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Old 11-29-2011, 09:36 AM
 
Location: Lyon, France, Whidbey Island WA
20,830 posts, read 17,006,605 times
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Not to be a party pooper....but this map may help you decide. It's a savvy way to look at crime in Oakland.

Oakland Crimespotting: Map
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Old 11-29-2011, 10:05 AM
 
Location: SW King County, WA
6,404 posts, read 8,239,680 times
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There's crime in Oakland? Who knew?

It's concentrated in specific neighborhoods??? Tell me more!!!
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Old 11-29-2011, 10:14 AM
 
Location: Oakland, CA
28,226 posts, read 36,744,562 times
Reputation: 28561
Quote:
Originally Posted by AADAD View Post
Not to be a party pooper....but this map may help you decide. It's a savvy way to look at crime in Oakland.

Oakland Crimespotting: Map
Crime is really concentrated in Oakland, thus really easy to avoid the trouble spots. It is a city, you still need to use common sense, but it is not hard to not be impacted by much.
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Old 11-29-2011, 10:15 AM
 
Location: The Bay
6,914 posts, read 14,692,405 times
Reputation: 3119
Quote:
Originally Posted by jade408 View Post
Crime is really concentrated in Oakland, thus really easy to avoid the trouble spots. It is a city, you still need to use common sense, but it is not hard to not be impacted by much.
And that's not even mentioning the assumption being made here is no crime happens in Berkeley.
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Old 11-29-2011, 10:34 AM
 
43 posts, read 107,104 times
Reputation: 48
Quote:
Originally Posted by snarkadoodle View Post
Ok, so here's another question: out of the neighborhoods I'm considering, which ones have the best/easiest access to BART? My husband will have to commute south for his job, and has absolutely no desire to take a car. If we live in a "slightly more remote area" like Oakmore, is it still easy to get to public transportation?
If you live in the Oakmore or the Oakland Hills you can also try driving down 580 to San Leandro and taking BART to Fremont from Bay Fair mall. The mall is right off the freeway exit. It is $1 to park a day and 580 south is a breeze in the morning. It should only take about 10 minutes to get to Bay Fair from Oakmore.
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Old 11-30-2011, 12:00 AM
 
Location: Northern California
358 posts, read 1,035,377 times
Reputation: 146
Quote:
Originally Posted by snarkadoodle View Post
This sounds EXACTLY like me when I try to explain to my friends why I'm not even considering sending my kids to the private school at which I teach. Glad to know there are like-minded people out there - sometimes I feel like a crazy person!

So...I'm not sure whether you were deciding between living in Berkeley and Oakland at one point, but if you were, and if picking good schools was a part of that decision, what were some of the factors you considered? It sounds like there are good schools in both Oakland and Berkeley; is there a compelling reason to choose one district over the other?

And thanks for the welcome - I am sad to leave our friends and neighbors in the beautiful PNW, but I am starting to get excited about moving to such an exciting, vibrant area. Thanks to all of you for the excellent feedback - it's a lot easier to get amped about a move when you feel informed!
We chose Berkeley because overall it just "felt" better to us. I'll also admit that we preferred the public school options in Berkeley over Oakland. Yes, there are good elementary schools, but as many people will tell you, beyond that it gets really dicey. In Berkeley, on the other hand, we felt more confident about public school options all the way through High School. There are some charter schools in Oakland, but we never really looked into it. There are some great neighborhoods in Oakland and we love the city overall, but just felt that Berkeley fit our personality better. We kind of liked that it is a relatively small and compact city (relative to Oakland, at least), but still has all of the benefits of urban living. We live in South Berkeley and are close to some very nice areas of Oakland, close to SF, easy access to the Caldecott Tunnel for when we visit family in Concord, and are an easy drive to the Oakland Zoo. We also have easy access to downtown Oakland, Alameda, and have the "youthful" vibe that comes from being in a "college town".

There will always be things you wish you could have more of, less of, be closer to, be farther from, etc. But overall, we are very happy with our decision to live in South Berkeley. There's just enough grit to keep us grounded, lol.

Aside from all of that, we didn't want our child to grow up in some isolated and insular community where everyone looks the same and they look (down) on the neighboring communities with contempt and sometimes even fear. We didn't want him to grow up surrounded by other kids whose parents spend $100 on jeans for their 5 year olds and whose parents continually obsess over staying ahead of the Jones'. While there are plenty of extremely wealthy people in Berkeley (and Oakland), I feel that there is enough of a mixture of different types of people that he will have an incredible life experience growing up in Berkeley (though this doesn't mean this is unique to only Berkeley).

When asking people's opinions and impressions, don't forget to make sure you understand what is important to those people because that will be the lens through which they paint the picture for you.
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Old 11-30-2011, 12:03 AM
 
Location: Northern California
358 posts, read 1,035,377 times
Reputation: 146
Quote:
Originally Posted by snarkadoodle View Post
This sounds EXACTLY like me when I try to explain to my friends why I'm not even considering sending my kids to the private school at which I teach. Glad to know there are like-minded people out there - sometimes I feel like a crazy person!

So...I'm not sure whether you were deciding between living in Berkeley and Oakland at one point, but if you were, and if picking good schools was a part of that decision, what were some of the factors you considered? It sounds like there are good schools in both Oakland and Berkeley; is there a compelling reason to choose one district over the other?

And thanks for the welcome - I am sad to leave our friends and neighbors in the beautiful PNW, but I am starting to get excited about moving to such an exciting, vibrant area. Thanks to all of you for the excellent feedback - it's a lot easier to get amped about a move when you feel informed!
Oh, and feel free to PM me if you want to discuss anything in greater detail!
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Old 12-01-2011, 02:14 PM
 
84 posts, read 142,816 times
Reputation: 41
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr Fantastic View Post
LOL don't be crazy, nobody moves to Oakland by choice.
Buddy, I'm onto you. I'm much more interested in hearing from people who actually live in Oakland or Berkeley, but thanks.
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Old 12-01-2011, 05:48 PM
 
140 posts, read 674,039 times
Reputation: 57
I've explored Oakland on several occasions now, and I find the place disturbing. It's so representative of America's problems. There seems to be no middle-class. There are the gentrified areas and the run-down, scary areas. There's no in between. I didn't like the place. Even if I could afford the gentrified area, I wouldn't move there.
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Old 12-01-2011, 06:15 PM
 
84 posts, read 142,816 times
Reputation: 41
SecondHalf, I hear you, and this does sound disturbing. It also sounds like Seattle, NYC, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and a host of other major cities I've been to. I don't like the lack of middle ground either, but I don't know if it's somehow "better" or more noble to live where there aren't run down places or areas with enormous homes. I grew up in the suburbs, and my parents were careful to keep me far, far away from "scary areas" or people who were truly struggling. I think I would rather have my kids see and live around all types of people as they grow up.

Anyhow, I do appreciate the feedback. I will have to see for myself next week - looking forward to visiting these two intriguing cities. Also starting to wonder if Berkeley makes more sense. It seems to have better schools on average, as well as more reasonable housing. Am I right?
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