I know people in Piedmont who cannot leave their town at night. They are completely surrounded by Oakland.
Piedmont P.D. use to have an “un-written” policy of keeping un-invited guests out of their city. I assume that’s still the case but you’re on your own in Oaktown!
The worst two years of my life were living in Berkeley many decades ago.
My car got broken into, I got fired from my job and my fiance dumped me.
I fled to Orange County, CA after that—and things got a lot better.
:-)
It’s a shame about Piedmont. Moraga, Orinda and Lafayette are still nice and safe. Once you get east through the Caldecott Tunnel, things are a lot better.
My wife’s family was in Oakland in the 30s, 40s and 50s before they moved to Castro Valley. It was a real nice city back then, but, like all Big Dem cities, it got destroyed.
I went through Oakland and Berkeley (just north of Oakland city line) on business a month ago. I didn’t enjoy being there in broad daylight. What a mess.
I used to frequent Oakland restaurants because you could get the best ethnic food of any kind, bar none, (across the Bay Area) but it’s too damned dangerous now (at least to my way of thinking)!