How do you guys feel that Downtown Oakland is better than Downtown San Jose? (Sacramento: appointed, neighborhoods)

[the topper]

How do you guys feel that Downtown Oakland is better than Downtown San Jose? San Jose is so much bigger than Oakland but lacking a downtown to beat it. Downtown Oakland just landed UC President Office and Blue Shield while San Jose withers away. 5 high rises will get underway in Dt Oakland while none will get underway in Dt. SJ.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

We'll it's not a mystery. Oakland is 10 miles from SF. San Jose is an edge city. The "center of gravity" of Bay Area population is in Alameda County.

[PixelatedTherapy]

Yes, Oakland's downtown is better than San Jose's. Sacramento's downtown is better than San Jose's aswell. Hell, Walnut Creek isn't far behind San Jose, and Walnut Creek is a suburb.

[PixelatedTherapy]

San Jose is a workers' city. You go there and live there to work. What the South Bay has in economic prosperity, they lack in culture. SF and Oakland will always have rich cultural history whether or not the economy is booming.

[jade408]

Downtown Oakland has basically decided to add multiple nightlife districts to the jobs.

Jack London Square has been a destination, though The Who has shifted over the years, for a long time. Chinatown is also a well utilized area. What's changed is that other portions of downtown are also lively.

There is an added benefit that downtown is also surrounded by a lot of denser communities, many with lots of young people, who for downtown is an easy trip.

I live about a little over a mile from downtown Oakland - so it is a no brainer to include it on my rotation of places to go. It is an easy bus ride, bike ride or cheap trip in a Lyft.

Neighborhoods like Temescal, Rockridge and Grand Lake are also less than 2 miles away.

Also, downtown SJ was known for a no go zone for a long time, and few people worked there. Even in the dire times for downtown Oakland, there was a steady stream of workers for a long time. And for many headed to other destinations, downtown is on the way.

[bmw335xi]

Originally Posted by the topper

How do you guys feel that Downtown Oakland is better than Downtown San Jose? San Jose is so much bigger than Oakland but lacking a downtown to beat it. Downtown Oakland just landed UC President Office and Blue Shield while San Jose withers away. 5 high rises will get underway in Dt Oakland while none will get underway in Dt. SJ.

Downtown San Jose is so much nicer, light years nicer in my opinion.

[roadwarrior101]

Originally Posted by bmw335xi

Downtown San Jose is so much nicer, light years nicer in my opinion.

If nice = clean and safe, then yes.


If nice means interesting from a cultural/culinary/nightlife perspective, definitely not.


San Jose is just too drab/dull for me. It definitely doesn't feel like a city of 1 million. It has a great economy and better weather than SF/Oakland, but doesn't have anything interesting for a big city. Just feels like an overgrown/overcrowded suburb and the geeky tech culture doesn't add to the intrigue.


I lived in the South Bay for 5 years and didn't really care for it at all. Live in the East Bay now and despite living in a smaller town, find it more interesting. SF/Oakland are more on a different level.

[the topper]

Originally Posted by roadwarrior101

If nice = clean and safe, then yes.


If nice means interesting from a cultural/culinary/nightlife perspective, definitely not.


San Jose is just too drab/dull for me. It definitely doesn't feel like a city of 1 million. It has a great economy and better weather than SF/Oakland, but doesn't have anything interesting for a big city. Just feels like an overgrown/overcrowded suburb and the geeky tech culture doesn't add to the intrigue.


I lived in the South Bay for 5 years and didn't really care for it at all. Live in the East Bay now and despite living in a smaller town, find it more interesting. SF/Oakland are more on a different level.

Culinary: San Pedro Market and SoFA Market have excellent foods
Nightlife: Cafe Stritch, Continental, 55 South, SP2 and Level 44 are excellent
Culture: very diverse with Broadway shows, First Fri, Opera, Festivals and others

Downtown SJ is really alive many nights of the week due to Sharks/concerts and busy convention. Sometime they pack downtown when the weather is warm. Very impressive downtown recently!!!

Oakland's downtown kicks San Jose's butt because of Blue Shield, UC President and Uber are building, renovating into new Oakland offices while San Jose stalls. 5 new high rises or even more will get underway there while none get underway in San Jose's downtown. What's wrong with this picture?!!

Actually, San Jose is an overgrown, crowded city, not a suburb. It's hard core city in the middle with suburb in the outer part.

Very disappointed with Japan Town because of the nasty gap between Japan Town and housing with a large vacant parcel of land giving a real dead feel to it.

[jade408]

Originally Posted by the topper

Culinary: San Pedro Market and SoFA Market have excellent foods
Nightlife: Cafe Stritch, Continental, 55 South, SP2 and Level 44 are excellent
Culture: very diverse with Broadway shows, First Fri, Opera, Festivals and others

Downtown SJ is really alive many nights of the week due to Sharks/concerts and busy convention. Sometime they pack downtown when the weather is warm. Very impressive downtown recently!!!

Oakland's downtown kicks San Jose's butt because of Blue Shield, UC President and Uber are building, renovating into new Oakland offices while San Jose stalls. 5 new high rises or even more will get underway there while none get underway in San Jose's downtown. What's wrong with this picture?!!

Actually, San Jose is an overgrown, crowded city, not a suburb. It's hard core city in the middle with suburb in the outer part.

Very disappointed with Japan Town because of the nasty gap between Japan Town and housing with a large vacant parcel of land giving a real dead feel to it.

Sorry but downtown Oakland has better food, better bars, historic theaters, indie venues with wrestling and other entertainment, a busy first Friday, Friday's at the Oakland Museum, 3 BART stations, lots of high quality coffee. It is missing retail, there are boutiques scattered here and there. It is quiet on weekend mornings but active many nights of the week with the Fox Theater and the myriad of indie arts places.

Calavera, Agave, And Tamarindo give you different variations of upscale Mexican and quality cocktails. Plum Bar gives you stellar cocktails and elevated bar food. Swans Market is a bit similar to San Pedro Market but more interesting in my opinion. I liked San Pedro Market but it felt like the only option there. Downtow. oakland has multiple centers of activity.

[the topper]

Originally Posted by jade408

Sorry but downtown Oakland has better food, better bars, historic theaters, indie venues with wrestling and other entertainment, a busy first Friday, Friday's at the Oakland Museum, 3 BART stations, lots of high quality coffee. It is missing retail, there are boutiques scattered here and there. It is quiet on weekend mornings but active many nights of the week with the Fox Theater and the myriad of indie arts places.

Calavera, Agave, And Tamarindo give you different variations of upscale Mexican and quality cocktails. Plum Bar gives you stellar cocktails and elevated bar food. Swans Market is a bit similar to San Pedro Market but more interesting in my opinion. I liked San Pedro Market but it felt like the only option there. Downtow. oakland has multiple centers of activity.

What about SoFA Market? Civic Auditorium is like Independent venues. Been to Avery Lounge or Continental? There's a Tech Museum and Museum of Art downtown. Maybe you should spend more time downtown nowadays. It's so much better than just two years ago. You'd be very surprise. It's just not growing that quickly these days. No corporation is coming downtown since they like suburb so much. There's no construction of high rise, too. Downtown Oakland is exciting from that vantage point.