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Oakland is the largest city and the
county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...
of
Alameda County, California Alameda County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,682,353, making it the 7th-most populous county in the state and 21st most populous nationally. The county seat is Oakland. Al ...
, United States. A major
West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...
port, Oakland is the largest city in the
East Bay The East Bay is the eastern region of the San Francisco Bay Area and includes cities along the eastern shores of the San Francisco Bay and San Pablo Bay. The region has grown to include inland communities in Alameda and Contra Costa countie ...
region of the
San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...
, the third largest city overall in the Bay Area and the eighth most populated city in California. With a population of 440,646 in 2020, it serves as the Bay Area's trade center and economic engine: the
Port of Oakland The Port of Oakland is a major container ship facility located in Oakland, California, in the San Francisco Bay. It was the first major port on the Pacific Coast of the United States to build terminals for container ships. As of 2011 it was the f ...
is the busiest port in
Northern California Northern California (colloquially known as NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, its main population centers incl ...
, and the fifth busiest in the United States of America. An act to
incorporate Incorporation may refer to: * Incorporation (business), the creation of a corporation * Incorporation of a place, creation of municipal corporation such as a city or county * Incorporation (academic), awarding a degree based on the student having ...
the city was passed on May 4, 1852, and incorporation was later approved on March 25, 1854. Oakland is a
charter city In the United States, a charter city is a city in which the governing system is defined by the city's own charter document rather than solely by general law. In states where city charters are allowed by law, a city can adopt or modify its organ ...
. Oakland's territory covers what was once a mosaic of California coastal terrace prairie,
oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...
woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...
, and north
coastal scrub Coastal sage scrub, also known as coastal scrub, CSS, or soft chaparral, is a low scrubland plant community of the California coastal sage and chaparral subecoregion, found in coastal California and northwestern coastal Baja California. It is ...
. In the late 18th century, it became part of a large ''rancho'' grant in the colony of
New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the Am ...
. Its land served as a resource when its hillside oak and
redwood Sequoioideae, popularly known as redwoods, is a subfamily of coniferous trees within the family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affini ...
timber were logged to build San Francisco. The fertile flatland soils helped it become a prolific agricultural region. In the late 1860s, Oakland was selected as the western terminal of the
Transcontinental Railroad A transcontinental railroad or transcontinental railway is contiguous railroad trackage, that crosses a continental land mass and has terminals at different oceans or continental borders. Such networks can be via the tracks of either a single ...
. Following the
1906 San Francisco earthquake At 05:12 Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday, April 18, 1906, the coast of Northern California was struck by a major earthquake with an estimated moment magnitude of 7.9 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (''Extreme''). High-intensity sha ...
, many San Francisco citizens moved to Oakland, enlarging the population, increasing its housing stock, and improving its infrastructure. It continued to grow in the 20th century with its busy port,
shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance a ...
s, and a thriving automobile manufacturing industry.


History


Ohlone era

The earliest known inhabitants were the Huchiun natives, who lived there for thousands of years. The Huchiun belonged to a linguistic grouping later called the
Ohlone The Ohlone, formerly known as Costanoans (from Spanish meaning 'coast dweller'), are a Native American people of the Northern California coast. When Spanish explorers and missionaries arrived in the late 18th century, the Ohlone inhabited the ...
(a
Miwok The Miwok (also spelled Miwuk, Mi-Wuk, or Me-Wuk) are members of four linguistically related Native American groups indigenous to what is now Northern California, who traditionally spoke one of the Miwok languages in the Utian family. The word ' ...
word meaning "western people"). In Oakland, they were concentrated around
Lake Merritt Lake Merritt is a large tidal lagoon in the center of Oakland, California, just east of Downtown. It is surrounded by parkland and city neighborhoods. It is historically significant as the United States' first official wildlife refuge, designate ...
and Temescal Creek, a stream that enters the San Francisco Bay at
Emeryville Emeryville may refer to: * Emeryville, California Emeryville is a city located in northwest Alameda County, California, in the United States. It lies in a corridor between the cities of Berkeley and Oakland, with a border on the shore of San ...
.


Spanish and Mexican eras

In 1772, the area that later became Oakland was colonized, along with the rest of California, by Spanish settlers for the King of Spain. In the early 19th century, the Spanish crown granted the East Bay area to
Luis María Peralta Luis María Peralta (1759 in Sonora, New Spain – August 26, 1851) was a Spanish-born Californio ranchero and soldier in the Spanish Army. Peralta received Rancho San Antonio, one of the largest of the rancho grants in California, coveri ...
for his Rancho San Antonio. The grant was confirmed by the successor Mexican republic upon its independence from Spain. Upon his death in 1842, Peralta divided his land among his four sons. Most of Oakland was within the shares given to Antonio Maria and Vicente. The portion of the parcel that is now Oakland was called ''Encinar'' (misrendered at an early date and carried forward as "encinal") —Spanish for "oak grove"—due to the large oak forest that covered the area, which eventually led to the city's name. According to
Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
historian Albert Camarillo, the Peralta family struggled to keep their land after the incorporation of California into the United States after the
Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...
. Camarillo claims the family was the victim of targeted racial violence. He writes in ''Chicanos in California'', "They lost everything when squatters cut down their fruit trees, killed their cattle, destroyed their buildings, and even fenced off the roads leading to the rancho. Especially insidious were the actions of attorney Horace Carpentier, who tricked Vicente Peralta into signing a 'lease' which turned out to be a mortgage against the 19,000-acre rancho. The lands became Carpentier's when Peralta refused to repay the loan he believed was fraudulently incurred. The Peraltas had no choice but to abandon the homesite they had occupied for two generations."


Development of Chinatown

During the 1850s—just as gold was discovered in California—Oakland started growing and further developing because land was becoming too expensive in
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
. People in China were struggling financially as a result of the
First Opium War The First Opium War (), also known as the Opium War or the Anglo-Sino War was a series of military engagements fought between Britain and the Qing dynasty of China between 1839 and 1842. The immediate issue was the Chinese enforcement of the ...
, the
Second Opium War The Second Opium War (), also known as the Second Anglo-Sino War, the Second China War, the Arrow War, or the Anglo-French expedition to China, was a colonial war lasting from 1856 to 1860, which pitted the British Empire and the French Emp ...
, and the
Taiping Rebellion The Taiping Rebellion, also known as the Taiping Civil War or the Taiping Revolution, was a massive rebellion and civil war that was waged in China between the Manchu-led Qing dynasty and the Han, Hakka-led Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. It lasted fr ...
, so they began migrating to Oakland, many of whom were recruited to work on railroads. However, the Chinese struggled to settle because they were discriminated against by the white community and their living quarters were burned down on several occasions.


City beginnings

In 1851, three men— Horace Carpentier, Edson Adams, and Andrew Moon—began developing what is now downtown Oakland. In 1852, the Town of Oakland was incorporated by the state legislature. During this time, Oakland had 75–100 inhabitants, two hotels, a wharf, two warehouses, and only cattle trails. Two years later, on March 25, 1854, Oakland re-incorporated as the City of Oakland. Horace Carpentier was elected the first mayor, though a scandal ended his mayorship in less than a year. The city and its environs quickly grew with the railroads, becoming a major rail terminal in the late 1860s and 1870s. In 1868, the Central Pacific constructed the
Oakland Long Wharf The Oakland Long Wharf was an 11,000-foot railroad wharf and ferry pier along the east shore of San Francisco Bay located at the foot of Seventh Street in West Oakland. The Oakland Long Wharf was built, beginning 1868, by the Central Pacific Railr ...
at Oakland Point, the site of today's
Port of Oakland The Port of Oakland is a major container ship facility located in Oakland, California, in the San Francisco Bay. It was the first major port on the Pacific Coast of the United States to build terminals for container ships. As of 2011 it was the f ...
. A number of
horsecar A horsecar, horse-drawn tram, horse-drawn streetcar (U.S.), or horse-drawn railway (historical), is an animal-powered (usually horse) tram or streetcar. Summary The horse-drawn tram (horsecar) was an early form of public rail transport, wh ...
and
cable car Cable car most commonly refers to the following cable transportation systems: * Aerial lift, such as aerial tramways and gondola lifts, in which the vehicle is suspended in the air from a cable ** Aerial tramway ** Chairlift ** Gondola lift *** Bi ...
lines were constructed in Oakland during the latter half of the 19th century. The first electric
streetcar A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...
set out from Oakland to
Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...
in 1891, and other lines were converted and added over the course of the 1890s. The various streetcar companies operating in Oakland were acquired by
Francis "Borax" Smith Francis Marion Smith (February 2, 1846 – August 27, 1931) (once known nationally and internationally as "Borax Smith" and "The Borax King" ) was an American miner, business magnate and civic builder in the Mojave Desert, the San Francisco ...
and consolidated into what eventually became known as the
Key System The Key System (or Key Route) was a privately owned company that provided mass transit in the cities of Oakland, Berkeley, Alameda, Emeryville, Piedmont, San Leandro, Richmond, Albany, and El Cerrito in the eastern San Francisco Bay Area fr ...
, the predecessor of today's publicly owned
AC Transit AC Transit (Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District) is an Oakland-based public transit agency serving the western portions of Alameda and Contra Costa counties in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. AC Transit also operates "Transbay" ro ...
.


