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Oakland, founded in 1852, is a major American city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in Northern California in the United States. To the north lies Berkeley, home to the campus of the renowned University of California. To west stands San Francisco, across the Bay Bridge. Separated from the mainland by an estuary to the southwest is the island city of Alameda, while San Leandro lies to the southeast. Along the hills which run northwest to southeast, Oakland borders five of the East Bay Regional Parks. In the center of Oakland, and completely surrounded by it (prompting the common analogy to a doughnut hole), is the wealthy city of Piedmont. Oakland is home of the Port of Oakland, one of three major shipping ports on the American West coast.

Oakland has experienced an increase of population and of real-estate prices in the past decade, attributable to economic recovery, along with Oakland's weather, location, hillside neighborhoods with views of San Francisco and the Bay, attempts to reduce crime, high rents and home prices in nearby San Francisco, and a substantial offering of shopping districts and restaurants representing cuisines both homegrown and worldwide.

Oakland is the county seat of Alameda County. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, the city's population was 399,484, making it the third largest city in the San Francisco Bay Area after San Jose and San Francisco.

The Oakland Tribune published its first newspaper on February 21, 1874. The Tribune Tower, which sports a clock, is one of Oakland's landmarks.

Oakland hosts Oakland International Airport, which serves most of the low-cost air traveler's market to and from the San Francisco Bay Area. Major employers in Oakland include the local, state and federal governments, United States Postal Service, regional transportation and utility authorities, Kaiser Permanente, Clorox, Zhone Technologies, Dreyers Grand Ice Cream, carriers associated with the Port, and commercial bakeries.

Some Oaklanders are frustrated by the misuse of the most famous quote said about their city. "There's no there there," was uttered by Gertrude Stein upon learning as an adult that her childhood Oakland home had been torn down. Her quote did not refer to the city itself. Modern-day Oakland has turned the quote on its head, with a statue downtown simply titled, "There." Additionally, in 2005 a sculpture called HERETHERE has been installed by the City of Berkeley on the Berkeley-Oakland border at Martin Luther King Jr. Way. The sculpture consists of eight foot high letters spelling out the words "HERE" and "THERE" in front of a ramp that carries the BART rapid transit tracks from its elevated section in Oakland to the underground section in Berkeley.

Its underdog status and working-class reputation have earned Oakland and things associated with the city a cultural identity often referred to as "East Bay Grease."

History

The earliest recorded inhabitants were the Huchiun tribe *, belonging to a linguistic grouping later called the Ohlone (a Miwok word meaning "western people"). In Oakland, they were heavily concentrated around Lake Merritt and Temescal Creek, a stream which enters the San Francisco Bay at Emeryville. Temescal is an Aztec word for bath-house, brought north by Spanish colonizers.

Oakland, along with the rest of Northern California was claimed for Spain by visiting Spanish explorers in 1772. During its days under the Spanish Empire in the late 18th to early 19th century, and later under an independent Mexico in the early 19th century, Oakland (along with most of the East Bay), was owned by a wealthy landowner Luís María Peralta who named his area Rancho San Antonio. Upon his death in 1842, Peralta divided his land among his four sons. Most of Oakland fell within the shares given to Antonio Maria and Vicente. They would open the land to settlement by American settlers, loggers, European whalers and fur-traders.

Full scale settlement and development occurred following California being conquered by the United States during the Mexican American war, and the California Gold Rush in 1848. Oakland was founded and incorporated in 1852 and grew with the railroads, becoming a major rail terminus in the late 1860s and 1870s. Originally comprising the area west of Lake Merritt (now downtown and Chinatown), it gradually annexed farmlands and settlements to the east and north. Oakland's rise to industrial prominence and its subsequent need for a seaport led to the digging of a shipping and tidal channel in 1902 creating the "island" of nearby town Alameda. In 1906 its population doubled with refugees made homeless after the San Francisco earthquake and fire who had fled to Oakland. In 1915, a Chevrolet plant was opened at the southern border of Oakland. By 1920, Oakland was the home of numerous manufacturing industries, including metals, automobiles, and shipbuilding.

