Exploring Oakland: Walkability and Choosing Old Oakland (San Francisco, Fremont: condo, crime)

[considering]

We're moving to Oakland from DC in a few weeks and did some limited looking around. Our priorities were being close to BART, close to a dense business center, relatively safe to walk around, and an ability to keep our car parked more than not.

Here is my take, albeit from limited searching:

Three sites I found very helpful for looking at Oakland.

Walk Score (allows you to see many of the restaurants, grocery stores, services and attractions near a given address). The links in the descriptions below connect to this site. Hit "Expand All" to see a decent, but imperfect, representation of the area. I've used approximate addresses for the links, but replace my addresses wth your own for more specific info.

Oakland Convention and Visitors Bureau has an interactive map that shows much of the same info as Walk Score, but with a very attractive graphic interface that looks somewhat like a mall directory, showing plots of businesses with color codes.

City of Oakland Crime Maps is just that. Helpful to look through based on the addresses you are considering.

Yelp (especially searching the forums)

Our thoughts:

Old Oakland:

I think we've settled on Old Oakland (10th and Clay area) mostly because of walkability (proximity to BART, restaurants, farmer's and other markets, Chinatown) and relative ease to get to work (one in Oakland City Center, the other in SF near Powell BART).

I like that there is an active citizens and business group as well.

We were also trying to find a place where it would be a relatively easy get to friends in Walnut Creek, Berkeley, and Fremont.

Anyone else in/of this area? It looks perfect for us.

Lake Area:

Liked the lake area a lot -- especially by Grand. but we weren't able to explore enough to figure out a short commute (walk) to the BART near restaurants and retail. I'm sure there are some. Our friend enjoyed living near Grand Ave, but felt like her walk to BART was pretty long at night.

Rockridge:

We liked Rockridge as well. Clean with many cute houses. A bit higher end and less diverse in appearance, but definitely a contender. Also, a bit more expensive overall, but there are deals sometimes. Looks like it would be worth the clean and safe premium if that is your thing. Also, close to Berkeley.

Laurel and Montclair:

I tried to look at the Laurel and Montclair areas but couldn't tell if there was a thriving business area within a short walk to BART. Montclair does have a more dense business area, but I think my commute would involve "casual commute" or transferring bus to BART.

Jack London Square:

I saw many condo deals near JLS and thought there were some nice development, but the walk to the BART was longer than I would like. JLS itself seemed underdeveloped and there was not much density. The Barnes and Noble store was nice, but the square itself was pretty dead the times that I went (weekday, early evening). Many reports I read said that the train noise can be loud there as well.

Am I missing an area?

Thanks!

[Ultrarunner]

Originally Posted by considering

Laurel and Montclair:

I tried to look at the Laurel and Montclair areas but couldn't tell if there was a thriving business area within a short walk to BART. Montclair does have a more dense business area, but I think my commute would involve "casual commute" or transferring bus to BART.

Laurel and Montclair are not Walkable to BART... both will require a bus ride coming and going... Some skip BART and take the Bus to SF if the schedule works for them...

[considering]

Originally Posted by Ultrarunner

Laurel and Montclair are not Walkable to BART... both will require a bus ride coming and going... Some skip BART and take the Bus to SF if the schedule works for them...

That's what I thought. Works for some, just not what we're into. Glad to have my quick observation confirmed.

[tanglenet]

Old Oakland is almost all business with very little housing. It is also 1 block from Chinatown. If you have not visited Oakland Chinatown, you may want to, before you decide to move there. Too much it's a little too dirty

There are lots of new construction going on around Broadway and 17th, Broadway and Grand. If I was looking to move, I would look there, to tell the truth. Two BART stations are within easy walking distance (12th and 19th). It's very quiet at night as the neighborhood is in transition from a business district to residential / business.

Rockridge is nice. Temescal is upcoming but the closest BART stations are 40th (which can be dicey at night) and Rockridge. You may also want to consider Elmwood in Berkeley, (above Telegraph) near the Ashby BART station.

[considering]

Originally Posted by tanglenet

Old Oakland is almost all business with very little housing. It is also 1 block from Chinatown. If you have not visited Oakland Chinatown, you may want to, before you decide to move there. Too much it's a little too dirty

Thanks for the response. We actually love the Chinatown and found it much nicer than some of the others we have visited around the country. But I can see where some folks may not be into it. We're quite into dim sum, cooking various Asian cuisines, and have some work ties to the Chinatown, so it might be a bit more ideal for us than for some.

The Broadway/Grand looks promising too. Thanks for the tip.

[artemis78]

I second the Temescal rec--that area has a great vibe, and is close to BART (Rockridge at the north and MacArthur at the south--though the latter can be iffy at night alone).

I'd put Laurel and Montclair into the "kid" category--places people head when they need good schools and are ready to buy. (Throw in Dimond, Glenview, Oakmore, Lincoln Heights, Redwood Heights, etc.--all nice 'hoods with small and growing neighborhood centers, but not hot spots--and not intended to be.)

The only area I see notably absent is Uptown--the area along Broadway/Telegraph between 20th and Grand (ish). That's where the Broadway/Grand building is, and there's a growing cluster of residential buildings, great restaurants, Bakesale Betty's soon (yay!) and you're walking distance to both the lake and grocery stores. (The lack of a grocery store in Old Oak is its biggest downside, in my view--Swan's market is great but very niche, and Smart & Final doesn't quite cut it either. Not that Whole Foods is a whole lot better, but it does at least have a full selection--and you can bike around the lake to the Trader Joe's/farmer's market, or down to Piedmont Avenue where there are several local groceries.)

[City Boy]

They are building and have built a lot of new condo's in/around Old Oakland. There's actually a huge Gothic Looking Complex right across from the Police Station and is walking distance to BART.

[18Montclair]

Originally Posted by Ultrarunner

Laurel and Montclair are not Walkable to BART... both will require a bus ride coming and going... Some skip BART and take the Bus to SF if the schedule works for them...

The N and NL line on AC Transit are extremely good alternatives to BART from Laurel.

The V line to Montclair is also a great alternative to BART.

All of the above bus lines go straight to Mission and Fremont in DT San Francisco.

Also, from Montclair, you have thousands of folks along Park Bl who actually casual carpool on a daily basis into The City. You stand at designated spots(usually at the V Bus stop) and strangers pull up and you ride with them for free into The City. You save money and the driver saves time by being able to use the carpool lanes at the bay bridge.

Look at the Dimond District/ Lincoln Heights area too. Its in between Laurel and Glenview(just west of Montclair-excellent neighborhood as well). These areas are served by AC Transit and casual carpooling into SF as well.

[fizbin]

Of all of the places mentioned, taking in your BART/walkability/safety factors, I'd live in Rockridge if you can afford it. Nicer restaurants, better markets, etc.

[18Montclair]

Yes, the food alone is reason to pick Rockridge. Never mind the ambience, location and great urbanesque vibe.