1900–1950s


Plague epidemic

Oakland was one of the worst affected cities in California that was impacted by the
San Francisco plague of 1900–1904 The San Francisco plague of 1900–1904 was an epidemic of bubonic plague centered on San Francisco's Chinatown. It was the first plague epidemic in the continental United States. The epidemic was recognized by medical authorities in March 1900, ...
.
Quarantine A quarantine is a restriction on the movement of people, animals and goods which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or pests. It is often used in connection to disease and illness, preventing the movement of those who may have been ...
measures were set in place at the Oakland ports requiring the authorities at the port to inspect the arriving vessels for the presence of infected rats. Quarantine authorities at these ports inspected over a thousand vessels per year for plague and yellow fever. By 1908, over 5,000 people were detained in quarantine. Hunters were sent to poison the affected areas in Oakland and shoot the squirrels, but the eradication work was limited in its range because the State Board of Health and the
United States Public Health Service The United States Public Health Service (USPHS or PHS) is a collection of agencies of the Department of Health and Human Services concerned with public health, containing nine out of the department's twelve operating divisions. The Assistant S ...
were only allotted about $60,000 a year to eradicate the disease. During this period Oakland did not have sufficient health facilities, so some of the infected patients were treated at home. The State Board of Health along with Oakland also advised physicians to promptly report any cases of infected patients. Yet, in 1919 it still resulted in a small epidemic of
Pneumonic plague Pneumonic plague is a severe lung infection caused by the bacterium ''Yersinia pestis''. Symptoms include fever, headache, shortness of breath, chest pain, and coughing. They typically start about three to seven days after exposure. It is one o ...
which killed a dozen people in Oakland. This started when a man went hunting in Contra Costa Valley and killed a squirrel. After eating the squirrel, he fell ill four days later and another household member contracted the plague. This in turn was passed on either directly or indirectly to about a dozen others. The officials in Oakland acted quickly by issuing death certificates to monitor the spread of plague.


Incorporation

At the time of incorporation in 1852, Oakland had consisted of the territory that lay south of today's major intersection of San Pablo Avenue, Broadway, and Fourteenth Street. The city gradually annexed farmlands and settlements to the east and the 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. This resulted in the nearby town of
Alameda An alameda is a Avenue (landscape), street or path lined with trees () and may refer to: Places Canada *Alameda, Saskatchewan, town in Saskatchewan **Grant Devine Dam, formerly ''Alameda Dam'', a dam and reservoir in southern Saskatchewan Chile ...
being made an island. In 1906, the city's population doubled with refugees made homeless after the
1906 San Francisco earthquake At 05:12 Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday, April 18, 1906, the coast of Northern California was struck by a major earthquake with an estimated moment magnitude of 7.9 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (''Extreme''). High-intensity sha ...
and fire. In 1908 lawyer, former miner and newspaper owner Homer Wood (1880–1976) suggested to his friend Frank Bilger of Blake and Bilger Rock Quarry and Paving Company that he organize a gathering to establish a
Rotary Club Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. Its stated mission is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through hefellowship of business, profe ...
east of the bay. On November 27, 1908, Homer took a ferry across the bay in a driving rainstorm and met for lunch with Frank and twenty three other businessmen at the Hotel Metropole at 13th and Jefferson. This gathering became the first meeting of the Tri-City Rotary Club, renamed in 1911 The Rotary Club of Oakland, the third Rotary Club in the world. This group established the tradition of weekly meetings, something most clubs worldwide follow today. In 1917,
General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...
opened an automobile factory in
East Oakland East Oakland is a geographical region of Oakland, California, United States, that stretches between Lake Merritt in the northwest and San Leandro in the southeast. As the southeastern portion of the city, East Oakland takes up the largest portio ...
called
Oakland Assembly Oakland Assembly was a former Chevrolet manufacturing facility located in Elmhurst, Oakland, California. It was the first automobile plant established in Northern California to build Chevrolet vehicles. In 1916, Chevrolet opened the auto industry ...
. It produced
Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ous ...
cars and then GMC trucks until 1963, when it was moved to Fremont in southern Alameda County. Also in 1916, the Fageol Motor Company chose East Oakland for their first factory, manufacturing farming tractors from 1918 to 1923. By 1920, Oakland was the home of numerous manufacturing industries, including
metals A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...
, canneries, bakeries,
internal combustion engines An internal combustion engine (ICE or IC engine) is a heat engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal combus ...
, automobiles, and shipbuilding. By 1929, when
Chrysler Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automoti ...
expanded with a new plant there, Oakland had become known as the "
Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
of the West," referring to the major auto manufacturing center in Michigan. Oakland expanded during the 1920s, as its population expanded with factory workers. Approximately 13,000 homes were built in the 3 years between 1921 and 1924, more than during the 13 years between 1907 and 1920. Many of the large downtown office buildings, apartment buildings, and single-family houses still standing in Oakland were built during the 1920s; they reflect the architectural styles of the time. Russell Clifford Durant established Durant Field at 82nd Avenue and East 14th Street in 1916. The first transcontinental airmail flight finished its journey at Durant Field on August 9, 1920, flown by Army Capt.
Eddie Rickenbacker Edward Vernon Rickenbacker or Eddie Rickenbacker (October 8, 1890 – July 23, 1973) was an American fighter pilot in World War I and a Medal of Honor recipient.Lt.
Bert Acosta Bertrand Blanchard Acosta (January 1, 1895 – September 1, 1954) was a record-setting aviator and test pilot. He and Clarence D. Chamberlin set an endurance record of 51 hours, 11 minutes, and 25 seconds in the air. He later flew in the Spa ...
. Durant Field was often called Oakland Airport, though the current
Oakland International Airport Oakland International Airport is an international airport in Oakland, California, United States, 10 miles (16 km) south of downtown located in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is owned by the Port of Oakland and has domestic passenger f ...
was soon established to the southwest. During World War II, the East Bay Area was home to many war-related industries. Oakland's
Moore Dry Dock Company Moore Dry Dock Company was a ship repair and shipbuilding company in Oakland, California. In 1905, Robert S. Moore, his brother Joseph A. Moore, and John Thomas Scott purchased the National Iron Works located in the Hunter's Point section o ...
expanded its shipbuilding capabilities and built over 100 ships. Valued at $100 million in 1943, Oakland's canning industry was its second-most-valuable war contribution after shipbuilding. The largest canneries were in the Fruitvale District, and included the Josiah Lusk Canning Company, the Oakland Preserving Company (which started the Del Monte brand), and the California Packing Company. President
Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
called on defense industries with government contracts to integrate their workforces and provide opportunities for all Americans. Tens of thousands of laborers came from around the country, especially poor whites and blacks from the Deep South: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas, as well as Missouri and Tennessee.
Henry J. Kaiser Henry John Kaiser (May 9, 1882 – August 24, 1967) was an American industrialist who became known as the father of modern American shipbuilding. Prior to World War II, Kaiser was involved in the construction industry; his company was one of ...
's representatives recruited
sharecroppers Sharecropping is a legal arrangement with regard to agricultural land in which a landowner allows a tenant to use the land in return for a share of the crops produced on that land. Sharecropping has a long history and there are a wide range ...
and
tenant farmers A tenant farmer is a person (farmer or farmworker) who resides on land owned by a landlord. Tenant farming is an agricultural production system in which landowners contribute their land and often a measure of operating capital and management, ...
from rural areas to work in his shipyards. African Americans were part of the Great Migration by which five million persons left the South, mostly for the West, from 1940 to 1970. White migrants from the
Jim Crow The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States. Other areas of the United States were affected by formal and informal policies of segregation as well, but many states outside the Sout ...
South carried their racial attitudes, causing tensions to rise among black and white workers competing for the better-paying jobs in the Bay Area. The racial harmony Oakland African-Americans had been accustomed to prior to the war evaporated. Also migrating to the area during this time were many
Mexican Americans Mexican Americans ( es, mexicano-estadounidenses, , or ) are Americans of full or partial Mexican heritage. In 2019, Mexican Americans comprised 11.3% of the US population and 61.5% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexica ...
from southwestern states such as
New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...
,
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
, and
Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...
. Many worked for the
Southern Pacific Railroad The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...
, at its major rail yard in West Oakland. Their young men encountered hostility and discrimination by Armed Forces personnel, and tensions broke out in "
zoot suit riots The Zoot Suit Riots were a series of riots that took place from June 3–8, 1943 in Los Angeles, California, United States, involving American servicemen stationed in Southern California and young Latino and Mexican American city residen ...
" in downtown Oakland in 1943 in the wake of a major disturbance in Los Angeles that year. In 1946,
National City Lines National City Lines, Inc. (NCL) was a public transportation company. The company grew out of the Fitzgerald brothers' bus operations, founded in Minnesota, United States in 1920 as a modest local transport company operating two buses. Part of the ...
(NCL), a General Motors
holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...
, acquired 64% of
Key System The Key System (or Key Route) was a privately owned company that provided mass transit in the cities of Oakland, Berkeley, Alameda, Emeryville, Piedmont, San Leandro, Richmond, Albany, and El Cerrito in the eastern San Francisco Bay Area fr ...
stock; during the next several years NCL engaged in the conspiratorial dissolution of Oakland's electric
streetcar A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...
system. The city's expensive electric streetcar fleet was converted to the cheaper diesel buses.UNITED STATES, v. NATIONAL CITY LINES, Inc., et al.—186 F.2d 562—AltLaw
The state Legislature created the Alameda and Contra Costa Transit District in 1955, which operates today as
AC Transit AC Transit (Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District) is an Oakland-based public transit agency serving the western portions of Alameda and Contra Costa counties in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. AC Transit also operates "Transbay" ro ...
, the third-largest bus-only transit system in the nation. Soon after the war, as Oakland's shipbuilding industry declined and the automobile industry went through restructuring, many jobs were lost. Economic competition increased racial tension. In addition, labor unrest increased as workers struggled to protect their livelihoods. Oakland was the center of a
general strike A general strike refers to a strike action in which participants cease all economic activity, such as working, to strengthen the bargaining position of a trade union or achieve a common social or political goal. They are organised by large co ...
during the first week of December 1946, one of six cities across the country that had such a strike after World War II.