1920s

The 1920s were economic boom years in the United States as a whole, and in California especially. Economic growth was fueled by the general post-war recovery, as well as oil discoveries in Los Angeles, and the widespread introduction of the automobile. Oakland grew significantly in the 1920s. According to the Oakland Tribune yearbook for 1925, more houses were built from 1921 to 1924 than in the period 1907 to 1920. (Prentice 1987) Many of the single-family houses still standing in Oakland were built in the 1920s. Many large office buildings downtown were built in the 1920s, and reflect the architectural styles of the time.

World War II

During WWII, the East Bay Area was home to a massive Naval shipbuilding industry. The industry attracted a huge amount of laborers from around the country. Many of the new workers were African Americans from the western South (Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Arkansas), who enjoyed great prosperity during the war years.

Post-war years

Soon after the war, the shipbuilding and automobile industries virtually evaporated, as did the jobs that came with it. Many who came to the city did not leave and decided to settle in their new home of Oakland. Meanwhile, many of the city's more affluent residents fled the city after the war in order to move into newly developing suburbs to the north and south of Oakland's city borders.

By the late 1960s, Oakland, which had been quite prosperous and affluent before the war, found itself with a population that was more heavily lower income than had been typical for the city.

1960s and 1970s
Oakland was home to many activist groups during the 1960s and 70s. The Black Panther Party, created in 1966, is one of the better known groups that formed in Oakland. The city was also home to an innovative funk music scene which produced well-known bands like Sly & The Family Stone, Graham Central Station, Tower of Power, Cold Blood, and The Headhunters. Larry Graham, the bass player for both Sly & The Family Stone and GCS, is credited with the creation of the extremely influential "slap & pop" sound still widely used by bassists in many musical idioms today. It was also during the 1960's when the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club's Oakland Chapter, began to grow into a formidible organization. By the 1980's it was the most feared and respected of all Hells Angels Chapters. Its Oakland Clubhouse still sits at 4019 Foothill Boulevard in East Oakland. During the 70s, the Oakland Athletics MLB club won three World Series' in a row (1972, 1973, and 1974); the Golden State Warriors won the 1974–1975 NBA championship; and the Oakland Raiders of the NFL won Super Bowl XI in 1977.

1980s and 1990s
In the late 1980s and 1990s, Oakland featured prominently in rap music, both as the hometown for such artists as MC Hammer, Digital Underground, Spice 1, Hieroglyphics, Del Tha Funkee Homosapien, The Luniz, Keak Da Sneak and $hort" target="_blank" >*, and for its featuring in the lyrics of several songs, such as Baby Got Back, California Love and I Got 5 On It. 2pac, who grew up in Baltimore, New York, and later Marin City, lived in Oakland longer than in any other city and began his career as a roadie and dancer for Digital Underground. Outside of the rap scene, Grammy award winning artists Green Day, En Vogue and Tony! Toni! Tone! (headed by Raphael Saadiq) also emerged from the dynamic city.

The Loma Prieta earthquake occurred on October 17, 1989 in the greater San Francisco Bay Area, measuring 7.1 on the Richter magnitude scale. Several structures in Oakland were badly damaged. The double-decker portion of the Cypress freeway structure, located in Oakland, collapsed, killing 42. The eastern span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge also sustained significant damage and was closed to traffic for one month. Throughout the 1990s, buildings throughout Oakland were retrofitted to better withstand earthquakes.

On October 20, 1991, the Oakland Hills firestorm engulfed much of the Oakland hills. 25 were killed and 150 injured and over 2,000 homes were destroyed. The economic loss has been estimated at $1.5 billion. Many homes were rebuilt much larger than they originally were.

In late 1996, Oakland was the center of a controversy surrounding Ebonics, an ethnolect the outgoing Oakland Unified School District board voted to recognize on December 18.

