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I currently live in Jersey City, NJ, and I often fantasize about moving to San Francisco (I will someday).
But I'm a little less interested in living in San Francisco itself than living somewhere outside but close. Jersey City is just outside of New York City, and NYC is literally a few minutes train ride or drive away. But because it is outside of NYC, it is less crowded and more affordable (you'll get more space for the same money though not by much), owning a car is not hassle, all of which is what I like about it....although some New Yorkers may look down upon people who live here; I don't care.
Is Oakland like that to San Francisco? The distance between Oakland and San Francisco appears to be a bit larger than the distance between Jersey City and NYC. Do many people commute to San Francisco from Oakland as many people in Jersey City do to NYC?
Jersey City has a bad reputation among New Yorkers (mostly because they have never been here), but its downtown has been gentrified and very safe with lots of stores and restaurants. It is a great alternative to Brooklyn or Queens especially those who work in lower Manhattan. So sometimes Jersey City is referred to as New York's 6th borough (or New York's best kept secret).
Is Oakland (or a part of Oakland) like Jersey City in this sense?
To answer one of your questions, yes LOTS of people commute to San Francisco from Oakland they are only 7 miles apart. I would agree with Montclair that Oakland is more independent of San Francisco in a lot of ways. Oakland has its own core of well known businesses that anchor its downtown and its own independent economic circle that operates separately from SF.
If Oakland is the equivalent of Newark, then is there a city that is equivalent of Jersey City or Hoboken in terms of proximity and state of gentrification?
There aren't that many city in SF proximity, I realize. Berkeley? Daily City? (I'm just looking at the map).
Proximity wise Oakland is the closest. It is just over the bridge and is the largest major city that near to San Francisco. Oakland has a number of different types of areas, downtown has been gentrifying the last ten or so years but the city as a whole has always been fairly balanced in its make up. There are wealthy neighborhoods in the hills and areas near the lake, there are middle class hoods in the slopes and flats and poor hoods in parts of west and deep east Oakland. There are a number of ethnic neighborhoods such as Fruitvaile and Chinatown. The city is remarkably diverse.
Newark is 52% black, Oakland is 28% black. Not really close. Newark has lost 37% of its population from its peak, while Oakland is at or near its peak population. Oakland is bigger, richer and whiter than Newark. Not close.
Yeah Oakland is just too affluent and educated to be down in the same category as Newark, Camden and LA. Jersey City is kinda like Oakland in that upper income urban elite move there, crime stats notwithstanding. People visit and they realize that haters are full of 5hit.
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