1960–1999

In 1960, Kaiser Corporation opened its new headquarters; it was the largest skyscraper in Oakland, as well as "the largest office tower west of
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
" up to that time. In the postwar period, suburban development increased around Oakland, and wealthier residents moved to new housing. Despite the major increases in the number and proportion of African Americans in the city, in 1966 only 16 of the city's 661 police officers were black. Tensions between the black community and the largely white police force were high, as expectations during the civil rights era increased to gain social justice and equality before the law. Police abuse of blacks was common.''Inside the Panther Revolution'', Robyn Cean Spencer, Chapter 13, p. 302 Students
Huey Newton Huey Percy Newton (February 17, 1942 – August 22, 1989) was an African-American revolutionary, notable as founder of the Black Panther Party. Newton crafted the Party's ten-point manifesto with Bobby Seale in 1966. Under Newton's leadership ...
and
Bobby Seale Robert George Seale (born October 22, 1936) is an American political activist and author. Seale is widely known for co-founding the Black Panther Party with fellow activist Huey P. Newton. Founded as the "Black Panther Party for Self-Defense", ...
founded the
Black Panther Party The Black Panther Party (BPP), originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, was a Marxist-Leninist and black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton in October 1966 in Oakland, Califo ...
at Merritt College (then located at a former high school on Grove Street, now occupied by
Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute (CHORI) is a biomedical research institute affiliated with California’s pediatric medical center, UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland. CHORI is based in Oakland, California, and operates a ...
), which emphasized
Black nationalism Black nationalism is a type of racial nationalism or pan-nationalism which espouses the belief that black people are a race, and which seeks to develop and maintain a black racial and national identity. Black nationalist activism revolves ar ...
, advocated armed self-defense against police, and was involved in several incidents that ended in the deaths of police officers and other Black Panther members. Among their social programs were feeding children and providing other services to the needy. During the 1970s, Oakland began to suffer serious violence and other problems related to gang-controlled dealing of heroin and cocaine when drug kingpin
Felix Mitchell Felix Wayne Mitchell Jr. (August 23, 1954 – August 21, 1986) was a drug lord from Oakland, California, and leader of the "69 Mob" criminal organization, which operated throughout California and into the Midwest. He was known as "Felix the Cat" ...
created the nation's first large-scale operation of this kind. Both violent crime and property crime increased during this period, and Oakland's murder rate rose to over twice that of San Francisco and New York. As in many other American cities during the 1980s,
crack cocaine Crack cocaine, commonly known simply as crack, and also known as rock, is a free base form of the stimulant cocaine that can be smoked. Crack offers a short, intense high to smokers. The ''Manual of Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment'' calls ...
became a serious problem in Oakland. Drug dealing in general, and the dealing of crack cocaine in particular, resulted in elevated rates of violent crime, causing Oakland to consistently be listed as one of America's most crime-ridden cities. In 1980 Oakland's black population reached its 20th-century peak at approximately 47% of the overall city population. The 6.9
Loma Prieta earthquake The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake occurred on California's Central Coast on October 17 at local time. The shock was centered in The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park in Santa Cruz County, approximately northeast of Santa Cruz on a section of t ...
occurred on October 17, 1989. The rupture was related to the San Andreas fault system and affected the entire San Francisco Bay Area with a maximum
Mercalli intensity The Modified Mercalli intensity scale (MM, MMI, or MCS), developed from Giuseppe Mercalli's Mercalli intensity scale of 1902, is a seismic intensity scale used for measuring the intensity of shaking produced by an earthquake. It measures the eff ...
of IX (''Violent''). Many structures in Oakland were badly damaged including the double-decker portion of Interstate 880 that collapsed. The eastern span of the
San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge The San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge, known locally as the Bay Bridge, is a complex of bridges spanning San Francisco Bay in California. As part of Interstate 80 in California, Interstate 80 and the direct road between San Francisco and Oakland ...
also sustained damage and was closed to traffic for one month. On October 20, 1991, a massive
firestorm A firestorm is a conflagration which attains such intensity that it creates and sustains its own wind system. It is most commonly a natural phenomenon, created during some of the largest bushfires and wildfires. Although the term has been used ...
swept down from the
Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...
/Oakland hills above the Caldecott Tunnel. Twenty-five people were killed, 150 people were injured, and nearly 4,000 homes destroyed. With the loss of life and an estimated economic loss of 1.5 billion, this was the worst urban firestorm in American history, until 2017.''Catastrophe: The 100 Greatest Disasters of All Time'', Stephen J. Spignesi, Citadel, 2004, pp 292–94 During the mid-1990s, Oakland's economy began to recover as it transitioned to new types of jobs. In addition, the city participated in large development and urban renewal projects, concentrated especially in the downtown area, at the
Port of Oakland The Port of Oakland is a major container ship facility located in Oakland, California, in the San Francisco Bay. It was the first major port on the Pacific Coast of the United States to build terminals for container ships. As of 2011 it was the f ...
, and at the
Oakland International Airport Oakland International Airport is an international airport in Oakland, California, United States, 10 miles (16 km) south of downtown located in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is owned by the Port of Oakland and has domestic passenger f ...
.


2000s

After his 1999 inauguration, Oakland Mayor
Jerry Brown Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. (born April 7, 1938) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 34th and 39th governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected Secretary of S ...
continued his predecessor Elihu Harris' public policy of supporting downtown housing development in the area defined as the Central Business District in Oakland's 1998 General Plan. Brown's plan and other redevelopment projects were controversial due to potential rent increases and
gentrification Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and urban planning, planning. Gentrification ...
, which would displace lower-income residents from downtown Oakland into outlying neighborhoods and cities. Due to allegations of misconduct by the Oakland Police Department, the City of Oakland has paid claims for a total of 57 million during the 2001–2011 timeframe to plaintiffs claiming police abuse; this is the largest sum paid by any city in California. On October 10, 2011, protesters and civic activists began "
Occupy Oakland Occupy Oakland refers to a collaboration and series of demonstrations in Oakland, California that started in October 2011. As part of the Occupy movement, protestors have staged occupations, most notably at Frank H. Ogawa Plaza in front of Oakl ...
" demonstrations at
Frank Ogawa Frank Hirao Ogawa (May 17, 1917 – July 13, 1994) was a civil rights leader and the first Japanese American to serve on the Oakland City Council, of which he was a member from 1966 until his death in 1994. Early life A Nisei, Ogawa wa ...
Plaza in
Downtown Oakland Downtown Oakland is the central business district of Oakland, California, United States; roughly bounded by both the Oakland Estuary and Interstate 880 on the southwest, Interstate 980 on the northwest, Grand Avenue on the northeast, and Lake ...
."Wall Street protesters: We're in for the long haul"
, ''Bloomberg Businessweek''. Accessed: October 3, 2011.
African-Americans dropped to 28% of Oakland's population in 2010, from nearly half in 1980, due to fast-rising rents and an extreme housing crisis in the region. The city inspected many warehouses and live/work spaces after a fire broke out in the Ghost Ship warehouse, killing 36 people in 2016. Oakland is the second U.S. city, after
Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
, to decriminalize
psilocybin mushrooms Psilocybin mushrooms, commonly known as magic mushrooms, are a polyphyletic informal group of fungi that contain psilocybin which turns into psilocin upon ingestion. Biological genera containing psilocybin mushrooms include ''Psilocybe'', ''Pan ...
. In June 2019, the City Council passed the resolution in a unanimous vote ending the investigation and imposition of criminal penalties for use and possession of natural entheogens. In November 2019, two homeless mothers and their children moved into a vacant three-bedroom house in West Oakland. The group, calling themselves
Moms 4 Housing Moms 4 Housing is a housing activist group in Oakland, California. It was formed and received national attention after three formerly Homelessness in the United States, homeless Black women moved their families into a vacant three-bedroom house as ...
, said their goal was to protest what they said was a large number of vacant houses in Oakland owned by redevelopment companies while the city experienced a housing crisis. Two months later they were evicted from the house by three dozen sheriff's deputies, as hundreds of supporters demonstrated in favor of the women. The incident received nationwide coverage. The company that owns the house later said they would sell it to a nonprofit affordable housing group. As of 2019, Oakland's per-capita homeless rate is higher than San Francisco and Berkeley. Between 2014 and 2020, Oakland strengthened its protections for tenants in order to reduce the displacement of its long-time residents.


Geography

Oakland is in the eastern region of the
San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay is a large tidal estuary in the U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the big cities of San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland. San Francisco Bay drains water from a ...
. In 1991, the City Hall tower was at (NAD83). (The building still exists, but like the rest of the Bay Area, it has shifted northwest perhaps 0.6 meters in the last twenty years.) The
United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
says the city's total area is , including of land and (28.48 percent) of water. Oakland's highest point is near Grizzly Peak Blvd, east of Berkeley, just over
above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The comb ...
at about . Oakland has of shoreline, but Radio Beach is the only beach in Oakland. Oaklanders refer to their city's terrain as "the flatlands" and "the hills". Until recent waves of gentrification, these terms also symbolized Oakland's deep economic divide, with "the hills" being more affluent communities. About two-thirds of Oakland lies in the flat plain of the East Bay, with one-third rising into the foothills and hills of the East Bay range. Ruptures along the nearby
San Andreas Fault The San Andreas Fault is a continental transform fault that extends roughly through California. It forms the tectonics, tectonic boundary between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate, and its motion is Fault (geology)#Strike-slip fau ...
caused severe earth movement in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1906 and 1989. San Andreas quakes induces creep (movement occurring on earthquake faults) in the Hayward fault, which runs directly through Oakland, Berkeley, San Jose and other Bay Area cities.


