Chinese Community United Methodist Church, Oakland, California
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The Chinatown neighborhood in Oakland, California(), is traditionally Chinese which reflects Oakland's diverse
Chinese American Chinese Americans are Americans of Han Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans along with their ancestors trace lineage from ...
, and more broadly
Asian American Asian Americans are Americans of Asian ancestry (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of such immigrants). Although this term had historically been used for all the indigenous people ...
community. It is frequently referred to as "Oakland Chinatown" in order to distinguish it from nearby San Francisco's Chinatown. It lies at an elevation of 39 feet (12 m).
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 va ...
were the first Asians to arrive in Oakland in the 1850s, followed by Japanese in the 1890s, Koreans in the 1900s, and Filipinos in the 1930s and 1940s.
Southeast Asian Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...
s began arriving in the 1970s during the Vietnam War. Many Asian languages and dialects can be heard in Chinatown due to its diverse population. Chinatown is located in downtown Oakland, with its center at 8th Street and Webster Street. Its northern edge is 12th Street, and its southern edge is Interstate 880 (located approximately at 6th Street). It stretches from Broadway on the west to the southern tip of Lake Merritt in the east.


History

Oakland Chinatown The Chinatown neighborhood in Oakland, California(), is traditionally Chinese which reflects Oakland's diverse Chinese American, and more broadly Asian American community. It is frequently referred to as "Oakland Chinatown" in order to distingui ...
dates back to the arrival of Chinese immigrants in the 1850s, making it one of the oldest Chinatowns in North America. By 1860, the census of Oakland included 96 "Asiatics" among a total of 1,543 (6.2% of the city's population). More Chinese arrived to help build the
Central Pacific Railroad The Central Pacific Railroad (CPRR) was a rail company chartered by Pacific Railroad Acts, U.S. Congress in 1862 to build a railroad eastwards from Sacramento, California, to complete the western part of the "First transcontinental railroad" in N ...
western portion of the
First transcontinental railroad North America's first transcontinental railroad (known originally as the "Pacific Railroad" and later as the " Overland Route") was a continuous railroad line constructed between 1863 and 1869 that connected the existing eastern U.S. rail netwo ...
during the Coolie slave trade during the 1860s. The Chinese settled in shrimp camps on the estuary of Oakland at 1st Street and Castro in the 1850s, near the Point in West Oakland which was referred to as "Chinese Point", and at 4th and Clay streets. The Chinese settlement at Telegraph between 16th and 17th streets burnt down in 1867 and was relocated at the San Pablo Avenue Chinatown between 19th and 20th streets; it is now known as Oakland's Old Uptown Chinatown. Other areas settled were 14th Street between Washington and Clay, and the Charter line (22nd Street) between Castro and Brush Streets. Fears of the Yellow Peril and local exclusion laws forced the Chinese population to resettle to its current location centered at 8th Street and Webster Street in the 1870s. The first Chinese in Oakland fished in 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 ...
for
shrimp Shrimp are crustaceans (a form of shellfish) with elongated bodies and a primarily swimming mode of locomotion – most commonly Caridea and Dendrobranchiata of the decapod order, although some crustaceans outside of this order are refer ...
similarly to the Chinese at China Camp near San Rafael. In 1868, Chinese laborers built the Temescal Dam in Oakland providing water for the East Bay as well as the
Lake Chabot Lake Chabot is a man-made lake covering in Alameda County, California, United States. Part of the lake lies within Oakland city limits, but most of it lies in unincorporated Castro Valley, just east of San Leandro. It was formed by the damming o ...
Dam in 1874–75. They worked in canneries, cotton mills and fuse and explosive factories as well as farms. In the 1880s, discriminatory laws made it difficult for Chinese immigrants to own land or even find work. They found work as
laundry Laundry refers to the washing of clothing and other textiles, and, more broadly, their drying and ironing as well. Laundry has been part of history since humans began to wear clothes, so the methods by which different cultures have dealt with t ...
workers,