2000s
Jerry Brown, who was elected mayor of Oakland in 1998, initiated a plan to bring an additional 10,000 residents to downtown Oakland. The plan has resulted in several redevelopment projects near Lake Merritt, Jack London Square, and other neighborhoods just outside of downtown. These redevelopment projects have been controversial as many residents see these projects as gentrification, resulting in the loss of lower-income and minority residents in downtown Oakland. Additionally, the weakening of the Bay Area economy in 2000 and 2001 resulted in low occupancy of the new housing and slower growth and economic recovery than expected. As of 2004, the population of Oakland has increased to 409,300.

In recent years demand for highrise condos and towers has surged, as in San Francisco; there are currently many proposals for highrise buildings, including a 63 floor, 827 ft. (252m) tower that will rival the Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco. The developer says that the height could be pushed up to beat out the Transamerica Pyramid, possibly giving Oakland a considerable skyline as well. * (see "high and mighty")

Additionally, the Oakland Athletics began searching for a site on which to build a new baseball stadium. The Athletics were interested in a site near Telegraph Avenue and 20th Street in downtown Oakland, but the site was instead slated for a housing development. The site was favored by the Athletics for a new stadium as it was accessible by public transit and nearby freeways. As of 2006, the Athletics are pursuing alternative sites for a new stadium outside of downtown Oakland, and even outside of the city altogether, drawing fears by some fans that the franchise may eventually leave Northern California (the southern suburb of Fremont has been named in the press as a possible site for a new A's ballpark).

In February 2006, the Oakland Ballet closed due to financial problems and the loss of their performance facility, the Calvin Simmons Theater at the Kaiser Convention Center. The Oakland Ballet had been performing in Oakland since 1965. *

Geography and climate

Oakland is located around 37°48' North, 122°15' West (37.8, -122.25).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 78.2 mi² (202.4 km²). 56.1 mi² (145.2 km²) of it is land and 22.1 mi² (57.2 km²) of it (28.28%) is water.

Oaklanders most broadly refer to their city's terrain as "the flatlands" and "the hills," which up until recent waves of gentrification have also been a reference to Oakland's deep economic divide, with "the hills" being more affluent communities. About 2/3 of Oakland lies within the flat plain of the San Francisco Bay, with 1/3 rising into the foothills and hills of the East Bay range.

Climate

Oakland's climate has features found in both nearby coastal cities such as San Francisco and inland cities such as San Jose, yet it is warmer than San Francisco and slightly cooler than San Jose. While it is not located on the Pacific Ocean, its position directly inland from the Golden Gate Bridge means that the city gets a significant amount of cold nighttime fog during the summer. It is far enough inland, though, that the fog usually disappears by the morning allowing the city to have stereotypical warm sunny California days.

Oakland's average year-round temperature of 55°F (13°C) is slightly lower than many other California cities. The average high temperature is 62°F (17°C) and the average low temperature is 48°F (9°C), with the warmest month of the year being September, and the coldest month being January. The average annual rainfall is 23 inches, and most rain falls between the months of November and March.

People and culture

Demographics

City of Oakland
Population by year **
1880: 34,555 1950: 384,575
1890: 48,682 1960: 367,548
1900: 66,960 1970: 361,561
1910: 150,174 1980: 339,337
1920: 216,261 1990: 372,242
1930: 284,063 2000: 399,484
1940: 302,163 2005: 395,274
As of the census of 2000, there were 399,484 people, 150,790 households, and 86,402 families residing in the city. The population density was 7,126.6/mi² (2,751.4/km²). There were 157,508 housing units at an average density of 2,809.8/mi² (1,084.8/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 35.66% African American, 31.29% White, 0.66% Native American, 15.23% Asian-American, 0.50% Pacific Islander, 11.66% from other races, and 4.98% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 21.89% of the population.

There were 150,790 households out of which 28.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 34.0% were married couples living together, 17.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.7% were non-families. 32.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.60 and the average family size was 3.38.

