Emeryville, California layover question

Neil Berry said:

This is when a real taxi is a better option than Uber or Lyft

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"Friendly stegosaurus" here. I've never yet used Uber or Lyft, and don't know how, so a real taxi or public transportation would be more familiar options for me.

Trucker72 said:

If you go that way it is way less than 2 miles.

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The distance I mentioned was .2 miles. That's the total walk including the bridge itself.

As for Uber / Lyft / Taxi - they all have pros and cons. Ever since I was 18 I've travelled quite a bit solo using public transportation. I prefer Uber for many reasons. I'm going to guess that any taxis waiting at Emeryville will refuse such a short distance.

crescent-zephyr said:

The distance I mentioned was .2 miles. That's the total walk including the bridge itself.

As for Uber / Lyft / Taxi - they all have pros and cons. Ever since I was 18 I've travelled quite a bit solo using public transportation. I prefer Uber for many reasons. I'm going to guess that any taxis waiting at Emeryville will refuse such a short distance.

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The actual driving distance between Amtrak Station and the Hyatt House would be about 0.6 miles since it will have to cross the railroad by the Powell Street overpass. But the comment about refusing such a short ride still holds.

MccfamschoolMom said:

"Friendly stegosaurus" here. I've never yet used Uber or Lyft, and don't know how, so a real taxi or public transportation would be more familiar options for me.

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I sympathize as I also have never used Uber/Lyft although I did get as far as loading the apps on my phone.

jis said:

The actual driving distance between Amtrak Station and the Hyatt House would be about 0.6 miles since it will have to cross the railroad by the Powell Street overpass. But the comment about refusing such a short ride still holds.

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Haha... I've now confused everyone! The walking distance to the front door of the hotel using the pedestrian bridge is about .2 miles - with the possibility of needing to use stairs on one or either end of the bridge. That's the distance I was referring to.

crescent-zephyr said:

Haha... I've now confused everyone! The walking distance to the front door of the hotel using the pedestrian bridge is about .2 miles - with the possibility of needing to use stairs on one or either end of the bridge. That's the distance I was referring to.

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I know. That is why I clarified what the distance would be for the cab ride.

I did not see a regular cab at the station, but it might not be a bad "short" because they could be back before the next train came in.

crescent-zephyr said:

The distance I mentioned was .2 miles. That's the total walk including the bridge itself.

As for Uber / Lyft / Taxi - they all have pros and cons. Ever since I was 18 I've travelled quite a bit solo using public transportation. I prefer Uber for many reasons. I'm going to guess that any taxis waiting at Emeryville will refuse such a short distance.

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I missed the point before the 2. 74 year old eyes.

OldCond said:

Thanks everyone. I'll probably use an Uber or Lyft. This is kind of a bucket list trip for me as I've never seen the Pacific Ocean, hence the trip on the Coast Starlight from LA to Emeryville. I worked forty years for the railroad, all in Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania.

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Have a great trip! I would walk it, but understand the concern. I can also be a risk taker when it comes to that kind of thing, so take my advice with a grain of salt.

Bob Dylan said:

If you do want to stay in Sacramento, the Vagabond Inn, an old style Motel, is across from the Amtrak Station and is next to the California Rail Museum( one of the Best in the Country) and Old Sacramento.

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Davis isn't a bad option to stay overnight, but I recommend The Exchange in Sacramento if you can push the budget a bit more or if it isn't much more expensive than any other place. They seem to understand late trains better than a number of hotels I've been in. If you stay there, ask for a room that doesn't face the interstate.

OldCond said:

This is kind of a bucket list trip for me as I've never seen the Pacific Ocean, hence the trip on the Coast Starlight from LA to Emeryville.

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Great choice. It really is a beautiful trip. Make sure to pay special attention to the views of the coast around Santa Barbara; it's spectacular!

I'd take the bridge. The distance is probably even shorter, given the east stair and elevator is right at the platform. The west side is the parking lot for the Public Market which is a fairly popular local destination that should be busy well into the evening. Once you are there you are practically at the hotel.

There is a lot of crime in Oakland but significantly less in that part of Emeryville, I'd say most of the crime in Emeryville more around shoplifting and theft given it's a big retail mecca for the East Bay.

There is the free Emery-Go-Round shuttles that will take you to almost all corners of the city including BART at MacArthur. Bay Street is a retail/dining/entertainment development just south of the hotel. There are also restaurants like the flagship Trader Vics at the Emeryville Marina (easy Uber at night, and Emery-Go-Round day and evening).

Emeryville is kind of a weird city from an urban form. It's an old industrial city that was redeveloped in the 80s and 90s as a retail center for the region with conventional car centric shopping center designs of the era. It's not particularly walkable despite things being very close to each other, everything is kind of an island divided by big streets, the freeway, the rail line.

Those Emery-Go-Round shuttles remind me of the free KC Trolley the hubby and I made use of when we rode the Lincoln Service/Missouri River Runner to Kansas City last year. Having free, safe transportation from the Amtrak station allowed us to consider a wider range of hotels, at more affordable prices than whichever one was closest to the station.
ETA: And I just discovered that Fort Worth, TX, the endpoint of the hubby's and my Texas Eagle trip next month, has its own free "Molly the Trolley"! That will open up a lot more options for dining/shopping in downtown Fort Worth during our visit there.

I stayed in Emeryville to visit with family and attend an event in Piedmont. another odd duck.

I had one occasion about 12 years to confront the question of whether to walk to that hotel across that big parking lot or take a cab. I had gotten off the northbound Coast Starlight and had a connection to the California Zephyr leaving the next morning.

So, it was after sundown when I decided to walk and take the elevator. As I approached the elevator the door opened and three rather scary-looking (to me, at least) young guys that were together got off and said something kind of snide to me. It would have been difficult to convince me they weren't street gang members.

That's the only time I was in Emeryille overnight so I don't know if that was a rare isolated incident or a common occurrence. But if I were asked I would recommend not taking the walk to the hotel.

poncho said:

Emeryville is kind of a weird city from an urban form. It's an old industrial city that was redeveloped in the 80s and 90s as a retail center for the region with conventional car centric shopping center designs of the era. It's not particularly walkable despite things being very close to each other, everything is kind of an island divided by big streets, the freeway, the rail line.

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Even weirder. Quite a bit was infill that was used to build the harbor area. They had tall buildings there including what used to be a Holiday Inn (now Hilton Garden Inn) and several taller office buildings (Watergate). Also condos. Then there was a restaurant at the end of the reclaimed land. I think it was a Mexican place - maybe called Casa Marin or something like that. Then it became a Chinese restaurant that's been there for over 35 years. I used to go to Chevy's quite often but that closed this year after at least 25 years there.

I wouldn't even say everything is close to each other. There are pockets here and pockets there, but with a mile of condos/apartments, warehouses, and office buildings in between. You can look at the Emery Go Round map and it's quite a ways from the train station and the Public Market to Pixar, East Baybridge, and Target/Best Buy. With Ikea in between.



It has a longer history as a den of vice. Speakeasies during prohibition as well as gambling and a dog racing track. There's even a business that's named with that reputation in mind - Rotten City Pizza.