. I believe the reason Oakland and Richmond are high on the list because those people cannot afford to live in SF. The poor people gotta live somewhere in the area so they congregate where it is cheaper. Whenever you have a large amount of poor people together, you have higher crime because they feel they have no hope or chance of a better life, which means they do things most of us would not do. They lose some respect for other human beings and they really have to focus on just surviving.

When you are poor you lose a little bit of your humanity and that is such a sad thing.

We should care for our poor and inspire them (especially the children) to set realistic goals and help them achieve them instead of wasting our energy and money fighting other people's wars like in Iraq.

I honestly believe the military gives direction and purpose to many poor Americans who have never recieved displine or ever felt that someone or a parent expected anything from them. I know a lot of trouble makers from high school that are now in the Marines and it's like a 180 in their behaviour.

I really think it goes down to...there are always sleezy lawyers who will take on a murderer's case and plead insanity or say he was drunk so he didn't do it consciously or some other b.s. It's like when that Vietnamese immigrant, his wife and 3 kids were living in Richmond and he had been trying to get a visa. He finally got a visa a few years later and met up with his family again, within 3 months he got a job as a Pizza Hut delivery boy and was shot and killed at an intersection while delivering a pizza. Criminals these days, especially in the Bay Area where it is so liberal, don't fear the justice system. They think it's a joke. You know anytime you walk in the Tenderloin, Bums are rolling joints in broad daylight, it's crazy! They were planning on opening safe havens for people who want to inject themselves, so they don't leave the used needles on the street. it's not like they are hard to find, arrest the idiots, the justice system is an utter joke that most criminals do not fear.

[City Boy]

Originally Posted by serpent_of_old

born and raised in philly
south philly???
come on
how about north philly or what west philly is turning into???
actually, center city is getting really bad in the last 3 years
its like many people have gotten ultimately desperate and losing their damn minds
i expect to come to oakland and see everyone as a joke...am sure they have a lesser sense of self than people in philly....but still, a monkey can pull a trigger, so i guess it doesnt matter

Oakland is not a joke but having family in North Philly and Camden New Jersey, I can tell you it doesn't compare to those two cities. Just looks wise they look like war torn cities and the crime element is on another level. If I didn't have so much family there I would not step foot in those area's. Especially Camden. Just walking around you feel like something is about to jump off. I was there for two weeks and the amount of crime i personally witnessed was ridiculous. A Car Jacking in the middle of the afternoon, A shoot out in front of my Aunts house, A police chase that ended with the suspect crashing into an abandoned house followed by the cops shooting him. All this in a two week period.

[sonarrat]

Originally Posted by City Boy

Oakland is not a joke but having family in North Philly and Camden New Jersey, I can tell you it doesn't compare to those two cities. Just looks wise they look like war torn cities and the crime element is on another level. If I didn't have so much family there I would not step foot in those area's. Especially Camden. Just walking around you feel like something is about to jump off. I was there for two weeks and the amount of crime i personally witnessed was ridiculous. A Car Jacking in the middle of the afternoon, A shoot out in front of my Aunts house, A police chase that ended with the suspect crashing into an abandoned house followed by the cops shooting him. All this in a two week period.

This is very true. Even the bad neighborhoods in Oakland don't look all that bad, in fact many of them are lined with attractive Victorians or cute Spanish bungalows, and you won't see that kind of stuff happening in the middle of the day.

[Chicagoaklandish]

Originally Posted by Jonotastic

You know anytime you walk in the Tenderloin, Bums are rolling joints in broad daylight, it's crazy!

This bothers you? I'm a bit more perturbed by the people shooting up heroin or smoking crack in broad daylight. And a lot more perturbed by the 100 or so murders in SF and Oakland each this year