<p>Is the area around Berkeley really that bad? I’ve heard that it is equivalent to USC’s location in the south.</p>
<p>I will be visiting as well, but I would like to hear opinions.</p>
<p>no its not really, but what do you mean by "bad"?</p>
<p>i guess the general impression would be lots of hippies, bums, theft, rape, homocides, ethnic cleansing, weapons of mass destruction, etc.</p>
<p>Westow: that's called living in the world. </p>
<p>"Bad": I can't walk to the grocery store in the daytime, and stuff like that. Berkeley is near a metropolitan so I understand problems that go with it; but is it in a horrible area? No good housing, no college town cafes, or anything?</p>
<p>Personally, I LOVED UC Berkeley's surrounding area. I found it to be charmingly urban, dirty (not ghetto), liberal-friendly and totally not what some of you suburbanites are used to. Lots of cool, quirky shops, an Urban Outfitters and non-chain fast-food places and (ugh) a Jamba Juice. There are many bums, yes; but, while there, I really did not feel any discomfort. But if you've been to Hollywood and have been harrassed by the bums there, you'll find the Berkeley bums to be harmless and tame in comparison.</p>
<p>USC's area isn't that bad. Some pretty (but dilapidated and unkempt, some not) victorian houses in a working-class neighborhood in Los Angeles. The neighborhood north of USC is better than the one to the south. Not too dangerous.</p>
<p>I prefer UC Berkeley's surrounding area over USC's, as USC's pales in comparison. I also prefer UC Berkeley's area over UCLA's. </p>
<p>I'm a liberal.</p>
<p>Homeless people are in Westwood too...</p>
<p>So is it a college town with cafes and great book stores?</p>
<p>By the way, how far is SF and how do I get to SF without a lot of money?</p>
<p>a short description of Berkeley and environs....
The center of the city is of course, the University. </p>
<p>There is the South Side (eg south of the university), which is essentially Telegraph Avenue with its cafes, street people, fabulous bookstores, music stores, peoples park, the Units, Fratertinites and Sororities. Not to be missed Cody's Books, Moes Books, Rasputins, and Amoeba. (<a href="http://www.telegraphshop.com/%5B/url%5D">http://www.telegraphshop.com/</a>)</p>
<p>There is the North Side (duh, north of the university). A bit more quiet than south side. Location of the famous Gourmet Ghetto in berkeley. Not to be missed - the original Peet's coffee, the Cheese Board, </p>
<p>Downtown is directly West of the University. Movie theatres, restaurants, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Capoeira Cafe, BART (for access to SF), City Hall, Berkeley High, and a weekly farmers market. Not to be missed: free music at Jupiters</p>
<p>All of the above are walking distance from campus. </p>
<p>Other points of interest...Tilden Park, Oakland, San Francisco, 4th Street for yuppie shopping and food, and Solano Avenue for yuppie shopping and food</p>
<p>As for getting to SF, the BART ride from Downtown Berkeley to Powell Street is roughly 5.50 round trip. Service is ok, but it only runs until midnight.</p>
<p>Caf</p>
<p>I second clownzskareme, homeless people are everywhere...even such prestigious places as the big H! I did the summer program at Harvard and was surprised on the first day to see just how "eclectic" Harvard Square was right across the street. :) IMHO such eclectic elements add a bit of atmosphere ;) even though it took me awhile to get used to it and feel comfortable...but once I did it was an exciting place to be!</p>
<p>I loved Berkeley when I visited precisely because it had just that type of atmosphere. </p>
<p>I had visited Stanford the day before and been quite disappointed because I found it to be rather boring...just more suburban really...nothing wrong with that, but I have lived in that kind of atmosphere all my life...it also reminded me a lot of Yale...meh</p>
<p>I would definitely say USC's region is worse...my mother and I got lost on our way there and it was a little surprising...the campus is certainly beautiful...if compound-like, lol</p>
<p>~I also have only been to Berkeley once...but I think I will be doing the OSP so I will have to explore some more</p>
