Oakland Hills: Climate & Traffic workarounds
We are considering a move to the Eastmont or "Melrose Highlands" neighborhoods of Oakland. We are used to the flats in Oakland and Berkeley, and have found the warmer weather there much to our liking. I am wondering what the microclimate is in the Oakland hills below the 580. In addition, we are wondering whether there are surface streets that function as 580 "workarounds" during rush hour (most of the day!), akin to Sacramento Street, Arlington Ave, et al. Doesn't seem like Oakland has the same sort of non-freeway options that Berkeley/Albany/El Cerrito does, but maybe we are just missing something....
Thank you.
May 6, 2017
Parent Replies
Weather depends in part on where in the hills you are, but as flats-dwellers we have been surprised/impressed that the East Oakland hills in particular (Sequoyah/Golf Links/Keller area) is actually extremely warm--more like Contra Costa weather than central Oakland/Berkeley weather. Friends who live there can grow summer vegetables in their gardens that we can only dream of. So assuming you're worried about it being cooler, you might be fine. And no, unfortunately there are no good surface streets that are workarounds for 580. MacArthur doubles 580 for much of that stretch, but it's not continuous and in my experience it doesn't save much time unless the freeway is literally at a standstill. The best workaround is generally to cut up to 13 or down to 880, but both of those roads are at capacity during rush hour these days too. On days when I have to do that drive I generally just check Waze or Google Maps for any big issues. Usually it recommends 580 even when it's slow, though. If you are coming from the Oak/Berk flats, it will definitely be a shift to a more driving-oriented life, for better or worse.