Sunday, July 27, 2008

Oakland, the sunny side of the bay

A lot of times people (people who live outside Oakland) think I live in Oakland only because I lack the funds to live elsewhere. That, given the chance, I'd move to SF. They usually try to commiserate with me or tell me about their friend who's subletting a room in some part of the city I would never want to live.
Well, such people need to step. I have many metric tons of Oakland pride and wouldn't move to the city even if I did have gobs of money. Which I obvs don't, but whatever.

I also tend to think my neighborhood is very safe. Of course everyone thinks their neighborhood is safe. My friend who's seen 3 murders on her street, and I mean on her block, including one corpse IN THE STREET, worries about parking on my street over night.

In fact I was giving her and my other friend and the bf a big indignant speech how living below Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd doesn't always indicate shady times no matter what Chris Rock says, when our friend called to say he'd just been punched in the face right on my doorstep!! And for no worse crime than being dressed dorky and having a basket on his bike.
Heh, dork.
Anyway I never got punched, my car's never been broken into and no one's ever said anything worse to me than 'damn you look sexy today' and really, that's kind of nice.

HOWEVER I checked out this interactive map of homicides in Oakland this year, and there have been 3 murders within 3 blocks of my house. Gulp.





And then I read this choice quote from the East Bay Express's crime blotter. Note for non East Bayers: Piedmont is a town that's basically inside Oakland, but became it's own thing when it realized it was full of money and didn't want it's taxes going into Oakland's coffers.
Between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. on July 5, Piedmont police records show reports of a house being egged, a loud leaf-blower, a blocked driveway, two off-leash dogs, a car parked too long, "a suspicious person carrying a plastic bag," a dead rat, and a dead cat. That's it. Within those same hours in Oakland, police records show five shootings, an assault with a deadly weapon, three armed robberies, a strong-arm robbery, an assault with a deadly weapon, and an unexplained death. That's it.
Oh is that all?

3 comments:

the gmh. said...

Punched in the face? That doesn't make me want to visit.

Well, there's been three murders within a two blocks of my place too. Including a couple of masked guys walking up to another guy in the middle of the day and shooting him with a shotgun. Whoo!

Maggie O said...

As said friend mentioned in this article, I would just like to point out that yes I was concerned about leaving my car on the street overnight, and yes I live in a shady neighborhood as well, but what you must understand is that I feel the same way about parking on my own street overnight, but because I have off street parking I never have to face this reality, so at that moment I was merely expressing my valid concern about the safety of my cute little car, afterall I have had not 1 but 2 cars stolen in my lifetime. wah.

Psyched and Such said...

1st of all, GMH, who in the world could punch you??? That just doesn't make any sense. 2nd, who on Liberty hill carries a shotgun. I mean, unironically. And Mag, duly noted, you're afraid of the street, and you're afraid of having to start your car with a pair of scissors again. I would be too!