Is the Oakland Hills a good place to live? (Hayward: insurance, fingerprinting)

[jessica.anastasia100]

I found a home in the Oakland Hills that I really liked with a great price, talked with the seller, and he really wants my husband and I to purchase the house. I said that we would get back to him to do some decision making.

We are not familiar with Oakland. I’ve heard the typical stereotypes of it being “ghetto” and unsafe, but I have heard positive things about the Oakland Hills and it seems nice (from what I know). Also for some background, the home is in the Forestland area near Oakland Fire Station Number 6.

Would you recommend moving there? Is it safe?

[MrOhashi]

"Oakland Hills" has a very different connotation than just plain Oakland. Hopefully someone more familiar with this specific area will chime in, but I think you should be fine.

Also worth noting that some parts of Oakland outside the Oakland Hills are also very nice. Oakland's bad rep is deserved to a degree, but it has a lot of upside as well.

[Hemlock140]

Though it was over 20 years ago, I once did a ride-along with my friend who was an Oakland policeman. We did a bunch of calls, mostly in the flatlands, most for domestic violence, but then when it quieted down, we did several calls in the hills for burglaries. They were all people that had called several days before that were mad because it took so long to show up. All they did was take a report and refer it to the civilian techs that do the fingerprinting. These were all in the Keller/Golf Links/Elysian Fields area, and he said it was due to the convenience to the criminals in the lowlands below there. Fire Station #6 is closer to Piedmont, and the area below the freeway there is still more affluent, with less of the criminals living there. Is it the same today? Probably, but hopefully someone there now will chime in.

[MechAndy]

There are some truly nice areas in the Oakland hills.
I like that area a lot.

That said as an old guy from the Bay Area we used to say it was 50 cents in gas money away from a burglary/robbery.

I’m sure it is much nicer today and with the advent of security cameras, ghetto rehabilitation and such.

One of the things I have noticed when it comes to crime was that crime seems to happen more often when the bad guys have a quick egress.

In the nice little town where I live we actually get bank robberies when the banks are located close to a freeway entrance.

With all that stated if I ever had a good discounted price on a property in the Oakland hills I’d jump on it.

One of my work buddies is chewing his fingers on a property near the freeway in effing Hayward that needs work for $785,000 and it’s not even that large or nice, but it is extremely close to our main office and he could ride a bicycle to work if he wanted

These times make me shake my head.

[Ruth4Truth]

That's above Montclair. That's a great area! It's actually NE Oakland, SE of Upper Rockridge, also a great area. I'm wondering what "great price" means, in that context, but if your inspection checks out and you love it, go for it. People in the hills have burglar alarms, and the alarm companies cruise through late at night or in the wee hours of the morning, which may make you feel like you have some extra security, since apparently the police are slow to respond.

Just FYI, on the Berkeley side of the hills, the police respond promptly, fwiw.

[General I80]

The Oakland Hills area is pretty good, but it can be dangerous to drive. Also, the Berkeley part is better than the Oakland part.

[davdaven]

This part of Oakland is good, and the bad part of the flats isn't nearby. As long as you don't expect OPD to show up if you call them, you should be good. Do keep in mind that this area is not bike/ped friendly, so plan on driving everywhere.

[eureka1]

Sure, except when there's a fire.

[Ultrarunner]

In general crime decreases with elevation but porch pirates just follow delivery trucks and more affluent areas have more deliveries...

Sadly, it's very true that property crimes are basically ignored... Victims so motivated are instructed to file online for insurance.

Fire Insurance is a wild card... gone are the days when a call would deliver a policy to Escrow...

Many companies like Farmers simply stopped writing even if you have a fire hydrant in front and fire station on the corner...

That said Oakland Hills is a community and that part is very much tied to Montclair shopping district.

Lots of Eastbay Regional park trails nearby and we'll used... even Redwoods!

[DeanoSF]

Originally Posted by Ultrarunner

In general crime decreases with elevation but porch pirates just follow delivery trucks and more affluent areas have more deliveries...

Sadly, it's very true that property crimes are basically ignored... Victims so motivated are instructed to file online for insurance.

Fire Insurance is a wild card... gone are the days when a call would deliver a policy to Escrow...

Many companies like Farmers simply stopped writing even if you have a fire hydrant in front and fire station on the corner...

That said Oakland Hills is a community and that part is very much tied to Montclair shopping district.

Lots of Eastbay Regional park trails nearby and we'll used... even Redwoods!

I know you're referring to a more macro level with Oakland porch pirates, but this is true in general on a block-to-block basis in the City, too.

I've offered this advice to first-time visitors to SF, if they ever were walking around and suddenly found themselves in a situation that made them uneasy: "Crime doesn't climb."

If you're ever walking around a neighborhood in SF and you stumble upon a block with some people who look threatening, just turn and walk uphill.