Neighborhoods

Oakland has more than 50 distinct neighborhoods. The city's greater divisions include downtown Oakland and its greater
Central Business District A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...
,
Lake Merritt Lake Merritt is a large tidal lagoon in the center of Oakland, California, just east of Downtown. It is surrounded by parkland and city neighborhoods. It is historically significant as the United States' first official wildlife refuge, designate ...
,
East Oakland East Oakland is a geographical region of Oakland, California, United States, that stretches between Lake Merritt in the northwest and San Leandro in the southeast. As the southeastern portion of the city, East Oakland takes up the largest portio ...
, North Oakland,
West Oakland West Oakland is a neighborhood situated in the northwestern corner of Oakland, California, United States, situated west of Downtown Oakland, south of Emeryville, and north of Alameda. The neighborhood is located along the waterfront at the Po ...
, and the
Oakland Hills Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...
. East Oakland, which includes the East Oakland Hills, encompasses more than half of Oakland's land area, stretching from Lakeshore Avenue on the east shore of Lake Merritt southeast to the
San Leandro San Leandro (Spanish for " St. Leander") is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. It is located in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area; between Oakland to the northwest, and Ashland, Castro Valley, and Hayward to the sout ...
border. North Oakland encompasses the neighborhoods between downtown and
Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...
and
Emeryville Emeryville may refer to: * Emeryville, California Emeryville is a city located in northwest Alameda County, California, in the United States. It lies in a corridor between the cities of Berkeley and Oakland, with a border on the shore of San ...
. West Oakland is the area between downtown and the Bay, partially surrounded by the
Oakland Point Oakland Point, or Gibbons' Point, was a small promontory formerly on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in West Oakland, California. It was located in the vicinity of what is now the Port of Oakland shipping terminal. History Oakland Point ...
, and encompassing the
Port of Oakland The Port of Oakland is a major container ship facility located in Oakland, California, in the San Francisco Bay. It was the first major port on the Pacific Coast of the United States to build terminals for container ships. As of 2011 it was the f ...
. In 2011, Oakland was ranked the tenth most walkable city in the United States by
Walk Score Walk Score, a subsidiary of Redfin, provides walkability analysis and apartment search tools. Its flagship product is a large-scale, public access walkability index that assigns a numerical walkability score to any address in the United States, Un ...
. Lake Merritt, an urban estuary near downtown, is a mix of fresh and salt water draining in and out from the Oakland Harbor at the San Francisco Bay and one of Oakland's most notable features. It was designated the United States' first official wildlife refuge in 1870. Originally a marsh-lined wildlife haven, Lake Merritt was dredged and bordered with parks from the 1890s to the 1910s. Despite this reduction in habitat, Oakland is home to a number of rare and endangered species, many of which are localized to
serpentine soil Serpentine soil is an uncommon soil type produced by weathered ultramafic rock such as peridotite and its metamorphic derivatives such as serpentinite. More precisely, serpentine soil contains minerals of the serpentine subgroup, especially anti ...
s and bedrock. Lake Merritt is surrounded by residential and business districts, including
downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...
and Grand Lake. The city of
Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...
, incorporated in Oakland's central foothills after the 1906 earthquake, is a small independent city surrounded by the city of Oakland.


Climate

Oakland has a
warm-summer Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...
''Csb'') with an average of 260 sunny days per year. In general, the city features warm, dry summers, and cool, wet winters. Based on data gathered by the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditio ...
, Oakland is ranked No. 1 in climate among U.S. cities. Oakland's climate is typified by the temperate and seasonal Mediterranean climate. Summers are usually dry and warm and winters are cool and damp. It has features found in both nearby coastal cities such as San Francisco and inland cities such as San Jose, making it warmer than San Francisco and cooler than San Jose. Its position on San Francisco Bay across from the Bay Bridge means the northern part of the city can have cooling maritime fog. It is far enough inland that the fog often burns off by midday, allowing it to have typically sunny California days. The hills tend to have more fog than the flatlands, as the fog drifts down from
Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...
. The U.S. Weather Bureau kept weather records in downtown Oakland from October 4, 1894, to July 31, 1958. During that time, the record high temperature was on June 24, 1957, and the record low temperature was on January 23, 1949. Dry, warm offshore "Diablo" winds (similar to the
Santa Ana winds The Santa Ana winds (sometimes devil winds) "Scholars who have looked into the name's origins generally agree that it derives from Santa Ana Canyon, the portal where the Santa Ana River -- as well as a congested Riverside (CA-91) Freeway -- leav ...
of Southern California) sometimes occur, especially in fall, and raise the fire danger. In 1991, such an episode allowed the catastrophic Oakland Hills fire to spread and consume many homes. Oakland, like much of Northern California, is susceptible to winter rainstorms and
Atmospheric river An atmospheric river (AR) is a narrow corridor or filament of concentrated moisture in the atmosphere. Other names for this phenomenon are tropical plume, tropical connection, moisture plume, water vapor surge, and cloud band. Atmospheric rivers ...
s. The wettest calendar year was 1983 with and the driest year was 2013 with . The most rainfall in one month was in January 1911. The most rainfall in 24 hours was on January 26, 2008. Rainfall near the bayfront is only , but is higher in the Oakland Hills to the east (up to ), with nearly all precipitation falling between November and April. Overnight lows are mild. Oakland seldom experiences warm nights with the warmest recorded night of in September 1971 and an average of for the annual warmest low. The coldest day of the year averages a mild and has never been recorded below . The
National Weather Service The National Weather Service (NWS) is an Government agency, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that is tasked with providing weather forecasts, warnings of hazardous weather, and other weathe ...
today has two official weather stations in Oakland:
Oakland International Airport Oakland International Airport is an international airport in Oakland, California, United States, 10 miles (16 km) south of downtown located in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is owned by the Port of Oakland and has domestic passenger f ...
and the
Oakland Museum The Oakland Museum of California or OMCA (formerly the Oakland Museum) is an interdisciplinary museum dedicated to the art, history, and natural science of California, located adjacent to Oak Street, 10th Street, and 11th Street in Oakland, Cali ...
(established 1970).


Vegetation

The higher rainfall in the hills supports woods of oak, madrona, pine, fir and a few redwood groves in the wetter areas. Before being logged in the 19th century, some of the tallest redwood trees in California (used for navigation by ships entering the Golden Gate) may have stood in the Oakland Hills. One old stump in diameter can be seen near Redwood Regional Park. Sunny, drier slopes are grassy or covered in scattered oaks and chaparral brush. Australian eucalyptus trees have been extensively planted in many areas, as they come from a similar climate.


Demographics

The
2020 United States Census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...
reported Oakland had a population of 440,646. The population density was .


Race and ethnicity

The
2020 United States Census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...
reported that the racial makeup of Oakland was 156,429 (35.5%)
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
, 104,873 (23.8%) Black or African American, 68,300 (15.5%)
Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, 2,643 (0.6%)
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...
, 3,965 (0.9%) Native American, and 30,404 (6.9%) multiracial (two or more races). There were 118,974 (27.0%) of
Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
or
Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...
ancestry, of any race. From the
2010 United States Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servin ...
the racial makeup of Oakland was 134,925 (34.5%)
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
(non-Hispanic White 25.9%), 129,471 (28.0%)
African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 3,040 (0.8%) Native American, 65,811 (16.8%)
Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
(8.7%
Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
, 2.2%
Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia ** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam. * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overse ...
, 1.6%
Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...
, 0.7%
Cambodian Cambodian usually refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Cambodia ** Cambodian people (or Khmer people) ** Cambodian language (or Khmer language) ** For citizens and nationals of Cambodia, see Demographics of Cambodia ** Fo ...
, 0.7% Laotian, 0.6%
Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...
, 0.5%
Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...
, 0.5%
Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...
, 0.1% Mongolian), 2,222 (0.6%)
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...
(0.3% Tongan), 53,378 (13.7%) from
other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...
, and 21,877 (5.6%) from two or more races.
Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
or
Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...
of any race were 99,068 persons (25.4%). 18.1% of the population were of Mexican descent, 1.9%
Salvadoran Salvadorans (Spanish: ''Salvadoreños''), also known as Salvadorians (alternate spelling: Salvadoreans), are citizens of El Salvador, a country in Central America. Most Salvadorans live in El Salvador, although there is also a significant Salvado ...
, 1.3% Guatemalan, and 0.7% Puerto Rican.


2019 United States Census Bureau American Community Survey estimates

According to 2019 US Census Bureau estimates, Oakland's population rose to 433,044, and was 34.5%
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
(29.3%
Non-Hispanic White Non-Hispanic whites or Non-Latino whites are Americans who are classified as "white", and are not of Hispanic (also known as "Latino") heritage. The United States Census Bureau defines ''white'' to include European Americans, Middle Eastern Amer ...
and 5.2%
Hispanic White In the United States, a white Hispanic or Latino is an individual who is of full or partial Hispanic or Latino descent, the largest group being white Mexican Americans. Although not differentiated in the U.S. Census definition, White Latino A ...
), 24.9% Black or
African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 1.3% Native American and
Alaskan Native Alaska Natives (also known as Alaskan Natives, Native Alaskans, Indigenous Alaskans, Aboriginal Alaskans or First Alaskans) are the indigenous peoples of Alaska and include Iñupiat, Yupik, Aleut, Eyak, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, and a numb ...
, 14.3%
Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, 0.4%
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...
, 18.3% Other Race, and 6.3% from
two or more races 2 (two) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 1 and preceding 3. It is the smallest and only even prime number. Because it forms the basis of a duality, it has religious and spiritual significance in many cultur ...
. White Americans are the largest racial/ethnic group at either 34.5% (including
White Hispanics In the United States, a white Hispanic or Latino is an individual who is of full or partial Hispanic or Latino descent, the largest group being white Mexican Americans. Although not differentiated in the U.S. Census definition, White Latino A ...
) or 29.3% (excluding White Hispanics). Hispanics have been the second largest ethnic group since 2012 when they displaced the Black population. However, Black Americans still form the second largest racial group. By ethnicity, 26.8% of the total population is Hispanic-Latino (of any race) and 73.2% is Non-Hispanic (of any race). The majority of Hispanics self-identify as Some Other Race (66.9%) with the remainder choosing White (19.4%), Multiracial (7.4%), Black (2.0%), American Indian and Alaskan Native (3.5%), Asian (0.7%), and Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (0.1%). The Black population is the third largest ethnic group and second largest racial group at either 24.9% (including Black Hispanics) or 24.4% excluding Black Hispanics. The Asian population continues to remain the fourth largest group at 14.3% of the population.


