BART at 1 am? (Oakland, Hayward, Concord: apartments, high crime, home)

[MunchWife]

Me & my husband are looking into moving to the East Bay from SF. I'm off work at 12 am and would be taking the last BART (weekends too), but it just occurred to me it might be better to avoid certain BART stations at that time.

Does anyone know which BART stations are particularly unsafe late at night?

We're looking as far out as Concord which would probably be fine but would prefer less of a commute so San Leandro, Hayward etc., and the stations around Oakland/Berkeley are the ones I'm asking about.

Thanks!

[jade408]

Are you driving, bussing, or walking to BART? For the many of the urban BART stations, one way is good and one is bad. What part of SF do you live in now? Can you give us more about your preferences and living situation. All of the information isn't of use if we aren't targeting the right neighborhoods for you.

Honestly, I find most areas of Oakland a lot safer feeling than many parts of SF. And really, most of the BART stations in the east bay are pretty safe. There really aren't that many incidents at the BART station.

Macarthur BART gets a bad rap, but it is OK. And there are still a couple of buses and a cab stand at that time of evening. If you are headed west, that is a crappy walk for sure, but heading east goes from decent to good along the way. Rockridge is overall safer -- good in any direction.

Downtown Berkeley BART is OK, it gets bonus points for having a good number of people around, but downtown Berkeley isn't great in terms of safety, it is just OK. You will run into homeless people that time of evening for sure.

North Berkeley BART is better overall, since it is safer, but the surrounding area is very residential, so there isn't likely to be much traffic around there in the evening. Safe neighborhood mostly, but you'll be all alone over there in the evening.

Lake Merritt BART feels really dark at night. I haven't been over there very late, so I have no opinion.

12th and 19th BART are weird. I feel perfectly safe over there, even in the late in the evenings, and many years ago when the neighborhood was worst I was there after midnight. Then it felt a bit empty, like tumbleweed would go by, but not scary. These days there is a lot more happening, so you'll see buses and pedestrians. Not as good as Rockridge, a little below average but likely fine. Like I said I haven't had issues, but you would need to use urban common sense. It is perhaps 10% worse than downtown Berkeley.

Ashby BART is a bit sketchier. It is also one of those if you head west it is worst than heading east. I'd put it on par with Macarthur, but the strange thing is there are two parking lots, so it can feel a bit dark to go all over the parking lot at night. There is a lot of ground to cover to get to your car. You could be walking alone in the direction of your car (if you drove). So I like Macarthur better. Everyone has to go the same way.

I don't head over to Coliseum or Fruitvale BART, so I can't comment.

San Leandro BART isn't great from what I've heard, and well San Leandro isn't that great anyway. There is a crappy mall and a pretty cute downtown area, but otherwise there are no amenities.

West Oakland BART = avoid. It is just way too dark over there. ANd perhaps it is still sketchy over there. But it is dark and deserted in general. So I'd pass on it.

[MunchWife]

Originally Posted by jade408

Are you driving, bussing, or walking to BART? For the many of the urban BART stations, one way is good and one is bad. What part of SF do you live in now? Can you give us more about your preferences and living situation. All of the information isn't of use if we aren't targeting the right neighborhoods for you.

Honestly, I find most areas of Oakland a lot safer feeling than many parts of SF. And really, most of the BART stations in the east bay are pretty safe. There really aren't that many incidents at the BART station.
...

Wow, thanks for the wealth of information, and so fast!
Right now we live in the Outer Sunset and I spend 1-1/2 hours on Muni just getting to the Montgomery St. Stn.

I would be walking or bussing to BART. My working hours are 3:30 to midnight Thursday--Tuesday.

We are looking for a 1 bedroom (ideally) for 800 but might have to go as high as 1000 if utilities are included. We also have to factor in a little extra monthly for BART; I pay $60/mo for Muni. My preferences would be a neighborhood/building with some character, a little artsy, places to walk to, but can't be overly fussy at this point.

I'm so used to the drunks and weird people in SF, no problem walking through the TL at night, so maybe I've got nothing to worry about--I think a new neighborhood always seems a little scarier especially at night because of not yet being familiar, plus we hear of a new murder on a regular basis on the news for Oakland.

I was at a Hayward BART station in the early evening years ago waiting for a friend to come get me and ended up being harassed by a few guys. Perhaps that was out of the ordinary. Since I never find myself in the East Bay I have no idea what areas should be avoided.

I've read a lot here saying Oakland is actually a lot safer than SF so maybe I don't have as much to worry about as I think?

[mayorhaggar]

Parts of Oakland like Rockridge are safer than most of SF but you get crime in any urban area like SF or Oakland. Overall Oakland has a lot of high crime areas, probably more than SF, but neither is a great place to be late at night.

Rockridge BART is probably the only Oakland station I'd want to be at at that time, and I'm a dude. Most of the rest are in areas that are fine by daytime but I would imagine they're either sketchy or so deserted they feel sketchy at night.

