Oakland has seen a surge in young residents looking to escape the high rents of San Francisco, and the city is doing everything it can to make sure it’s a great place to live.
From investing millions of dollars to clean up Lake Merritt to building more affordable apartment complexes, the city seems to be doing things right. It should come as no surprise that there are some trendy neighborhoods in Oakland.
Whether you’re into locally-roasted coffee, craft beer, or outdoor activities, these are the 5 best Oakland neighborhoods for you.
- Temescal
- Rockridge
- Piedmont Avenue
- Grand Lake-Merritt
- Downtown Oakland (Uptown)
Read on for more details of each!
Temescal
Prior to the 1900s, Temescal was actually its own city. The boundaries have since changed and the neighborhood now boasts a burgeoning arts scene, hip coffee shops on Telegraph Avenue, and convenient access to the MacArthur BART station.
Temescal Brewery, originally just large enough to seat 35 customers, has grown quickly (as has the craft beer scene in Temescal in general) to include a huge outdoor patio where beer-lovers can bring their (well-behaved) dogs and sip on a fresh brew and eat from the rotating food trucks.
Both Burlap Coffee and Julie’s Coffee & Tea Garden are great options for your morning or afternoon coffee. San Francisco’s Burma Superstar opened up its Temescal location in 2009 and people have been lining up ever since. Try the tea leaf salad or any of their other Burmese classics; whatever you get, this place doesn’t disappoint. Temescal Arts Center breathes life into the neighborhood with its art classes and workshops, not to mention a few performances throughout the year.
Rockridge
Neighboring Temescal is Rockridge, a chic, quiet, and pleasant neighborhood. The tree-lined neighborhood streets boast restored bungalow-style homes and well-kept gardens, upscale restaurants, and yoga studios. Its family-friendly vibe is apparent by its abundance of primary schools, daycare centers, and its very own branch library. Plus, Rockridge BART station offers easy access to other parts of the Bay Area.
Along College Avenue, Rockridge’s main drag, is where you’ll find a good amount of antique and vintage shops. Check out Talisman Antiques and sort through their treasures or head to Maison d’Etre for some pricier, but elegant, home decor goods. Head to Redfield Cider Bar and Bottle Shop for an afternoon beverage and don’t miss the annual Rockridge Out & About Festival, which brings local shops, artists, and food vendors to 8 blocks of College Avenue from Claremont to Lawton.
Piedmont Avenue
Along Piedmont Avenue, you’ll find upscale tapas restaurants and cute boutique shops with green, leafy trees resting out front. Neighborhood pub Cato’s Ale House offers food and 23 beers on tap, with weekly karaoke and free music three nights a week. Find gifts for others or yourself at shops like Mercy Vintage and Myrtle’s Lodge, both on Piedmont Ave.
As weird as it sounds, Mountain View Cemetery might be one of the biggest attractions in Piedmont. Designed by Frederick Law Olmstead, this cemetery is rumored to be the resting grounds for some of the most famous Bay Area residents, including the Black Dahlia, the Ghirardelli family, and Bay Area architecture duo Julia Morgan and Bernard Maybeck. If cemeteries aren’t your thing (we don’t blame you), treat yourself to a movie at Oakland’s oldest operating theater, Piedmont Theatre. Drop by on a Saturday night and you might be the lucky winner of the film-related memorabilia and local goods that are given away before each movie screening. Or, if you really want to be pampered, head to Piedmont Springs and enjoy a massage, relax in the sauna, or reserve a private hot tub.
Grand Lake-Merritt
The Lake Merritt area began to see young professionals flock to its borders when San Francisco rents began skyrocketing, and it’s easy to see why they came here. The city of Oakland invested millions of dollars in cleaning up the lake, which was once a dirty, swampy eye-sore, and now groups of young people can be seen picnicking on the manicured grass while families stroll along the waterfront. The lake and its 3.4-mile shoreline also provide residents with a place for outdoor activities like biking rowing, jogging, and walking the dog.
A large concentration of the neighborhood’s bars, restaurants, and entertainment can be found along Grand Avenue–and you won’t have trouble remembering their names. The Grand Tavern serves up 1900s-style cocktails, American fare, and features a front and back patio–both perfect for some weekend day-drinking; Grand Lake Kitchen serves up brunch, happy hour specials, and a dinner menu after 5pm; and, Grand Lake Theater, a staple in this neighborhood since 1926, is an art-deco inspired gem showing all the latest movies.
Downtown Oakland (Uptown)
Downtown Oakland is a sprawling area, with Broadway acting as its main drag and Uptown a neighborhood within Downtown. Institutions like the renovated Fox Theater and art deco-inspired Paramount Theater draw nightly crowds to this area, and the bars and eateries keep them here long after the shows let out. DREXL, a two-story watering hole, has wine on tap and a rotating cocktail menu; Make Westing boasts an indoor bocce ball court and tasty bites. Hopscotch is a self-proclaimed upscale diner, and its American food with a Japanese flare is on point. The 19th Street/Oakland BART station provides easy public transit access for those who want to bop around the city or head into San Francisco.
Did these trendy Oakland neighborhoods whet your appetite? Take a look at all of our apartments for rent in Oakland and get ready for your new hood.
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