cook Cook or The Cook may refer to: Food preparation * Cooking, the preparation of food * Cook (domestic worker), a household staff member who prepares food * Cook (professional), an individual who prepares food for consumption in the food industry * ...
s, gardeners,
houseboy A houseboy (alternatively spelled as ''houseboi'') was a term which referred to a typically male domestic worker or personal assistant who performed cleaning and other forms of personal chores. The term has a record of being used in the British ...
s, or as vegetable peddlers. The Chinese Exclusion Act severely limited the further immigration of Chinese. By 1900, the Chinese in Oakland numbered less than 1,000. 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 destroyed most of San Francisco's Chinatown and more than 4,000 Chinese survivors found refuge in Oakland. Even while San Francisco Chinatown was rebuilding, many stayed in Oakland, bringing the Chinatown population to about 2,500. Because of immigration restrictions barring Chinese women and children, a bachelor society was created. In the 1920s, Oakland Chinatown grew from 10th Street to the waterfront from Broadway to Harrison. Even until 1940, the Chinatown population grew only to about 3,000. With the United States involvement in World War II and the fact that China was an ally, the Chinese Exclusion Act was repealed in 1943, however the immigration quota was maintained at 105 immigrants per year. In 1950, Chinatown grew to a population of 5,500, but local housing was lost due to the construction of Interstate 880, which runs through 8 blocks between 5th and 6th streets and serves as a transportation artery for some of Chinatown's commercial activity, Laney College (8 blocks) and later in the late 1960s, the
Bay Area Rapid Transit Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is a rapid transit system serving the San Francisco Bay Area in California. BART serves 50 stations along six routes on of rapid transit lines, including a spur line in eastern Contra Costa County which uses ...
headquarters and Lake Merritt station (2 blocks) and Oakland Museum of California (4 blocks). Oakland Chinatown was economically stagnant for many years, especially after multigenerational Chinatown residents began moving to the suburbs in the late 1960s. However, Chinatown saw much steady development during the 1980s and 1990s as Chinese American merchants relocated from San Francisco to Oakland, and due to increased immigration from mainland China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand. During this time period, many ethnic Chinese Vietnamese and Chinese Cambodians began opening new small businesses, essentially replacing many of the older Taishanese-dominated businesses. Also, investors with Hong Kong backgrounds constructed the Pacific Renaissance Plaza in the early 1990s. Chinatown still retains the traditional aspects and characteristics of an older Chinatown. Oakland's Chinatown also includes a historic and still thriving fortune cookie factory. Although it is overshadowed by its more prominent, tourist-oriented counterpart in San Francisco, Oakland's Chinatown is bustling with activity and considered to be more authentic to many. Other Asian cultures are represented in Oakland's Chinatown as it has also been settled by non-Chinese Asians such as ethnic Vietnamese (many of whom operate many of Chinatown's jewelry businesses), Koreans, and Thais making it more of a pan-Asian area as opposed to a "Chinatown." As is the case with other retail and commercial districts around Oakland, the many customers and thriving businesses in Chinatown generate sales tax revenue for Oakland city and Redevelopment Agency coffers. Japanese immigrants began settling in Oakland in the 1890s mostly in West Oakland around Market Street. Later, hundreds were living in the section between Harrison and Oak streets south of 8th Street. They owned several stores in Chinatown. After the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, all
Japanese American are Americans of Japanese ancestry. Japanese Americans were among the three largest Asian American ethnic communities during the 20th century; but, according to the 2000 census, they have declined in number to constitute the sixth largest Asi ...
s were sent to
internment Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...
camps. The Masuda family had posted a large "I Am An American" sign outside their Oakland grocery store, Wanto Company, at 8th and Franklin streets which was photographed by Dorothea Lange. Many did not return to Oakland after the war ended. The Buddhist Church of Oakland is one of the few institutions remaining of Oakland's Japantown. Filipinos immigrated to the area in the early 1900s. Oakland Chinatown was the center of commerce and community gathering for Filipinos in the East Bay during 1940–1960.