In the city the population was spread out with 25.0% under the age of 18, 9.7% from 18 to 24, 34.0% from 25 to 44, 20.9% from 45 to 64, and 10.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 93.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.2 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $40,055, and the median income for a family was $44,384. Males had a median income of $37,433 versus $35,088 for females. The per capita income for the city was $21,936. About 16.2% of families and 19.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 27.9% of those under age 18 and 13.1% of those age 65 or over.

See also: Maps of Oakland, California

Crime
Though substantial gains have been made as evidenced from the Uniform Crime Reports published by the FBI, it still ranks higher in California for most categories of crime. In the 2005 Morgan Quitno crime rankings, Oakland ranked 21st worst in crime nationwide, though it fared better than the California cities of Compton and San Bernardino. In 2006 the crime rate has continued to rise, as it has in San Francisco and neighboring cities.

Attractions

Nightlife

In the past few years, new bars and nightclubs have opened in downtown Oakland. The bars range from punk-rock makeovers of dive bars, such as the Golden Bull and the Ruby Room to modern bistros and dance clubs such as Luka's Taproom and Lounge, @17, and The Oasis, to diverse hipster spots such as Radio, to eclectic Jazz spots such as Cafe Van Kleef. The Bay Area hip-hop movement known as "Hyphy" was invented at Oakland clubs, such as Mingles and Sweet Jimmys. Recent months have seen the growth of the "Oakland Art Murmur" event, occurring on the first Friday of every month, which features concurrent art openings from many galleries including 21 Grand, Boontling Gallery, Ego Park, Mama Buzz, and Rock Paper Scissors.

Sports

Club Sport Founded League Venue Logo

Oakland Athletics Baseball 1901 (in Oakland since 1968) Major League Baseball: American League McAfee Coliseum

Oakland Raiders American Football 1960 American Football League: American Conference. AFC West McAfee Coliseum

Golden State Warriors Basketball 1948 (In Oakland since 1971) National Basketball Association: Western Conference. Oakland Arena

Oakland Slammers Basketball 2005 International Basketball League (2005-): Merritt College

Oakland is currently home to four professional sports teams:

Former teams:

Neighborhoods

The city of Oakland stretches from the San Francisco Bay up into the East Bay Hills. The character of these neighborhoods continues to change as waves of migrants from within the United States and other countries relocate here. Also, the changing economy lures more technically skilled workers to Oakland.

The common large neighborhood divisions in the city are "Downtown Oakland," "East Oakland," "North Oakland," and "West Oakland". East Oakland actually encompasses more than half of Oakland's area, stretching from Lake Merritt southeast to San Leandro. North Oakland encompasses the neighborhoods spread between Downtown and Berkeley and Emeryville. West Oakland is the area between Downtown and the Bay, partially surrounded by the Port of Oakland.

Another broad geographical distinction is between "The Hills" and "The Flatlands" (or "The Flats"). The Flatlands are the historically working-class neighborhoods located in the relatively flat areas closer to San Francisco Bay, and the Hills are the more upper-middle/upper-class hillside neighborhoods along the northeast side of the city. This hills/flats division is not only a characteristic of the City of Oakland, but extends beyond Oakland's borders into neighboring communities in the East Bay's urban core. Downtown and West Oakland are located entirely in the Flatlands, while North and East Oakland incorporate both Hills and Flatlands neighborhoods.

Downtown and Lake Merritt

East Oakland

''Main Article, East Oakland

North Oakland and Montclair

West Oakland

Education

Primary and secondary education

Most public schools in Oakland are operated by the Oakland Unified School District, which covers the entire city of Oakland; due to financial troubles, it has been in receivership by the state of California since 2002.

Oakland USD schools have overall performed poorly for years. In the 2005 results of the STAR testing, over 50% of students taking the test performed "below basic", while only 20% performed at least "proficient" on the English section of the test.* Some individual schools have much better performance than the city-wide average, for instance, in 2005 over half the students at Hillcrest Elementary School performed at the "advanced" level in the English portion of the test. The three biggest high schools are Oakland High School, Oakland Technical High School, and Skyline High School.

