BART at 1 am?

[mayorhaggar]

I didn't know the LM station was BART police HQ, I never saw anything there like a police station the one time I walked into the station. I guess it might be safe within the station but then you have to walk from there to your place. It's set in kind of a dumpy area. The area to the SE of the station is definitely pretty ghetto. The area to the west looks a bit better but has crime, a guy I know who used to live there said he often heard gunshots at night. A girl I knew who lived I think either south or west of the lake didn't feel safe going outside at night. Adams Point and Cleveland Heights are nice but you'd have to walk probably 20 minutes through dark and sketchy areas to get there. LM station would be fine if you were leaving work at 5pm, I wouldn't recommend it for midnight.

[Taboo2]

Interesting he did not include Dublin/Pleasanton or Castro Valley in those stations that are safe. I don't think the D/P station is dangerous at night having worked across the street from it until 2am- 5 nights a week and the CV station has a BART police station located there.

Originally Posted by MunchWife

I thought it might be helpful to post an ema
il I got in response to which BART stations were considered safer by BART police:

From: Gilbert Lopez Jr <GLopez@bart.gov>
Cc: Tyrone Forte <TForte@bart.gov>; Ken Dam <KDam@bart.gov>

First of all, thank you for contacting the BART Police Department while
performing your due diligence/research for a new residence.

In looking at our most recent 2010 police statistics for part 1 crimes
(i.e. felonies such as burglary, assault with a deadly weapon, etc.), in
comparison to recent years, crime on BART is currently low. You mention in
your e-mail that you have yet to decide which neighborhood in the East Bay
you will move to, so I can only give you a general location(s) of those
neighborhoods near BART stations which are generally considered safe. Here
you go:

Oakland/Rockridge area
Lafayette, Orinda, Walnut Creek, and Pleasant Hill areas
El Cerrito Plaza area
Fremont area

If you need specific criminal statistical information from BART Police,
please contact Crime Analyst/Officer Ken Dam (his e-mail is attached to the cc portion of this e-mail).

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you any further questions.

Regards,

Lieutenant Gil Lopez #L22
BART Police Department
800 Madison St., PO Box 12688
Oakland, Ca., 94604-2688
1(877) 679-7000 (Toll-free)
Voicemail: (510) 464-6599 Ext.: 51502
glopez@bart.gov

______________________
In a response to a further question about the Lake Merritt Station, I got this:

Aside from Laney College students travelling to and from school, the Lake
Merritt station is usually not very busy at night. Besides, the Lake
Merritt station is the location of BART Police Headquarters.

Hope this helps.
________________________

So that may explain the desertion at LK Merritt Stations at night!

[lmk1707]

Originally Posted by mayorhaggar

I didn't know the LM station was BART police HQ, I never saw anything there like a police station the one time I walked into the station. I guess it might be safe within the station but then you have to walk from there to your place. It's set in kind of a dumpy area. The area to the SE of the station is definitely pretty ghetto. The area to the west looks a bit better but has crime, a guy I know who used to live there said he often heard gunshots at night. A girl I knew who lived I think either south or west of the lake didn't feel safe going outside at night. Adams Point and Cleveland Heights are nice but you'd have to walk probably 20 minutes through dark and sketchy areas to get there. LM station would be fine if you were leaving work at 5pm, I wouldn't recommend it for midnight.

You know someone who heard gunshots while living in Jack London Square?

Keep in mind some of your info may be a bit outdated, the southeastern part of the lake itself is undergoing a pretty dramatic shift. A year and a half ago, most of that area around the lake was just patches of dirt, now it's nicely landscaped with benches, and will soon be part of a bigger plan for the area with the addition of a new tree-lined boulevard. The path around the lake, even the 3-4 blocks where it butts up against a grittier neighborhood, is a walk I've done many times, even late at night (coming home from Taco Tuesday at Lake Chalet). You don't have to walk through the dark to get to Cleveland Heights, either, the path around the lake is well-lit with both the necklace of lights & several streetlights. Additionally, since it's pretty easy to park there (depending on time of day), the issue of walking could be entirely moot.

[jade408]

The OP sounds like she is likely to be walking, alone. I wouldn't want to walk all the way home from Lake Merritt BART alone to anywhere when it is too late. Not enough foot traffic. I'd stick to locales with foot traffic.

To the OP: the suburban stations are safe, but you won't find any walkers. Everyone drives to the most of the stations with parking. They also do not have buses that run past 9p if you are lucky. BART police's letter is really covering BART property, and not the surrounding neighborhood per se.

