But things are always distorted when you view from the highway.
I just moved to the north west corner of oakland (what realtors like to cal NOBE) and it's a really nice place to live. Close to ashby/macarthur bart, temescal, and the "suburbia" crap in emeryville that can be handy to have close at by even if I don't want to spend any time there.
If you are thinking of buying the competition is stiff. Took my wife and I 7 months and 6 offers to land a place. We love SF, but the cost of rent and not having an outdoor space made the east bay very attractive. I love it.
If you're like me and don't care for a bar-crawl nightlife and would prefer to stay in and read (and own a car, though this isn't as important), you'll love Alameda. Don't tell anybody how good it is to live in Alameda, though, they'll all move here.
Lucky 13 + Scolari's is Alameda's Toronado + Rosamund's (though the beer selection isn't up to par)
Ark (on Park St) is one of my favorite Chinese restaurants in the bay area: hand-pulled noodles, braised egg tofu, and good green onion pancakes.
Park St feels somewhat like a "small down" downtown, similar to San Luis Obispo's but without all the college bars.
There are lots of beautiful Victorian-style houses, and there are some good school districts. Much of the island is on bad liquefaction zones, but there are nice parts that aren't.