Is Richmond worse than Oakland? (Orinda: established neighborhood, live, slums)

[Nineties Flava]

Originally Posted by sonarrat

Would I rather live in North Richmond, Deep East Oakland, or Hunter's Point? Between the three I would prefer Oakland by a long shot, but they're all pretty seriously rough.

^That. The Deep is no BS but it's also a lot easier to get around without a car than the other two and it's not as barren. I worked in the Deep at Arroyo all summer. It's rough as far as crime goes but in a way, it's not a real ghetto in the sense that the other two are. HP was never built to be a neighborhood, it was built to be a slum. North Richmond is a real neighborhood but it was clearly intended for the poor to live there; the pollution and isolation relative to the rest of the city is among the worst of any neighborhood in the Bay Area. The Deep does not share that in common with either of those... it was built as a middle class white neighborhood and is not in an isolated location. West Oakland is more comparable to the other two but even it was originally built as a wealthy white neighborhood... Oakland's crime situation is more due to being the transit and shipping center of the Bay Area and its long-corrupt city government than anything.

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

I was surprised to recently check the crime stats for Richmond vs. the Jack London Square area. According to the stats, Richmond was safer than that particular neighborhood alone in Oakland. I didn't expect that.

[Nineties Flava]

Originally Posted by NoMoreSnowForMe

I was surprised to recently check the crime stats for Richmond vs. the Jack London Square area. According to the stats, Richmond was safer than that particular neighborhood alone in Oakland. I didn't expect that.

That's not surprising at all, lots of people go out at night in Jack London and there's lots of vehicle theft along with the occassional armed robbery. Richmond has no such area... you'd be comparing a residential area that only neighborhood residents frequent to an area that attracts people from around the East Bay. Lower Pacific Heights has a lot more crime than Jack London Square or almost any individual neighborhood in Richmond per this website, does that surprise you too?

https://www.crimereports.com/

[BoringOldMike4554]

The bad parts of both cities are pretty rough, but i've always understood that there is a higher proportion of bad areas in Richmond than in Oakland.

[wooliemonster]

Originally Posted by Nineties Flava

That's not surprising at all, lots of people go out at night in Jack London and there's lots of vehicle theft along with the occassional armed robbery.....

Exactly. You know, lies and statistics and all that. Normalize to density, or come up with a measure like "person-occupancy-per-area" that captures people coming for work, recreation, etc. For instance, an office worker might be present in an area 2000 hours/year, or about 23% of the time. A resident might be home 12 hours a day, or 50% of the time. Sum up workers, residents, visitors, etc., to get a measure of the actual number of people in an area, not just that live there. Or break it down by daytime population, night population.

[NorCal Dude]

Richmond is at least trying. Oakland is detroit west. Theyre done. Bankruptcy is the only option, for oakland to turn itself around

[04kL4nD]

As someone who's lived in 'scary' and 'dangerous' West Oakland for years that now lives in JLS, I can honestly say that I don't really notice a major difference in my perception of 'safety', other than JLS being infinitely cleaner/quieter and with more white people pushing strollers and walking their dogs. Haven't noticed any car break-ins in the vicinity of my apartment complex or heard any gunshots since moving here, but I never noticed that happening in my old neighborhood either. I walk home late at night from BART or the bars a few times a week, and I guess I'm just playing with fire. Clearly, based on the well researched and well documented experiences of users who don't even live here, I must be a statistical outlier. Better check USER REPORTED sites like http://spotcrime.com/ to make sure that I'm due for an armed robbery, shouldn't I? Must have better data than POLICE REPORTED sites like https://www.crimereports.com/ or even http://oakland.crimespotting.org/ which paints a more accurate description of the dense, urban area I live in.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

From the stand point of actual battles within the worst areas the difference is minimal. The cops situation only has a minimal impact on this. The worst conflicts occur in situations where there are no cops close enough to make a difference. Also, no matter how many cops, if the community don't tell them anything, the cops are merely a mop up crew.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Originally Posted by wave9x

I think Oakland has more nice areas than Richmond. Does Richmond have anything other than Pt. Richmond that is nice? Oakland has Montclair, Rockridge, Lakeshore, Piedmont Ave, Claremont, etc. etc.

There are plenty of nice areas in the eastern half of Richmond particularly the southeastern quadrant.

[FabianS]

Originally Posted by BayAreaDave

Obvious not talking about Montclair or Point Richmond. This is a comparison between the worst parts of each individual city.

The worst parts of Richmond are arguably worse because they're more deserted and you're slightly farther away from civilization/help.