A little help please: Is Downtown Oakland Ghetto? (San Francisco, Berkeley: apartments, to rent)

[Tallysmom]

Originally Posted by ssmaster

begin rant-i do not understand how people can say there are no groceries in downtown oakland.jack london square ,old oakland and the lakeshore apartment district all surround chinatown.there are like 8 produce stores on each block.the prices are better and talk about fresh, the fish is still alive when you tell the fish monger which one you want.people drive from walnut creek to shop at chinatown.yogurt is difficult in chinatown but there is a smart and final downtown for that stuff.also whole foods is near uptown .i don't understand the appeal of buying produce at trader joes, it's prepackaged?!? if you need organic produce and grass fed beef go to farmer joes or whole foods where you can touch and inspect your fruit.-end rant .thanks i feel better -----------------------------------oh yes i almost forgot . downtown oakland is not ghetto and much safer than the soma/tenderloin area of sf. jls ,old oakland,lakeshore apartment district and uptown are urban and close to bart. adams point,lakeshore,piedmont ,rockridge are more residental but only rockridge is convenient to bart

Do you know Chinatown NEVER occured to me? And I drive through it CONSTANTLY. Usually on my way to Smart and Final. to me.

I don't get Trader Joes prepackaged fresh stuff either, but their cheeses, eggs and breads are pretty good and well priced.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Oakland is foodie heaven. Full stop.

[gypsychic]

Here's a question I have been wondering about - is the price of real estate significantly less than SF? I have a distant relative living in SF in the Tenderloin, which seems like a pretty bad area to me (I don't live in CA myself) and think it would be cheaper to live or rent in Oakland? Of course I don't know how much trouble it is for someone who likes city living and depends on public transit to get around in SF (or Oakland)

I was just curious what the market was like there now. Not really planning to move there or anything, but Oakland seems like a nice city from what I have heard.

[ssmaster]

to be honest if my SO was not chinese i never would have thought about buying groceries in chinatown.

i have never been on a transbay bus but i hear they are well appointed and the wifi sounds cool.
is travel time from lakeshore/adams point to fidi about 30 minutes during peak commute times?

in my opinion condo prices are very reasonable now and for the price of a small unit in sketchy area of sf you can get a larger place with a gym and maybe a pool in a nicer area of oakland .imho of course

[Oakland City]

Originally Posted by gypsychic

Here's a question I have been wondering about - is the price of real estate significantly less than SF? I have a distant relative living in SF in the Tenderloin, which seems like a pretty bad area to me (I don't live in CA myself) and think it would be cheaper to live or rent in Oakland? Of course I don't know how much trouble it is for someone who likes city living and depends on public transit to get around in SF (or Oakland)

I was just curious what the market was like there now. Not really planning to move there or anything, but Oakland seems like a nice city from what I have heard.

Oakland is cheaper than SF, you can't even get a decent sized modern apartment/condo to rent in SF for under $3000 key word modern, forget about buying unless you make at least 300 K combined or have huge savings for a down payment. You can get a really old place not worth the money for cheaper but I've been there and done that and just to say I live in SF is was not worth it. I actually prefer living in Oakland over living in SF, I have a modern 1500 sq/ft condo for $2000/month, there is plenty of parking for friends, and the streets are cleaner.

[ShesBlessed]

Originally Posted by Oakland City

Oakland is cheaper than SF, you can't even get a decent sized modern apartment/condo to rent in SF for under $3000 key word modern, forget about buying unless you make at least 300 K combined or have huge savings for a down payment. You can get a really old place not worth the money for cheaper but I've been there and done that and just to say I live in SF is was not worth it. I actually prefer living in Oakland over living in SF, I have a modern 1500 sq/ft condo for $2000/month, there is plenty of parking for friends, and the streets are cleaner.

And what area do you live in?

[Oakland City]

Originally Posted by ShesBlessed

And what area do you live in?

Uptown

[ShesBlessed]

Sorry I'm not from the bay what area's would be considered uptown?

[Oakland City]

Originally Posted by ShesBlessed

Sorry I'm not from the bay what area's would be considered uptown?

The northern part of downtown 19th and down to probably 29th Broadway/Telegraph/W.Grand/Grand area.

[Ultrarunner]

Originally Posted by gypsychic

Here's a question I have been wondering about - is the price of real estate significantly less than SF? I have a distant relative living in SF in the Tenderloin, which seems like a pretty bad area to me (I don't live in CA myself) and think it would be cheaper to live or rent in Oakland? Of course I don't know how much trouble it is for someone who likes city living and depends on public transit to get around in SF (or Oakland)

I was just curious what the market was like there now. Not really planning to move there or anything, but Oakland seems like a nice city from what I have heard.

Yes.. for the most part... it is less expensive.

Oakland high priced areas are not cheap, unless you compare then to SF...

There are also places less than Oakland... Areas of Richmond and Pittsburg come to mind where rents are less.

Here's the low-down based on my experiences...

I have rented to a number of young professionals, some with infants and toddlers that left SF for Oakland because in Oakland they could afford a 2 bedroom place with a small yard for what they were paying for a Studio or Efficiency in the City...

The problem starts is when tenants with children start looking into the school situation... Oakland has Excellent Schools and Marginal ones... sadly, not enough excellent ones.

Every SF Tenant with school age children I've lost was soley due to the local school situation.