People and culture

The residents of Oakland Chinatown include
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 va ...
, Vietnamese, Korean, Filipino, Japanese,
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 ...
, Laotian, Mien,
Thai Thai or THAI may refer to: * Of or from Thailand, a country in Southeast Asia ** Thai people, the dominant ethnic group of Thailand ** Thai language, a Tai-Kadai language spoken mainly in and around Thailand *** Thai script *** Thai (Unicode block ...
, Samoan and others. Consequently, many languages and dialects can be heard, including Cantonese, Chiu-Chow, Ilocano, Japanese, Khmer,
Khmu The Khmu (; Khmu: ; lo, ຂະມຸ ; th, ขมุ ; vi, Khơ Mú; ; my, ခမူ) are an ethnic group of Southeast Asia. The majority (88%) live in northern Laos where they constitute the largest minority ethnic group, comprising elev ...
, Korean, Lao,
Malay Malay may refer to: Languages * Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore ** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century ** Indonesi ...
,
Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...
, Mien,
Tagalog Tagalog may refer to: Language * Tagalog language, a language spoken in the Philippines ** Old Tagalog, an archaic form of the language ** Batangas Tagalog, a dialect of the language * Tagalog script, the writing system historically used for Tagal ...
,
Taiwanese Taiwanese may refer to: * Taiwanese language, another name for Taiwanese Hokkien * Something from or related to Taiwan ( Formosa) * Taiwanese aborigines, the indigenous people of Taiwan * Han Taiwanese, the Han people of Taiwan * Taiwanese people, ...
,
Thai Thai or THAI may refer to: * Of or from Thailand, a country in Southeast Asia ** Thai people, the dominant ethnic group of Thailand ** Thai language, a Tai-Kadai language spoken mainly in and around Thailand *** Thai script *** Thai (Unicode block ...
, Toishan, and Vietnamese. The
Oakland Asian Cultural Center The Oakland Asian Cultural Center, also referred to as the OACC, is an Oakland-based nonprofit cultural center that carries out Asian and Pacific Islander American arts and culture programs. It is located in the Pacific Renaissance Plaza in Oakla ...
offers cultural programs including performances, workshops, festivals, school tours, classes, and exhibitions.


Annual cultural events and fairs

*
Chinese New Year Chinese New Year is the festival that celebrates the beginning of a New Year, new year on the traditional lunisolar calendar, lunisolar and solar Chinese calendar. In Sinophone, Chinese and other East Asian cultures, the festival is commonly r ...
(also known as Lunar New Year or Vietnamese Tết). * Dragon boat races are held annually at Jack London Square or
Treasure Island, California Treasure Island is an artificial island in the San Francisco Bay and a neighborhood in the City and County of San Francisco. Built in 1936–37 for the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition, the island's World's Fair site is a California Hist ...
*The Oakland Chinatown StreetFest has been held on the 4th weekend of August annually since 1988. *
Mid-Autumn Festival The Mid-Autumn Festival (Chinese: / ), also known as the Moon Festival or Mooncake Festival, is a traditional festival celebrated in Chinese culture. Similar holidays are celebrated in Japan (), Korea (), Vietnam (), and other countries in Eas ...
(also known as Moon Festival or Vietnamese Tết Trung Thu).


