SF/East Bay recommendations

[Anonymous]

And did you notice another murder last night in Oakland? Of course not, you only see what you want to see. I know several cops from OPD and they would be the first ones to warn you against crime in Oakland. And no, it's not just like any other big city.

[Anonymous]

CHEESEBOARD

so many places.go to tilden to hike, gourmet ghetto to eat, ruchmond to see western style train town, beach there also, zacharys pizza!!! Monterey market...the list goes on

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live here in the Bay Atea and would never walk around Oakland, especially at night. Yes, it's that bad. Just stay in Berkerly or maybe drive the 20 minutes into Marin for a guaranteed safe night out. Many great places in Marin, Sausalito or Tiburon would be about 30 minutes away and right on the water.

That's ridiculous. There are plenty of perfectly safe parts of Oakland, especially areas with nice restaurants and bars. She's really going to be in danger going out at night in Rockridge

You obviously don't live here or watch the nightly news! Sure there might be a few nice areas but in general it's not safe and crime is literally a hundred times higher then Marin or the Walnut Creek area.

Yes I live here, and in general the areas OP is thinking about going are perfectly safe. You should never ever go into San Francisco, NYC, or any other large city if that is your standard for safety

Is someone really going to drive to Marin when staying in the East Bay just to go out for dinner when there are tons of excellent options in Berkeley and Oakland, that is, well ridiculous. I go to Oakland every day for work, I must be living on the edge!

I actually used to live in Rockridge. Yes, it's a really nice neighborhood with a really nice main drag (College Ave), a great place to visit. But we didn't feel safe there as residents, MUCH less safe than we did when we lived in SF, NYC, or Chicago (yes, lived in all 3) believe it or not. People were regularly getting mugged on our street at gunpoint, even in broad daylight. It was part of why we left. Oakland is a really vibrant, diverse city and there was much that I loved about it, but anyone who tells you that it's perfectly safe is actively turning a blind eye to the level of crime there even in nice areas.

That said, I think it's overall fine to visit, as long as you stay in well-lit areas after dark and keep your wits about you. There are some really great restaurant options there: A16, A Cote, Millennium, Wood Tavern a bit north on the Berkeley border, probably others I'm forgetting.

OP, I think you also asked about places to stay. I never stayed there, but the Claremont Inn is really nice. It's right on the Oakland/Berkeley border so is walking distance from both the Elmwood neighborhood in Berkeley (also really nice, cute shops and restaurants) and Rockridge in Oakland. http://www.fairmont.com/claremont-berkeley/