Oakland
Oakland is located in Northern California in the San Francisco Bay Area, the sixth most populous metropolitan area in the United States. Based on 2006 statistical data, Oakland is the 44th largest city in the United States.
The California Department of Finance estimates that Oakland's population on January 1, 2008 was 420,183.
Oakland is a major West Coast port, and is home to several major corporations including Kaiser Permanente and Clorox, as well as corporate headquarters for nationwide businesses like Dreyer's and Cost Plus World Markets. Oakland is a major hub city for the Bay Area subregion collectively called the East Bay.
Rand McNally named Oakland as having the best weather in the United States. census, Oakland and Long Beach, California are the most ethnically diverse cities in the United States, with over 150 languages spoken in Oakland. Attractions include Jack London Square, the Oakland Zoo, the Oakland Museum of California, the Chabot Space and Science Center, Lake Merritt, the East Bay Regional Park District ridge line parks and preserves, and Chinatown.
History
Depiction of Oakland in 1900.
The earliest recorded inhabitants were the Huchiun tribe, belonging to a linguistic grouping later called the Ohlone (a Miwok word meaning "western people"). In Oakland, they were heavily concentrated around Lake Merritt and Temescal Creek, a stream which enters the San Francisco Bay at Emeryville.
Oakland, along with the rest of California, was claimed for the Spanish king by explorers from New Spain in 1772.
In the early 19th century, the area which later became Oakland (along with most of the East Bay), was granted to Luís María Peralta by the Spanish royal government for his Rancho San Antonio. The grant was confirmed by the successor Mexican republic upon its independence from Spain.
The area of the ranch that is today occupied by the downtown and extending over into the adjacent part of Alameda (originally not an island, but a peninsula), included a woodland of oak trees. This area was called encinal by the Peraltas, a Spanish word which means "oak grove", the origin of the later city's name.
Upon his death in 1842, Peralta divided his land among his four sons. Most of Oakland fell within the shares given to Antonio Maria and Vicente.
They would open the land to settlement by American settlers, loggers, European whalers, and fur-traders.
Full-scale settlement and development occurred following California being conquered by the United States during the Mexican-American War, and the California Gold Rush in 1848. The California state legislature incorporated the town of Oakland on May 4, 1852.
The town and its environs quickly grew with the railroads, becoming a major rail terminus in the late 1860s and 1870s.
In 1868, the Central Pacific constructed the Oakland Long Wharf at Oakland Point, the site of today's Port of Oakland. The Central Pacific also established one of its largest rail yards and servicing facilities in West Oakland which continued to be a major local employer under the Southern Pacific well into the 20th century.
The principal depot of the Southern Pacific in Oakland was the 16th Street Station located at 16th and Wood which is currently (2006–8) being partially restored as part of a redevelopment project.
A number of horsecar and cable car lines were constructed in Oakland in the latter half of the 1800s. The first electric streetcar set out from Oakland to Berkeley 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 and consolidated into what eventually became known as the Key System, the predecessor of today's publicly owned AC Transit. In addition to its system of streetcars in the East Bay, the Key System also operated commuter trains to its own pier and ferry boats to San Francisco, in competition with the Southern Pacific.
The Key's investors (incorporated as the "Realty Syndicate") also established two large hotels in Oakland, one of which survives as the Claremont Resort. The other, which burned down in the early 1930s, was the Key Route Inn, located at what is now West Grand and Broadway.
From 1904 to 1929, the Realty Syndicate also operated a major amusement park in north Oakland called Idora Park.
American Red Cross nurses tend to flu patients in temporary wards set up inside Oakland Municipal Auditorium, 1918
The original extent of Oakland upon its incorporation lay south of today's major intersection of San Pablo Avenue, Broadway and 14th Street. The city gradually annexed farmlands and settlements to the east and north.
In 1906, its population doubled with refugees made homeless after the San Francisco earthquake and fire who had fled to Oakland. The Auditorium would briefly serve as emergency ward and quarantine for some of Oakland's Spanish flu victims in 1918 and 1919.
The three waves of that pandemic killed more than 1,400 Oaklanders (out of 216,000 residents).
One day's output at the Chevrolet factory in 1917
By 1920, Oakland was the home of numerous manufacturing industries, including metals, canneries, bakeries, gas engines, automobiles, and shipbuilding.
1920s
The 1920s were economic boom years in the United States as a whole, and in California especially. Economic growth was fueled by the general post-war recovery, as well as oil discoveries in Los Angeles and the widespread introduction of the automobile.