For example: I'd park and come home late to virtually any BART station (not West Oakland) and walk to my car. But many stations are either too sketchy, or too isolated to safely walk home from.

There are no walkers around: Lafayette, Orinda, Walnut Creek, Fremont, Castro Valley, Dublin, or Pleasant Hill (or people will just think you are crazy. )

For walking (or bus-ing) you need both access to a busy bus stop and other non-drivers to feel safe.
I think the best choices for transit users/walkers are Rockridge, Berkeley, North Berkeley, or Macarthur. Where there are either plenty of walkers or more buses or both. With the exception of Rockridge, there is a "good direction" and a "bad direction" in terms of exiting and living around the station. (Varying degrees of bad)

[mayorhaggar]

I said he lived west of the lake, I think he said on Alice. JLS is south of the lake. He moved out I think about 4 years ago, it's possible that things have changed. The girl who lived south of the lake and felt unsafe still lives there, she grew up around Petaluma though so might be a bit easily scared.

It just depends on someone's definition of safety and what they are comfortable with.

[NorCal Dude]

Originally Posted by MunchWife

It does if it's the last stop!

As I said, I'm off at midnight and would catch the last BART train, so depending on how long that trip takes it could be 1 am before I get home if move out far enough.

Oh good, I just wanted to make sure you weren't going to get off work and waiting for an imaginary/ non existent train running at 1am.

[MunchWife]

Originally Posted by mayorhaggar

I said he lived west of the lake, I think he said on Alice. JLS is south of the lake. He moved out I think about 4 years ago, it's possible that things have changed. The girl who lived south of the lake and felt unsafe still lives there, she grew up around Petaluma though so might be a bit easily scared.

It just depends on someone's definition of safety and what they are comfortable with.

I think that's really true--I was just talking to my neighbor about this (he's a cabbie), and he emphasized the fact that if I can walk through the TL late and not feel scared (because I know it and where I'm going) that it's a matter of being comfortable in a new neighborhood. Crime can happen *anywhere* and you just have to keep your eyes and ears open and maybe carry pepper spray too!

It would be nice though to get a place close to a BART station but with all the other considerations I can only make sure I'm not too far away as I don't fancy a looong walk home if for nothing else than being tired and wanting to be inside. Right now I guess I'm lucky--I'm 2 blocks from the N-Judah. End of the line at the beach so I always get my seat on the way and never miss my stop at the end.

Quote:
Originally Posted by MunchWife
It does if it's the last stop!

As I said, I'm off at midnight and would catch the last BART train, so depending on how long that trip takes it could be 1 am before I get home if move out far enough.

Oh good, I just wanted to make sure you weren't going to get off work and waiting for an imaginary/ non existent train running at 1am.

That's really funny!
I work with a guy who works the same shift and lives in the East Bay so I know I can catch something headed that way at that time. Doesn't take that long to get to BART from where I work,

[MunchWife]

Originally Posted by jade408

The OP sounds like she is likely to be walking, alone. I wouldn't want to walk all the way home from Lake Merritt BART alone to anywhere when it is too late. Not enough foot traffic. I'd stick to locales with foot traffic.

To the OP: the suburban stations are safe, but you won't find any walkers. Everyone drives to the most of the stations with parking. They also do not have buses that run past 9p if you are lucky. BART police's letter is really covering BART property, and not the surrounding neighborhood per se.

For example: I'd park and come home late to virtually any BART station (not West Oakland) and walk to my car. But many stations are either too sketchy, or too isolated to safely walk home from.

There are no walkers around: Lafayette, Orinda, Walnut Creek, Fremont, Castro Valley, Dublin, or Pleasant Hill (or people will just think you are crazy. )

For walking (or bus-ing) you need both access to a busy bus stop and other non-drivers to feel safe.
I think the best choices for transit users/walkers are Rockridge, Berkeley, North Berkeley, or Macarthur. Where there are either plenty of walkers or more buses or both. With the exception of Rockridge, there is a "good direction" and a "bad direction" in terms of exiting and living around the station. (Varying degrees of bad)

I think a person usually feels safer amongst others but if the neighborhood is okay it just might *feel* sketchy without actually being dangerous. But I guess it also depends on who "the others" are!

[emily1977]

The important thing to remember is that in any urban area you want to keep your bat senses high and your head down. It also helps to keep in mind most people no matter what are just like you- just trying to get home safe. Crime is newsworthy because it is rare.