Oakland (Piedmont, Emeryville, Nice: apartments, car insurance, condo)

[daepro]

I have been following the updates on all kinds of topics in this forum as my family is relocating to the Bay Area soon. This has been most helpful.
Some of which I am reading suggests that Oakland is not the best choice of places to live.
A month ago I spent some time exploring the city. I stayed near Jack London Square, ran around Lake Merritt every morning, had some great meals in Asian, Mexican and vegan soul food restaurants enjoyed my time visiting artists during an open studio and enjoyed some of the street fairs in the downtown area. I got on BART on I think 12th Street near the Ron Dellums Bldg which took me to SF in no time.
I have also heard that the hills which I have not yet visited are also quite pleasant.
At the present time my cash flow issues makes living in SF difficult and I find the East Bay more affordable. My children are all grown so schools are not an issue for me but I would hope one can get a good education in such a lively city. I suppose crime is the big factor but there must be areas that afford one the opportunity to enjoy life and not worry about getting mugged.
My wife and I are going to be in the Bay Area next week to further explore and do a house hunt. Anything or anywhere that I should look out for.
Steer me in a positive direction. Thanks.

[City Boy]

Unless you plan on dealing drugs in certain areas of the city you should not worry about anything. You have a better chance at getting mugged in SF than Oakland. Piedmont, Rockridge/North Oakland, Lakeshore, The Hills are all nice area's to live.

[artemis78]

Honestly, whether or not you're comfortable in Oakland depends a lot on where you're coming from and what your levels of comfort are. It's a city, and--hills excepted--it feels like a city. There's city grit in some areas, and city yuppiness in others. There is crime, and even in the nicer neighborhoods you'll get property crime from time to time. You'll see graffiti and trash from time to time. This doesn't mean you'll get mugged whenever you leave your home--but it does mean you have to be aware of your surroundings. Single-family homes (at least the under-a-million homes) tend to be on much smaller lots than their suburban counterparts. On the flip side, you'll also see the great arts, restaurants, transit, and other amenities that come with living in a city. (And, as another thread has alluded to, in Oakland you'll also see a pretty fabulous parks system--a bit unusual for a city its size.) I've lived in several other mid-sized cities in the East and Midwest, and Oakland is pretty comparable--the wealthiest areas are extremely nice and the poorest areas are extremely run-down, and there are a lot of neighborhoods in the middle that people forget about that make lovely places to live.

If you like city living--and particularly the arts and good food, both of which Oakland is rapidly building a great reputation in--I think you'd enjoy living here. Where really depends on interests, budget, and where you're commuting to (as well as whether you want to buy or rent, and whether you want a house or an apartment). For urban living, areas near the lake are great--there are apartments to the east and a mix of apartments and houses to the north and west, and most of those neighborhoods are relatively safe. The hills are lovely too but offer much more secluded living (and transit access isn't great, if that's important). They also are more expensive, in part because the schools tend to be better than many flatlands schools. There's also Jack London Square, Old Oakland, and Uptown for apartment/condo living, or a number of more family-oriented neighborhoods (Glenview, Dimond, Temescal, etc.) with small but growing neighborhood centers.

Good luck!

[18Montclair]

what they said^^

[sonarrat]

I have a little trick. Oakland of course has many different ZIP codes; with any city of that size, you can run all of the ZIP codes through an auto-insurance quoting system and get an idea of which areas are best. Oakland is particularly good for this as the geographic area of many of the ZIPs is quite small, whereas a ZIP like 94010 on the other side of the peninsula may cover a huge number of different neighborhoods and even different cities.

And you'll find that without fail, the ZIP codes where you get the cheapest car insurance also have the highest property values and best schools. It works like a charm. To wit:

94601 Oakland $1,103 - Fruitvale
94602 Oakland $823 - Laurel/Dimond
94603 Oakland $1,048 - East Oakland
94605 Oakland $1,062 - East Oakland
94606 Oakland $1,049 - San Antonio
94607 Oakland $1,057 - West Oakland
94608 Oakland/Emeryville $981 - North/West Oakland/Emeryville
94609 Oakland $932 - Downtown
94610 Oakland $808 - Grand Lake
94611 Oakland/Piedmont $796
94612 Oakland $998 - Uptown
94618 Oakland $742 - Rockridge
94619 Oakland $955 - Allendale/Laurel/Redwood Heights
94621 Oakland $1,104 - East Oakland

[daepro]

Thanks for the picture you are painting. I am currently living in an extremely rural enviornment on 9 acres. I have chickens, two dogs and used to own a horse. I am ready to make a change. I think. That said I need to say that prior to becoming a small time farmer I was raised in NYC and lived there as an adult for more than ten years. So I do know both worlds.
My life circumstances have changed and I now feel the need to walk to stores have a main street under my feet and a larger circle of people that I can relate too. Oakland seems nice because offering many culinary and cultural advantages it also has the parks and greens that will still be calling me.
I guess that my hunch is correct. With this in mind we will be exploring the area next week. Any suggestions of where I should cast my gaze.

[daepro]

Sonarrat That is a fine objective way at examing an issue that concerns me. Nice work and a a real helpful chart.
Thank you.

[artemis78]

For what it's worth, if you're interested in a house (or even some older apartment buildings) you can find places with yards all over the city--one of the reasons we love Oakland's urban fabric--and there's a growing urban gardens/agriculture movement. So you can bring along the dogs and chickens and fit right in.

If you do move to Oakland, I'd also encourage you to bring your farming expertise to the city--there are a couple of organizations in Oakland that are working to empower residents to grow their own food and become more self-sufficient:

City Slicker Farms
People's Grocery - Healthy food for everyone!
OBUGS - Oakland Based Urban Gardens

[daepro]

Hey that is such and excellent idea I would love to have a couple of chickens laying a few brown white or believe it or not green eggs. We have a wide variety of hens here.
Also getting involved in bringing some of my skills and enthusiasm to the community will help all of us. I am leaving some old friends and looking forward to making new ones.

[Tallysmom]

Originally Posted by daepro

Hey that is such and excellent idea I would love to have a couple of chickens laying a few brown white or believe it or not green eggs. We have a wide variety of hens here.
Also getting involved in bringing some of my skills and enthusiasm to the community will help all of us. I am leaving some old friends and looking forward to making new ones.

Araucanas ROCK! And although I don't know a vet that takes care of chickens, I do know my vet in Oakland HAS chickens... and one neurotic rooster... so Oakland Vet Hospital on High St would at least be a starting place for you....