...and aside from missing a handful of things (like my suppressor I had to leave with family on my trust!,) I have zero, nada, no interest in ever going back to Florida.  I was in Florida for ~33 years (since I was 3 or 4 years old,) and I've always hated the weather.  The lack of hills and mountains, the general slowness of the area I lived in (my fault for not going to a more hip part sooner and staying in retirement land,) oh man do I love Bay Area weather.

I was *extraordinarily lucky* to get a great job here with PG&E, truly right place at the right time.  Monetarily things were sketchy for a while...I literally moved out here with no job, a car, and savings.  I had enough to survive, but obviously it wouldn't have lasted forever.

I'm living in Oakland - - I've learned people have a shitload of misconceptions about this place, even people who have lived elsewhere not far away in the area their entire lives.  "You live in Oakland?  Aren't you afraid of getting killed?"  "Oakland doesn't have anything."  "You're white, why are you living in Oakland?  Why would you want to live in that place?"  My response to the last one: "Um, have you actually BEEN to Oakland?"  Seriously, my fucking god, how can you live in LIVERMORE your entire life (the woman who said that comment to me,) and have never actually bothered going to Oakland or seen what it's about?

So about Oakland, which has been my favorite part of the Bay Area since I first visited in 2014 - - I obviously don't know what Oakland was 15 or 20 years ago, but AT THE MOMENT - - it's a pretty damn great place to live.  There's shitloads of things to do, from nature, to bars, museums, theaters, a zoo, to some of the best restaurants (I mean shit, we have a Michelin star, after all,) people are fun, shopping is good...I feel Oakland is way easier and much more of a homier place than the city, which frankly I feel uncomfortable in every time I go.  Yes, Oakland has ghettos, but there's absolutely no reason you should be going to or even through them.  Never, around Lake Merritt, or around Grand, or Temescal, or Piedmont Avenue, or the other upscale areas have I ever experienced any scary situation.  Oakland is - - for better or worse - - pretty damn hipster at the moment.  It's full of whitebread nerds who can't afford the city, yet Oakland has some of the most expensive neighborhoods by zip code in the country.  It cracks me up when I hear people talking about Oakland like it's in the middle of Detroit.

Anyway, damn nice to be here.  I find it a really compelling place to live.

Since I've been busy with my new career I haven't had a whole ton of time to travel, but so far I've been to Death Valley (love it,) Santa Cruz, up north just a bit, no more than Muir Woods / Sonoma / etc, out to Tahoe, and out east to the gold country, Murphy's, Arnold, and so on.

Gotta see more!  I'll have to check out L.A. some day.  For some reason I really want to see the Salton Sea after watching a documentary on it.

yeah... no. Oakland is still a shithole.

Welcome to CA.

When life gives you lemons...



There are great parts of Oakland, the weather there is really ideal, SF is close and easy to get to, etc.



But remember that you're in Oakland.  #1 in the area for murders and violent crime, heck, probably all crime.  And no matter where you are in Oakland you're always just a few blocks from shit.  Absolute shit.  I've been to Oakland, I used to live there.  It was bad then,  they have tried to clean it up, improve it, pour money into it.  Ride BART sometime.  Look out the window when you pass through Oakland.  Oh yeah, it's a peach.



I now live in Livermore.  You're right it sucks.  Don't come out here, just wasting your time.

Except it isn't.  If it was a shithole it wouldn't be one of the most expensive places in the country to live.  Oakland has tons of upscale housing areas and plenty of entertainment, great parks, and so on.   Guaranteed anyone who says Oakland is shit doesn't really know anything about it.

I'm glad it's working out for you.

Been here since Aug OP with a similar situation, no job, career change, moved out with my fiancé who got a job at Stanford. I've fallen more in love with state as well. Lots to do for sure. I do miss those GA gun laws, really my only hang up here.. Having to "comply", oh yea & cost of living was an eye opener lol.


Anyway I'm down in San Jose, anytime you want to grab a brew (if that's your thang) holler at me, I don't trust too many people out here, but I'll trust an arfcommer.


Nic

I hear that same tune when it comes to SF, and yet I still find myself walking over human shit and around human filth with needles hanging out of their arms.

Eye of the beholder I suppose. Glad you like it, it does have some redeeming qualities but it still has a lot of issues.

Well now you know why so many folks came here, and so many still stay.

