In Reply to: I'd often thought of SF as west coast's manhattan posted by blindness on August 21, 2025 at 15:26:25
Like Brooklyn, maybe 20 years ago. People priced out of SF moved to Oakland.
There have always been upscale neighborhoods in Oakland, and good restaurants. Piedmont is its own city, but has some of the highest RE values in the state.
Like Brooklyn, it has become less blue collar and more white collar. People are always looking for the next trendy/eclectic neighborhood, the next Greenpoint or Bushwick. Years ago West Oakland had a lot of blighted neighborhoods that cut off by the old Nimitz freeway or filled with abandoned light industrial. Now there are Brew Pubs and new condo apartments. It's less urban than Brooklyn - lower density for the most part and more car centric. Decent transit but mostly buses. Bart connects cities and downtown, but doesn't really connect most of the neighborhoods.
Lot of changes over the last few decades.