A cheap, car-free New Year’s Eve in downtown Oakland

New Year’s Eve has never been one of my favorite nights to go out. Clubs and events are absurdly overpriced. Everywhere is at least twice as crowded as usual. It’s close to impossible to catch a cab. So many years I stay home or do something low-key with some friends.

But this year my wife and I decided we wanted to go out and when I found out that the Free Broadway Shuttle would be running its usual Saturday night schedule of 6pm-1am, I realized we could bar hop around downtown Oakland. Getting around will be super easy (and free), and if any of the places we go to are too crowded, we can move on.

I researched free or cheap bars and clubs in downtown and put together this list, which I figured I’d share here.

Plenty of ways to celebrate in 2009

You might have noticed that I let the events page slide for the past month or so. I’ve finally taken the time to update it, and 2009 is already shaping up to be a busy year for Oaklanders.

There are plenty of parties to go to on New Year’s Eve – I’ve highlighted a couple and you can find a much longer list at O-Scene. But the celebrating doesn’t have to stop on January 1st.

You can continue to enjoy Oakland on the 2nd at the monthly art murmur. Once you’ve recovered from all your partying, head down to Oakland City Hall on the 5th to watch Rebecca Kaplan get sworn in to the City Council. Later in the week, grab a few drinks and meet politically active people at Mix It Up East Bay, which will be moving to Shashame on Broadway for 2009.

But make sure to save your energy for what is poised to be the most exciting event of the month – the Barack n’ Roll Inaugural Ball on January 20th. Free food, free drinks, and a new president – what more could you ask for?

Head over to the events page for all the details. I guess one of my new year’s resolutions should be to do a better job maintaiing that page.