Chinese Community United Methodist Church

The ''Chinese Community United Methodist Church'' (CCUMC), which was initially the ''Chinese Methodist Church'' was founded in 1887. The church was established as part of a chain of Methodist Chinese Missions by the Rev. Dr.
Otis Gibson Otis Gibson (; Pinyin: ''Jīshùn''; Foochow Romanized: ''Gĭ-sông''; December 8, 1826 – January 25, 1889) was a Methodist pastor, best known for his missionary work to the Chinese in Foochow, China and in San Francisco, California. Life Ea ...
. The two primary missions of this ministry was schools and refuge for women escaping slavery and prostitution. This church has close connections with the
Women's Missionary Society of the Pacific Coast The ''Women's Missionary Society of the Pacific Coast'' of the Methodist Episcopal Church was founded on October 29, 1870 by Methodist Rev. Otis T. Gibson, with eleven women he recruited in August 1870, for the purpose of working among the slav ...
in San Francisco. In the early days, the Chinese Methodist Church held worship service and Sunday School. Then to serve the needs of the growing Chinese community, an English school for immigrants, and a Chinese school for the American-born Chinese also operated. The early days of the church was sustained by courageous workers, both Chinese- and American-born as there were strong anti-Chinese sentiments in California at this time. The church was located at several sites in Oakland Chinatown. Chan Hon Fun was the pastor from 1900 to 1909 and established the church's current location in 1905 at 321 8th Street Oakland, CA 94607. In 1913, a fire devastated the building and a new building was erected. But by the 1940s, the church outgrew even this building. Under the leadership of Rev Edwar Lee, a new church and the current main sanctuary was built in 1952. With more growth, more space was needed, and a new social hall and classrooms annex was built in 1970. Today, the Chinese Community United Methodist Church conducts both a Chinese (Cantonese and Mandarin) language worship service and English worship service on Sundays.


Notable Landmarks

* Bill Louie's Corner - 8th and Franklin


Performing arts

Chinese opera Traditional Chinese opera (), or ''Xiqu'', is a form of musical theatre in China with roots going back to the early periods in China. It is an amalgamation of various art forms that existed in ancient China, and evolved gradually over more tha ...
was one of the first traditional Chinese art forms in Oakland. In 1907, a Chinese Theater at 9th and Franklin streets opened which could seat 500 people and had a company of 30 full-time actors from China. Today, three styles of Chinese opera clubs are active in Oakland: Cantonese opera,
Beijing opera Peking opera, or Beijing opera (), is the most dominant form of Chinese opera, which combines music, vocal performance, mime, dance and acrobatics. It arose in Beijing in the mid-Qing dynasty (1644–1912) and became fully developed and recognize ...
, and Kunqu.


Pacific Renaissance Plaza

A mixed use complex built by Hong Kong investors in the 1990s, this plaza with a central fountain with seating is often viewed as the center of Oakland Chinatown. The first and second floors are mixed retail/office/civic spaces; it consists of many restaurants, jewelry store, banks, ice creamery, and other retail and health services as well as the Asian Branch Library and
Oakland Asian Cultural Center The Oakland Asian Cultural Center, also referred to as the OACC, is an Oakland-based nonprofit cultural center that carries out Asian and Pacific Islander American arts and culture programs. It is located in the Pacific Renaissance Plaza in Oakla ...
. There are also residential condos/rentals on three sides of the plaza above the second floor: a 13 story residential building on the west side and two 4 story buildings on the south and east side. Underneath is a 3 level parking lot.


Libraries

The Asian Branch Library is one of many of Oakland Public Library's branches and is located in Chinatown's "Pacific Renaissance Plaza." The Asian Library is unique among public library branches in the United States as it houses eight Asian languages (Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, Cambodian, Tagalog and Laotian) in major reference titles and general subject titles, an Asian Studies collection, in addition to an English-language Asian American collection. The Asian Community Library was founded in 1975 as part of a Federal Library Services Construction Act grant to create a model library serving the Asian community in Oakland with multilingual staff and collections. It shared space with the Park Boulevard Branch at 1934 Park Blvd which was 1.5 miles from Chinatown. To improve access to Asian patrons it operated the Asian Bookmobile in Chinatown and Berkeley. In 1978, it moved to the Main Library about 0.5 miles from Chinatown. In 1981, it moved to a
storefront A storefront or shopfront is the facade or entryway of a retail store located on the ground floor or street level of a commercial building, typically including one or more display windows. A storefront functions to attract visual attention to a bu ...
among Chinatown shops and food stores in the 15 story City Center Plaza condos building at 449 9th Street at Broadway becoming the Asian Branch Library. The current location in the Pacific Renaissance Plaza opened in 1995.


