Oaklanders stay positive on The Town as crime stats improve
OAKLAND -- Even on a gloomy and rainy Saturday, there was still a lot of optimism about the future of Oakland.
"We just like Oakland a lot with everything that's going on," said Duke Sarkar as he toured an Oakland home listed for sale. He and his partner have been house-hunting in Oakland for over a month. They live in San Ramon.
"We want to be close to the city of San Francisco but not super close. We love the vibe of Oakland," Sarkar said.
Sarkar said he's aware of Oakland's crime reputation but he's also heard a lot of good things from friends who live there. He said they visit Oakland at least once a week.
"I think, a lot of times, Oakland gets a bad name," Sarkar said.
Oakland police report that in the first four months of this year, compared to the same period last year, homicide went down 17 percent and burglary saw a bigger drop, down by 50 percent. Robbery remains a challenge in the city. Oakland police say robbery is the one category that's up by 11 percent.
Sarkar is encouraged to see that, overall, crime is trending downward. He's banking on even bigger drops since they'll likely have to spend over a million dollars to buy a house here.
"This is where we will be living for the next decade or something. Our parents will come visit us here. So we do want a safe area to live in," Sarkar said.
Unlike Sarkar, Oakland native Shelby Tipton was born and raised in The Town.
"Hopefully, it gets better. It's a lot of things going on right now between breaking and entering and thefts of cars," Tipton said.
She said crime has always been an issue and it's worse in recent years. She said it still feels pretty bad despite the declining crime numbers.
"Things are not being reported as much, not that it's not happening," Tipton said.
She wants city leaders and police officers to do more so her two kids can grow up in a safer environment.
"This is our city. We can't abandon it. Hopefully we can do something to fix it," she said.
A lot of people still love and believe in Oakland. Sarkar is putting his money where his heart is.
"Oh, I'm very optimistic, yeah. I think there's a lot of promise and potential in the city," he said.