Welcome to Curbed Comparisons, a regular column exploring what you can rent for a set dollar amount in different neighborhoods. Once again we head across the bridge to Oakland for today’s edition. Is one person's studio another person's townhouse? Let's find out. Today's price: $2,400.
↑ There’s some disagreement these days about Oakland’s median rent. $2,400/month is the midway point between Zumper’s reported one and two bedroom median price for the city, so it’s a reasonable place to start. And it’s also just four dollars more than the asking price for a studio at the Hive, the Northgate condo project we’ve developed a profound affection for. The units are small at about 450 feet, but the building throws in some amenities and welcomes all of your pets. (Yes, even the ferret.)
↑ Speaking of favorites, we’ve encountered the live/work lofts on 29th Street around the Hoover/Foster neighborhood before too. These days it’s asking $2,350/month, and it’s a much rougher look than a lot of loft spaces you see in the city, set in a gorgeous old conversion building from 1931. No pets, but at 980 feet and a real bedroom it has a leg up on the Hive in space as well as curb appeal.
↑ Speaking of older buildings thick with charm, this Craftsman on the corner of Genoa and 57th in Santa Fe (that’s the neighborhood, of course, not the city in New Mexico) really doesn’t want to quit. Its banks of windows, built-ins, and occasional stained glass in the top-floor flat asking $2,249/month make us purr. And on that note, it’s a cat-friendly lease.
↑ If you want something more colorful, we’ve got it. This watermelon-shaded building on Upper Telegraph is so bright it’s probably visible to airliners, and inside you’ll find a wash of pastel shades across various tiles and paint jobs, including some lavender subway tile that we actually find quite fetching. The one bedroom corner apartment asks $2,350/month, and it’s also a cat building. (Tough day for dogs, but we’re told every dog has his day sooner or later.)
↑ On the other hand, some people are just thinking about the green. Really, really green in the case of this final apartment, which is green in the sense of being the cheapest of our slate of five at $2,245/month in West Oakland, and also in the sense of...well, as you can see for yourself, the apartment itself is positively green at the gills. Note that at two bedrooms it’s also our biggest, so it’s the most bang for the littlest buck.