Alameda has the BEST non-emergency services in the Bay Area(.)! I had to call non-emergency during…read morethe July 4th festivities to find a way to get home due to all the street closures. I literally had a panic attack because I was driving around for an hour trying to get home. Every street I turned on and down was blocked off with no way to drive through. I called non-emergency, and the agent assured me that she would help me find a way to get home. She was so helpful, and she stayed on the line (of course, with several "please hold" :)) until I found the street that I could turn down. However, this just showed me how great a city Alameda is.

Disappointed and frustrated with APD's inaction and unhelpfulness with a crazy-making situation…read morewith a toxic neighbor. I have an upstairs neighbor who has been causing a relentless noise disturbance in my home, using some vibrating sound machine every day and at nearly all hours. Attempts to discuss the issue with the neighbor directly and respectfully have only resulted in her spitefully ramping up the noise assault. It has made for a truly unbearable living situation. My property management company has been useless (see previous review of Drysdale Property Management), so I reached out to APD for help. I called and reported the situation, and an officer called me back a short time later. I explained the situation in detail, stressed the seriousness of matter, and pleaded for any assistance they could provide to put a stop to this. The officer told me he would talk to the neighbor and Drysdale and get back to me. Then... nothing. Not another word about the matter. I called and left a voicemail for the officer asking for a follow-up, and still got nothing. Meanwhile the noise assault continues, and I have been pretty much displaced from my home, as I literally cannot be in my apartment when this noise machine is running, which is all waking hours of every day. The neighbor turns the machine on first thing in the morning and leaves for the day, leaving the noise on, and not turning it off until nighttime. When I called APD for help, it was for a reason. If the situation wasn't serious, or could be handled any other way, I wouldn't be calling. So treat it seriously. APD should have visited my residence, listened to the noise for themselves, then made in-person contact with the offending neighbor and put the neighbor on notice that the noise harassment is unacceptable and needs to stop. A phone call is not an appropriate response in a situation like this. A visit from the police sends a message. A phone call much less so. I still have no idea if the APD even talked to the neighbor, as there has been zero follow-up. This isn't the first time I've noticed passiveness from the APD, especially in recent years. Slow response times (if they respond at all), phone calls instead of in-person visits, and a hands-off approach seem to have become more the rule than the exception, and I'm not the only one in town who has noticed this. I know police departments across the country have experienced major public blow-back for excessive force in the past, but the solution is not going in the extreme opposite direction, and just not intervening in situations that deserve to be handled seriously and promptly. I will give the officer I spoke with credit for advising me how to go about addressing this through the legal system, but I still expected more of an assertive response from the APD themselves. I expected help. This is what we pay taxes for. The only time I see APD reliably showing up these days is in the South Shore shopping center, apprehending shoplifters. Because when it comes to a business' bottom line being affected, they're on it, but when it comes to a crazy neighbor making your life a living hell, you're on your own, and good luck dealing with the clown show known as civil court. Unacceptable.

I have rarely called the 911 emergency line. The one time I really needed paramedics was when my…read moreMom was having chest pain, and needed transport to Kaiser Hospital. But this morning, something was wrong with my landline phoneline. My phone was making weird clicking sounds instead of ringing. I tried to test my health monitor system, and it didn't respond. While I was on hold with the phone company, Alameda 911 interrupted the call to find out if I was ok. They told me my health monitor was working fine, and when I didn't respond to the system alert, local 911 was called. I hope they don't have to call me again, but it's good to know the 911 system works.

We called 911 when we arrived home from vacation to discover a strange, noxious odor in our home…read more APD arrived quickly, examined me (as I was short of breath), checked out the house, found the issue (our landlady had a few bags of compost delivered while we were away), made sure we were cool (after they helped us move the bags to a better location), and went on their way. They were pretty awesome. Hard to believe that folks would give fire fighters a bad review.

I don't know you, but I love you! Heartfelt thanks for what you do! Saved my house and my animals…read morefrom the Oakland Hills Fire 09/26/2017!

great bunch of guys here whom welcome us mtb'ers pit stopping here. fun talking to, very friendly,…read morecracking jokes and reminding us to be safe and to have fun. can't go wrong with that?!

These guys were amazing yesterday, I got a ring stuck on my finger, I had no idea I would get the…read morehelp i needed. These guys literally came to my rescue. Kind ,gentle and extremely professional, oh and lots of fun. Thank you for being so helpful guys.