Educational attainment and income

The greater Oakland area has the fifth largest cluster of "elite zip codes" ranked by the number of households with the highest combination of income and education. 37.9% of residents over 25 years of age have bachelor's degree or higher. Oakland ranked among the top cities with residents with bachelor's degrees and graduate degrees per square mile. Oakland ranks in the top 20 of American cities in median household income, with a 2012 value of 51,863. In 2012, the median income for a household in the city was 51,863 and the median income for a family was 59,459. The mean income for a household was 77,888 and the mean income for a family was 90,948. Males had a median income of 50,140 versus 50,304 for females. The unemployment rate as of December 2013 was 9.7%. In 2007 approximately 15.3 percent of families and 17.0 percent of the general population were below the poverty line, including 27.9 percent of those under age 18 and 13.1 percent of those age 65 or over. 0.7% of the population is homeless.Designing a Socially Just Downtown
, NHI, by Alex Salazar, Spring 2006, retrieved August 12, 2007
Home ownership is 41% and 14% of rental units are subsidized. As of the census of 2000, 19.4% of the population and 16.2% of families were below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 27.9% of those under the age of 18 and 13.1% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.


Households

The census reported 382,586 people (97.9% of the population) lived in households, 5,675 (1.5%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 2,463 (0.6%) were institutionalized. There were 153,791 households, out of which 44,762 (29.1%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 50,797 (33.0%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 24,122 (15.7%) had a female householder with no husband present, 8,799 (5.7%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 11,289 (7.3%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 3,442 (2.2%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 52,103 households (33.9%) were made up of individuals, and 13,778 (9.0%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.49. There were 83,718
families Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Ideall ...
(54.4% of all households); the average family size was 3.27. The population was spread out, with 83,120 people (21.3%) under the age of 18, 36,272 people (9.3%) aged 18 to 24, 129,139 people (33.1%) aged 25 to 44, 98,634 people (25.2%) aged 45 to 64, and 43,559 people (11.1%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36.2 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.8 males. There were 169,710 housing units at an average density of , of which 153,791 were occupied, of which 63,142 (41.1%) were owner-occupied, and 90,649 (58.9%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 3.0%; the rental vacancy rate was 8.5%. 166,662 people (42.7% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 215,924 people (55.3%) lived in rental housing units.


Shifting of cultures

Oakland has consistently ranked as one of the most ethnically diverse major cities in the country. A 2019 analysis by WalletHub showed that Oakland was the most ethnoracially diverse city in the United States. The city's formerly most populous ethnic group, whites, declined from 95.3% in 1940 to 32.5% by 1990, due to a combination of factors, including suburbanization. Oakland became a destination for African Americans in the Great Migration during and after World War II as they gained high-paying jobs in the defense industry. Blacks have formed a plurality in Oakland for many years, peaking in 1980 at about 47% of the population. Oakland's black population decreased by nearly 25 percent between 2000 and 2010. The city's demographics have changed due to a combination of rising housing prices associated with
gentrification Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and urban planning, planning. Gentrification ...
and with blacks relocating to better (and in many cases more affordable) housing in Bay Area suburbs or moving to the Southern United States in a reverse migration, where conditions (including race relations) are considered to have improved in comparison to previous generations. These trends and cultural shifts have led to a decline among some of Oakland's long standing black institutions, such as churches, businesses and nightclubs, which had developed during the growing years of the 1950s through 1970. In the 2010 census African Americans maintained their status as Oakland's single largest ethnic group, with 27% of the population, followed by non-Hispanic white people, whites at 25.9%, and Hispanics of any race at 25.4%. Ethnic Asians constitute 17%, followed by smaller minority groups. Many immigrants have settled in the city. Immigrants and others have marched by the thousands down Oakland's International Boulevard, Oakland, California, International Boulevard in support of legal reforms benefiting Illegal immigration, undocumented immigrants. An analysis by the Urban Institute of 2000 United States Census, U.S. Census 2000 numbers showed Oakland had the third-highest concentration of gays and lesbians among the 50 largest U.S. cities, behind San Francisco and Seattle. Census data showed that among incorporated places that have at least 500 female couples, Oakland had the nation's largest proportion. In the 2000 census, 2,650 lesbian couples identified as such in Oakland; one in every 41 Oakland couples identified as a same-sex female partnership.


Gentrification

As of 2020, the San Francisco-Oakland Metro shows indications of having the greatest intensity of gentrification nationally, with over 31% of eligible neighborhoods gentrifying. Gentrifying neighborhoods showed significant increases in median home value, median household income, percentage of college educated residents, but also in economic inequality. Historically low-income neighborhoods have been rapidly changed by new, higher-income residents as high-wage tech workers and expensive housing have continued to push lower-wage residents out of Oakland. In West Oakland, for example, median household income rose from $80,700 to $86,300 between 2010 and 2017, while the percent of population with four-year degrees rose from one-third to nearly one-half, according to the National Community Reinvestment Coalition. Big tech companies have continued to transform the communities and culture of Oakland as modern apartments have appeared, housing prices have spiked, and many prior working-class residents have moved to suburbs further inland. According to 2015 data compiled by the Bay Area Equity Atlas, 91% of low-income households of color were either in neighborhoods that were gentrifying or were at risk of gentrification at the time. The number was higher for individual low-income communities, with 96% of Native American households in neighborhoods that either experienced gentrification or were at risk of being gentrified, followed by Latino households at 94%, Black households at 92%, and Asian or Pacific Islander households at 88%.


Crime

A 2014 study by the Chief Justice Earl Warren Institute on Law & Social Policy at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law examined crime in the city from 1987 to 2012 and concluded that "The story of crime in Oakland over the last 25 years is a nuanced one, as there are both positive and negative aspects of the crime trends."Bobby McCarthy & Sarah Lawrence
Crime Trends in the City of Oakland: A 25-Year Look (1987–2012).
Chief Justice Earl Warren Institute on Law & Social Policy, University of California, Berkeley School of Law.
Crime Crime drop, dramatically decreased since the early 1990s but the city has continued to suffer from serious violent crime problems. Crime trends generally tracked comparison cities of Fresno, California, Fresno, Richmond, California, Richmond, Sacramento, California, Sacramento, and Stockton, California, Stockton "in terms of direction if not magnitude"; this suggested that crime trends are regional rather than city-specific. A 2007 journal article identified crime in Oakland as being fueled by the dramatic increase of street narcotics sales and use since the 1970s, with Oakland becoming a major west-coast hub for heroin and cocaine distribution. Subsequent battle for control over the lucrative narcotics trade incited gang conflicts and violence, with shootings becoming a regular occurrence. A concurrent rise in rape, robbery, burglary, auto-theft and other crimes occurred as well. Prior to 1960, there had been successful government-funded social programs whereby rebellious teens were enrolled in youth centers that would teach them proper values and improve their behavior. However, similar programs since then have been inconsistent. By the 1970s, the police and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) used military tactics such as SWAT teams, infiltration and counter intelligence in an attempt to counter groups such as the Black Panthers (responsible for several police ambushes), the S.L.A. and organized drug gangs such as the "69 Mob", with increases in arrests, prosecutions, and imprisonment. During the first decade of the 21st century, Oakland has consistently been listed as one of the most dangerous large cities in the United States. The number of Oakland Police Department officers has varied from a low of 626 (in 1996 and in 2012) to a high of 814 (in 2002). There were 723 officers at the end of 2015. The city's strategic plan recommended 925 officers, and an independent study commissioned by the city in the mid-1990s recommended 1,200 officers. Among Oakland's 35 police patrol beats, violent crime remains a serious problem in specific East and West Oakland neighborhoods. In 2008, homicides were concentrated: 72% occurred in three City Council districts, District 3 in West Oakland and Districts 6 and 7 in East Oakland, although these districts have 44% of Oakland's residents. In 2012, Oakland implemented Operation Ceasefire, a gang violence reduction plan used in other cities, based in part on the research and strategies of author David M. Kennedy (criminologist), David M. Kennedy.


Economy

Oakland is a major
West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...
port, and the fifth busiest in the United States by cargo volume. The
Port of Oakland The Port of Oakland is a major container ship facility located in Oakland, California, in the San Francisco Bay. It was the first major port on the Pacific Coast of the United States to build terminals for container ships. As of 2011 it was the f ...
handles 99% of all containerized goods moving through Northern California, representing $41 billion worth of international trade. There are nearly 200,000 jobs related to marine cargo transport in the Oakland area. These jobs range from minimum wage hourly positions to Transportation Storage and Distribution Managers who earn an annual average salary of 91,520. The Port of Oakland was an early innovator/pioneer in the technologies of Intermodal freight transport, Intermodal Containerized Shipping. The city is also home to several major corporations including Kaiser Permanente, Clorox, and Dreyer's ice cream. Tech companies such as Ask.com and Pandora Radio are in Oakland, and in recent years many start-up high tech and green energy companies have found a home in the downtown neighborhoods of Uptown, City Center, Jack London Square and Lake Merritt Financial District. , the San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward metropolitan area has a gross domestic product (GDP) of 360.4 billion, ranking eighth among metropolitan areas in the United States. In 2014, Oakland was amongst the best cities to start a career, the highest ranked city in California after San Francisco. Additionally, Oakland ranked fourth in cities with professional opportunities. Numerous companies in San Francisco continue to expand in or migrate over to Oakland. Oakland experienced an increase of both its population and of land values in the early-to-mid first decade of the 21st century. The 10k Plan, which began during former mayor Elihu Harris' administration, and intensified during former mayor
Jerry Brown Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. (born April 7, 1938) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 34th and 39th governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected Secretary of S ...
's administration resulted in several thousand units of new multi-family housing and development.