General Motors opened a major Chevrolet automobile factory in Oakland at 73rd Avenue and Foothill (the current location of Eastmont Mall) in 1916, making cars and then trucks there until 1963. A large lot in East Oakland, 106th and Foothill Boulevard (the current location of Foothill Square), was chosen by the Fageol Motor Company as the site for their first factory in 1916, turning out farming tractors from 1918 to 1923, and introducing an influential low-slung "Safety Bus" in 1921 followed quickly by the 22-seat "Safety Coach". Sporty Durant Motors operated a plant in Oakland from 1921 to 1930, making two basic models: the low-priced "Forty" and the faster "Sixty", the latter with a greater number of styling options including two-door, four-door, hardtop, cabriolet (convertible) or open-air roadster. Mayor John L. A tragic death occurred in April 1930 at Durant Field when Lockheed test pilot Herbert "Hub" Fahy and his wife Claire hit a stump upon landing, flipping their plane and mortally wounding Hub without injuring Claire. Durant Field was often called Oakland Airport, though the current Oakland Airport was soon to be established four miles to the southwest.
On September 17, 1927, Charles Lindbergh attended the official dedication of the new Oakland Airport.
A month earlier, participants in the ill-fated Dole Air Race had taken off from Oakland's new 7,020 ft. runway on August 16, 1927, headed for Honolulu 2,400 miles away; three fliers died before getting to the starting line in Oakland, five were lost at sea attempting to reach Honolulu and two more died searching for the lost five. On May 31, 1928, Charles Kingsford Smith and his crew took off from Oakland in Southern Cross on their successful bid to cross the Pacific by air to finish in Australia.
13,000 homes were built from 1921 to 1924, more than in the period 1907 to 1920. Many of the apartment buildings and single-family houses still standing in Oakland were built in the 1920s. Many large office buildings downtown were built in the 1920s, and reflect the architectural styles of the time.
Rocky Road ice cream was invented in Oakland in 1929, though accounts differ regarding its first promoter.
William Dreyer of Dreyer's is said to have carried the idea of marshmallow and walnut pieces in a chocolate base over from his partner Joseph Edy's similar candy creation. What segregation did exist was voluntary; blacks could, and did, live in all parts of the city.
The war attracted to Oakland large numbers of laborers from around the country, though most were poor whites and blacks from Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Mississippi--sharecroppers who had been actively recruited by Kenry J. Southern whites expected deference from their black co-workers, and initially Southern blacks were conditioned to grant same.
The Mai Tai drink was first concocted in Oakland in 1944, and became very popular with military and civilian customers at Trader Vic's restaurant located at San Pablo Avenue and 65th, very close to Berkeley and Emeryville. Established in 1932, Trader Vic's became successful enough by 1936 that San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen was inspired to write that "the best restaurant in San Francisco is in Oakland." Trader Vic's in Oakland was chosen by the State Department as the official entertainment center for foreign dignitaries attending United Nations meetings in San Francisco. The restaurant continued to grow in popularity but was running out of room until 1951 when founder Victor Bergeron opened a larger one in San Francisco. The Oakland location closed in 1972 when it moved operations to the Emeryville Marina.
Post-WWII (1940s and 1950s)
View of Lake Merritt looking toward the Alameda County Courthouse.
Soon after the war, with the disappearance of Oakland's shipbuilding industry and the decline of its automobile industry, jobs became more scarce.
Many of the poor blacks who had come to the city from the South decided to stay in Oakland. The newly arrived poor Southern whites tended to move to Alameda, San Leandro and Hayward.
Between 1950 and 1960 approximately 100,000 white property owners moved out of Oakland—part of a nationwide phenomenon called white flight..
By the end of World War II, blacks constituted approximately 12% of Oakland's population, and the years following the war saw this percentage rise along with an increase in racial tensions. It was one of the largest strike movements in American history, as workers were determined not to let management repeat the union busting that followed the first World War.
During the 1950s automobile ownership increased, and Oakland's freeway system was constructed, which reduced demand for public transport; the Key System was dismantled after ridership dwindled, and the lower deck of the Bay Bridge was converted to automobile traffic.
average. 120 murders recorded in 2007 made Oakland's murder rate third highest in California, behind Richmond and Compton; however, Oakland suffered rape and robbery rates per capita that were almost twice those of Richmond and Compton, making Oakland's violent crime rate the highest overall. That same year, all violent crimes in Oakland were 2.31 times more numerous than the national average, and property crimes were 1.26 times more numerous. In 2004, there were 88 murders, and in 2005, there were 94.