Today, the firemen at this station were doing a safety check on one of their engines. My 2 1/2 year…read moreold grandson was glued to his bedroom window from a high floor of his apartment building across the street as the extension ladder began to "grow." When each of the two firemen took their individual turn to climb to the top of the ladder, they took the time to wave back to a little, fast past hand waving enthusiastically at them. This was a major highlight for this little boy - thank you Station 8.

Alameda is so cool. Everyone I've ever met who lives here always says it's a great place to live,…read moreand everyone I've ever met who used to live here say they miss something or other about life on the island. And what an island it is. Except that it's technically three islands, or portions thereof: Alameda Island, Coast Guard Island, and Bay Farm Island. And I was lying again, because as far as I can tell, Bay Farm Island is not an island. It may have been an island at one time, but it's now more of a peninsula connected to Oakland; it also includes Oakland International Airport or whatever its dumb name is now. And the other fun fact is that the very southwestern tip of Alameda Island is technically part of San Francisco. That's right; when they were drawing up San Francisco's crazy borders, which unlike other Bay Area cities' borders often include all kinds of water nowhere near the land portion of San Francisco, they drew this diagonal line that happened to clip the corner of Alameda Island. That's why San Francisco voting returns always include zero votes for East Bay candidates--it's technically possible that someone could live on that corner and be eligible to vote in San Francisco, but it has never happened. The City of Alameda is so strange and weird and magical and wonderful and fake and real and beautiful and safe and salty and many other adjectives. There's the museum aircraft carrier USS Hornet and all these weird industrial experiments going on on the western end of the island, where the naval air station used to be. And there are all these new homes being developed close by. Then there are the lovely old homes on the island, and the coolest part might be the eastern end of the island south of the High Street Bridge, because these just feel like regular only 1950s and '60s neighborhoods, and then you happen upon Eastshore Drive, and the backyards of very normal-looking suburban houses happen to abut the bay! You already know about the tunnels and the Pacific Pinball Museum--a must visit--from my other reviews. Or you should. go read and click on them. Plus there are some great restaurants out here. And Coast Guard Island is funny; it's part of the City of Alameda, but its only connection to land is to Oakland itself. In order to get to the rest of Alameda, you either have to drive through Oakland to one of the tubes or to Bay Farm Island, or you have to get across narrow Brooklyn Basin somehow. Preferably by boat, I would say, but swimming and helicoptering would work just fine too. Oh, and those weird lagoons are perfectly strange. I didn't know what they were for, and I was annoyed that only the people who owned property near them could use them recreationally, but then I learned that they are partially used for storm drainage retention and water treatment, so those people playing in them probably shouldn't be! How perfect.

Another review that I have held off on... Am I being selfish?…read more Quality/Quantity - Alameda is an island in the Bay Area. A hidden treasure. DON'T let anyone know! One of the safest communities in the bay. 23 square miles, 12.5 square miles of which is water. 78k+ population - Although they are continuing to build aggressively on the ex-naval base. The best part of the island is that there is only XXXX amount of land so it can hopefully NOT get over crowded. Atmosphere - Beaches - Alameda Beach, Crab Cove, Crown, Encinal, etc. Water sports - Kayak, kite surfing, swimming, jet skiing, boating, etc. Harbor Bay, parks, lagoons, trails, volleyball, tennis, skate parks, dog parks, marinas, cycling, etc. Ex-navy base (1997) - Spirit Alley - Distilleries, breweries, wineries, etc. Too many to name! Annual events - Farmer's markets, fairs, festivals, parades, Blue Angels, etc. Museums, art & culture, etc. Beautiful Victorian homes. Amazing views of SF. 3 bridges and tunnels to get on and off of the island. Near Oakland, SF, Coast Guard Island, etc. Service - Ferries - To SF, Oakland, etc. One of the best ways to travel. Price - Affordable. They have inexpensive and expensive options. Owner Comment - Congrats on your success since 1853.

These guys didn't want to take my daughter to the hospital, they were laughing about the situation…read moreand was saying that the hospital wasn't gonna do anything for my daughter and they wanted me to take her . She did need medical help she has been hospitalized for days now , what a bunch of douches!! Quit playing in your playhouse and help, we call 911 for a reason!!

Amazing staff. They're definitely not your average firefighters, very personable and courteous…read moreteam. It really shows when they award local kids with firefighter hats, or when they're shopping for groceries at the nearby Mi Pueblo. Their dedication to the community is incredible. Plus, not only will they save your life in a heartbeat, but they can sure whip up an awesome meal!

Fire Station 11 houses Engine Company 11 and Rescue Boat 11.read more