<p>i live in a well to do suburban city and am scared of taking the BART in Oakland, TWICE. does anyone have bad experiences taking the BART in oakland?</p>
<p>I’m not sure if my friend took the bart in oakland, but I think it was around that area somewhere, and some guy(s) came up to him and tried to steal his ipod and hit his mouth =\ However, maybe if you don’t display expensive stuff and make sure to sit in a compartment that has a lot of people around you, you will be safer.</p>
<p>anyone have other practical advice?</p>
<p>I’ve taken the BART to Macarthur and walked to Emeryville and back with no problems. Also took it to Macarthur, bussed down to Lake Merrit, walked a few blocks to a job interview, over to the 51 pick-up, also with no problems (though that’s a nicer part of town to begin with).</p>
<p>What part of Oakland/BART are you going to be around?</p>
<p>I’d generally say follow normal “street-smart” advice. Go with someone else if you can, don’t look lost, don’t be distracted, keep to busy areas, don’t be flashy, etc.</p>
<p>Oh, and I forgot to mention that that happened around midnight/late at night, but if you’re taking bart during the day, you’ll probably be fine.</p>
<p>i dont know exactly…i am taking it fron oakland airport i think or someplace near it</p>
<p>get an entourage fool.</p>
<p>Ahh. The airport is easy. You shouldn’t have much of a problem there. You don’t spend much time anywhere that isn’t the BART or the airport, so you probably won’t even have to get on the streets.</p>
<p>You get through baggage claim, go outside to the AirBART, ride the AirBART to the door of the Coliseum/Oakland Airport BART and then BART to Downtown Berkeley. There is no walking on any city street until you get to Berkeley.</p>
<p>thank goodness…i feel better now</p>
<p>Dude, I sit on the BART with my iPod touch out (a 32GB one too, it costed $500 when I bought it in May), and I have never had problems with people.</p>
<p>But yea, undecided is 100% accurate.</p>
<p>Man I totally didn’t read the topic. We’re talking about going from the airport to Berkeley…you probably take less than 100 steps in Oakland before you arrive at the Bart station and get on board to go to Berkeley.
I thought you were talking about actually walking around Oakland just for kicks and giggles.</p>
<p>There have been isolated incidents I’m sure but generally, BART is pretty safe.</p>
<p>Yeah. BART is not too bad. (Though I did share a car with a hustler once, and there is the occasionally a$$.)</p>
<p>The advice re: being flashy is more important for the streets. The BART is patronized by a whole range of people, including the business types, so it’s not on the same level as “Oakland at night.”</p>
<p>hobos like to use the BART as a toilet. beware…</p>
<p>hardenburger, are you serious?</p>
<p>nickname: butchered.</p>
<p>lol bath room?</p>
<p>Compared to NY subways, BART is country club.</p>
<p>@TheBlackLantern, please check your suburban privilege and refrain from asssuming all of Oakland is dangerous. Just like any other city, Oakland has shady parts and not so shady parts. Just like NYC, SF, or LA.</p>
<p>Also, when you go through Oakland you are not going through some dangerous death portal. On the contrary, as you ride the BART I suggest sitting next to a window so that you can just get a glimpse of all that Oakland has to offer. After that, take the 51 bus and go visit Oakland.</p>
<p>After that, THEN you can form opinions about Oakland. Don’t let outside media, rumors, or people make those opinions for you.</p>
<p>my friend is at a hotel right now in oakland and he said he saw prostitutes and drug dealers while driving around</p>