West Oakland

Viewed by many as the next "SOMA," affordable West Oakland is fast becoming the "industrial cool" place to live.

This was once San Francisco and the wider Bay Area's industrial center, and converting the old factories and warehouses from that era into contemporary live/work lofts is all the rage. Eclectic businesses are moving in as well, giving this once gritty, overlooked neighborhood a hip urban edge and cache.

Anchored by the fourth largest container seaport in the United States, West Oakland's older homes were built in World War I and II, back when the city served as a major shipbuilding center. Many new West Oakland real estate homebuyers here choose to buy older Victorians and renovate them from the inside out. Others prefer to move into newly converted lofts. The old and the new peacefully coexist side by side, as do artists, young professionals and working families.

West Oakland is situated on the Bay side of Highway 980 and is easily accessible by public transportation including BART and buses. If you are an urban pioneer who is looking to buy somewhere before it really booms, look into West Oakland.