Wow, very surprised to see I got downvoted for sharing a perfectly valid anecdote after living in Oakland and San Francisco. I'm sorry if you feel differently but downvoting comments just because you don't agree with them is rather immature and only serves to limit discourse by discouraging people from sharing their opinions, experiences, and facts. I was polite in my response and even pointed out that the average person is unlikely to encounter problems.

Here are some further details for those who care about the facts:

1. This is a representative review for one Thai restaurant that I wanted to go to in Rockridge where I noticed many reviews mentioned them being robbed repeatedly and now the restaurant has to buzz customers through the door because of it (read the first review or search for "robbery"): http://www.yelp.com/biz/saysetha-thai-cuisine-oakland?hrid=u...

2. Here is a recent article about how middle class residents of many neighborhoods including Rockridge and Temescal have resorted to hiring private security forces due to the rampant crime problems: http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/5/30/oakland-priv...

3. Here is an article describing why robbers like Rockridge and other "target rich" neighborhoods where it is easy to rob rich people and escape: http://patch.com/california/rockridge/why-robbers-like-rockr...