Top employers

, the top employers in the city were:


Tourism

In 2013, over 2.5 million people visited Oakland, injecting 1.3 billion into the economy. Oakland has been experiencing an increase in hotel demand. Occupancy is 74%, while RevPAR (Revenue Per Available Room) increased by 14%, the highest increase of any big city in the western region of the United States. Both Oakland and San Francisco were forecasted to experience the highest increases in ADR (Average daily rate). In recent years, Oakland has gained national recognition as a travel destination. In 2012, Oakland was named the top North American city to visit, highlighting its growing number of sophisticated restaurants and bars, top music venues, and increasing nightlife appeal. Oakland also took the No. 16 spot in "America's Coolest Cities", ranked by metrics like entertainment options and recreational opportunities per capita, etc. In 2013, Oakland topped the No. 1 spot in "America's Most Exciting Cities", notably having the most movie theaters, theater companies, and museums per square mile. In "America's Most Hipster Cities", Oakland took the number-5 spot, cited for luring San Francisco "hippies" into the city. Oakland has also increased its travel destination allure internationally.


Arts and culture

Oakland has a vibrant art scene and claims the highest concentration of artists per capita in the United States. In 2013, Oakland was designated as one of America's top twelve art communities, recognizing Downtown (including Uptown), Chinatown, Old Oakland, and Jack London Square as communities "that have most successfully combined art, artists and venues for creativity and expression with independent businesses, retail shops and restaurants, and a walkable lifestyle to make vibrant neighborhoods." Galleries exist in various parts of Oakland, with the newest additions centered mostly in the Uptown Oakland, Uptown area. Oakland ranked 11th in cities for designers and artists. The city is a renowned culinary hotbed, offering both a wide variety and innovative approaches to diverse cuisines in restaurants and markets, often featuring locally grown produce and international styles such as French cuisine, French, Italian cuisine, Italian, Portuguese cuisine, Portuguese/Spanish cuisine, Spanish, Ethiopian cuisine, Ethiopian, Asian cuisine, Asian, Latin American cuisine, Latin American, as well as Caribbean cuisine, Caribbean, Cuisine of the Southern United States, Southern United States/Louisiana Creole cuisine, Louisiana Creole, etc., all of which reflects the culinary traditions of the city's ethnically diverse population. Historically a focal point of the West Coast blues and jazz scenes, Oakland is also home to musicians representing such genres as rhythm and blues, Gospel music, gospel, funk, Punk rock, punk, heavy metal music, heavy metal, Rapping, Rap/Gangsta rap, and hip hop. Artists who come out of Oakland are: Mistah F.A.B, E-40, Too Short, Raphael Saadiq, MC Hammer, Keyshia Cole, Kehlani, Del the Funky Homosapien, Edwin Hawkins, Tony! Toni! Toné! and many more.


Attractions

Free walking tours ar
offered by the City.


Nightlife

Downtown Oakland has an assortment of bars and nightclubs. They include dive bars, dance clubs, modern lounges and jazz bars. The Paramount Theater features headlining musical tours and productions, while Fox Oakland Theatre draws various musical genres including jam bands, rock, punk, blues, jazz, and reggae. The Paramount and Fox theaters often book simultaneous events, creating busy nights uptown. In 2012, Oakland was dubbed a "New Sin City", following its 2010 decision to relax its cabaret laws, which gave a boost to its nightclub and bar scene. Recent years have seen the growth of the Art Murmur, Oakland Art Murmur event, occurring in the Uptown neighborhood the first Friday evening of every month. The event attracts around 20,000 people along twenty city blocks, featuring live performances, food trucks, and over 30 galleries and venues.


"There is no there there"

Gertrude Stein wrote about Oakland in her 1937 book ''Everybody's Autobiography'' "There is no there there", upon learning that the neighborhood where she lived as a child had been torn down to make way for an industrial park. The quote is usually misconstrued to refer to Oakland as a whole. Modern-day Oakland has made steps to rebuke Stein's claim with a statue downtown titled ''There''. In 2005 a sculpture called ''HERETHERE'' was installed by the City of Berkeley on the Berkeley-Oakland border at Martin Luther King Jr. Way. The sculpture consists of eight-foot-tall letters spelling "HERE" and "THERE" in front of the BART tracks as they descend from their elevated section in Oakland to the subway through
Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...
.


Sports

Oakland has variously been represented by major professional teams in baseball, soccer, American football, basketball and hockey. The Oakland Athletics (of Major League Baseball) won three consecutive World Series championships in 1972, 1973, and 1974, and appeared in another three consecutive World Series from 1988 to 1990, winning their fourth championship in 1989. Currently based at the Oakland Coliseum, the Athletics announced plans to build Oakland Ballpark, a new ballpark closer to the downtown area, but plans have not been finalized. The Oakland Roots SC are a soccer team that was formed in 2018. The Roots began play in 2019 in a new third division professional league called National Independent Soccer Association, however, the team announced that it would move to the second division and play in the USL Championship from the 2021 season onwards. Oakland's former football team, the History of the Oakland Raiders, Oakland Raiders of the National Football League (NFL), won Super Bowl XI in 1976 and Super Bowl XV in 1980, during their tenure in Oakland. The Raiders Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocated to Las Vegas in 2020 and are now known as the Las Vegas Raiders. Oakland's former basketball team, the Golden State Warriors won the 1975 NBA Finals, 1974–75, 2015 NBA Finals, 2014–15, 2017 NBA Finals, 2016–17, and the 2018 NBA Finals, 2017–18 NBA championships, while losing in 2016 and 2019. The Warriors, whose primary owners reside in Southern California, announced in April 2014 that they would leave Oakland once their new arena was built across the Bay in San Francisco. In 2019, the Warriors built and moved to Chase Center across the Bay. Since the team remained in the Bay Area, they decided not to revert to the San Francisco Warriors name it had in its first stint with the city. Oakland's Ultimate (sport), ultimate team, Oakland Spiders, relocated to Oakland in 2022 after playing eight years as the San Jose Spiders. Oakland's former sports teams include: * History of the Oakland Raiders, Oakland Raiders, National Football League, 1960–1981, 1995–2019. (played at the Oakland Coliseum before relocating to Las Vegas Raiders, Las Vegas in .) * Golden State Warriors, National Basketball Association, 1971–2019. (played in Oakland Arena before moving back to San Francisco for the season.) * Oakland Oaks (PCL), Oakland Oaks, Pacific Coast League of Baseball, 1903–1955. (The Oaks played at Oaks Park (stadium), Oaks Park in Emeryville after 1912.) * Oakland Larks, West Coast Negro Baseball League, 1946. * Oakland Hornets, member of American Football League (1944) * Oakland Oaks (ABL), Oakland Oaks, American Basketball League (1961–1963), American Basketball League, 1962. * Oakland Oaks (ABA), Oakland Oaks, American Basketball Association (1967–76), American Basketball Association, 1967–1969. * Oakland Seals, National Hockey League, 1967–1976. * Oakland Clippers, National Professional Soccer League (1967), National Professional Soccer League, 1967; North American Soccer League (1968–84), North American Soccer League, 1968. * Oakland Stompers, North American Soccer League (1968–84), North American Soccer League, 1978. * Oakland Invaders, United States Football League, 1983–1985. * Oakland Skates, Roller Hockey International, 1993–1996. * Oakland Slammers, International Basketball League, 2005–2006.


Parks and recreation


Parks

Oakland has many parks and recreation centers which total . In its 2013 ParkScore ranking, Trust for Public Land, The Trust for Public Land, a national land conservation organization, reported that Oakland had the 18th best park system among the 50 most populous U.S. cities. In 2013, Oakland ranked fourth among American cities as an urban destination for nature lovers. Some of the city's most notable parks include: * Bushrod Park * Joaquin Miller Park * Joseph Knowland State Arboretum and Park, home of the Oakland Zoo *
Lake Merritt Lake Merritt is a large tidal lagoon in the center of Oakland, California, just east of Downtown. It is surrounded by parkland and city neighborhoods. It is historically significant as the United States' first official wildlife refuge, designate ...
* Morcom Rose Garden best from July through October * Mosswood Park * Allendale Park * Peralta Hacienda Historical Park, headquarters of the Peralta rancho, Rancho San Antonio * William Joseph McInnes Botanic Garden and Campus Arboretum on the Mills College campus Additionally, the following seven East Bay Regional Park District, East Bay Regional Parks are entirely or partially in the city of Oakland: * Anthony Chabot Regional Park * Huckleberry Botanic Regional Preserve * Leona Canyon Regional Open Space Preserve * Redwood Regional Park * Robert Sibley Volcanic Regional Preserve * Roberts Regional Recreation Area * Lake Temescal, Temescal Regional Park


Places of worship

Major places of worship in Oakland include –


Government

Oakland has a mayor-council government. The mayor is elected at-large for a four-year term. The Oakland City Council has eight council members representing seven districts in Oakland with one member elected at-large and others from single-member districts; council members serve staggered four-year terms. The mayor appoints a city administrator, subject to the confirmation by the City Council, who is the city's chief administrative officer. Other city officers include: city attorney (elected), city auditor (elected), and city clerk (appointed by city administrator). Oakland's mayor is limited to two terms. There are no term limits for the city council. Oakland City Hall was evacuated after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake until 80M seismic retrofit and hazard abatement work was complete in 1995. City offices had to be housed in leased space and other locations. Jean Quan was elected mayor in November 2010, beating Don Perata and Rebecca Kaplan in the city's first Instant-runoff voting, ranked choice balloting. This new system is intended to increase voters' ability to choose preferred candidates, as they can combine ranked votes when several candidates are competing. Libby Schaaf has been mayor since January 2015 and will be termed out at the end of 2022. Oakland is also part of Alameda County, California, Alameda County, for which the Government of Alameda County, California, Government of Alameda County is defined and authorized under the California Constitution, California law, and the Charter of the County of Alameda. The County government provides countywide services such as elections and voter registration, law enforcement, jails, vital records, property records, tax collection, public health, and social services. The County government is primarily composed of the elected five-member Alameda County Board of Supervisors, Board of Supervisors, other elected offices including the Alameda County Sheriff's Department, Sheriff/Coroner, the Alameda County District Attorney, District Attorney, Alameda County Assessor, Assessor, Alameda County Auditor-Controller/County Clerk/Recorder, Auditor-Controller/County Clerk/Recorder, and Alameda County Treasurer/Tax Collector, Treasurer/Tax Collector, and numerous county departments and entities under the supervision of the County Administrator. In the California State Legislature, Oakland is in , and is split between the California's 15th State Assembly district, 15th and California's 18th State Assembly district, 18th Assembly districts, represented by and , respectively. In the United States House of Representatives, Oakland is in .


