Missin my hometown of Oakland! (San Diego, San Francisco: crime, buy, shop)

[llowllevellowll]

I've never heard anyone essentially say that cities were more easy to compare than individual neighborhoods. You'll find far more incompatibilities when dealing simply with cities than you will by breaking it down into zip codes and/or neighborhoods.

The real problem is that I don't someone can compare neighborhoods as easily from 500 miles away.

[allenk893]

Is Oakland really as bad as they say or is it just hype? I have lived in South Chicago, do you think I would survive in Oakland? Because I once saw this video of this old chinese man walking down the street in Oakland and these two thugs come and kill him. Ever since then I have sworn to never visit Oakland. But now I'm thinking maybe I should give it a chance when I visit.

[llowllevellowll]

Originally Posted by allenk893

Is Oakland really as bad as they say or is it just hype? I have lived in South Chicago, do you think I would survive in Oakland? Because I once saw this video of this old chinese man walking down the street in Oakland and these two thugs come and kill him. Ever since then I have sworn to never visit Oakland. But now I'm thinking maybe I should give it a chance when I visit.

Aren't you the guy in another thread espousing the beauty of Vallejo?

Oakland is absolutely my favorite city in the Bay. I'll let you do your own research, but it's important to remember that Oakland, just like SF, is dominated by NEIGHBORHOODS. Each neighborhood is vastly different from the next.

Its nice neighborhoods, though, are absolutely, absolutely GORGEOUS.

Its bad neighborhoods can get really, really bad.

You can PM for more information if you'd like - I'd be happy to draw you a map of where to go to see what and where to be far more careful.

If you think Glencove in Vallejo is a hidden gem, wait until you get ahold of some of Oakland's great neighborhoods (Rockridge, Piedmont, Grand Lake, Glenview, Temescal, et al, just for starters)

[18Montclair]

Originally Posted by allenk893

Is Oakland really as bad as they say or is it just hype? I have lived in South Chicago, do you think I would survive in Oakland? Because I once saw this video of this old chinese man walking down the street in Oakland and these two thugs come and kill him. Ever since then I have sworn to never visit Oakland. But now I'm thinking maybe I should give it a chance when I visit.

I think since you expect so little of Oakland that your going to be very shocked when you actually visit and see that it actually has a lot going for it.

Originally Posted by jade408

Let's say that there is a 5 point scale for home values. I'll refrain from putting dollar values here, but this is more like the makeup of the neighborhood.
1: poor
2: lower middle class/ working class/up and coming
3: middle class
4: upper middle class
5: Unique, ultra luxe homes (Only for buyers with net worth of $20M+)

SF has 1-5
Berkeley has 2-4 and possibly a handful of 5s
Albany has 3-4
El Cerrito 3-4, maybe 2 as well. I haven't spent enough time there to know
Kensington is 4
Richmond has 1-3, and a handful of 4
Oakland has 1-4, and who knows there could be some secret 5 hideaways

Youd have to be worth much more than 20M to afford this Oakland house:

http://www.socketsite.com/Devon%20Way%20House.jpg

We have some really spectacular homes but very few like the one pictured above, the biggest problem with Hiller Highlands(where the house pictured above is located) and Upper Rockridge reaching that threshold of $10M+ for a home is the lack of space. You can't command $10M for those relatively tiny lots...in the case of Hiller Highlands, the most logical place for $10M+ homes in Oakland, the lots are too steep and too small.

We know the Oakland real estate market can support $10M homes cause this one is currently for sale in Piedmont for $12 Million




Oh, and btw, In the grand scheme of high end real estate, $10M is nothing in LA/OC or Miami Beach on NYC. Its really not much across the Bay either. But it goes to show that the East Bay is not a Billionaires or Centimillionaires playground like other high brow places are, but we do a good job in catering to a niche market comprised of wealthy intellectuals, artists, local business elite and there's an underlying sense of conscience to our rich buyers and a certain demographic that wants to be near the middle of it all, but not in the thick of the drama of keeping up with the Joneses. Or in this case the Trumps.

And having lived all over, I have to say that my Upper Rockridge neighbors are by far the least materialistic of any upscale neighborhood Ive ever lived in. That's just the nature of the area imo.

[The Land]

Originally Posted by allenk893

Is Oakland really as bad as they say or is it just hype? I have lived in South Chicago, do you think I would survive in Oakland? Because I once saw this video of this old chinese man walking down the street in Oakland and these two thugs come and kill him. Ever since then I have sworn to never visit Oakland. But now I'm thinking maybe I should give it a chance when I visit.

