Union Point Park

Bike chop Shop, if you have had a bike stolen from Alameda-​look here first!
I ride through here every week to Alameda, it used to be such a nice park, even though I was bitten last week while on my bike.
Despite the kick ass play ground and nice views, its not a place for the kiddies.
Forget using a BBQ as they are now all within homeless encampments.
This is a full on Bike Chop Shop, scattered parts are all over. I see new bikes and bike parts every week, some hidden some just out in the open, or just parts being swapped right out in the open.
The homeless population has swelled in recent months, even after a bit of police clean up about a 2 months ago they just moved back in and are now more spread out.
I have no beef with the homeless folks but with so many comes piles of trash, and the bathrooms are becoming un usable.

I started bringing my kids to this park about 5 years ago, and at that time I would have boosted my rating to a perfect 5 stars, but sadly; it has gone down hill as time has passed on. This park used to be an excellent place to bring a family for an afternoon of fun, it had plenty of play structure space for the kids to burn off energy, excellent views of the bay, and tons of wide open area to play a game of baseball or to fly a kite, but not anymore. Although the views of the bay are still there, it no longer feels like a park, now it feels like you are bringing your kids to a homeless camp to play. Every corner of this park is now littered with bums and trash; Ive never been seen so many people setting up tents and parking bikes as I do now. Unless the city decides to clean this park up, you should avoid it at all cost.

This park is a disgusting, filthy disgrace. It’s as if the city asked itself, how could we build the perfect place to house every tweaked-​out, low-​rent, toothless, junkie scumbag and homeless felon in the Bay Area? I know! Parking lots open 24 hours with no towing – ever! Huge lawn with a giant bunker to block it from the street! Lots of hidden areas to flop, pass out, puke, and crap! Never-​locked bathrooms to buy drugs, turn tricks, and shoot up! Zero police enforcement! It’ll be paradise!
And it is – this place is dirtbag shan-​gri-​la. There are cars that have been parked in the same spots for YEARS, crackheads camped out in tents and boxes on every lawn and under every structure, and hordes of junkie zombies wandering around like a George Romero movie 24−7 – this place is the cure for not getting stabbed.
I mean, are you f’ing SERIOUS with this place, Oakland? Here’s three amazingly obvious suggestions. 1. Fence the goddamn parking lots and lock them from sundown to sunrise. Tow and impound any cars that remain. 2. Sweep the park and clean out all the homeless encampments. Because there’s like 200 of them. 3. Send an OPD cruiser through the place once an hour and make some arrests.
Look, granted, it’s a uniquely designed park in nice setting. But, I’m sorry, it’s a wretched, miserable failure that’s a Petri dish for crime. Either fix it – and I mean FIX IT – or plow it, fence it, and sell it to a developer.

There is a big homeless encampment at this park. There is a lot of broken glass everywhere. I didn’t go near the toilets, but I could smell them. The playground is above average, though it needed repairs. There is no shade and few places for parents to sit by the playground. But the biggest problem is that it doesn’t feel like an especially safe place for children.

Union Point Park is an urban infill, nestled between the Oakland Estuary and a light industrial neighborhood in East Oakland. Toward the water, you have views of Coast Guard Island and various marinas in Alameda.
Ignore the semi-​permanent rusted cars in the parking lot. Those are just some of the local residents. Or should I say local residences?
On the Oakland side of the estuary, you may catch a glimpse of a few boats moored in the middle of the estuary, instead of docked. These are our local pirates. These modern-​day Buccaneers roam the Oakland Riviera and its sailors come ashore under the cover of darkness where they can pilfer valuable booty such as copper wiring, shopping carts, scrap metal and outboard motors from other vessels.
Union Point Park is a nice change of pace where you can eat lunch, stare at the water, or take a nap in your car. Unlike many of the other areas surrounding the «Track» in East Oakland, I’ve seen nary a used condom here. I added a star for that.