Several factors have been blamed for poor performance, including an inefficient top-heavy administrative structure and a student body that is often poor or from a background of limited English proficiency.

The Oakland Military Academy, Oakland School for the Arts, and Oakland Charter Academy are public charter schools that operate outside the domain of the OUSD.

Catholic schools in Oakland are operated by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland.

There are several private high schools. Notables include the secular The College Preparatory School and Head-Royce School, both with tuitions above $20,000 per year and the Catholic Bishop O'Dowd High School, Holy Names High School and St. Elizabeth High School.

Colleges and universities

Colleges and universities include:

Oakland is also the home of the headquarters of the University of California system.

Transportation

Freeways, bridges, and tunnels

Oakland is served by several major highways; Interstate 80, Interstate 580, Interstate 880, Interstate 980, California State Route 13 and California State Route 24. Stubs of planned freeways were constructed at the High Street exit from I-880 and along Hegenberger Avenue near I-880; these freeway projects were abandoned.

In 1989, the Loma Prieta earthquake caused the Cypress Freeway double-decker segment of I-880 to collapse, killing 42 people. The old freeway segment had passed right through the middle of West Oakland, forming a psychological barrier; following the earthquake, the freeway was rerouted around the perimeter of West Oakland and rebuilt in 1997. The east span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge also suffered damage from the quake when a 50-foot section of the upper deck collapsed onto the lower deck; the damaged section was repaired one month after the earthquake. As a result of the earthquake, a significant seismic retrofit was performed on the western span of the Bay Bridge, and the eastern span is scheduled for replacement, with the new span projected to be completed in 2014.

Two underwater tunnels, the Webster and Posey Tubes, connect the main island of Alameda to Downtown Oakland, coming above ground in Chinatown. In addition, the Park Street, Fruitvale, and High Street Bridges connect Alameda to East Oakland.

In the hills, the Leimert Bridge crosses Dimond Canyon, connecting the Oakmore neighborhood to Park Boulevard. The Caldecott Tunnel carries Highway 24 through the Oakland Hills, connecting central Contra Costa County to Oakland. The Caldecott has three bores, with a fourth one planned.

Mass transit

Public bus service is provided by AC Transit, which was created from the old privately owned Key System. Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is the Bay Area metro system headquartered in Oakland, with major transfer hubs at MacArthur and Oakland City Center/12th Street stations. BART's headquarters was located in a building above the Lake Merritt Station until 2006, when it relocated to the Kaiser Center over seismic safety concerns. The Alameda/Oakland Ferry operates ferry service from Jack London Square to Alameda, San Francisco, and Angel Island.

Air

Oakland is served by Oakland International Airport.

Rail

The city has regional and long distance train service provided by Amtrak, with a station located blocks from Jack London Square served by the Amtrak Capitol Corridor, Coast Starlight and San Joaquin train routes. Capitol Corridor trains also stop at a second, newer Oakland Coliseum station. Amtrak's California Zephyr stops at Emeryville station, just outside of Oakland's borders in the city of the same name.

Sea

The Port of Oakland is the largest seaport on San Francisco Bay and the fourth busiest container port in the United States. It was one of the earliest seaports to switch to containerization.

Sister cities

Oakland, California has seven sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International:

See also

References

  • Prentice, Helaine Kaplan, Rehab Right, Ten-Speed Press. ISBN 0898151724

External links

Cities in California | Coastal cities in the United States | San Francisco Bay Area | Oakland, California | 1852 establishments | Alameda County, California

Оукланд (Калифорния) | Oakland | Oakland (Kalifornien) | Oakland (California) | Oakland | Oakland | Oakland (California) | אוקלנד (קליפורניה) | Oakland (Californië) | オークランド (カリフォルニア州) | Oakland (Kalifornia) | Oakland | Окленд (Калифорния) | Oakland | Oakland | 奥克兰 (加利福尼亚州)

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Oakland, California".

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