On Bart, how long does it take to get to SF from Berkeley? (San Francisco: transplants, crime rate)

[TXGirlDreamingofSF]

How long does it take to get to SF from Berkeley on Bart?

TIA!

[Mach50]

Shooting or no shooting? Sorry bad one..

~27 min from the Civic Center to Downtown Berkeley

Here is the schedule: http://www.bart.gov/schedules/byline...date=7/12/2010

[rah]

^It takes 20 minutes to get from Ashby station in Berkeley to Embarcadero Station in SF, if we're going by schedules.

[TXGirlDreamingofSF]

Thanks!

Mach50, yikes on the shooting!!!

From Berkeley to SF, you have to go through Oakland, right?

[mayorhaggar]

Yes but you won't really have any problems and you'll be surrounded by fellow passengers who don't want any trouble either and will give an evil eye to anyone causing trouble. People on BART can be a little sketchy late at night but if you feel unsafe you can always sit in the car at the front of the train by where the driver is.

[NorCalLover]

20 - 40 minutes, depending on where in SF and where in Berkeley.

I've taken the last BART back from SF to Downtown Berkeley and have never felt unsafe.

[TXGirlDreamingofSF]

Thanks all!

Glad to know I won't have to *greatly* worry about safety.

I may get to house sit/pet sit/garden water for a couple that live in Berkeley for 5 weeks beginning at the end of Sept.!!!!

The top priority would be the above & any sight seeing I do in SF would be arranged around the care of their pets, etc.

I would not be going into or leaving SF after is is dark. I don't think.

They are leaving 2 cars & said I could use them, but there's no way I'd try to drive in SF---especially in a vehicle that didn't belong to me.

I'm excited about the prospect & hope it works out! I work from home & can do it from anywhere .

I may have my 12 & 14 yr. old boys come out for a while as they really want to see SF &/or a gal friend. (The family that I'd be house sitting for know that & even encouraged me to do so).

Edited to add: I really never felt unsafe when I was in SF in April. And, I stayed at a Holiday Inn at Geary & ?? Now I can't remember.....but, it was in SOMA I think....lots of homeless people around. I talked to lots of homeless people. I didn't feel scared or anything. (though I did have to start saying "I'm sorry, but I can't give out anymore money") :-) OH! And, I did learn NOT to get my directions from homeless people after a couple of them told me wrong directions.

I stayed in a very very nice/expensive hotel in Union square for part of my visit, there also, with a friend.

[calisnuffy]

San Francisco is generally pretty safe, even at night, even in the loin I would not really be to worried. Maybe hunters point, say with an opposing gangs colors on , at night, maybe

[rah]

Originally Posted by calisnuffy

San Francisco is generally pretty safe, even at night, even in the loin I would not really be to worried. Maybe hunters point, say with an opposing gangs colors on , at night, maybe

Mannnnnnn....

I feel like a broken record since i've repeated this so many times over the years, but people keep on perpetrating this misconception of SF being some variation of "very safe" or "safer than most places," while personal experience in addition to crime stats and anecdotes from family, friends, and acquaintances just doesn't back that up. SF is also definitely a bit more sketchy overall at night, including many nicer areas (night = darkness + emptier streets = prime robbery time of course)

I won't go into specifics unless you don't believe me and need the proof, but as of 2008 SF had a higher violent crime rate than about 75% of the large cities in the US (and i believe it had a higher rate than about 60% of cities with 250k or more people). That means that if anything, SF is less safe than "most" places in the US. Also, when it comes to Bay Area cities as of 2008, the only ones with higher violent crime rates than SF were Oakland and Richmond (barely for Richmond). There's this wierd disconnect between how a lot of people view SF in terms of safety and crime, and how the situation really is (much worse than many people would guess, and it has been for decades). It's not like this place is detroit or something, but i find it funny how many people--usually transplants who only know stereotypes--think its like mayberry, big city edition!

I also wouldn't recommend walking in the TL at night unless you're familiar with the area and/or are comfortable being in gritty areas frequented by drug dealers, bums, addicts, pimps, prostitutes and crazies...and the TL at night is much more skewed towards those types of people (whereas in the day the many normal people present balance it out so its less intimidating). The edges of the TL (such as Geary Street, Polk, Mason) are usually perfectly fine at night though...the TL is in general much better than it used to be though it's still not to be taken lightly either. It has the highest robbery rate in SF, which you may want to be aware of, ESPECIALLY at night.

also: Gangs in Hunters point and in most of the Bay Area don't wear colors, and aren't even really "gangs" in the sense that most people think (i.e. the bloods and crips). You'll find latin gangs like the nortenos and surenos wearing colors, but that's about it.

[Mr. Fantastic]

Of course, all of the above is much worse in Oakland.