Just imagine how it was 40 years ago when we had jobs and the lunatics had not taken over sacramento.  It was paradise, but the air was way worse.

Come up out of highway 50 and el dorado county. It will be even better. Glad to have another gun voter.

Are you willing to not be able to buy AR-type rifles in the future?

I'm just about ready to bail out on Kali because of this and taxes and regulations.

Take early retirement and bug the hell out....

I live about 2 miles from where Hit-lery is right now...

Getting worse every day.

On the way home this week, I passed by a wall that was tagged, painted-over and re-tagged,
painted-over again.

Got re-tagged again last night or earlier today.

Must be Thursday.

For a guy who's been here for under a year, you sure know a lot about peoples cumulative lifetimes of experience.

Oakland is a shithole.  Just because it isn't as big a shithole as you were used to before you moved out here doesn't mean it isn't one.  But perception is reality, if your happy with it then good on you and enjoy it.  I left California after living there for 20 years and I really hate going back to visit friends and family.  I have traveled the world and realized that parts of California are good places to visit but after no more than a week I'm more than ready to get out again.  There are far more enjoyable places to live than California in my opinion.

...because people who live here notice people around saying it, then the people will admit they've never been, or haven't been in 20 years, or whatever.  I've talked to three separate Bay Area natives who say Oakland still has a huge rumor rmill about it like it's a warzone or something, despite the fact the areas with anyone who isn't ghetto goes to are largely upscale.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oakland,_California

- Oakland has the fifth largest cluster of "elite zip codes" ranked by the number of households with the highest combination of income and education.[64] 37.9% of residents over 25 years of age have bachelor's degree or higher.[65] Oakland ranked among the top cities with residents with bachelor's degrees and graduate degrees per square mile.[66]

- Oakland ranks in the top 20 of American cities in median household income, with a 2012 value of US$51,863.[67] In 2012, the median income for a household in the city was US$51,863 and the median income for a family was US$59,459. The mean income for a household was US$77,888 and the mean income for a family was US$90,948. Males had a median income of US$50,140 versus US$50,304 for females.[68]

Be honest:

When is the last time you've been to Oakland, and tell me what neighborhoods and areas you've frequented.  Get to Googling the names of them.

lol  Seriously I am glad you like it.  That's great!  I know they have been trying for decades to make improvements and clean it up.  Obviously the big problem is crime, especially violent crime.  You can throw stats at me.  Have you looked up crime stats? How about general city stats not just gentrified neighborhoods. Oakland is very diverse. It is almost the perfect illustration of the haves and the have nots.  You know this, and you also stated that you know the areas to stay away from.  Why?  
I used to live there way back in the day.  Now I only go there when required.  Vendors, funerals, jury duty.  Admittedly I have not been there in a few months.  Have things improved since then?  Probably not.  There is a lot of money in the exclusive neighborhoods, people with money worked hard to make it happen.  Look at the Oakland hills fire.  It destroyed Oakland's most exclusive and desirable area.  The area has since been rebuilt, easy to do when you've got the bucks and/or insurance.  I have long said that Oakland is the bay area's most desirable location...if certain things were different.  Crime is a property value killer.  Political correctness is the reason crime is rampant in the vast majority of Oakland's streets.  Oakland PD has a huge retention problem,  an enormous rate of turnover.  They are constantly hiring.  
I know this doesn't look like it but I really am glad that you like it there.  Just be careful.





eta I forgot the zoo.  I like the Oakland Zoo.  Up in the hills above the city. Really nice but relatively small.  Doesn't get too busy unlike the SF zoo which on the weekends is...a zoo.



 

The thing about "avoiding" the bad areas is...you don't even have to avoid them.  There's just really no reason to ever be in west or east Oakland.  You drive from, say Lake Merritt, downtown, to Temescal, or to Piedmont Avenue, or Rockridge, or the ritzy living areas...you get on the freeway for a handful of minutes and you're there.  No reason to get near the ghetto.

Yes, the crime rate sucks, but so it also sucks in NYC, Chicago, etc, which are highly expensive and sought after places to live, but it's the same thing there:  If you're not a hood rat, you never see that shit unless you're just unlucky.

I have a friend who just quit Oakland PD and is going to SFPD.  I know all about it, and I agree with you.  They're underfunded, but what's worse is they have a pretty horrible culture there.  Shit is tense and nasty from what I've heard of it.

