I absolutely love Oakland, and I wish it were a place everyone would want to visit, but in reality, it isn’t, and there are reasons for that.

One is that anyone who comes to the Bay Area from across the U.S. or halfway across the world, wants to spend their time in San Francisco, or up in Napa, or out in Yosemite, or down in Monterey… not in Oakland.

The truth is that Oakland is a pretty laid-back, blue-collar town with some isolated neighborhoods of trendy eateries and shopping, and some areas of artists and musicians just doing what they do.

I don’t ever really advise tourists to spend time in Oakland; there’s just way too much other world-class travelling to be done in the immediate area to make Oakland an attractive use of your time.

That said, you could easily stay in Oakland for alot cheaper than staying in SF, and commute in every morning on BART with the rest of us. Also, the weather in the East Bay is almost always nicer than the weather in the city. But, one travels for the city experience, so I doubt the five or ten degree difference really matters to most travellers.

That said, if you plan on moving to the Bay Area, I suggest looking into Oakland. It is an awesome place to live.