Notable natives and residents

* Amy Tan, author *
Ben Fong-Torres Benjamin Fong-Torres ( 方 振 豪; Cantonese: Fong Chan Ho; born January 7, 1945) is an American rock journalist best known for his association with ''Rolling Stone'' magazine (until 1981) and the ''San Francisco Chronicle'' (from around 1982). B ...
, journalist, author, radio personality *
Bruce Lee Bruce Lee (; born Lee Jun-fan, ; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was a Hong Kong and American martial artist and actor. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy drawing from different combat disciplines that ...
, martial artist, actor *
Dong Kingman Dong Kingman (, 31 March 1911 – 12 May 2000) was a Chinese American artist and one of America's leading watercolor masters. As a painter on the forefront of the California Style School of painting, he was known for his urban and landscape ...
(1911–2000), watercolorist, created paintings for '' Flower Drum Song'' and '' The World of Suzie Wong'' *Dr.
Charles Goodall Lee Charles Goodall Lee (1881 – 1973) was an American dentist, and the first licensed Chinese American dentist in California. Lee financed the building of the Chinese American Citizens Alliance lodge in Oakland, California. He graduated from the Sc ...
(1881–1973), dentist, first licensed Chinese dentist who financed the lodge building of the
Chinese American Citizens Alliance Chinese American Citizens Alliance (C.A.C.A.) is a Chinese American fraternal, benevolent non-profit organization founded in 1895 in San Francisco, California to secure equal rights for Americans of Chinese ancestry and to better the welfare of t ...
in Oakland *
Frank Chin Frank Chin (born February 25, 1940) is an American author and playwright. He is considered to be one of the pioneers of Asian-American theatre. Life and career Frank Chin was born in Berkeley, California on February 25, 1940; until the age of s ...
, writer *
Fred Korematsu was an American civil rights activist who resisted the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. Shortly after the Imperial Japanese Navy launched its attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Or ...
resisted, and then challenged in court, the forced internment of Japanese Americans during World War II (See ''
Korematsu v. United States ''Korematsu v. United States'', 323 U.S. 214 (1944), was a landmark decision by the Supreme Court of the United States to uphold the exclusion of Japanese Americans from the West Coast Military Area during World War II. The decision has been wid ...
'' for more information.) *
Lew Hing Lew Hing (formal married name was Lew Yu-ling; Chinese: 劉興; May 1858–March 7, 1934) was a Chinese-born American industrialist and banker. He was the founding father of Chinatown in San Francisco, as well as Chinatown in Oakland, California ...
(1858–1934), tycoon, founded successful cannery building an empire in banking, shipping, and real estate * March Fong Eu, politician * Matt Fong, politician *
Maxine Hong Kingston Maxine Hong Kingston (; born Maxine Ting Ting Hong;Huntley, E. D. (2001). ''Maxine Hong Kingston: A Critical Companion'', p. 1. October 27, 1940) is an American novelist. She is a Professor Emerita at the University of California, Berkeley, wher ...
, writer of '' The Woman Warrior'' and ''China Men'' * Joe Shoong, founder of the National Dollar Stores and philanthropist *Derrick Soo, homeless advocate; 2022 Oakland mayoral candidate * Rodney Yee, yoga instructor *
Wendy Yoshimura Wendy Masako Yoshimura (born January 17, 1943) is an American still life watercolor painter. She is known for her involvement with the leftist terrorist group, Symbionese Liberation Army, during the mid-1970s. She was born in Manzanar, one of ...
, watercolor artist * William Wong, journalist and author


