Oakland is scaring me! (San Francisco, Richmond: houses, to buy, live in)

[Lake Conroe resident]

Originally Posted by MissDaisy

just an observation....some of us from north of there have noticed that if the Oakland Raiders lose, the fans set their stuff on fire...if the Oakland Raiders win, the fans set their stuff on fire....

LOL, It's called a "no win" situation for the rest of the city who would rather live like civilized people and obey the law.

[sonarrat]

Originally Posted by 18Montclair

Urine? What an exaggeration.

Nowhere in Oakland, and I mean no where, is as ghetto and smells of urine anywhere near the degree of San Francisco along Market and Mission between 5th and Van Ness. That is the Bay Area's skid row and anywhere in Oakland, including the depths of East Oakland's crime triangle, is far better than that dump. Puhleeze.

Oakland has a triangle? I thought that was a Richmond thing.

[redwoodlvr]

Originally Posted by sonarrat

Oakland has a triangle? I thought that was a Richmond thing.

I thought it was in Bermuda.

[18Montclair]

Originally Posted by sonarrat

Oakland has a triangle? I thought that was a Richmond thing.

There's no triangle, I just couldnt think of a word that would fit that sentence.

[City Boy]

Originally Posted by jeevcy

I have passed through Oakland a couple of times (Broadway) and more recently today (International Blvd). Place is a ghetto with urine stench almost everywhere. Forget safety, talk hygiene. The only places that impressed me in Oakland are Lake Merritt, Piedmont and Rockridge. Else, it is a sea of slums and makes you feel you are in a third world country. You can feel a huge difference when you enter San Leandro.

You're a liar, the "ghettos" of Oakland do not smell like urine at all. They are regular neighborhoods with people who take care of their lawns and houses like anywhere else. I would say 90% of San Francisco smells like urine. Even the areas with the multi million dollar condos. You've never stepped foot in Oakland, if you have you'd know San Leandro is not a utopia that is drastically different than East Oakland. Just say you're scared of Black people it will make you're BS rant sound more logical.

[jaybone666]

Oakland is a dump. It used to be a nice place. I assume that's why those who grew up there get so defensive about it. Oakland seems to have an inferiority complex with SF, kinda like Chicago does with NYC.

Yes, there are some nice neighborhoods. But the bad far outweighs the good there, and it's obviously not just me who thinks so. You can't really try and tell me all the bad stories about Oakland are wrong or exaggerated, or that these stories are all coming from people who "clearly haven't spent much time there"/"haven't seen my nice neighborhood".

I've lived in SF for over 10 years, and I worked in Oakland for 4. I just said this in another post, but allow me to reiterate: In those 4 years, we had 2 cars stolen from the parking lot right under our noses in the middle of the day, 1 stereo stolen from a car (smashed window, blood everywhere in the car), 2 front doors & countless windows smashed, not to mention the human feces which was waiting for us every morning just outside the entrance, or the fact that a co-worker of mine almost died after someone just walked in off the street and stabbed her 3 times with a chef's knife while she was sitting at her desk.

I could go on for hours about all the times I was harassed, mostly for being a "whiteboy". Yes, Oakland is also a very racist place. And, no, I don't mean neo-nazis.

There's nothing in Oakland you couldn't find anywhere else in the Bay Area. Except maybe the crime rate.

Let's have a look at some stats (culled from this very website), shall we? As they say, the numbers don't lie....

Population, Oak - 400,000 (2006 est)
Population, SF - 750,000 (2006 est)

As you see, SF has almost twice as many residents. Keep that in mind....

Percentage of residents living in poverty (2005):
Oak - 18.3%
SF - 12.2%

Unemployment, population 25 years and over:
Oak - 8.4%
SF - 4.6%

Sex Offenders (2007):
Oak - 788
The ratio of number of residents in Oakland to the number of sex offenders is 502 to 1.
SF - 630
The ratio of number of residents in San Francisco to the number of sex offenders is 1176 to 1.

