If you are considering moving to Oakland, you have probably done quite a bit of research on its various neighborhoods. Time and time again, East Oakland has certainly come up as one of the notorious areas that give Oakland its bad reputation. However, when you look at a map, it’s hard not to notice that Oakland’s eastern border runs the length of a regional park and has two golf courses – not exactly what you’d expect from such a bad part of town. This confusing situation results from poor terminology.
The eastern part of Oakland
Skyline Boulevard runs the length of Redwood Regional Park on Oakland’s eastern border. For most of its length, it is a beautiful tree-lined street. Nearby neighborhoods offer some of the best views in the San Francisco Bay Area, San Francisco, and Mount Tamalpais. Despite its location on the eastern edge of Oakland, this isn’t the scary “East Oakland” you’ve heard of.
The real ‘East Oakland’
The problem area called East Oakland is actually in the south central part of the city, not in the east at all. On a map, look at the area contained by Park Boulevard in the far north, the Warren and MacArthur Freeways in the east, the Nimitz Freeway in the west, and 90th Avenue in the south. This is a fairly large area, and some neighborhoods within this part of Oakland are far worse than others. International Boulevard, in particular, tends to be a dangerous street. The precise boundaries of East Oakland are not clearly defined, but as you can see, its name is misleading.
Neighborhoods
The story does not end here. East Oakland is simply a term for a large part of Oakland. There are quite a few neighborhoods in East Oakland, including Highland, Woodland, Eastmont, Melrose, and Webster, among many others. If you ask for the name of the neighborhood of a particular house, you can get one of these areas as an answer. Now that you understand the general location of East Oakland, you are in a better position to effectively research specific neighborhoods to find out if they are within this area.
East Oakland ZIP codes
You can also use zip codes to help you determine if a certain home is in East Oakland. East Oakland includes all or parts of 94601, 94602, 94603, 94605, 94606, 94613, 94619, and 94621.
Final thoughts
Confused? Irrational? Yes, but now that you know, you are in a position to make better decisions. If a home in your price range is available on or near Skyline Boulevard, don’t immediately rule it out because it’s on the eastern edge of Oakland. After all, as you now understand, this is not the notorious area mistakenly called East Oakland. Likewise, if you find a location near International Boulevard, don’t accept it as safe because the map shows it’s in central (rather than eastern) Oakland.
As a general rule of thumb, if the place is east of the Warren and MacArthur freeways, it is in a fairly safe area.