Crime might theoretically be a property value killer, but uh...have you looked at real estate or rents in Oakland lately?  Rent is absurd here.  $2k a month for a 1 bedroom is becoming the norm.  Houses and rent both have shot up in the past year.

Article from last year.  Oakland real estate was the 2nd highest growth in the nation.

http://sf.curbed.com/2015/2/10/9993580/oakland-housing-price-increases-among-the-top-in-the-nation

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oakland-is-the-new-urban-hot-spot-as-san-francisco-homes-get-too-pricey-2016-02-25

USA Today named Oakland as one of the 10 Best Local Food Scenes of 2016. Ranked seventh, Oakland was the only city on the West Coast to make the cut. Winning factors included the rise of new restaurants along with incredible new culinary talent.

When Zillow announced this years' predictions for the hottest neighborhoods in the nine-county San Francisco metro area, it came as no surprise to Realtors working in the East Bay that all five of the projected hottest neighborhoods for 2016 are in Oakland.

Yeah, I know, the political correctness and shit sucks, but I don't really "see" it on any active level I notice.

In a state of almost forty million, you found a whole three people who partially agree with you.

As for your Wiki link: if you find an expensive city to live in, you'll find similarly high salaries to support living there. Add that it's one of the more expensive places to live in one of the most expensive parts of one of the most expensive states to live in and the meaning of your stats dies off quickly.

It's still a shithole, and even you recognize it by repeatedly mentioning how there are multiple ghettos to actively avoid.

Again:  You don't have to "actively avoid" them.  They're out of the way in the corners of Oakland largely.  You can't even really accidentally drive into them, there's no reason to, unless maybe you have way wonky GPS or something.

I don't know about Oakland but I'm glad you enjoy being a Californian. Good to have another gun owner here

I just moved to concord a week ago. I researched this move for a year. And once I stopped listening to the people who had "opinions" and listened to the people that actually lived in the places...it was very different.  And you guys who want to talk about crime and violence....I moved from  a small town in Michigan. When I wanted to find something to do the closest towns were flint, Saginaw, Detroit, and lansing...so come on "bad towns in cali" ...bring it on.

So did you move to Concord, or Pleasant Hill like your thread stated?

Concord...walking distance to downtown pleasant hill.

three months ago.  I was home visiting my dad and had to drive to Oakland to pick up a friend who just had his truck stolen from the parking lot in front of his office.  He works near the docks.  He says that he is worried every day driving to and from work that he is going to get shot or carjacked and that they are always (multiple times a day) chasing homeless people off their warehouse property.  He has worked there for 4 years now and only drives beaters because in 4 years he has had 3 vehicles stolen and 7 other times the vehicle has been broken into.

Nah!, it's not a cesspool,...


Underage Sex Scandal Rocks Oakland Police Department

I was shot, stabbed and had a firecracker put in my pocket by my fifth birthday. Fuck East Oakland.

I am a Florida transplant as well thanks to the Army.  Getting off active duty in a few months and I have every intention to stay out here. Love it.  Hate it.  It is what it is.  Id rather stay out here than move back home for now.   Maybe when I am older I will return to the gunshine state.  

Now to find a job in SoCal before my ETS

"Oakland, California

While not all areas of Oakland are extremely dangerous. Shootings have become a very dangerous trend. Arson, burglary, murder, robbery, sex crimes and drug/alcohol violations are common (Visiting These 15 Places Can Kill You). Never walk alone in Oakland, always make sure you have someone with you."


Link to Article

This is quoted from a travel web site.  They rank it with Caracas, Venezuela; Mexico City; Lima, Peru;... and Detroit, Michigan.

It's just popular with shit heads, DannerTrax

Try this in the above quote.  Substitute New York City (Manhattan Island) for Oakland.  NYC outweighs Oakland 1 million to one using those criteria but it is a deadly dangerous shit hole, nonetheless (and always was no matter what its Mayor says).

Look, it's fine to be enjoying yourself in a new location.  Congratulations on your being happy there.  Just don't try to pretend it is something it isn't.  Be careful and safe while enjoying yourself.

The hilldog is in town having chicken and waffles right now!!! Go down there and say hello!
Christ on a motherfucking crutch if that doesn't show you how bad Oakland is nothing will.