Oakland California is not safe - Video

[Johnny_Cakes]

Honest to God, the issue of public school is so dense that there's no way for someone to break it down simply in a post on here. I've been researching it for about a year now as I want to carve out a career that deals with children in public school in some capacity, so I can tell you that one huge problem is revenue that schools gain from property taxes surrounding the school district. If the properties in the surrounding area are empty lots that are undesirable, or there are dilapidated homes that run down the blocks from the playground, or any kind of factory work nearby that decreases the quality of life, then the monetary value of the entire area is depreciated significantly, and so any property tax designed to support schools would be MUCH less than if you were look somewhere like Walnut Creek or whatever other affluent area you can think of which is packed with valuable land.

Then you get to the issue of not being able to attract quality teacher because of not having enough money from the property taxes, so the districts are stuck having to dole out poor pay, and then having to contend with the inherent bias some would have against working and living in a place like Oakland (I'm speaking more to people unfamiliar with the area, rather than those who grew up nearby and have a better understanding). So without being able to offer competitive pay and needing to have people who are devoted teachers who are willing to learn to manage kids who come from incredibly difficult circumstances, you cannot bring in the right talent to do the right job.

And then we come to the mother of all these issues, which unsurprisingly is tied to racial segregation. This in itself deserves so much more than I can articulate without studying more, but if anyone is truly interested I suggest reading Savage Inequalities by Jonathan Kozol. Even just the first chapter discussing East St. Louis will bring you into the calamity of urban life, especially for the children, who are the most victimized by all of this.

Thanks for the response (and ICE CITY FC). Seems like a very circulatory system. I am sort of at that age where realistically I will be starting a family in the next 3-4 years and I need to move somewhere that makes sense cause affording SF housing is totally out of the picture. I am trying to persuade my girl to just go back to the East Bay but she is pretty stern on wanting to send our future kids to the SF school system, more notably Lowell high school where she went. That school is so different from my high school that she told mer her graduating class almost had a 70-80% of the kids going to UCs where as the others went to states and no one went to JCs. At my high school, well over 50% all went to junior colleges (DVC and CCC) and the rest went to states and UCs or trade schools.

Anyways.....just such a difficult thing to pick out seeing how there are so many factors of what is important and even where we work.

If I can be frank concerning your situation, the most impactful thing in a child's life concerning education is going to be the involvement of parents and attentive adults. Your future kids could end up in a school that doesn't send many students to a four year college, but their fate is much more tied to the fact of whether or not you and your girl are attending to their needs as students in the classroom. The definitive developing years for children in school are from grades 3-6, where they begin to understand better their role in school and the roles of others. If you've got them believing in school and working hard until about the 8th grade, the likelihood that they don't do well in high school drops dramatically.

I don't mean to say that you can enroll them anywhere and they'll be fine as long as you're around. Just that if they end up somewhere that's not at the top for graduating future college grads, it's not the worst thing that can happen.

 

[captain charisma]

I don't know what more I can add about about that hasn't already been said. I miss and love the city. As soon as I am done with my masters, I am heading back.

Regarding the bad rap, It's all about being smart on the streets. Of course there are always going to be places you don't want to step foot in. There are places in the Rich, EPA, SF, and all over the Bay Area that are just as bad. I'm from East Oakland, and things weren't always pretty. Oakland is def changing tho. That gentrification.

I don't know, this was sort of a mini-rant. All I'm trying to say is Oakland ain't as bad as people make it out to be.

 

[DadNboujee]

I remember I used to do service work and I saw the list of available places and saw oakland on the list and avoided that with the quickness and chose San Pablo thinking it can't be as bad at all. Smh at
Myself.

 

[heatpinoyboy]

That's the first time I seen CCC get mentioned place is literally the beginning of 13th grade

 

[rook]

Probably not the right thread to ask but i'm thinking of moving to santa monica...anybody live there or have any suggestions?

 

[dman14]

isnt the tech boom affecting oakland as well. remember reading an article saying how many folks are moving out of sf and into oakland. is rent still "affordable"

 

[createdestroy]

Nah, I like it here.
Even on 99th n mac, i like it there too,

you know eric/E or ant man?

 

[The_Isomotion31]

Lake Merritt and its surroundings are nice. Sure there are bad parts of the city like every other city.

 

[youngtriz]

How is Stockton?

Stockton been a lost cause.

my wifey got family over there, i used to ( cambodian )... i never been there.. my coworker said its like a 3rd world country over there

 

[law3001]

my wifey got family over there, i used to ( cambodian )... i never been there.. my coworker said its like a 3rd world country over there

Stockton sucks its more than crime its just a weak *** place to live

 

[jumpman247]

 

[miamiboy]

That guys voice had me crying tears laughing

Oakland is crazy right now, looking like a scene from The Dark Knight.

 

[Nawzlew]

Stockton is terrible.

It does have Chick Fil A tho.

 

[isnx2]

That scene the bikers pull into the jects and the homies close the gate on the cops.

Ok, I'm sure the fact that you're a regional transplant who's never even lived in the city with no scope, no perspective, and zero basis for comparison can account for that.

