After one week of living in Oakland someone tried to mug me (shops, activity)

[bmw335xi]

I think safety is both perception and reality. If you live in an area that averages 10 muggins per day, you need to be more aware of your surroundings because the reality is that muggings occur there on a daily basis. Crime still happens in small towns too. However, there is a difference if your area averages 1 mugging per month vs 200 muggings per month.

You should always be aware of your surroundings to some degree, but walking down a dark alley in a ghetto, you should and naturally will feel more at risk. If you are walking on nice landscaped street full of 4,000 sq ft homes, you shouldn't and won't feel at risk or very little risk. You aren't thinking, hmmm maybe I shouldn't wear my rolex, maybe I shouldn't have my iPhone visible.

I guess that is my point... there are places in the country where you don't have to be as aware of your surroundings or feel worried about being mugged because you are carrying a nice purse or phone. It doesn't mean there is no risk such as the example you gave, but there definitely is a difference between a 6 year old going to the corner market in West Oakland or Tenderloin vs the corner market in Wasilla, Alaska.

[bentobox34]

Some of the street smarts comments sound kind of like blaming the victim to me.

"I just got mugged on International."

"Sucks for you. I guess you aren't smart enough to live in Oakland."

If you need more street smarts to live in Place X than in Place Y, that strikes me as a fancy way of saying that Place X is less safe than Place Y.

[kns oakland]

Originally Posted by bentobox34

Some of the street smarts comments sound kind of like blaming the victim to me.

"I just got mugged on International."

"Sucks for you. I guess you aren't smart enough to live in Oakland."

If you need more street smarts to live in Place X than in Place Y, that strikes me as a fancy way of saying that Place X is less safe than Place Y.

international is the hood it's like being surprised somebody would get mugged on rosecrans in compton. It's not exactly broadway terrace.

[bmw335xi]

Originally Posted by bentobox34

Some of the street smarts comments sound kind of like blaming the victim to me.

"I just got mugged on International."

"Sucks for you. I guess you aren't smart enough to live in Oakland."

If you need more street smarts to live in Place X than in Place Y, that strikes me as a fancy way of saying that Place X is less safe than Place Y.

Exactly!

[Ultrarunner]

Growing up my parents always told us to be aware of our surroundings and to walk away from trouble...

We also locked doors and kept things under lock and key... everywhere we lived.

That said... no one in the family has ever had a home alarm or car alarm... I do have one on my work truck which has been broken into several times... curiously, never in Oakland where it is 95% of the time... once in Pittsburg and twice in San Leandro... Home Depot and Orchard Supply.

[Ultrarunner]

Originally Posted by funtimessf

The issue here is that Oakland fanboys are claiming International Blvd is the only place where serious crimes happen, when that is a total fallacy. Large sections of East Oakland and West Oakland are not safe for the average American.

I live in Oakland and I would never say anywhere is safe in or out of Oakland... just too many variables... no matter if you live here or in Kalamazoo...

Advice is to know your neighbors and community and the reality of urban living.

A high school friend and her family moved to the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State... breathtakingly beautiful and very serene and peaceful... they went away to attend a family wedding in San Diego only to return home and find they had been ransacked and burglarized...

The Stats speak for themselves... the real answer takes a little more than looking at numbers... you need to look what is behind the numbers and then decide...

If money were no object... I would consider Piedmont... a city entirely surrounded by Oakland on all sides.

Strange how a city inside a city can considered safe and have top schools when the city that encompasses it is not.

Wonder how Oakland would stack up if Piedmont had not gone the separate city route?

[wave9x]

Piedmont has its own police force and school district, which explains how it can be safe with top schools. Also the areas next to Piedmont are the nicest parts of Oakland with lower crime than the worst areas (West Oakland, East Oakland).

[Ultrarunner]

Originally Posted by wave9x

Piedmont has its own police force and school district, which explains how it can be safe with top schools. Also the areas next to Piedmont are the nicest parts of Oakland with lower crime than the worst areas (West Oakland, East Oakland).

True... but there are no checkpoints or border guards... people can easily drive through Piedmont and residents of Piedmont have no way to leave without going through Oakland.

And... as stated... Oakland does have nice parts

[jade408]

Originally Posted by Ultrarunner

True... but there are no checkpoints or border guards... people can easily drive through Piedmont and residents of Piedmont have no way to leave without going through Oakland.

And... as stated... Oakland does have nice parts

I go through Piedmont at least every other day. . I live like 3 blocks away.


On an autocorrecting iDevice.

[BayAreaDave]

International isn't even that bad. I always see moms with strollers walking around. The side streets off international, different story.