I hate this park. there is no shade, it’s super hot, there is trash all around, the trash cans are full on the weekend, There’s an awful statue, there are shady characters hanging out with amplified music, there are bbqs at only two sites and worst of all they have no system for reserving spots. That means that you can call the number twice and leave messages to try to reserve a site and never have anyone call you back, then show up early Sunday morning anyway, set up your whole party, start grilling (with the grills you had to go get from home because they don’t have enough) and then have some people come up and demand you leave the spot and then call the police because they have a reservation, but you had no idea because no one posts signs stating that the sites are reserved. Not that I would know anything about that.

I love the views of the boats and the waterfront.
I love the open fields for playing, picnicking and BBQing.
I love the play structure… the nautical theme is perfect. I wish they had swings though.
I love that they have real bathroom facilities.
HOWEVER…when we visited this park on Sunday, it was FILTHY. I mean, food on the ground, over flowing garbage cans everywhere, random piece of nasty clothing just lying on the ground. Just dirty and nasty. Maybe there was some huge parties going on Saturday and the city hadn’t had time to clean up… but ugh. I will try again and hope for a cleaner park.

Union Point is a gem in East Oakland. It’s a new park, so most people, including many in East Oakland, don’t know about. When I visited, there was barely anyone there, except for me and a person here and there. It’s very clean and well maintained. There’s a play lot of children. There’s also a mini-​hill to walk up. At the top, you get a nice view of downtown Oakland, the East Bay hills and even the San Francisco skyline. It’s fun to walk along the waterfront, you get a nice, intimate view of the Oakland estuary.

The Frankenstein statue is bit frightening but other than that, this is a great park to walk to from my office. Although I have never taken my daughter here, it has a great play area/​park for the little ones.

Like Middle Harbor Park, Union Point Park is a well though out, well designed park nestled in an industrial area on the Oakland waterfront.
That’s where the similarities end.
Middle Harbor, if I am correct, is a joint venture between East Bay Regional Parks and the Port of Oakland. Union Point is run by the City of Oakland.
That’s it in a nutshell. The Port is a well run, well funded public agency and Oakland Office of Parks and Recreation is not.
While Middle Harbor is well maintained, but not well watered, Union Point already shows signs of neglect. Weeds are sprouting up in multitudes along a few footpaths, bushes and shrubs aren’t pruned well and there is litter.
A nice little oasis of calm, and has a nice statue honoring the achievements and talents of native daughters of Oakland throughout history.

Beautiful setting for the adults and fun play structure for the kids. There wasn’t a lot of seating around the play area so hard for parents to relax and keep a good eye on kids at the same time.
There was a lot of garbage laying around in the bushes, and I think someone had recently (maybe a week ago?) had a big party because there was a pile of five large trash bags full of trash sitting around. It was really disgusting. I hope this is not a regular occurrence, but from what I’ve gathered there isn’t exactly ONE responsible group for this park so I’m not sure how often it actually gets cleaned up.

My 3 year old daughter’s preschool recently hosted their 2^nd annual bike-​a-​thon fundraiser at Union Point Park… I was amazed!
I have lived in the San Antonio District of Oakland for a year now and NEVER even knew it was there!
Amazing Views, Fantastic Playground, Gorgeous Artwork and Walking/​Biking trails! No Trash, No Bums! What a GEM! On Site Restrooms that are Clean and HAVE toilet paper! Sufficient FREE parking too. What a Discovery!

This is a funky little park, with very cool landscaping. Like the Middle Harbor Park over in West Oakland, it creates a moment of peace within a gritty industrial landscape.

This is a great park in a beautiful, unexpected setting. Highly recommended if you are looking for something off the beaten path.

Open since September 2005, this is one of the newer waterfront parks Oakland can really boast about. Gracious lawns, picnic areas, an unusual spiral hill you can climb for a great vantage point of Oakland, pedestrian & bike paths, and a great marine themed children’s play area. Get out those kites!
A great place for respite from the urban jungle…