Walnut Creek and Pleasant Hill BART should be fine. Concord has a reputation for crime but I don't know if that extends to the area around the BART stations there.

People have said the area around the San Leandro BART station is pretty bad, I guess Bay Fair is too. Hayward has a reputation for a lot of crime too.

[Nineties Flava]

The Fruitvale BART is fine before 10:00 PM... afterwards, most of the Fruitvale Village stuff closes and the buses come much less frequently. Like Mayorhaggar said, it depends how you're getting there. I come on the bus from Fruitvale & MacArthur (the 21, 20 or the 39) and normally get off at the stop before the BART itself - Fruitvale & International - because it takes less time. But after dark, most people hanging around the International Blvd area after dark tend to be of the delinquent variety... I would never walk on foot in that area past 10:00 PM, let alone 1:00 AM. If you're in a car, though, make sure you get dropped off right in front of the station.

Here's some of my own pics of the station and the area its in.

Fruitvale Station:



http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/6415/dsc02423k.jpg (broken link)


Fruitvale Village:


http://img815.imageshack.us/img815/9001/dsc02327e.jpg (broken link)




http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/8206/dsc02326yc.jpg (broken link)


Across the street from Fruitvale Village:


http://img691.imageshack.us/img691/7480/dsc02334t.jpg (broken link)


http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/7278/dsc02335ok.jpg (broken link)


On the other side of the station:

http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/7118/dsc02346l.jpg (broken link)

This area's fine for the most part in the daytime - and it helps that it's right next to Alameda - but I wouldn't be here after midnight.

[MunchWife]

Originally Posted by Nineties Flava

The Fruitvale BART is fine before 10:00 PM... afterwards, most of the Fruitvale Village stuff closes and the buses come much less frequently... I would never walk on foot in that area past 10:00 PM, let alone 1:00 AM. If you're in a car, though, make sure you get dropped off right in front of the station.
... but I wouldn't be here after midnight.

So there are NO BART police at all at any of the stations after dark?
Thanks for the visual contrast--makes a point.

[Nineties Flava]

Originally Posted by MunchWife

So there are NO BART police at all at any of the stations after dark?
Thanks for the visual contrast--makes a point.

They are... however, they can only do so much for you if you're in the wrong place at the wrong time, especially if you're outside of the BART station area (ie walking on the streets next to it). As a rule of thumb, I wouldn't be walking to the Fruitvale/Coliseum/West Oakland/Richmond/Bay Fair/MacArthur BART after dark. In the daytime though, all of these are fine except for the Coliseum BART. Avoid the Coliseum one if you can...

[jade408]

I disagree about Macarthur, I walk in the evenings pretty frequently. I would avoid heading West for sure. East is A-OK. You'll go from hipsters and dog walkers to Piedmont Ave and people leaving the bar and Kaiser workers to dog walkers. Not bad I'd say. And you'll run into buses on Broadway and so on. (I live about 1.25 mi from BART and walk the whole way if I do not want to wait for the bus.)

Compared to TL, you'll feel way safer. There are way less crazies on the street. There are rare incidents there, but it doesn't happen that frequently. Macarthur BART has improved by a lot in the past few years. I always heard it was really sketchy. It is my closest BART stations, and it was not as sketchy as I heard by any count.

You'd actually do OK looking at the apartments east of Macarhur BART. In the in between land of Temescal and Piedmont Ave. Tons of cute buildings and you are at a good crossroads of neighborhoods (Around let's say 40th and Broadway or Webster.) It would take no more than 10 minuted to walk from BART in that area. Also the Kaiser shuttle might still be on. Lots of residents use that to get home when they do not feel like walking. It would be pretty easy to find a sub $1000 apartment in the area.

Also Adam's Point would be OK, depending on the street/proximity to BART.

[MunchWife]

Thanks everyone for your takes on this--it helps. One thing I found odd though, is that while many people tell me to look around Lake Merritt for apartments, the BART Lk Merritt station sounds scary!
What's the deal there? You'd think if the area was nice, the station wouldn't be that bad...

[lmk1707]

Originally Posted by MunchWife

Thanks everyone for your takes on this--it helps. One thing I found odd though, is that while many people tell me to look around Lake Merritt for apartments, the BART Lk Merritt station sounds scary!
What's the deal there? You'd think if the area was nice, the station wouldn't be that bad...

It's deserted, but not scary. I actually think it's one of the nicer BART stations in Oakland. I've headed in on the last train and walked home from Lake Merritt BART (over a mile). Also gotten right in a cab that was waiting at the station. Depends on how far you have to go - the station is not actually that close to the lake. Busses in Oakland run late though, which is a boon compared to the smaller East Bay towns (getting from Pleasant Hill BART to Pleasant Hill downtown, for example, can be aggravating).