Geography

Chinatown is located in
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 ...
between Broadway to the west, Interstate 880 to the south, Oak Street and Laney College to the east, and 12th Street to the north. The entrance to the Webster Tube, which carries traffic underneath the estuary, is on the edge of Chinatown. Unlike many Chinatowns, it has no formal
arch An arch is a vertical curved structure that spans an elevated space and may or may not support the weight above it, or in case of a horizontal arch like an arch dam, the hydrostatic pressure against it. Arches may be synonymous with vaul ...
( Paifang) or
gate A gate or gateway is a point of entry to or from a space enclosed by walls. The word derived from old Norse "gat" meaning road or path; But other terms include ''yett and port''. The concept originally referred to the gap or hole in the wall ...
, but it does have
bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all E ...
street signs. The neighborhood can be roughly divided into two distinct areas: Between Broadway and Harrison Street is the commercial area, with busy streets lined with markets, restaurants, banks, and other businesses. East of Harrison Street, the neighborhood is more residential in character with more apartments and condominiums, less crowded sidewalks, and a mix of retail stores that are more service and product oriented, with fewer groceries and restaurants. Though the mainstay of commercial activity is south of 10th Street, there are nonetheless many retail shops, stores, and restaurants north of 10th Street and in other parts of Downtown Oakland which are owned by Chinese and Korean merchants. In particular at the edge of Chinatown, 14th street between Webster and Harrison is block which features numerous Korean restaurants and businesses, especially on the north side of the block. Recent immigrants have also moved south into "New Oakland Chinatown" in the San Antonio neighborhood along International Boulevard (formerly East 14th Street) and Eastlake business district on East 18th Street.


Government


Representatives

* United States Senate represented by Dianne Feinstein and Alex Padilla * United States House of Representatives District 13 represented by Barbara Lee **
California State Assembly The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature, the upper house being the California State Senate. The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. The A ...
District 18 represented by
Mia Bonta Mia Bonta ( Mialisa Tania Villafañe; born January 26, 1972) is an American politician serving as a member of the California State Assembly. A member of the Democratic Party, she represents the 18th Assembly District, which consists of Oakland, ...
**
California State Senate The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature, the lower house being the California State Assembly. The State Senate convenes, along with the State Assembly, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento, Cal ...
District 9 represented by Nancy Skinner *** Alameda County District 3 (Fruitvale, San Antonio, Chinatown portions of Oakland, San Leandro, Alameda, San Lorenzo, Ashland, Hillcrest Knolls) represented by Wilma Chan **** Oakland City Council District 2 ( Grand Lake-Chinatown) represented by Nikki Fortunato Bas. ****Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf.


Police and fire

The Oakland Police Department's Administration Building is located at 455 Seventh St. Chinatown is in Oakland Police Department's Beat 3X. The Community Services Section hosts the Asian Advisory Committee on Crime and the Asian Youth Services Committee. The Chinatown Neighborhood Crime Prevention Council for beat 3x, a neighborhood community-policing board meets monthly. Meetings are conducted in Cantonese and are open to all. Oakland Fire Department, Fire Station No. 12 is located at 822 Alice Street at 9th Street. Fire Engine 12 is assigned to this fire station. The citizens of Oakland and the Oakland Fire Department will remember the service and sacrifice of Oakland Engine Company No. 12. Hoseman Tracy Toomey who died in the line of duty on January 10, 1999 in a 2-story building collapse after responding to a 6-alarm fire on upper Broadway.