It doesnt take a rocket scientist or local to tell you Oakland is still in the gutta.
I respect your pride for your home, but be real wit yaself yo.

Theres plenty reasons i could invalidate your opinion, lets be realistic.

 

[createdestroy]

Nah, I like it here.
Even on 99th n mac, i like it there too,

you know eric/E or ant man?

 

[ice city fc]

 

Ok, I'm sure the fact that you're a regional transplant who's never even lived in the city with no scope, no perspective, and zero basis for comparison can account for that.

It doesnt take a rocket scientist or local to tell you Oakland is still in the gutta.
I respect your pride for your home, but be real wit yaself yo.

Theres plenty reasons i could invalidate your opinion, lets be realistic.

Dude there's not a SINGLE thing you can say to invalidate ANYTHING I've said in this thread.  I've posted very few opinions, I've posted 90% facts that are easily verifiable. 

I still don't get what crossed your mind to even think you can be a part of the conversation, I say there's been great progress made in 15 years and some transplant who's been in the region for four years, not even the city, pipes up and opens their mouth. 

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to tell you don't know what you're talking about. 

 

[timbo109]

I have a business in Richmond and let me tell you...Oakland has always had its bad neighborhoods....but literally the entire city of Richmond is in the gutter...

Only reason my shop is here because its the cheapest rent in the entire Bay Area...have gun shot holes on the side of our building...people stealing stuff left and right...you leave ANYTHING of value outside...doesn't matter if its worth $1, that **** will be gone the next day...can't begin to tell you how many times someone has mowed down our fence ....they just back their truck up, take out the fence and load up scrap metal (literally the fence is worth more than the metal...smfh...)....

Can't put up security cameras because they just shoot them...can't make a police report because they won't do anything anyways...

During the day its not too bad, but you'd never catch me out here at night...hell no...

Just curious - why do you keep your business there? Doesn't the location scare off potential customers? What is the business?
I played a bit of youth baseball in Richmond and it certainly is a run-down city. Didn't have any bad experiences but I was only there briefly. Richmond Costco, got a lot of fond memories for it though.

^^An option would be moving to cheaper neighborhood and sending your kids to private school

Youre goin to pay either way, either where you live or what school

Ya, Oakland does have some very high quality private schools (CPS, O'Dowd) so that's certainly an option.

That's the first time I seen CCC get mentioned place is literally the beginning of 13th grade

Weird seeing it mentioned on NT. I played flag football there as a kid. I feel like whenever I imagine what a community college looks like, it's based on CCC.

You're an idiot for that. You clearly have never stopped foot in Brooklyn. 

Brooklyn > your life

I'll give you a pass though. You probably never stepped foot in NY. You might have been thinking about BX

Oakland > Brooklyn tho...

Anything within the greater bay area will never become what Detroit is simply because of the economic powerhouse that is the Silicon Valley.

With BART expanding to the southbay by 2020, people will now have reasonable commute access to the South Bay from anywhere in the East Bay. Right now, you can't work in the silicon valley and live in the east bay because your only option is the 880 freeway. Once BART expands, I could see a lot of people moving out to the east bay and maintaining jobs in the silicon valley. 

That's a really good point actually. I think Oakland's proximity to Berkeley also helps keep it afloat. Grad students seeking cheaper rent/a more adventurous lifestyle certainly could be helpful for the city.



I haven't been in Oakland for a few years; haven't lived in the Bay for like 10; and haven't really checked crime stats recently. I've heard horror stories, but what do the data say about Oakland these days?

 

[ice city fc]

I haven't been in Oakland for a few years; haven't lived in the Bay for like 10; and haven't really checked crime stats recently. I've heard horror stories, but what do the data say about Oakland these days?

 

[Rootin4EverybodyBlack]

All I can say is surrouding a police crusier in DC or PG and kicking it would get you gunned down with the quickness.

 

[solewoman]

All I can say is surrouding a police crusier in DC or PG and kicking it would get you gunned down with the quickness.

Yup

 

[MetalMario]

Stockton is terrible.

It does have Chick Fil A tho.

I think I've seen one in Pleasant Hill or Dublin, can't remember. never had it though

 

[rianbeing]

Got nothing on chiraq, but I'm not proud of my city's nickname.

 

[nazdrowie]

my company had an opening in palo alto but after researching Palo Alto itself, i withdrew my interest when HR contacted me...

it did not seem like a nice place...all suburban sprawl...

if the job was somewhere with a BART station i would have been interested but the quality of life in PA seemed so bad...its all traffic congestion with people being forced to use cars, from what i heard

...i couldn't live like that 

 

[isnx2]

Dude there's not a SINGLE thing you can say to invalidate ANYTHING I've said in this thread.  I've posted very few opinions, I've posted 90% facts that are easily verifiable. 

I still don't get what crossed your mind to even think you can be a part of the conversation, I say there's been great progress made in 15 years and some transplant who's been in the region for four years, not even the city, pipes up and opens their mouth. 

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to tell you don't know what you're talking about. 

Go work for the city, it needs more people like you.