Hey guys,
I am moving all the way from Buffalo NY to California for a job, and my boyfriend and I checked out some nice lofts in Emmeryville on Adeline St.
Is this area scary or can it be OK? The place is gated and we have a car but I figured someone would know 
I found it was safe. My husband used to live in Emeryville and I visited often, and after we were married we had a sailboat kept at a marina there, so I’ve spent at lot of time in Emeryville as a visitor. They have this neat free bus to the bart station. I’ve never been afraid there walking around the shops or public market, but like everywhere you have to take persuasions.
I work in Emeryville, about a mile away from Adeline. Emeryville’s basically wedged right between Berkeley (which has some of the richest neighborhoods in California) and Oakland (which has some of the poorest). Emeryville itself is mostly pretty nice, but there are some bad elements. We had some problems in my office with people getting into the building and stealing stuff off people’s desks, for example. Still, the place is seeing a lot of gentrification, and has improved a lot in the last few years. It used to be a real shithole. Earl Warren once called it “the rottenest city on the Pacific coast.” Now, it’s a decent place to find nice, affordable (by Bay Area standards) apartments while still being right next to Berkeley, and not too far from San Francisco.
It really just depends on what you are looking for. Do you want to walk the streets at three in the morning drunk off your butt with no incident? Or are you just hoping your apartment doesn’t get broken into? Be honest with yourself- will you be comfortable in an area with lots of minorities? Emeryville is an urban area, so it will feel like an urban area. Is that okay?
Emeryville does back up to Oakland and some sketchy parts of Berkeley. There will be a lot of diversity. If you are the kind of person who crosses the street when you see a few black dudes hanging out, you might feel uncomfortable at times. If that doesn’t make you uncomfortable, you’ll be fine.
Alameda county keeps very good and easily accessible crime statistics. Why don’t you try looking them up? When I lived in Oakland I was surprised that the neighborhoods widely considered “nice” (which in my experience means "I didn’t see any black guys hanging around) often have higher crime rates than the “bad” neighborhoods.
Anyway, I’d be fine in Emeryville, but then I loved living in Oakland so YMMV.
I can’t decide if it’s your pride or your prejudice saying that.
Former Oakland resident here, in fact I lived quite near this area. There is very little of Adeline in Emeryville, so you may want to check the actual address. Addresses in Emeryville should have an adress higher than 3800. That said, the triangular section that is, is created by Adeline coming from West Oakland, San Pablo coming out of Downtown Oakland and 40th street coming out of North Oakland. The area is bordered by the 580 freeway heading toward the Bay Bridge Toll Plaza, A shopping center, condos, and an AC Transit bus transit hub. There hardly any there there if you get my meaning.
The surrounding areas of Oakland can get “bad” in a hurry depending on your level of comfort. If you want more info, let me know.
By the way I labeled the sections of Oakland the way residents do, which has only passing resemblance to cardinal directions.
But there are plenty of good and plenty of rich neighborhoods in Oakland, too. (Miller, you know this but it’s unlikely ceen284 or anyone else does.)
Agreed. Most of us in the Bay Area think of Emeryville as “the Ikea” and, oh I guess the sidewalks around it. But it does have some character. One of my friends lives in a pretty awesome house, not too far from anything on a safe block. But not too far away there was a bar that required me to take off my baseball cap (because nothing says violence than tubby San Francisco Giants fans).
Agreed.
Also, the Bay Area is a place where cars are optional, and the Emery-Go-Round will take you to BART, the regional rail line, as well as around Emeryville (map).
Some areas of Emeryville I’d avoid after dark. From dusk till dawn you’ll see people walking around the streets like zombies, directionless and loitering. Vagrants and hoodlums mostly. My morning commute takes me through San Pablo St. in Emeryville and I’ll see neerdowells yelling at each other across intersections, slowly walking through a busy street with no regard for where they are, all the while holding a brown bag and clothes that dont fit. That and hookers.
Emeryville may be a different city than Oakland, but there’s no moat to keep the riff raff from coming over. Dont forget its neighbor to the north, Richmond. Another shining example of a great geographic location gone to shit because of the local populace.
I see the Emery Bay Public Market is still there. When I worked in Emeryville in the mid-90s, that was one of the cool places to go for lunch. It’s like a big food court with all sorts of international food vendors there (no chains, or at least there weren’t any when I was there).
That’s my main memory of Emeryville as well–giant food court place! And IKEA, but I never actually went there. Otherwise, it’s not exactly exciting but I’d live there.
Former Emeryville resident of 10 years checking in.
“Safe” depends on your comfort level I suppose, but in general the better apartments are in the northwest section of town (upper 60s Streets, between Christie and Hollis). There are a bunch of condos, townhouses, etc… east of that area (between Hollis and San Pablo); some of those owners may be renting. I think there are some decent rental properties by the office buildings on the west side, down Powell Street.
Down in the Adeline area, there are indeed some reasonable apartments and complexes, but the surrounding area is a bit less appealing in my opinion. The parts by 40th/W. MacArthur are a bit less safe, moreso at night, and that southern part of Emeryville just gets sketchier the further east you go (towards Oakland/MacArthur BART).