Infrastructure


Transportation

Located at the crossroads of the 880 freeway, the tubes linking Alameda and Oakland, and downtown, Oakland Chinatown bears a significant transportation burden that dates back to the 1950s. Weekday and everyday commerce in the area creates thousands of peak period private automobile trips daily and resulting air pollution impacts on the neighborhood's elderly residents. Over 20,000 shoppers and tourists use its sidewalks every weekend. The traffic on I-880 is over 100,000 cars per day. The neighborhood is served by a freeway on-ramp to I-880 south at 5th and Oak Street. It is also served by a freeway on-ramp to I-980 at 6th and Jackson. Recently Oakland's Public Works Agency reconfigured travel lanes on Jackson Street to separate traffic travelling South on Jackson from traffic merging-into Jackson from Eastbound 7th Street. This effectively eliminated, through lane re-marking, any possibility of the lost art of the "alternating merge." The volume of automobile traffic travelling away from the core of Chinatown on 7th street towards the freeway connections was so voluminous and unrelenting, that accidents were occurring. Chinatown has the highest number of automobile-pedestrian collisions in the City of Oakland. A pedestrian safety campaign brought in the first
scramble Scramble, Scrambled, or Scrambling may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Games * ''Scramble'' (video game), a 1981 arcade game Music Albums * ''Scramble'' (album), an album by Atlanta-based band the Coathangers * ''Scrambles'' (album) ...
system in Alameda County to Oakland Chinatown to prevent further pedestrian fatalities and injuries. Until recently, California Auto Insurance company actuarial models charged higher rates to residents in the Chinatown's zip code under a practice known as territorial rating, or
zip code profiling Zip, Zips or ZIP may refer to: Common uses * ZIP Code, USPS postal code * Zipper or zip, clothing fastener Science and technology Computing * ZIP (file format), a compressed archive file format ** zip, a command-line program from Info-ZIP * Z ...
. The insurance actuarial theory behind this market practice purports that drivers residing or "principally garaging" their cars in a certain area face a greater loss and accident ratio. This practice was outlawed by California voters in 1988 by Proposition 103 on the statewide ballot. The law made its way through the courts for 18 years before several insurance companies settled with California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi in 2006 to put an end to the practice. Oakland is served by several
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 ...
bus lines which run on 7th, 8th, 11th, 12th, Broadway, and Franklin Streets. Many visitors to the neighborhood use nearby mass transit connections. The neighborhood has two BART stations: 12th Street Station on its northwest corner, and Lake Merritt Station at its eastern edge.


Education


Primary and secondary schools


=Public schools

= Residents of Chinatown are zoned to schools in the
Oakland Unified School District Oakland Unified School District is a public education school district that operates a total of 80 elementary schools (TK–5), middle schools (6–8), and high schools (9–12). There are also 28 district-authorized charter schools in Oaklan ...
. Zoned schools includ

* Lincoln Elementary School (Oakland, California), Lincoln Elementary School (K-5) *Westlake Middle School *
Oakland Technical High School Oakland Technical High School, known locally as Oakland Tech or simply "Tech", is a public high school in Oakland, California, United States, and is operated under the jurisdiction of the Oakland Unified School District. It is one of six compre ...
American Indian Public Charter School II, a charter school campus of the
American Indian Model Schools American Indian Model Schools (AIM Schools) is a charter school system based in Oakland, California. Started with the American Indian Public Charter School (AIPCS), a middle school in the late 1990s to serve Native American students, in 2007 it ex ...
system, is located in Chinatown.Murphy, Katy.
Oakland charter schools get high marks and skepticism
" '' The Oakland Tribune''. Monday November 3, 2008. Retrieved on September 11, 2011.
It caters to students living in the Chinatown and Lake Merritt areas. In 2008 it shared a campus with Oakland Charter Academies (now
Amethod Public Schools Amethod Public Schools (formerly Oakland Charter Academy Inc., doing business as Oakland Charter Academies) is a nonprofit charter school system with headquarters in Oakland, California. The Lighthouse Community Charter School was established in Oakland's Chinatown in the 2004 – 2005 school year with grades K-2 and 6–8 and later expanded to serve grades K – 12. In the 2009–2010 school year, the school relocated to a facility close to the Oakland airport. Yu Ming Charter School, a Mandarin immersion charter school, currently serves grades K through 4. It will eventually grow to K through 8 by adding a grade every year. Formerly located at 321 10th Street, the school moved to 1086 Alcatraz Avenue in February 2013.


Colleges and universities

*
Laney College is a community college located at the south end of Chinatown. Course offerings include Asian and Asian American Studies, Chinese language, Japanese language, and Chinese Opera (Music Department). It is a part of the
Peralta Community College District The Peralta Community College District is the community college district serving northern Alameda County, California. The district operates four community colleges: Berkeley City College, Laney College and Merritt College in Oakland, and Coll ...
. *
Cal State East Bay California State University, East Bay (Cal State East Bay, CSU East Bay, or CSUEB) is a public university in Hayward, California. The university is part of the 23-campus California State University system and offers 136 undergraduate and 60 post ...
has the Oakland Professional Development and Conference Center at Broadway and 11th Street.
Continuing education Continuing education (similar to further education in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland) is an all-encompassing term within a broad list of post-secondary learning activities and programs. The term is used mainly in the United ...
courses includes a certificate program in ''Teaching Chinese as a Heritage or Other Language''.