Politics

Oakland was a Republican Party (United States), Republican Party bastion from the 1860s to the 1950s, with positions expressed by the Republican-oriented ''Oakland Tribune'' newspaper. In the 1960s, the majority of voters began to favor liberal policies and the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. Oakland has the second highest percentage of registered Democrats of any of the incorporated cities in Alameda County, with Berkeley coming in first. The last Republican presidential candidate to receive at least one-third of vote in Oakland was Richard Nixon in 1972. Since then, the Republican percentage of the vote has generally declined in each successive election. According to the Secretary of State of California, California Secretary of State, as of February 10, 2019, Oakland has 245,111 registered voters. Of those, 159,771 (65.2%) are registered California Democratic Party, Democrats, 9,544 (3.9%) are registered California Republican Party, Republicans, and 65,416 (26.7%) have Decline to State, declined to state a political party. Oakland is widely regarded as being one of the most liberal major cities in the nation. The Cook Partisan Voting Index of California's 13th congressional district, Congressional District 13, which includes Oakland and Berkeley, is D+40, making it the most Democratic congressional district in California and the fourth most Democratic district in the US.


Education


Primary and secondary education

The Oakland Unified School District (OUSD), which covers the city except for Sheffield Village, operates most of Oakland's public schools. Due to financial troubles and administrative failures, it was in receivership by the state of California from 2002 to 2008. , the Oakland Unified School District includes 86 division-run schools and 32 charter schools; the district also manages several adult education programs. there are 48,181 K–12 students; among division-run schools, there are 4,600 plus employees. OUSD test scores historically lag behind the rest of California, in particular due to a high proportion of English-language learners. Some individual schools have much better performance than the citywide average. , for example, over half the students at Hillcrest Elementary School in the Montclair, Oakland, California, Montclair upper hills neighborhood performed at the "advanced" level in the English portion of the test, and students at Lincoln Elementary School (Oakland, California), Lincoln Elementary School in the Chinatown, Oakland, California, Chinatown neighborhood performed at the "advanced" level in the math portion. Oakland's three largest public high schools are Oakland High School (California), Oakland High School, Oakland Technical High School, and Skyline High School (Oakland, California), Skyline High School. Other Oakland public high schools include Castlemont High School, Fremont High School (Oakland, California), Fremont High School, and McClymonds High School, briefly known as Castlemont Community of Small Schools, Fremont Federation of High Schools, and McClymonds Educational Complex, respectively. Among charter schools in the district, North Oakland Community Charter School (NOCCS), an elementary and middle school, is one of the few public progressive schools in the country. Other charter schools include the Oakland Military Institute, Oakland School for the Arts, Bay Area Technology School, East Bay Innovation Academy, and Oakland Charter Academy. There are several religious and secular private high schools, including The College Preparatory School, Head-Royce School, Bishop O'Dowd High School, Holy Names High School (Oakland), Holy Names High School, St. Elizabeth High School (Oakland, California), St. Elizabeth High School and Oakland Hebrew Day School. Catholic schools in Oakland are operated by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland also include eight K–8 schools (plus one in Piedmont on the Oakland city border). Northern Light School is a private nonprofit elementary and middle school. Bentley School is an Independent Co-educational K–12, college preparatory school on two campuses in Oakland and Lafayette, California.


Funding

In 2017, the Oakland Unified School District has received funding from Pandora in partnership with Little Kids Rock, towards expanding music education programs within the schools. The result from these donations has given teachers from 20 additional Oakland- area schools the ability to participate in an eight-hour professional development workshop, and receive music education instruction from Little Kids Rock. The donation includes providing new instruments, that will benefit over 2,000 Oakland students.


Colleges and universities

Accredited colleges and universities include: * Oakland is also the home of the headquarters of the University of California system, the University of California Office of the President. In 2001, the SFSU Oakland Multimedia Center was opened, allowing San Francisco State University to conduct classes near downtown Oakland. The Oakland Higher Education Consortium and the City of Oakland's Community and Economic Development Agency (CEDA) opened the Oakland Higher Education Center downtown in 2002 to provide "access to multiple higher education service providers within a shared urban facility." Member schools include primary user California State University, East Bay as well as Lincoln University, New College of California, Saint Mary's College of California, SFSU Multimedia Studies Program, UC Berkeley Extension, University of Phoenix and Peralta Community College District.


Media

Oakland is served by major television stations broadcasting primarily out of San Francisco and San Jose. The region's Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox Owned-and-operated station, O&O, KTVU 2, is based in (and licensed to) Oakland at Jack London Square along with co-owned independent station KICU-TV 36 (licensed to San Jose). In addition, the city is served by various Template:San Francisco Radio, AM and FM radio stations as well; AM stations KKSF (AM), KKSF 910, KMKY (AM), KMKY 1310 and KNEW (AM), KNEW 960 are licensed to Oakland. Oakland was served by the ''Oakland Tribune'', which published its first newspaper on February 21, 1874. The Tribune Tower (Oakland), Tribune Tower, which features a large clock, is an Oakland landmark. At key times throughout the day (8:00 am, noon and 5:00 pm), the clock tower carillon plays a variety of classic melodies, which change daily. In 2007, the Oakland Tribune moved its offices from the tower to an East Oakland location, before folding in 2011. The ''East Bay Express'', a locally owned free weekly paper, is based in Jack London Square and distributed throughout the East Bay. Oaklandwiki is a thriving (mostly) English-language LocalWiki.


Infrastructure


Transportation


Air and rail

Oakland residents have access to the three major airports of the San Francisco Bay Area:
Oakland International Airport Oakland International Airport is an international airport in Oakland, California, United States, 10 miles (16 km) south of downtown located in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is owned by the Port of Oakland and has domestic passenger f ...
, San Francisco International Airport, and San Jose International Airport. Oakland International Airport, within Oakland's city limits, is south of downtown Oakland and serves domestic and international destinations.
AC Transit AC Transit (Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District) is an Oakland-based public transit agency serving the western portions of Alameda and Contra Costa counties in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. AC Transit also operates "Transbay" ro ...
provides 24-hour service to the airport, and Bay Area Rapid Transit, BART's Coliseum–Oakland International Airport line, Coliseum–Oakland International Airport automated guideway transit line provides frequent service between the airport and Oakland Coliseum station. The city has regional and long-distance passenger train service provided by Amtrak, with stations near Jack London Square and the RingCentral Coliseum. Amtrak's ''California Zephyr'' has its western terminus at the nearby Emeryville (Amtrak station), Emeryville station. Historically, the city was served by several train companies, which terminated in different terminals. Santa Fe Railroad, Santa Fe trains terminated at its Oakland depot, actually located within the city limits of Emeryville at 40th and San Pablo. Southern Pacific Transportation Company, Southern Pacific trains ended at the 16th Street Station. Western Pacific Railroad, Western Pacific trains ended at the 3rd and Washington station. However, a common feature was that the different railroads continued one more stop to a station at Oakland Pier. From this latter point passengers would ride ferries to San Francisco.


Mass transit and bicycling

Data compiled in 2007 by the
United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
before gasoline price spikes in 2008, showed that 24.3% of Oaklanders used public transportation, walked or used "other means" to commute to work, not including remote work, with 17% of Oakland households being "car free" and/or statistically categorized as having "no vehicles available." Bus transit service in Oakland and the inner East Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), East Bay is provided by the Alameda and Contra Costa Transit District,
AC Transit AC Transit (Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District) is an Oakland-based public transit agency serving the western portions of Alameda and Contra Costa counties in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. AC Transit also operates "Transbay" ro ...
. The district originated in 1958 after the conspiratorial General Motors Streetcar Conspiracy, dissolution of the
Key System The Key System (or Key Route) was a privately owned company that provided mass transit in the cities of Oakland, Berkeley, Alameda, Emeryville, Piedmont, San Leandro, Richmond, Albany, and El Cerrito in the eastern San Francisco Bay Area fr ...
of streetcars. Many AC Transit lines follow old routes of the Key System. Intercity bus companies that serve Oakland include Greyhound Lines, Greyhound, BoltBus, Megabus (North America), Megabus, Chinatown bus lines, USAsia, and Chinatown bus lines, Hoang Transportation. The metropolitan area is served by Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) from eight stations in Oakland. The system has headquarters in Oakland, with major transfer hubs at MacArthur (BART station), MacArthur and 19th Street / Oakland (BART station), 19th Street stations. BART's headquarters was in a building above the Lake Merritt (BART station), Lake Merritt BART station until 2006, when it relocated to the Kaiser Center due to seismic safety concerns. The Alameda / Oakland Ferry operates ferry service from Jack London Square to
Alameda An alameda is a Avenue (landscape), street or path lined with trees () and may refer to: Places Canada *Alameda, Saskatchewan, town in Saskatchewan **Grant Devine Dam, formerly ''Alameda Dam'', a dam and reservoir in southern Saskatchewan Chile ...
, Oracle Park, Pier 41, the San Francisco Ferry Building, and the South San Francisco Ferry Terminal. Oakland licenses taxi cabs, and has zoned cab stands in its downtown, including a bicycle pedi-cab service. The Oakland City Council adopted a Bicycle Master Plan in 1999 as a part of the Land Use and Transportation (LUTE) element of Oakland's 1998 General Plan. The creation of the plan was to promote alternatives to the private automobile. The Oakland City Council reaffirmed the bike plan in 2005, revised it in 2007, and reaffirmed it in 2012. From 1999 to 2007, the city installed 900 bike racks throughout Oakland, accommodating over 2,000 bicycles. By the end of 2017, over 160 bikeway miles and 9,900 bike parking spaces were constructed. Facilities for parking thousands of bicycles have been installed downtown and in other commercial districts throughout Oakland. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2011 American Community Survey, Oakland came in seventh place out of the 100 largest cities in the nation by percentage of people that chose to commute by bike in 2011.