LOL sure, meanwhile Chicago has had almost 370 murders since the start of 2010. Yet you're worried about Oakland?

[04kL4nD]

Yeah, Vallejo is kind of a dump when you compare it to most of Oakland.

The funny thing is people forget how big of a city Oakland is. I spend the vast majority of my time around the lake, uptown, rockridge, and piedmont ave so I never have had any reason to come anywhere near the killing fields of Deep East Oakland. In fact, it wasn't until fairly recently that I've taken the time to go hiking up in in the NE hills and I was completely astounded by how beautiful it is.

[jade408]

Originally Posted by Parti Rhinocéros

Aren't you the guy in another thread espousing the beauty of Vallejo?

Oakland is absolutely my favorite city in the Bay. I'll let you do your own research, but it's important to remember that Oakland, just like SF, is dominated by NEIGHBORHOODS. Each neighborhood is vastly different from the next.

Its nice neighborhoods, though, are absolutely, absolutely GORGEOUS.

Its bad neighborhoods can get really, really bad.

You can PM for more information if you'd like - I'd be happy to draw you a map of where to go to see what and where to be far more careful.

If you think Glencove in Vallejo is a hidden gem, wait until you get ahold of some of Oakland's great neighborhoods (Rockridge, Piedmont, Grand Lake, Glenview, Temescal, et al, just for starters)

I've happily chosen Oakland to live in for the past 6 years. I live in Piedmont Ave neighborhood. It's nice, but I'll admit I leave to the neighborhood to go to Rockridge, Downtown, Uptown, Temescal for a couple more choices. (I like asian and latin more, and Piedmont Ave has more Euro options). I did an informal count one day and within 2 miles there are about 300 restaurants, eateries, and cafes.

Oakland is a great place to live. We have awesome restaurant choices (especially in the $10-$25 entree range). Access to great ingredients if you like to cook yourself, lots of green space and lots of walkable neighborhoods. People are friendly and the city is really diverse. And it is deep diversity, where groups of mixed groups actually socialize together. You'll also find that many residents care about the city (Oakland Bloggers are very busy) and there have been many positive improvements in the city over the past 10 years.

I recommend visiting yourself and checking out a few different neighborhoods. They all have different vibes.

[jade408]

Originally Posted by 04kL4nD

Yeah, Vallejo is kind of a dump when you compare it to most of Oakland.

The funny thing is people forget how big of a city Oakland is. I spend the vast majority of my time around the lake, uptown, rockridge, and piedmont ave so I never have had any reason to come anywhere near the killing fields of Deep East Oakland. In fact, it wasn't until fairly recently that I've taken the time to go hiking up in in the NE hills and I was completely astounded by how beautiful it is.

Oakland is about 5 miles North and South and 10 or so east to west,. so 50 square miles. I can't honestly believe that the is any 50 sq mi area that is 100% sketchy.

Of those square miles, 15 -20 are probably actually in the hills and some of that is park land. The densest neighborhoods in Oakland, around the lake an up towards Rockridge are also nice neighborhoods so that's another 5 miles there. There is about 2 sq miles of Rockridge "flat lands." And another 1 sq mi of Temescal. So it looks like it is safe to say at least half of Oakland's geography is in a middle class + area.

[rah]

Originally Posted by allenk893

Is Oakland really as bad as they say or is it just hype? I have lived in South Chicago, do you think I would survive in Oakland? Because I once saw this video of this old chinese man walking down the street in Oakland and these two thugs come and kill him. Ever since then I have sworn to never visit Oakland. But now I'm thinking maybe I should give it a chance when I visit.

Pretty much the same thing happened in SF, a few months before that Oakland killing.

An old chinese man was getting of a bus, and some teenage thugs kicked him down the bus stairs and proceeded to beat him to death on the sidewalk, for no apparent reason.

The only difference is, you never heard about it when it happened in SF....so now that you have heard about it, do you swear to never come to San Francisco? I'm guessing no. All cities have their good and bad sides. Oakland has lots of good to it, as well as the bad that we all know about so well, thanks to media hype and stereotypes.

[Mr. Fantastic]

Originally Posted by allenk893

Is Oakland really as bad as they say or is it just hype? I have lived in South Chicago, do you think I would survive in Oakland? Because I once saw this video of this old chinese man walking down the street in Oakland and these two thugs come and kill him. Ever since then I have sworn to never visit Oakland. But now I'm thinking maybe I should give it a chance when I visit.

I've seen worse. I've witnessed in person two black guys beating the crap out of a pregnant woman at an Oakland KFC. Horrifying.