<p>~Now when I went to my Regent's interview I asked one of the Berkeley Students about transportation to the city and he mentioned something about a University Shuttle...either very cheap/free, I forget, and said that he rarely used BART. Anyone know about this?</p>
<p>Berkeley is a great college town, with the advantage of being do close to sf, but without all the crap that goes on is sf. we have our boat in the berkeley marina, so we go there a lot. on the outer rims, its more like ethnic neigborhoods and stuff, but you have to go out of your way to get to the bad parts of town. there are little shops everywhere, cafes, book stores, thrift shops, ethnic food stores, an urban outfitters... it's very nice, and the best part is that everyone on the sidewalks is nice and friendly.</p>
<p>geminihop: yes, there's a shuttle that leaves like every thirty minutes fri-sun that goes to sf and back for free</p>
<p>The area around Berkeley isn't as bad as most make it out to be. Although there are many homeless men and women downtown, I didn't have any problems with them when I visited. There's quite a few theaters downtown and for shopping, there's Telegraph Avenue. The only downside that comes to mind of the city of Berkeley is that most of the shops and commercial buildings close roughly around 10 P.M. I'm not sure if this is true during the school year, because I visited Berkeley only during this past summer.</p>
<p>"I found it to be charmingly urban, dirty (not ghetto), liberal-friendly and totally not what some of you suburbanites are used to"</p>
<p>I'd agree with that 100%. The people who dislike the area all seem to be upper-middle or upper class. Berkeley's not posh, but it's not a ghetto. It's got a <em>ton</em> of character.</p>
<p>As far as college town cafes go, Berkeley has about three billion cafes. </p>
<p>I'd agree with elevenblanks about people being nice too.</p>
<p>Are there still cafes, movie theaters, etc. on the "Oakland side" of College Avenue? It seemed like a lot yuppies and college students
used to frequent that area for entertainment.</p>
<p>As far as safety goes, you just have to exercise common sense like one would in any urban area. Telegraph Ave, University, Shattuck and College Avenues in Berkeley, as crazy and eclectic as they are, are much more interesting than the "safe," predictable, yuppie atmosphere of University Ave and El Camino Real in Palo Alto, where Stanford is.</p>
<p>But both serve a useful purpose and I wouldn't bad mouth either.
I grew up 6 miles north of Berkeley and just favor that environment.
"Real people" go to Berkeley, those who are into prestige and status go to Stanford.</p>
<p>The 'oakland side' of college aka Rockridge is still bustiling with restaurants and foodie shops. Only one movie theatre though, The Elmwood.</p>
<p>Don't let anyone fool you, Berkeley, and especially Telegraph and Shattuck, have a trillion homeless people. FOr the most part they don't bother you(unless you get bothered by lame, ironic signs), but just the mass of them gets to me every once in a while and I have to go out of my way to avoid walking down telegraph. Even campus has its fair share of them, but again, they are pretty harmless.</p>
<p>OMG I LOVE BERKELEY - the town. Way better that Stanford's <em>ahem</em> Palo Alto.</p>
<p>"The 'oakland side' of college aka Rockridge is still bustiling with restaurants and foodie shops. Only one movie theatre though, The Elmwood."</p>
<p>that's not true...there's like TWO popular and major movies theater on shattuck.</p>
<p>Shattuck is downtown and not the oakland side of college avenue. And yes, Shattuck Ave is the main movie theatre district of Berkeley (UA Cinemas, Shattuck Cinemas, California Theatre, and ACT I & II). Reasonably close by theatre complexes are Bay Street in Emeryville and Jack London Square in Oakland. There is always the PFA across from campus for film. Interesting independent theatres are The Grand Lake, The Piedmont Theatre, The Parkway (pizza and beer while lounging on couches) and The Oaks. And you can't beat the Paramount Theatre in Oakland (BART accessible) - its a restored Art Deco theatre that shows classic movies for $6 occasionally on Friday nights.</p>