Living in Grand Lake / Lakeshore

This is definitely a reality but it's very specific at a micro-level (a particular block or a group of blocks) and based on factors outside your control (who moves in / who moves out / who lives in the neighborhood.)

We live in Grand Lake/Lakeshore area, and when we first moved in, there were 5 families with similar aged kids within 2 blocks. It was great. Kids just all went out and played. During the pandemic, everyone moved out, and younger, childness people moved in.  Many of them had babies recently, so in 2 - 3 years, this will be a neighborhood with many kids out on the street again. 

Albany, Piedmont, and Alameda are neighborhoods where kids walk to school and play on the street most consistently. 

Try the Grand Lake area in Oakland. The Lakeshore commercial district is lovely, you are close to the lake and parks. Crocker Highlands Elementary, Cleveland Elementary, and Edna Brewer Middle School are all good. None of Oakland's high schools are all that great, though I think Grand-Lake is mostly zoned for Oakland Tech was rated highest when we were choosing for my daughter 4 years ago (my daughter goes to Oakland High, which has not been terrible but has presented some frustrations on the academic front).

Hi Rosalie,

congratulations on your move! As an ex-New Yorker who grew up in Hell's Kitchen, I can sympathize. I hate driving and strip malls give me a lot of anxiety. San Francisco will probably be the best replacement for New York life, but it's still a very car dependent place. You'll want to look at central parts of the city (Castro, Duboce, Mission) for proximity to transit. However, these are both expensive and transit is still meh. BART works well enough if you're going on its lines, but otherwise buses and MUNI trains will be needed. 
 

as for Oakland, we moved here 8 years ago when houses were bought out from under us 2x. We like it here and though I used to yearn for SF I don't so much anymore now that we have two kids and enjoy the trails and the privilege of a backyard. We initially lived in N Oakland because it was closer to BART. We found that was only useful for my husband's commute. We now live near Lake Merritt, off of Lakeshore, and I have to say it's a decently urban existence. I love the Grand Lake market and though we don't shop at many of the Lakeshore spots, it's got thing s that are useful and we can walk to it. 
It's really hard to find super walkable neighborhoods in Oakland. Rockridge is highly prized for that, but it's almost expensive as SF without the benefits, I'd say. Near Piedmont Ave (still in Oakland, not the Piedmont town) is pretty walkable and near highway and bus lines. 
 

good luck!

Agree with the other post about neighborhoods :) we ended up in Grand Lake as well as for a walkable option close to the great parks in Piedmont, rose garden, more neighborhoody feel than urban, and a bit cheaper than other areas that are comparably nice. We had a really challenging time finding a place online though and so we chose to put our stuff in pods that could be stored (thru U-Pack) and we stayed at an Airbnb until we found the right place. It was so hard to have a sense for a neighborhood from just looking at google maps and some places we saw online looked great and then we saw them in person and understood why they were cheap...next to a halfway house or moldy or etc. Good luck and if you find yourselves ending up in Oakland, please reach out to me! It’s so tough relocating and especially with kiddos and especially in a pandemic and I found it really isolating at first so I empathize with your situation! My names Jenneva and I have a 1.5 yr old, please reach out when you get here if you need to connect or get mom recommendations for fun parks and stuff to do with kiddos.  Good luck with your move! 

While I agree that our public transit has nothing on London, I think some of the previous posters have made the East Bay walking situation sound worse than it actually is! When looking for a home, my husband and I also wanted a walkable neighborhood. We ultimately settled in the Grand Lake area of Oakland and haven't regretted it. Here's what we can EASILY walk to (admittedly some of these business are shut right now because of Covid):

- Trader Joe's (grocery store), small produce market, health food store, large Whole Foods (a bit farther)
- Weekly Farmers Market (thankfully still open even with Covid)
- A plethora of bars and restaurants
- Post Office (admittedly not my favorite branch!) and places to drop of FedEx and UPS packages
- Grand Lake movie theater (please reopen soon!)
- SF fitness gym plus other workout classes, yoga classes, etc
- Dry cleaners and a couple of tailors
- A kids' clothing, shoe and toy store plus other gifty stores on Lakeshore
- Kids' activities such as Gymboree (when reopened!), Martial arts, ballet, etc
- Library with Kids' storytime
- Reasonable commute transit options to San Francisco (should you ever need them)
- A couple of doctor/urgent care options -- Carbon health and One Medical (though that one requires a subscription)
- a good pediatric dentist

In short, we can accomplish a lot of errands without a car and have places to gather for food and drinks with friends nearby (once that's allowed again). Pre-covid my husband walked to work in downtown Oakland and I worked from home. We did still drive our eldest to school daily since it's a bit far to walk and a difficult bike ride. So I'm not saying you'll never want a car -- just saying there are options.

