Welcome back to Curbed Comparisons, a regular column exploring what you can rent for a set dollar amount in different neighborhoods. Is one person's studio another person's townhouse? Let's find out. Today we head across the bay. Our price: $2,400/month.
↑ Oakland apartment hunters quickly figure out that virtually any Craigslist ad will claim to be near the lake, even if the building itself is out of telescope's range of the actual body of water. But here's a one-bed apartment on Lakeshore Avenue for $2,395/month that's legitimately right across the street from the shores, and on the top floor of a classic building from 1930 to boot. The apartment has kept a little bit of the class of the building's grand entry over the years, art deco fireplace and all. Cats are welcome, but dogs are in for ruff luck.
↑ Do you like brick? We like brick, and so does this 950-foot loft up in the Hoover Foster neighborhood on 29th Street, for $2,400/month. This building also dates back to 1931, and goes down in the landmark registry as the Oakland Laundry Company, which is a criminally pedestrian name for such an inspired old structure. The unit features awesome ceilings, and note the hanging stained glass divider which comes with it. Again, cats are go, but dogs are a no.
↑ Some renters fancy Emeryville vibes but don't want to give up their Oakland credentials. And it's for people like that that the Gaskill neighborhood was made, including this two-bedroom duplex unit a mere two blocks from the border between the two cities, renting for $2,300/month. It's a smart little Victorian with some interior eccentricities, including octagonal rose tile entryway and tiled wall dado in the living room. There must be some kind of cat fanciers conspiracy going on across the bridge, because this place has a canine-free policy too.
↑ There's more to a neighborhood like Temescal than you can tell at first glance. In this case, there's a two-bedroom cottage concealed in someone's backyard, renting now for $2,300/month. The unit dates back at least 100 years, according to the landlord (although it was overhauled in 2006). It's a relatively pretty ditty with oak floors, and it's even got room for a basement all its own. No pets at all here, though.
↑ Finally, we can't leave Oakland without checking in for a place in Adams Point, this one in the northern corner of the neighborhood, a one bedroom apartment in an old fourplex building circa 1928, for $2,395/month, bay windows, antique tile and all. Pets are "negotiable," so drive your hardest bargain.