Motorized scooters

In July 2019, the City of Oakland Department of Transportation announced that it had issued official permits for the deployment of shared e-scooters to four companies: Bird (company), Bird, CleVR, Clevr, Lime, and Lyft. Oakland requires these operators to educate users on the correct and safe use of scooters, to distribute the scooters equitably throughout the city, to ensure accessibility, and to provide insurance and indemnification.


Bridges, freeways, and tunnels

Oakland is served by several major highways: Eastbound Bay Bridge traffic entering Oakland then splits into three freeways at the MacArthur Maze freeway interchange: Interstate 580 (California), Interstate 580 (MacArthur Freeway) heads southeast toward Hayward, California, Hayward and eventually to the California Central Valley; Interstate 880 (California), Interstate 880 (Nimitz Freeway) runs south to San Jose; and the Eastshore Freeway (Interstate 80 (California), Interstate 80/I-580) runs north, providing connections to Sacramento and San Rafael, California, San Rafael, respectively. Interstate 980 (California), Interstate 980 (Williams Freeway) begins its eastbound journey at I-880 in Downtown Oakland before turning into California State Route 24, State Route 24 (Grove Shafter Freeway) at I-580. California State Route 13, State Route 13 begins as the Warren Freeway at I-580, and runs through a scenic valley in the Montclair, Oakland, California, Montclair District before entering
Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...
. A stub of a planned freeway was constructed at the High Street exit from the Nimitz Freeway, but that freeway extension plan was abandoned. At the time of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, the Cypress Street Viaduct double-deck segment of the Nimitz Freeway collapsed, killing 42 people. The old freeway segment had passed through the middle of West Oakland, forming a barrier between West Oakland neighborhoods. Following the earthquake, this section was rerouted around the perimeter of West Oakland and rebuilt in 1997–2001. The east span of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge also suffered damage from the quake when a 50-foot (15-m) section of the upper deck collapsed onto the lower deck; the damaged section was repaired within a month of the earthquake. As a result of Loma Prieta, a significant seismic retrofit was performed on the western span of the Bay Bridge. The eastern span has now been replaced with a dramatic single-tower self-anchoring suspension span. Two underwater tunnels, the Webster Street Tube, Webster and Posey Tube, Posey Tubes, connect the main island of Alameda to downtown Oakland, coming above ground in Chinatown. In addition, the Park Street Bridge, Park Street, Fruitvale Bridge, Fruitvale, and High Street bridges connect Alameda to East Oakland over the Oakland Estuary. In the hills, the Leimert Bridge crosses Dimond Canyon, connecting the Oakmore neighborhood to Park Boulevard. The Caldecott Tunnel carries Highway 24 through the Berkeley Hills, connecting central Contra Costa County to Oakland. The Caldecott has four bores.


Oakland Slow Streets Program

On April 11, 2020, the City of Oakland launched its Slow Streets Program. This was facilitated in part by the sudden decrease of vehicle traffic that resulted from the state-wide stay-at-home order and school closures in response to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in California, COVID-19 in California. The goal of the program was to “support safe physical activity and alleviate overcrowding in parks and on trails by discouraging through traffic.” This was accomplished by closing 74 miles of streets to through traffic. Over the course of three months the city installed “soft closure” barriers consisting of signage, traffic cones, and barricades in over 21 miles of city streets. While the primary goal at the time was to encourage socially distanced outdoor physical activities like biking, walking, and jogging, the long term implementation of the Slow Streets Program contributed to the city's traffic calming measures and promoted alternatives to car use as well. Although the Slow Streets Program was initially praised for its rapid implementation and prioritization of pedestrian safety, the Oakland Department of Transportation quickly came under fire for its failure to collect feedback that represented the opinions of the diverse range of residents whom the program affected. The high engagement with online surveys by wealthy white residents initially suggested an almost universally positive reaction to the program. The disproportionately low number of responses from residents of East Oakland—a largely Black and Latino and low-income area—revealed both the oversight of city officials as well as the shortcomings of urban planning systems’ ability to equally benefit different social groups, which consequently perpetuates inequalities like the transport divide. After the flaws of the feedback forms were brought to light, city planners made concentrated efforts to meet with representatives from different community groups who in turn stressed that simply closing streets to through traffic wasn't enough to protect pedestrians from dangerous driving. In response the city expressed its commitment to its local residents calling for road traffic safety by rolling out Slow Streets: Essential Places, a phase of the program which installed cones and signage at dangerous traffic areas in order to make grocery stores, COVID-19 test sites, and food distribution sites easily and safely accessible.


Freight rail

Freight service, which consists primarily of moving shipping containers to and from the Port of Oakland, is provided today by Union Pacific Railroad (UP), and to a lesser extent by BNSF Railway (which now shares the tracks of the UP between Richmond and Oakland). Historically, Oakland was served by several railroads. Besides the transcontinental line of the Southern Pacific, there was also the Santa Fe (whose Oakland terminal was actually in Emeryville), the Western Pacific Railroad (who built a pier adjacent to the SP's), and the Sacramento Northern Railroad (eventually absorbed by the Western Pacific, which in turn was absorbed by UP in 1983).


Shipping

As one of the three major ports on the West Coast of the United States, the
Port of Oakland The Port of Oakland is a major container ship facility located in Oakland, California, in the San Francisco Bay. It was the first major port on the Pacific Coast of the United States to build terminals for container ships. As of 2011 it was the f ...
is the largest seaport on San Francisco Bay and the fifth busiest container port in the United States. It was one of the earliest seaports to switch to containerization and to Intermodal freight transport, intermodal container transfer, thereby displacing the Port of San Francisco, which never modernized its waterfront. One of the earlier limitations to growth was the inability to transfer containers to rail lines, all cranes historically operating between ocean vessels and trucks. In the 1980s, the Port of Oakland began the evaluation of development of an intermodal container transfer capability, i.e., facilities that now allow trans-loading of containers from vessels to either trucks or rail modes.


Utilities

Public water supply and sewage treatment are provided by East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD). Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG & E) provides natural gas and electricity service. Municipal garbage collection is franchised to Waste Management, Inc. Telecommunications and subscriber television services are provided by multiple private corporations and other service providers in accordance with the competitive objectives of the Telecommunications Act of 1996#Stated objective, Telecommunications Act of 1996. Oakland tops the list of the 50 largest US cities using electricity from renewable sources.


Healthcare

Originating in Oakland, Kaiser Permanente is an Health maintenance organization, HMO started in 1942, during World War II, by industrialist
Henry J. Kaiser Henry John Kaiser (May 9, 1882 – August 24, 1967) was an American industrialist who became known as the father of modern American shipbuilding. Prior to World War II, Kaiser was involved in the construction industry; his company was one of ...
to provide medical care for Kaiser Shipyards workers. It is the largest managed care organization in the United States and the largest non-governmental health care provider in the world. It is headquartered at One Kaiser Plaza in Downtown Oakland and maintains a large medical center in the Piedmont Avenue, Oakland, California, Piedmont Avenue neighborhood. Alta Bates Summit Medical Center, an East Bay hospital system, maintains its Summit Campus in the neighborhood known as "Pill Hill" north of downtown. Until 2000, it was the Summit Medical Center before merging with Berkeley-based Alta Bates. All campuses now operate under the Sutter Health network. Alameda Health System is an Integrated delivery system, integrated public Integrated delivery system, health care system organized as a public hospital authority. It operates five Alameda County hospitals including Oakland's Highland Hospital (Oakland, California), Highland Hospital and four primary care medical clinics including Oakland's Highland Wellness Center and Eastmont Wellness Center. Children's Hospital Oakland is the primary medical center specializing in pediatrics in the East Bay. It is a designated Level I pediatric trauma center and the only independent children's hospital in Northern California. There are also several community health centers in Oakland. Some examples include Lifelong Medical Care, Asian Health Services, and Roots Community Health Center.


Notable people


International relations


Sister cities

Oakland has 13 Twin towns and sister cities, sister cities:


Friendship cities

Oakland has 18 friendship cities: * Agadir, Morocco * Bahir Dar, Ethiopia * Changping District, Beijing, China * Chengdu, Sichuan, China * Guangzhou, Guangdong, China * Haikou, Hainan, China * Jing'an District, Shanghai, China * Jinzhou, Liaoning, China * Jurong, Jiangsu, China * Maoming, Guangdong, China * Mianyang, Sichuan, China * Nanning, Guangxi, China * Pudong, Shanghai, China * Qingdao, Shandong, China * Tanggu District, Tianjin, China * Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia * Weifang, Shandong, China


See also

*Northern California Megaregion *List of cities and towns in the San Francisco Bay Area *List of tallest buildings in Oakland, California *Oakland Ebonics controversy


Notes


References


External links


Official website – oaklandca.gov

Visit Oakland: Oakland Convention and Visitors Bureau
* localwiki:oakland, Oakland on LocalWiki * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Oakland, California Oakland, California, Incorporated cities and towns in California Cities in Alameda County, California 1852 establishments in California California Enterprise Zones Cities in the San Francisco Bay Area County seats in California Port cities in California Populated coastal places in California Populated places established in 1852