CMA--safe areas to live?

My wife has accepted a job in Piedmont, and I hear it’s relatively a safe area. Anyone have first hand knowledge?
What are some areas that I want to avoid at all costs in Oakland? How is the traffic going north to Vallejo in the morning? I used to have a 1.5 hour commute by car either way to/from work. As long as its nothing like that I’m fine!

Piedmont is a relatively affluent area of the Oakland hills. They have their own police department, which is a good thing because they will probably respond to calls. Residents in Montclair and the other parts of the city of Oakland that don’t call themselves Oakland unfortunately are under Oakland PD, which has been taking so long to respond to calls that residents have hired private security forces for their neighborhoods.

Overall Oakland is still has many decent areas. You just have to have the typical city mindset. Lock your car, don’t leave anything that might be construed as valuable visible, be aware of your surroundings, etc. Areas to avoid would be just about anywhere outside of the hills, downtown, Jack London Square or Lake Merritt.

Commute headed North in the mornings should be pretty much reverse. There are a few different options to head to CMA. Avoiding highway 80 between Oakland and Richmond might be good traffic wise but still shouldn’t be too heavy before 0800. I would say it shouldn’t take you more than 1 hour. No traffic going 580 to 80 would be about 30-40 minutes.

[QUOTE=dredgeboater;136682]Piedmont is a relatively affluent area of the Oakland hills. They have their own police department, which is a good thing because they will probably respond to calls. Residents in Montclair and the other parts of the city of Oakland that don’t call themselves Oakland unfortunately are under Oakland PD, which has been taking so long to respond to calls that residents have hired private security forces for their neighborhoods.

Overall Oakland is still has many decent areas. You just have to have the typical city mindset. Lock your car, don’t leave anything that might be construed as valuable visible, be aware of your surroundings, etc. Areas to avoid would be just about anywhere outside of the hills, downtown, Jack London Square or Lake Merritt.

Commute headed North in the mornings should be pretty much reverse. There are a few different options to head to CMA. Avoiding highway 80 between Oakland and Richmond might be good traffic wise but still shouldn’t be too heavy before 0800. I would say it shouldn’t take you more than 1 hour. No traffic going 580 to 80 would be about 30-40 minutes.[/QUOTE]

Thanks a lot! I wasn’t aware that Piedmont had its own PD…that’s great news. I will fly down there next month to “scope out” the area and make sure that it is suitable.
I have heard horror stories about the Oakland PD, or lack of it actually!

[QUOTE=MandolinGuy;136686]
I have heard horror stories about the Oakland PD, or lack of it actually![/QUOTE]

That’s because the Oakland PD is not the National Guard, who should actually be in charge of protecting the citizens from the domestic terrorists, a.k.a. gangbangers, in the city of Oakland. Believe me, the Oakland PD has a full plate.

Hope you and your wife make a good living if you plan to live in Piedmont. Are you going to CMA as well? I would look into Benicia. It’s nice there and close to campus. Some parts of Vallejo aren’t too bad. South of 80 isn’t bad. I had a house off redwood near the hospital and it was alright. Wife and I were there for almost 2 years without any issues. Surrounded by retired navy. Your housing dollar will go further.

Benicia…I’ll check it out, thx! Between her salary and my GI Bill our combined income will be in the neighborhood of $84,000 before tax. I know that’s not “high living” in the bay…but do you think it would be enough to live in Piedmont?

[QUOTE=RichM;136687]That’s because the Oakland PD is not the National Guard, who should actually be in charge of protecting the citizens from the domestic terrorists, a.k.a. gangbangers, in the city of Oakland. Believe me, the Oakland PD has a full plate.[/QUOTE]

Oh I understand! I’ve been through Oakland twice…once for a wedding, and once on accident while driving through SF and accidently took the Bay Bridge. I know those cops in Oakland have a full plate…I meant more the city leadership/budget management (or lack there of) that lead to American’s 3rd most dangerous city to have only 600+ cops with only 280 or so on patrol at a given time. What a joke!
Your point on the National Guard, sadly, is very true it seems like. Marshall law in some parts of Oakland, seem like is the only thing that would turn it around!

I feel really bad about making my wife move down there for my schooling…but at this point in my life I am in need of a set “career track”…no more bull shitting around! Anyways, thanks for the advice everyone!

Any colors I shouldn’t wear while driving in certain parts of town? :confused:

IDK. That seems low for some of the homes I have seen there. Someone may have a better understanding of the housing market there, but it looks pretty high end from what I’ve seen.
One thing to consider too is that more than a couple times a week you may need to go back to campus at night. I did a lot for studying in the library or using the labs. Also you will have groups to work in that get together at night. It would be a good idea to be able to head back to campus for that. That salary would be nice in Benicia or the glen cove area has some nice condos on the water and it’s a few minutes from campus. Your wife would not have the best commute as she would be in the bad direction. Bay Area traffic is horrendous between 6 and 8am as well as 4 to 7pm. No matter where you live you will have to pay a bridge toll which I think is up to $5 now. If you did live near Oakland you may end up paying that toll a couple times a day.

