Nice view of the bay - 94607 - 1/14/2008

I live right beside the San Francisco bay

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California - 1/1/2008

Expensive and crowded!

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Amazing quality of life... - 11/14/2007

...in the better neighborhoods.

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Oakland California - 10/21/2007

Oakland CA, USA, is one of the sunniest cities in California with the most mild warm weather. Temps range from 65-75 degrees year around. Rarely goes above 80 degrees because of its location between mountains, and the San Francisco Bay. It is only 15 mintues to down town San Francisco, and provides a wonderful California lifestyle.

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Cold Wind - 10/9/2007

The wind here drives me crazy. To cold for a arizona boy like me

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Large Zip Code - 6/24/2007

I live in Oakland where anything can happen at anytime. My zipcode is very big it covers a large area there is allot that goes on in certain parts while others are very quite

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Oaklandites are beautiful people - 6/21/2007

I moved to Oakland 2 years ago and love it! It is so diverse in culture and in the summers you see people from every culture hanging out together. It has high crime like all major cities but beats living in cookiecuttersville.

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Could not wait to leave Oakland - 5/9/2007

Oakland is one of the worst places to call home. The crime rate is one of the highest in the nation, the schools rank among the lowest. Most areas you can't walk in after dark. Violent crime, drugs, dispair...it is all here. Even with this, the cost of living is very high. The traffic into San Francisco or down Highway 880 is always a mess. The only reason I lived here was because the cost of living in San Francisco was so high, and I wanted to make a little money on some real estate. Now that I have, and can move, I feel such a sense of relief. For me, and for the safety and well-being of my child. Think twice about calling Oakland home. Try Berkeley to the North, Fremont to the south, or Walnut Creek to the east. All better, safer, cleaner places.

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Great Weather, Food, Culture - 3/20/2007

The City of Oakland is a great place to live. I lived in Oakland for over 25 years. The city is very diverse. Dining out is fabulous. I consider Oakland to be very safe. Most of the crimes you hear on the news are from West and Far East Oakland. Like San Francisco, there are areas in the city you should avoid. Currently, I am living in Fremont, which I find is a boring city. A decent restaurant is really hard to find. I find myself visiting Oakland every weekend. Here are some places you should visit when you are in Oakland: Piedmont Ave, Lakeshore Ave, Trestle Glen, Lake Merritt, Rockridge, Montclair. If you have little kids, you should bring them to Fairyland. Admission is very affordable.

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The good and the bad... - 7/23/2006

I have lived in the bay area for 8 years. Oakland is diverse and somewhat extreme... you have wealthy people (generally white) who live in the east bay hills, within walking and biking distance to a very large and beautiful parks system. Then you have poor people who live in the flats. The poor are generally mexican, black, asian, and artists. I keep wondering if there is a middle class in Oakland at all or just rich and poor. Some of the neighborhoods in the flats are reasonably safe, with good sense of community. Some are very dangerous and have a pretty well deserved rap for violent crime. Cost of living is high no matter what neighborhood you live in. So are housing costs. In the worst areas, a small starter home that needs some work will run you around $300,000. On the other hand, a lot of people move to Oakland from San Francisco because it is more affordable here. There is a vibrant and strong African-American culture in Oakland. Oakland is historically blue-collar. It is a major port city. It has great community colleges. There are also a lot of families in Oakland, and in general it is a much more down-to-earth place than neighboring Berkeley. Downtown is a bit run-down, but there is a pretty lake (Lake Merritt) with a path for jogging and biking. The weather is sunnier in Oakland than anywhere else in the bay area, and there is a lot of good hiking and nature activities surrounding.....just be sure to allow an extra hour or more to get anywhere on the weekends or rush hour (6-9:30am and 3:30-7:00pm). Traffic can be quite bad on the freeways, and Bart (rapid transit trains) is not that extensive but is expensive and sadly, smelly(fabric seats from the '70's). Winter weather can be depressing- over the last few years we have gotten on average the same amount of rain (this year more than) as Seattle. There is less fog than in San Francisco, but summers can still be cold or cool and with a few weeks exception, you will likely need to keep a sweater or light jacket with you at all times. Warm summer weather typically hits in the fall (Sept/Oct). San Francisco, probably the most expensive city in the US is right across the bay. Very beautiful, with all of the culture you could ask for. Music, arts, sports, business, shopping, tourism, it is a world-class city. Overall Oakland has a lot going for it, but housing is too expensive and hard to get.

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The Best - 7/14/2006

Oakland has OUTSTANDING weather 24/7 all year, every year.

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Oakland, CA - 7/12/2006

Close to San Francisco, but without as much fog. A lot of diversity in terms of ethnicity and economics. Houses are very expensive; public schools are poor at the high school level. Close to some of the most beautiful scenery in the country, and lots of outdoor, fun recreational activities.

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housing costs - 4/18/2006

Oakland environment and cost of housing sucks. Incredibly high rents and housing costs for substandard housing. Time to move! And I'm a native Californian. Oakland is also rife with illegal drug trafficing and the cops must be making a fortune for ignorning it. Very corrupt community with many murders and drug dealing. Not the place for a family. If you're on social services or recently out of jail this is Nervana.

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Oakland - the most under-rated city of its size. - 4/10/2006

Like many people living in San Francisco, I used to look down my nose at Oakland. To me, it was San Francisco's ugly stepsister. I moved there when I got married 37 years ago, but not because I really wanted to. The longer I have lived here, there more I have cme to appreciate it. I now feel that it is one of the most underrated cities of its size in the entire country. It has the best climate of any medium-sized city, with very moderate temperatures year round. It has a lot to offer in every area, including the rich flavor of cultural diversity of all types. And, if you should want even more, Berkeley is right next door and San Francisco is just a few miles across the Bay, Yes, it is expensive to live here, mostly because of high real estate prices, but it not as bad as San Francisco or many other places. Howver, the pay scales here are commensurate to the cost of living, so that makes up for it. The crime rate is rather bad overall, but it is mostly confined to certain areas of the city which are generally easy to avoid. The worst thing about Oakland is its schools, but even they are improving. All in all, Oakland has been a great place to live and raise three children. If I had my life to live over, one thing I would do differently is move here sooner than I did.

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is oakland one of the states worst crime rate? - 3/26/2006

is oakland one of the states worst crime rate?

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For Sale by Owners - 3/23/2006

I'm looking for "For Sale By Owners"

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Oakland is undiscovered - 2/26/2006

After living in San Francisco for 30 years I'm delighted to have moved to oakland. Houses are more reasonably priced, the Oakland Hills have fabulous views and are close to an extensive parks system for hiking and quiet without driving very far, there is immeasurably less congestion, miles easier parking, less of a homeless problem, and nice people in city services. If you want access to culture, it's here or within 30 minutes in SF or Berkeley. This city is underrated.

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Great place if you can afford it - 11/30/2005

I've lived in Oakland for 10 years. It is one of the most $$$ places to live in the US. Yes we have great weather and it is beautiful, but it gets to be more and more expensive to live here every year. The housing costs on this site for Oakland are woefully outdated. The average cost of a home in Oakland when I moved here in 1996 was $350,000. That is without the bids over the asking price. The bids over asking price at the time ranged from $5,000-10,000 over the asking price. Now the average cost of a home in Oakland is $750,000 without the bids over asking price. I don't even want to know what the range over asking price is these days for a house. With housing costs being what they are and the Oakland school district being what it is (Awful), I don't know how anyone can afford to live here and have a family/raise a child in private school. California just keeps getting more and more $$$. I don't know if it is worth it anymore.

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