Marina District

The Marina District of Alameda stretches just from the High Street Bridge to the Fruitvale Bridge. I stayed with a friend here on this little crescent of a neighborhood on the eastern end of Alameda. Alameda is a weird little spot. You are sort of on an island, but it is really not much of an island. You stare out past your private dock to the whitewashed smoke stacks on the western end of Oakland’s Fruitvale District.

It is perhaps this strangeness which partly explains the relatively moderate home prices here, which range from about $400 K to $600 K, with the median being right around $500 K.

The schools here are pretty great as well, with everything from the local elementary school, Edison Elementary, to the middle school, Lincoln, to the high school, Alameda High School, receiving the highest ratings on standardized tests and other measurements.

Despite being so close to the Fruitvale District—probably Oakland’s most dangerous area—Alameda generally, and this neighborhood specifically, is actually pretty safe for the most part.

The other thing about this area is that you have most of the conveniences of the suburbs nearby—with Nob Hills food just to the north, a PetFood Express and that sort of stuff. There is also a Safeway on the other side of Alameda, facing SF.

If you live in one of the houses that face the water and like to sail, this can be an absolutely spectacular neighborhood in which to live. If you live in one of the interior streets, there is really very little difference than living inland somewhere.