Probably not. I assume you are looking to rent? I am not even sure if there many if any apartments in the City of Piedmont. Renting a home would probably be in the neighborhood of $3000 a month. You are talking about an area that is mostly million dollar + homes. A low end home (read termite shack) would probably run around 500 grand to buy.

Hmm…I’ll keep looking in all of the other areas then! Yes, we are going to rent. Ideally looking for a 1 BR apartment. Size isn’t our biggest concern, but safety.
I figured that there would be going back and forth to/from school in the evenings from time to time for activities or watch. I had in mind just studying in the library or something…maybe catch some zzz in the car, etc. All of this info has been great, and it seems like a flight down there for some pavement pounding will be the best option.

I would recommend Benicia. Great little city, close to campus, low crime, and QUIET. The commute for you wife would definitely not be the best though. Look into FasTrak for Bridge tolls. I just moved back to southern CA from the bay area a couple years ago. Toll’s were $5 to cross the Benicia or Carquinez bridges going northbound. I lived in the Club Pacifica Apartments in Benicia. Rent was not to bad, it was clean and quiet. Rent was 1350 a month for a 2 bdrm 2 bath double master. Granted this was 2012 and prices might have gone up a little bit.

A flight down and looking at areas in person is the way to go. Plan on spending a few days of you can and travel the freeways during commute and off hours to get an idea of what it’s like. One thing to consider is living in between Piedmont and Vallejo. I lived all over West Contra Costa County growing up and was able to live at my parents house in while attending CMA. It was a 10 minute reverse commute in the mornings and even during rush hours it was probably only 20-25 minutes. You will have evenings and weekends where you have class or watch and being closer is nice.

For your wife commuting to Piedmont shouldn’t be to bad now. The 4th bore of the Caldecott Tunnel just opened on highway 24 so commuting from Pinole or El Sobrante to Piedmont should only take about 30 minutes. Cost of living would probably be 1/2. Definitely check it out for yourself though. Feel free to PM me if you like.

3bd townhouse I had in Benicia on the marina was 1700.00$ in 06’ was a great city, I hear Crockett isn’t terrible it’s before the bridge so you would only pay the toll to go to school if you had a bicycle you could avoid the toll I think. Only a 5 min peddle from Crockett.

3BR townhouse for $1700, that’s what I pay for my studio! Bike to school would be nice! I just booked a ticked for late June, will be spending a week in the area scouting out all of the possibilities. I saw online the pass for the toll bridge will knock the toll down a whopping $1.00…better than nothing though!
I always used to feel sorry for the single guys in the Navy who had to live on the ship even when in home-port…but then again, they can roll out of their rack half-drunk 2 minutes to muster, dry shave, and be good to go! Seems like CMA will be a similar scenario!

Hey, I highly recommend you live closer to school than where your wife will be working. She will only have to work once a day. You may have to go back and forth to school 3 times a day. Piggybacking off what others have mentioned, what will you do if you have a class that ends at 2:20 PM, then have another class that is at 7:00PM, or some other off the wall schedule conflict? If you live in Benicia or Vallejo, your wife could drive to the El Cerrito Del Norte BART Station to an AC Transit bus to get to her job.Not sure if she would consider mass transit, but it is an option. Benicia is highly recommended. Nice, quiet, not as ghetto as Vallejo. There are some good areas in Vallejo though. Glen Cove area, there are some homes right near campus on the hill, Redwood Parkway, the area around Target and a few more. If you both decide to compromise and split the distance, Anywhere along 80 except Richmond is safe. I lived in Pinole and I thought it was good. If you go with Walnut Creek, which is southeast of the campus, its really nice, and your wife has Hwy 24 as an option as someone mentioned before. When you come check it out later in the summer, you’ll get an idea. Good luck!

Yes, definitely check out Glen Cove. It’s the closest “nice neighborhood” to CMA. And what was said about going back and forth between school and home is true. It sucks having to stay at school to burn a few hours between class. The couch in your living room will provide a much better napping environment than the ones in the library.

Great advice guys. I will have to check it out an see. My wife has lived all of her life in a big city where no one drives and everyone relies on trains and subways. At 30 years old, I am teaching her how to drive and sending her to a school. Here in Seattle she has, once again, got by with public transportation. I really want to live close to her job due to the fact that she hardly has any driving experience under her belt. Hopefully she will prove to be a “natural” on the road.
Seems like Benicia keeps coming up. I’ll check that out as well. First thing will just be to get myself down by the school. look around, and see how things go. Maybe I should buy a pickup with a camper on it and just use that as my “mobile living room” when I have those long nights or weekends, and/or late classes!