Best area of Berkeley (most dangerous, statistics, murder rate)

[ragnarkar]

South Berkeley along College Ave. near the Oakland border is pretty nice.. far enough from the university that you don't run into students all the time.. and within walking/bussing distance of the Rockridge bart at the College and CA-24 interchange.

Parking might be a bit difficult here.. despite being close to Oakland, it's a decent neighborhood, as long as you don't stray too far west.. (east of Telegraph should be OK.)

[rah]

Originally Posted by Mr. Fantastic

Exactly. This is what I don't get about those that criticize Berkeley about crime, and then you see "Oakland" as their location. Berkeley is one of the safest cities in the East Bay.

Uh, no it's not, and it never has been. You're one to talk when it comes to people not knowing jack about East Bay cities.

East Bay cities of 40,000+ residents, violent crime rate, 2008:

Oakland - 1,968.4
Richmond - 1,074.9
San Leandro - 662.2
Berkeley - 644.5
Hayward - 615.7
Union City - 599.4
NATIONAL AVERAGE - 454.5
Newark - 418.7
Concord - 352.2
Pittsburg - 322.6
Alameda - 300.0
Fremont - 286.1
Brentwood - 242.7
Walnut Creek - 228.1
Livermore - 224.3
Pleasanton - 112.2
San Ramon - 109.2
Danville - 63.6

Also, since you were acting like you have a low chance of being mugged in Berkeley, here are Bay Area cities of 10,000 or more residents, ranked by robbery rate...you may notice Berkeley is 4th highest:

Oakland - 827.5
San Francisco - 514.7
Richmond - 514.4
Berkeley - 490.3
San Leandro - 459.5
San Pablo - 455.5
El Cerrito - 443.1
Vallejo - 377.2
Hayward - 366.7
East Palo Alto - 316.3
Pinole - 289.7
Union City - 241.4
Fairfield - 226.8
Pittsburg - 205.6
Santa Cruz - 202.7
Suisun City - 191.9
Albany - 188.6
Concord - 179.0
Gilroy - 171.5
Newark - 163.6
Watsonville - 161.3
Pleasant Hill - 153.1
Alameda - 152.9
Daly City - 142.2
San Rafael - 140.3
San Mateo - 128.8
Vacaville - 126.6
Hercules - 119.0
Fremont - 115.4
Dixon - 112.9
San Bruno - 110.0
American Canyon - 109.7
Menlo Park - 103.8
Redwood City - 102.2
South San Francisco - 98.3
Milpitas - 98.1
Santa Rosa - 96.2
Martinez - 91.5
Millbrae - 91.1
Burlingame - 91.0
Walnut Creek - 90.3
Brentwood - 89.1
Campbell - 85.0
Oakley - 80.6
Hollister - 80.2
Mountain View - 78.1
Sant Clara - 75.0
Palo Alto - 72.2
Dublin - 67.4
Napa - 61.8
Livermore - 61.1
Morgan Hill - 55.2
Pacifica - 53.8
Petaluma - 53.3
Benicia - 53.3
Windsor - 50.8
Sunnyvale - 49.6
Lafayette - 48.3
Rohnert Park - 47.0
Healdsburg - 45.8
Novato - 41.8
Piedmont - 38.4
Scotts Valley - 35.9
Cupertino - 35.6
Pleasanton - 32.9
Half Moon Bay - 32.3
Los Gatos - 30.8
San Ramon - 30.3
Los Altos - 28.6
Belmont - 28.5
Clayton - 26.7
Orinda - 21.8
San Carlos - 18.6
San Anselmo - 16.8
Mill Valley - 15.1
Danville - 12.2
Foster City - 10.4
Hillsborough - 9.3
Saratoga - 6.6
Moraga - 5.9

[jade408]

Originally Posted by ragnarkar

South Berkeley along College Ave. near the Oakland border is pretty nice.. far enough from the university that you don't run into students all the time.. and within walking/bussing distance of the Rockridge bart at the College and CA-24 interchange.

Parking might be a bit difficult here.. despite being close to Oakland, it's a decent neighborhood, as long as you don't stray too far west.. (east of Telegraph should be OK.)

Just to clarify, College Ave is a nice area no matter which line you live on. You'd be hard pressed to tell the difference between Elmwood (Berkeley) and Rockridge (Oakland). In fact, the areas of Berkeley that border Oakland are equivalent. So if it is sketchy on the Berkeley side, it is sketchy on the Oakland side and vice versa.

[Mr. Fantastic]

Originally Posted by rah

Uh, no it's not, and it never has been.

How many homicides has Berkeley had in the past 10 years?

Thank you, school is out.

[Gentoo]

Rah nice work. It's obvious he's never been to either city. I grew up in Berkeley and know that one has to be careful there. It looks exceptionally deceiving as it's very nice and residential but look out.

[rah]

Originally Posted by Mr. Fantastic

How many homicides has Berkeley had in the past 10 years?

Thank you, school is out.

Berkeley had 30 murders from 2003 through 2008 (no numbers for '09 yet). That's higher than every bay area city except SF, Oakland, Richmond, San Jose, Fairfield, Antioch, Hayward, East Palo Alto and Vallejo. So Berkeley is still the 10th highest for murder total of Bay Area cities, from 2003-2008...I think you're underestimating how bad areas like South Berkeley can be at times, Mr. Fantastic. Overall Berkeley is pretty safe though, just like most places.

edit: Berkeley had 47 murders from 1998-2008, since you were asking about the past 10 years.

[rah]

Originally Posted by Gentoo

Rah nice work. It's obvious he's never been to either city. I grew up in Berkeley and know that one has to be careful there. It looks exceptionally deceiving as it's very nice and residential but look out.

thanks! Yeah it's similar to most other bad neighborhoods in the bay...where they don't look nearly as bad as they really are.

[Mr. Fantastic]

Originally Posted by rah

no sources cited

Uncited statistics. Completely ignored.

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by rah

thanks! Yeah it's similar to most other bad neighborhoods in the bay...where they don't look nearly as bad as they really are.

True, I've had two relatives murdered and one was in Berkeley. He was pushed off a balcony.

[rah]

Originally Posted by Mr. Fantastic

Uncited statistics. Completely ignored.

the stats are from the FBI/DOJ.

http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/dataonline/...TOKEN=45941155

there you go. Select the right options from the lists, and have fun.