Now it's Denny's (Oakland, Berkeley, Lewiston: crime, safest area, school)

[CalWorth]

The last time I flew into OAK & took the BART from there was 2016. It was bad enough then, can’t even imagine now.

[Ceece]

I used to eat at that Dennys frequently 45+ years ago. One of my first jobs in the late 70's was right off Hegenberger and my dad worked in Alameda and ever week or so he'd take me there for lunch. There was a tall guy who worked there who was very proper and would whip the menus under his arm like a fancy waiter and take us to a table. Dad used to refer to him him Pierre and he seemed almost like a maitre d' (Dennys style) but I have no idea what his real name was. Good memories

[CorporateCowboy]

Originally Posted by Ceece

I used to eat at that Dennys frequently 45+ years ago. One of my first jobs in the late 70's was right off Hegenberger and my dad worked in Alameda and ever week or so he'd take me there for lunch.

I was born in the 70s; and while we didn’t move to Santa Rosa until the 80s, I remember Oakland being called the ‘crime capital’ even then - especially while in middle school. In fact, as a kid, I recall going into SF fairly often but never Oakland.

Hence the reason any thread re: closings near the Oakland airport (or sports teams leaving, for that matter) doesn’t surprise me. If anything, crime actually declined for awhile; however, it’s had high rates of homicide and violent crime for decades. To make matters worse, Oakland is without a permanent police chief (and has been for about a year); the previous one was fired.

[Igor Blevin]

I don't trust the crime stats either.

I think crimes are counted when they are reported or when police are called/investigating. So it does not take a conviction to considered a crime.

But we know that there are people in San Francisco who reported say the first 3 or 4 times their car was broken into, and nothing was done so they have stopped reporting the crime for the next 5 break ins.

The same for businesses. They report the first time or two they are smashed into, the cops can't do anything, and so they stop reporting. So in these high crime areas, it is really up to how persevering people are reporting every instance of crime instead of wearing down and saying heck with it.

I think many in Oakland don't bother reporting most crimes anymore since nothing gets done anyway.

Add frustration to that. Many people have said they can't get anyone to answer 9-1-1 and so they just quit calling. I don't know how messed up Oakland's 9-1-1 system is, but it has problems.


While Oakland’s 911 system was dangerously understaffed, 1,000 operator applications went unprocessed

https://www.mercurynews.com/2023/12/...t-unprocessed/

[curiousgeorge5]

Originally Posted by MechAndy

I wonder if the crimes in these cities are being accurately counted?
Are all these cities using the same definition of crime?
I don’t know if it even matters but is crime counted as a call in, a written report, a conviction and do they even count to ones they let go and refuse to prosecute?
Call me a skeptic, I think these crime numbers can be easily played or modified to suit the current need.

Many different kinds of statistics in many different areas of life and science can and are finagled. Statistics can be misleading as well.

Example of the above: During the pandemic they said a certain percentage of people over a certain age that got very sick had a pre-existing condition. What they didn't say was more than half the people over that certain age had a pre-existing condition.

[dijkstra]

Originally Posted by mattja

If this keeps up, all that will be left is franchised fast food and gas stations.

They should and probably will eventually close those as well. If they people in the area can't act right, who wants to run a business or work there?

[Tulemutt]

Originally Posted by dijkstra

They should and probably will eventually close those as well. If they people in the area can't act right, who wants to run a business or work there?

You might wonder. On the other hand, businesses continue to ‘run’ - and thrive - and people continue to work in crappy conditions as well as pleasant ones all across the nation and around the world. Profit and income drive decisions more than QOL.

[dijkstra]

Originally Posted by Tulemutt

You might wonder. On the other hand, businesses continue to ‘run’ - and thrive - and people continue to work in crappy conditions as well as pleasant ones all across the nation and around the world. Profit and income drive decisions more than QOL.

The problem is they aren't thriving. Many businesses are struggling with theft and crime in many areas in cities across the nation. Walgreens, Walmart and many others have stated that they are going to start closing their stores in these areas if the theft and crime is not addressed.

[Tulemutt]

Originally Posted by dijkstra

The problem is they aren't thriving. Many businesses are struggling with theft and crime in many areas in cities across the nation. Walgreens, Walmart and many others have stated that they are going to start closing their stores in these areas if the theft and crime is not addressed.

Well, as another poster just observed in a separate Bay Area thread focused on crime and business loss:
“ … in some areas crime has scared people away but it's really incredulous to claim that stores have no control over theft, they have successfully been deterring crime and catching shoplifters for decades, now they clutch their pearls and claim they can't do a thing about it...

Lots of articles from all kinds of media including business journals across the nation are exposing the disingenuousness of claiming theft and crime for businesses closing - when the truth is most often that the nature of retailing is changing with on-line shopping and mega-box-retailers who don’t anchor the old shopping mall centers anymore … and certainly don’t populate strip malls.

[CorporateCowboy]

Originally Posted by Tulemutt

Well, as another poster just observed in a separate Bay Area thread focused on crime and business loss:
“ … in some areas crime has scared people away but it's really incredulous to claim that stores have no control over theft, they have successfully been deterring crime and catching shoplifters for decades, now they clutch their pearls and claim they can't do a thing about it...

There’s not much in the way of shopping near the Oakland airport/Denny’s. It is industrial parks, warehouses, undeveloped land and real estate in poor condition relative to neglect. There isn’t even much in the way of grocery stores.

That said, it’s about safety concerns and a decline in business relative to such. Per the thread, why would folks stop at Denny’s (or In-N-Out) when they are safer to grab a bite at the Oakland airport. Actually, many prefer the SF airport despite the significantly higher cost and it being more of a hassle relative to larger crowds as well.