Oakland, founded in 1852, is a major city on the east side (also called East Bay) of San Francisco Bay in Northern California in the United States. To its north lies Berkeley, home to the campus of the University of California, Berkeley. To its west stands San Francisco, across the Bay Bridge. To its south lies the island city of Alameda, and San Leandro lies to the southeast. Along the hills which run from north to east, Oakland borders five of the East Bay Regional Parks. In the center of Oakland, and completely surrounded by it (prompting the common analogy to a doughnut hole), is the wealthy independent city of Piedmont. Oakland is home of the Port of Oakland, one of three major shipping ports on the American West coast.
Economic recovery along with Oakland's weather, location, hillside neighborhoods with views of San Francisco and the Bay, aggressive policies to reduce crime, astronomically high rents and home prices in nearby San Francisco, and a substantial offering of shopping districts and restaurants representing cuisines both homegrown and worldwide have led to an increase of population and of real-estate prices in the past decade.
Oakland is the county seat of Alameda County. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, the city's population was 399,484, making it the third largest city in the San Francisco Bay Area after San Jose and San Francisco.
The Oakland Tribune published its first newspaper on February 21, 1874. The Tribune Tower, which sports a clock, is one of Oakland's landmarks.
Oakland hosts Oakland International Airport, which serves most of the low-cost air traveler's market to and from the San Francisco Bay Area. Major employers in Oakland include the local, state and federal governments, United States Postal Service, regional transportation and utility authorities, Kaiser Permanente, Clorox, Zhone Technologies, Dreyers Grand Ice Cream, carriers associated with the Port, and commercial bakeries.
Oaklanders are understandably frustrated by the misuse of the most famous quote said about their city. "There's no there there," was uttered by Gertrude Stein upon learning as an adult that her childhood Oakland home had been torn down. Her quote did not have anything to do with the city itself. Modern-day Oakland has turned the quote on its head, with a statue downtown simply titled, "There." Additionally, in 2005 a sculpture called HERETHERE has been installed by the City of Berkeley on the Berkeley-Oakland border at Martin Luther King Jr. Way. The sculpture consists of eight foot high letters spelling out the words "HERE" and "THERE" in front of a ramp that carries the BART rapid transit tracks from its elevated section in Oakland to the underground section in Berkeley.
Oakland is located at 37°47'43" North, 122°13'41" West (37.795227, -122.228111).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 78.2 mi2 (202.4 km2). 56.1 mi2 (145.2 km2) of it is land and 22.1 mi2 (57.2 km2) of it is water. The total area is 28.28% water.
Oaklanders most broadly refer to their city's terrain as "the flatlands" and "the hills," which up until recent waves of gentrication have also been a reference to Oakland's deep economic divide, with "the hills" being more affluent communities. About 2/3 of Oakland lies within the flat plain of the San Francisco Bay, with 1/3 rising into the foothills and hills of the East Bay range.
As of the census of 2000, there are 399,484 people, 150,790 households, and 86,402 families residing in the city. The population density is 7,126.6/mi2 (2,751.4/km2). There are 157,508 housing units at an average density of 2,809.8/mi2 (1,084.8/km2). The racial makeup of the city is 35.66% African American, 31.29% White, 0.66% Native American, 15.23% Asian, 0.50% Pacific Islander, 11.66% from other races, and 4.98% from two or more races. 21.89% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 150,790 households out of which 28.6% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 34.0% are married couples living together, 17.7% have a female householder with no husband present, and 42.7% are non-families. 32.5% of all households are made up of individuals and 8.6% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.60 and the average family size is 3.38.
In the city the population is spread out with 25.0% under the age of 18, 9.7% from 18 to 24, 34.0% from 25 to 44, 20.9% from 45 to 64, and 10.5% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 33 years. For every 100 females there are 93.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 90.2 males.
The median income for a household in the city is $40,055, and the median income for a family is $44,384. Males have a median income of $37,433 versus $35,088 for females. The per capita income for the city is $21,936. 19.4% of the population and 16.2% of families are 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 are living below the poverty line.
See also: Maps of Oakland, California
The earliest recorded inhabitants were the Huchiun tribe , belonging to a linguistic grouping later called the Ohlone (a Miwok Indian word meaning "western people"). In Oakland, they were heavily concentrated around Lake Merritt, Emeryville, and Lake Temescal, a small lake in the Oakland Hills. Temescal is an Aztec word for bath-house, brought north by Spanish colonizers.
Oakland, along with the rest of Northern California was claimed for Spain by visiting Spanish explorers in 1772. During its days under the Spanish Empire in the late 18th to early 19th century, and later under an independent Mexico in the early 19th century, Oakland (along with most of the East Bay), was owned by a wealthy landowner Lus Mara Peralta who named his area Rancho San Antonio. Upon his death in 1842, Peralta divided his land among his four sons as most of Oakland fell within the shares given to Antonio Maria and Vicente. They would open the land to settlement by American settlers, loggers, European whalers and fur-traders.
Full scale settlement and development occurred following California being conquered by the United States during the Mexican American war, and the California Gold Rush in 1848. Oakland was founded and incorporated in 1852 and grew with the railroads, becoming a major rail terminus in the late 1860s and 1870s. Originally comprising the area west of Lake Merritt (now downtown and Chinatown), it gradually annexed farmlands and settlements to the east and north. Oakland's rise to industrial prominence and its subsequent need for a seaport led to the digging of a shipping and tidal channel in 1902 creating the "island" of nearby town Alameda. In 1906 its population doubled with refugees made homeless after the San Francisco earthquake and fire who had fled to Oakland. By 1920, Oakland was the home of numerous manufacturing industries, including metals, automobiles, and shipbuilding.
Source:
Oakland-USA.com
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