2011 Hearst

"It is urban. There hardly any grass anywhere by the sidewalks and where there is there are sometimes burs that will hurt your dogs paws."

"We moved here from San Francisco's Richmond District and in comparison, there leaves a lot to be desired. I am not accustomed to TRASH being littered everywhere. Little Caesar's pizza boxes and Popeye's trash is found everywhere around here. The worst is after garbage day, when people put whatever they want on the corner, hoping the garbage truck will haul it away but they don't, so it stays on the corner for weeks. Traffic on either University or San Pablo can be horrendous on weekends, so you need to be savvy about using side roads to get around by car or bike. Parking can also be a hassle, especialy when the Casa De Cultura has classes or events going on. On the positive side, I'm within walking distance to Fourth Street shopping, like Sur La Table, Benefit Cosmetics, M.A.C. Cosmetics, Anthropologie, and Paper Source. There are decent restaurants within walking distance, like La Mission, Kabana, Your Place Thai Cuisine, Priya Indian Cuisine, Lanesplitters Pizza, and others that I have not tried yet (Local 123, Luca Cucina Italiana, The Cheese Steak Shop). I'm within walking distance to 2 bars: Albatross Pub and Acme Bar so there's some nightlife around here. I've found that I can walk around the neighborhood safely, which is important as a young woman. There are bike routes nearby, which can take you to the Berkeley Marina, Emeryville, downtown Berkeley, or Albany in mere minutes. I also like being a 10 minute walk from North Berkeley BART station, since it beats sitting in traffic on I-80. It's not as clean (amazingly) as our old neighborhood and we're no longer a 10 minute walk from a national park like we once were, but we do like our new neighborhood, flaws and all. "