People in homes for abused, dependent, and neglected children:
Oak - 71
SF - 30

General Crime Stats (2006):
(All numbers below are per 100,000 residents)

Murder
Oak - 36.4
SF - 11.5

Rape
Oak - 76.7
SF - 20.6

Robbery
Oak - 886.1
SF - 517.1

Assault
Oak - 906.1
SF - 326.4

Burglary
Oak - 1271.2
SF - 866.5

Auto Theft
Oak - 2645.0 (wow!)
SF - 889.4

Arson
Oak - 77.0
SF - 30.3

City-data.com crime index
(higher means more crime, U.S. average = 323.2)

1999
Oak - 812.9
SF - 497.6

2000
Oak - 706.6
SF - 486.1

2001
Oak - 695.6
SF - No data

2002
Oak - 740.7
SF - 456.0

2003
Oak - 734.6
SF - 477.2

2004
Oak - 705.9
SF - 479.4

2005
Oak - 801.7
SF - 489.2

2006
Oak - 969.2 (3X the national average! Very impressive!)
SF - 519.9

Biggest public high schools:

Oakland

Dewey Academy (Our rating: 1)
Media College Preparatory (Our rating: 6)
East Oakland School of the Arts (Our rating: 6)
Leadership Preparatory High (Our rating: 9)
Business and Information Technology High (Our rating: 10)
Oakland High (Our rating: 29)
Oakland Technical High (Our rating: 32)
Skyline High (Our rating: 56)
Wilson College Preparatory Academy (Our rating: 59)
East Bay Conservation Corps Charter (Our rating: 79)

SF

John A. O'Connell High (Our rating: 15)
Mission High (Our rating: 15)
Thurgood Marshall Academic High (Our rating: 44)
Philip and Sala Burton Academic High (Our rating: 49)
Balboa High (Our rating: 53)
Raoul Wallenberg Traditional High (Our rating: 62)
Abraham Lincoln High (Our rating: 72)
George Washington High (Our rating: 73)
Galileo High (Our rating: 79)
Lowell High (Our rating: 99)

I suppose I can understand the defensiveness, I still get annoyed sometimes when people talk trash about NJ. But eventually I remember why I left The Armpit of America in the first place, and we all have a good laugh about it.

Oakland has been in a downward spiral for the last 20 years or so. Most of the people who have the means to move out already have. It's a powder keg, stay at your own peril.....

[18Montclair]

Originally Posted by jaybone666

Oakland is a dump.

Because of Hunters Point, Is it plausible for me to dismiss all of San Francisco? That's exactly what your doing to Oakland.

Oakland seems to have an inferiority complex with SF, kinda like Chicago does with NYC.

Trust me. Having lived on Telegraph Hill & Pacific Heights, San Franciscans preccupy themselves with talking about stink about Oakland much more so than Oaklanders preoccupy themselves even thinking about San Francisco. Its a huge oddity.

Yes, there are some nice neighborhoods. But the bad far outweighs the good there, and it's obviously not just me who thinks so. You can't really try and tell me all the bad stories about Oakland are wrong or exaggerated, or that these stories are all coming from people who "clearly haven't spent much time there"/"haven't seen my nice neighborhood".

In other words, people who actually live there are all wrong and those who have visited once or twice are more knowledgably.""indeed.

Oakland has been in a downward spiral for the last 20 years or so.

Indication number 100 that you are totally ignorant about Oakland-its actually on a decade long climb up.

Most of the people who have the means to move out already have.

The fastest growing segment of Oakland's population are upwardly mobile whites.

It's a powder keg, stay at your own peril.....

99% of Oaklanders live there with pleasure. Its the outsiders that have the problem.

[18Montclair]

And like I said,
San Franciscans can deride Oakland all they want, but nowhere, absolutely nowhere in Oakland smells like urine and is as disgusting as the corridor of Market and Mission between 5th and Van Ness. Hookers, junkees, seedy blocks of dilapidated apartments and vagrants, teeming with scores of homeless and countless mentally ill people loitering the streets. By far, the most grotesque and least civilized corner of The Bay Area.

Congratulations.

[City Boy]

I remember when the EXACT same thing was said about the SOMA area of SF. EXACTLY now look at it. It's hilarious and pathetic.

[sonarrat]

I'm pretty sure Sassberto deleted the wrong post by mistake.