Other education services

*The Mun Fu Yuen "
Chinese school A Chinese school () is a school that is established for the purpose of teaching the varieties of Chinese (in particular, Mandarin and Cantonese), though the purpose can vary to teaching different aspects of Chinese culture such as Chinese art, ca ...
" has after school and weekend classes in Cantonese and Mandarin to promote the Chinese language and culture at the Shoong Family Chinese Cultural Center on 9th Street at Harrison. The Center was established in 1953 by philanthropist Joe Shoong with the support of the Oakland Chinese community. It is the original and longest established Chinese school in Oakland with graduates that have contributed much towards the welfare of our Oakland community.


Healthcare Services and Options

A source of healthcare for the surrounding community include Asian Health Services. Since 1974, they have provided the densely populated Asian community with health services including mental health, dental care, advocacy and opportunities to participate in community leadership. "To serve and advocate for the medically underserved, including the immigrant and refugee Asian community...", is an integral part of their mission statement


See also

* History of Chinese Americans in San Francisco * Jack London Square * Lakeside Apartments District *
List of ethnic enclaves in North American cities This is a list of ethnic enclaves in various countries of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds to the native population. An ethnic enclave in this context denotes an area primarily populated by a population with similar ethnic or racial ...
* Oakland City Center *
Old Oakland Old Oakland is a historic district in downtown Oakland, California. The area is located on the northwest side of Broadway, between the City Center complex and the Jack London Square district, and across Broadway from Chinatown. The Old Oakl ...


References


Books

* Bagwell, Beth (1994). ''Oakland, the Story of a City''. (HC) or (PB) * Collins, Willie R. (Ed.) (1994). ''Chinese traditional arts and folklore in Oakland''. City of Oakland Cultural Arts Division's Traditional Arts Program. * Ma, Eve Armentrout and Ma, Jeong Huei (1982). ''The Chinese of Oakland: Unsung Builders'' Oakland Chinese History Research Committee. * National Park Service History
A History of Chinese Americans in California
Retrieved June 7, 2005. * Wa Sung Community Service Club. ''Oakland Chinatown Community Directory 2005''. * Wong, William (2004). ''Oakland's Chinatown'' (Images of America: California). Arcadia Publishing
AsianWeek reviewSan Francisco Chronicle review
*Fong Torres, Ben (1994). ''The Rice Room: Growing up Chinese-American—From Number Two Son to Rock 'n' Roll''.


Websites

*
Shoong Family Chinese Cultural Center: Chinatown, Oakland


Further reading

* Ah-Tye, Howard (1999). ''Resourceful Chinese''. Matai Group. * Chann, Ernest (1976). "Brief History of Oakland Chinatown." Unpublished monograph. At Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room. * Chow, Willard T. (June 1, 1977). The Reemergence of an Inner City: The Pivot of Chinese Settlement in the East Bay Region of the San Francisco Bay Area. R & E Pub. * Ma, L. Eva Armentrout (January 1, 2001). ''Hometown Chinatown: A History of Oakland's Chinese Community, 1852–1995''. (Asian Americans). Garland Publishing. * Wong, William (2001). "Yellow Journalist: Dispatches from Asian America." Temple University Press.


External links


Oakland Chinatown History
overview, personal histories, and photos
Oakland Chinatown Chamber of CommerceTaste More Than China In Oakland's Chinatown
SF Chronicle August 9, 2000

AsianWeek Sept 2, 1999

press release

Library of Congress' American Memory website
Oakland Asian Cultural CenterOakland Chinatown Oral History Project
– inter-generational oral history project to collect and preserve the ongoing narrative of community life in Oakland Chinatown {{Authority control Asian-American culture in Oakland, California Neighborhoods in Oakland, California
Oakland 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 ...
Chinese-American culture in California Chinatowns in California