Oakland

Honestly I expected to be robbed by gunpoint within weeks of being here. I expected something truly awful. Sure there are places one ought not be after dark but I don’t really feel any less safe than I did in West Charlotte… well maybe those parts of East Oakland. heh. I was just suprised at how nice it is on the whole. Downtown and Lake Merrit are pretty neat too.

Worth visiting if only to see that it’s not as bad as its reputation. Sure, there are parts (as anyone will tell you) that you want to avoid (as any city does,) but there are also some beautiful houses and excellent restaurants, and a wonderfully diverse population. Honestly, if I were to reside in the Bay, I would live in Oakland and chill in Berkeley or San Francisco.

I went to this place via Bart several times in the mid 80’s whenever the Detroit Tigers would come to what was then called Oakland Alameda County Colliseum.

NCAA Regionals 2006

I go to Oakland, my birth place, about every year or so. A lot of my relatives live here and it’s a great area. The scenery is often perfect for tourist pictures and the quiet-ness in some parts is calm and serene. Perfect for times when you just need to take a break from the world and you have the time and money to fly.

Kinda fun! Colorful would be the right word to describe it. I wouldn’t go here to explore by myself, though.

went to see beck in 98. he was beautiful. dressed like a horse. yay.

I once got lost here at 3 am when I was driving my (then)girlfriend to a modeling event. The hotels we did manage to find were unbelievably shady but nobody would let us check in because they have an “escort policy” because they think any girl with a man at night could be a prostitute. Great city!
Needless to say we ended up finding a dump and pretended to be married before we finally got a room.

I attended a conference that took place in Oakland on November 2005. It was the first time that I visited California, so I didn’t know what to expect. Granted, I didn’t have the time to explore the area…or my hotel was located remotely from all the attractions. I hope to come back another time and explore at my own leisure.

I love it here because I was born here