Feel free to message me for more information or just to say hello. I love London and have spent a lot of time there over the years. You will likely miss many things (the theater scene would be biggest for me) but I bet you'll enjoy the weather here. And that helps the walk factor too!

- Lucy

We also live in the Lakeshore area (just north of Grand/Lake). Like the last poster said -- it's a great neighborhood. We have lived in SF, moved to North Oakland (west of but not far from Temescal), then moved over here, and we love it here. When we moved to N Oakland from SF, we also prioritized BART, but the truth is except for my husband's commute, we didn't take it much. It's a limited public transit system (I grew up in NYC, so…I have higher expectations for what a rapid transit system could be). Don't conflate your London expectations with SF ones. It's hard to find truly walkable neighborhoods in the East Bay. Rockridge has it, but it's very expensive for pretty limited housing stock. The Grand/Lake area, pretty much near the lake and north really offers that. Plus the Saturday farmer's market is fantastic. My only complaint is the relative lack of playgrounds north of the Lakeshore district. Everyone has a yard, so there doesn't seem to be an investment in public play spaces. 
 

SF is a beautiful and lovely city, and we miss it, but Oakland has been a great city to have kids in even though I am not someone who dreamed of a yard and a car and my own private house (I grew up in a multi-unit building). I still wonder if I'd be happier in a flat in the city with nearly no driving required. But I also know we are very fortunate. 

Regarding the schools, my sense is SF is much more complicated. People don't always get their first choices of schools, but you rank them in Oakland and can select places nearer to your home. If you transfer when your kid is in (what we call) first grade, you may have an easier time getting a spot in a school (maybe). Your younger child might then get a preferred spot at your older child's school. 
 

good luck! We've done cross country moves but not international ones. It's hard and wearing and just know it's going to take 6 mos-1 year to recover from all the logistical and emotional changes. Be patient with yourself!

We live in Grand Lake/Lakeshore neighborhood in Oakland and commute to SF everyday.  First, I'd like to give a shout out to our neighborhood which has a landmark historic theater, little cafes, restaurants, shops, parks for kids, library, the oldest bookstore in Oakland, and one of the most vibrant farmers' markets around and of course, Lake Merritt. It's also quite a bit more affordable than Rockridge and I feel a bit safer than Temescal. 

Oakland does have an options process for schools but you get preference for your catchment (the neighborhood zone for your area school). Rockridge area has some of the more popular schools (Chabot/Peralta/Hilcrest) and the area middle school and high school are also well regarded. The neighborhood school for Temescal is Emerson which is not ranked high but is well regarded and beloved by families who attend the school. Chabot is a larger school and out of catchment kids do get into Chabot. We like our neighborhood school (Cleveland), which is a hidden gem. In addition to BART, there are transbay buses that get you to downtown SF as well as casual carpool. I have lived in different neighborhoods in Oakland and have commuted to different parts of SF. You don't have to limit yourself to being able to walk to BART to have a pretty easy commute. If being able to walk to BART is really important and you want to stay on the west side of the Caldecott Tunnel, the "safetest" family friendly neighborhoods with BART within walking distance and commercial amenities would be Rockridge BART, North Berkeley BART, El Cerrito BART areas (El Cerrito BART area feels more suburban than hip urban neighborhood). Parts of residential areas near downtown Berkeley BART can also be nice. Piedmont Ave. neighorhood is also very nice and it's one of my favorite places we have lived. Commute to SF is quite easy from Piedmont Ave. area. The neighborhood school is not highly ranked and many famlies in that area send their kids to Chabot or Cleveland which are close or private schools. Berkeley and SF both have blind lottery system, so you could end up in a school that is not close to your house. Oakland gives preference to neighbhood kids and siblings of current students and if there is any room left, they run a lottery for the rest.