Oakland City Hall was evacuated after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake until US$80M seismic retrofit and hazard abatement work was complete in 1995.
In the state legislature Oakland is located in the 9th Senate District, represented by Democrat Don Perata, and in the 14th, 16th, and 18th Assembly Districts, represented by Democrats Loni Hancock, Sandré Swanson, and Mary Hayashi respectively. Federally, Oakland is located in California's 9th congressional district, which has a Cook PVI of D +38 and is represented by Democrat Barbara Lee.
Economy
Oakland is a major West Coast port, and is home to several major corporations including Kaiser Permanente and Clorox, as well as corporate headquarters for national retailers like Dreyer's and Cost Plus World Markets.
Revitalization
Oakland has experienced an increase of both its population and of real-estate prices in the past decade, attributable to economic recovery and former mayor Brown's "10k Plan," which resulted in large amounts of new multi-family housing and development.
The monicker "Oaksterdam" was reported in 2003 in association with the opening of a handful of medical marijuana clubs. Oakland is a part of the Bay Area consisting of the numerous counties that share a border on the bay, including the three largest cities of San Jose, San Francisco, and Oakland, which is sometimes referred to as the "Yay Area."
"There's no there there"
The HERETHERE sculpture on the Oakland/Berkeley border
Many Oaklanders have been frustrated by the misuse of this famous quote about Oakland. It stretches along College Ave from Broadway to Alcatraz Ave.
Filming Locations
Oakland has been a less expensive location for several notable movies, TV Commercials, and music videos
The Mack (1973)
The Principal (1987)
Too Short's Life Is...Too Short music video (1988)
Too Short's I Ain't Trippin' music video (1988)
Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988)
True Believer (1989)
Too Short's The Ghetto music video (1990)
Raw Fusion's Throw your hands in tha air, music video (1991)
Raw Fusion's Rockin' to the P.M., music video (1991)
Spice 1's Welcome to the Ghetto music video (1992)
Spice 1's East Bay Gangster (Reggae) music video (1992)
Too Short's In The Trunk music video (1992)
Too Short's I Want To Be Free (That's The Truth) music video (1992)
Sneakers (1992)
Made In America (1993)
Too Short's I'm A Player music video (1993)
Too Short's Money In The Ghetto music video (1993)
Too Short's Get in Where You Fit In music video (1993)
The Coup's Dig it music video (1993)
The Coup's Funk music video (1993)
The Coup's Not Yet Free music video (1993)
The Conscious Daughters's Somethin' to Ride (Fonky Expedition) music video (1993)
Poetic Justice (1993)
Seagram's The Ville music video (1993)
The Coup's Fat Cats, Bigga Fish music video (1994)
The Coup's Takin' These music video (1994)
Seagram Eastside music video (1995)
Dru Down (album) Pimp Of The Year music video (1995) radio-friendly version under the name "Mack of the Year", the video borrowes from the film the Mack, also filmed in Oakland, Ca.
Luniz's I Got 5 on It music video (1995)
3X Krazy's Sunshine in the O music video (1995)
Too Short's Cocktales music video (1995)
Panther (1995)
Richie Rich's Do G's Get To Go To Heaven? music video (1996)
Richie Rich's Let's Ride music video (1996)
Yukmouth's Still Ballin' music video (1998)
The Coup's Me & Jesus the Pimp in a '79 Granada Last Night music video (1998) also filmed in San Francisco.
True Crime (1999)
The Matrix Reloaded (2003)
Tupac Resurrection (2003)
Mona Lisa Smile (2003)
Bee Season (2005)
xXx: State of the Union (2005)
The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)
Merritt Restaurant commercials
Keyshia Cole's I Changed My Mind music video (2004)
E-40's Tell Me When To Go music video (2006)
Sports
Oakland has teams in three professional sports: Basketball, baseball, and football.
the Oakland Coliseum, home of the Oakland Athletics baseball and Oakland Raiders football teams
Oakland's former sports teams include:
Oakland Oaks, Pacific Coast League of Baseball, 1903–1955.
(The Oaks played at Oaks Park in Emeryville after 1912.)
Oakland Oaks, American Basketball League, 1962.
Oakland Oaks, American Basketball Association, 1967–1969.
Oakland Seals, National Hockey League, 1967–1976.
Oakland Clippers, North American Soccer League, 1968.
Oakland Stompers, 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
J. Following the earthquake, this section of the Nimitz Freeway was rerouted around the perimeter of West Oakland and rebuilt in 1999.