Columbia Gardens

Situated along Highway 880, Columbia Gardens is a largely unappealing, lower middle-class Oakland community. It is fairly small, flat and triangular in shape, spanning about 0.3 square miles (or about a dozen neighborhood blocks). The area is exclusively residential, but has next to nothing of comfortable living environment. In fact, it has a roughened look with gritty streets, unbearable homes and ugly, blemished cars lining the street. Demographically speaking, the racial makeup of the community is predominately black with a rather sizable hispanic minority (of about 1,500 residents).

Columbia Gardens sounds a little more prestigious than it really is. Homes are of the old, decrepit, single-story, California ranch type with weathered and meager looking
house fronts. Each home offers little interior living space--about 5-7 rooms. These homes are also, for the most part, situated on small, unkempt lots with a little area for a front lawn. These properties are usually protected by small, chain-linked fences, due in large part to the high crime rate within the area. They provide driveways that usually run deep into side lots, if they don’t already have a one-car garage (which many do not). For prospective residents, median house values are a measly $215,000, while the typical income circles around $45,000/year. If you’re looking to rent, you’ll be expected to pay around $950/month.

While most residents have just a high school education or lower, according to the city data taken in 2009, the crime rate makes it a pretty dangerous area. It shares that same seedy Oakland ambiance that many places do. Its only perk is its convenience to the highway, which might not even be that big of a perk considering the noise you get from it.