Harrington

This neighborhood is in the heart of the Fruitvale District, which you probably know means that you take your life in your hands a bit if you are going to venture here. About one person gets killed in this neighborhood per year, so you would have to be pretty unlucky to actually lose your life here. Nevertheless, crime is high so if you are headed here, you should keep your wits about you.

That said, there are a few places worthy of mention here. If you are looking for very cheap and authentic Mexican food, you should try Taquaria Campos on foothill. Although it doesn’t have a particularly inviting ambiance—unless you are into bars on the windows—it does have excellent Mexican food. It is one of those places where the cook really takes care in making the simple food. Well worth it. There is also a cheap Chinese food place known for its fried rice right across the street from the high school but it is kind of hit or miss.

As to living in this neighborhood? I wouldn’t really recommend it, mostly because of the crime. The houses are fairly typical of Oakland—basically it is bungalow city all the way through--small lots, with homes dating to pre-WWII and pretty much showing their age. In addition, the streets are kind of dirty and potholed—clearly tax payer dollars are not trickling down to here. And, of course, where ever there is an unattended wall you will see gang-graffiti scrawled.

This is also a densely packed neighborhood with roughly three times the density of Oakland’s average. That’s a lot of people piled up on each other. As with any neighborhood where this is the case, there are a fair number of boxy apartment complexes. There is a particularly ugly monster on 36th Street. It just sprawls out looking more like a poorly maintained prison than anything else. Very unappealing.

In terms of transportation, there are bus lines on 35th and on Foothill. You are also near the Fruitvale BART station, which means you can be virtually anywhere in the East Bay or San Francisco in less than an hour.