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| Oakland was originally occupied by members of the Huchiun tribe. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries the area was claimed by Spanish settlers and then by an independent Mexico. When California was taken by the U.S. in teh Mexican American War, and after the later Gold Rush in the late 1840s the Oakland area underwent full scale development. The city was incorporated in 1852 and quickly became an industrial center, major seaport and railroad terminus.
During WWII Oakland's population boomed as its port became an important naval shipyard. After the war the automotive and shipmaking jobs dried up and the city fell on hard economic times. The image of Oakland as being high-crime and low-income are largely due to this post-war transformation. Oakland was on board for the counter-culture 60s: the Blank Panther party was founded here. And in the subsequent decades Oakland emerged as a birthplace of the new rap music. MC Hammer, Tupac Shakur, and Del Tha Funkee Homosapien and Digital Undergroun are just a few of the seminal artists who came out of Oakland.
In 1989 Oakland was rocked by the 7.1 Loma Prieta earthquake, which collapsed freeways and damaged the eastern span of the Bay Bridge. Buildings have been retrofitted to withstand a similar quake since.
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| Oakland enjoys the same beautifully moderate climate as the rest of the East Bay. The daytime temperature is usually within 10 degrees of a blissful 68 and cool breezes sweep in from San Francisco. September and October are the warmest months, with temperatures ranging into the 80s. Winters are cooler and can be wet. The spring and early summer is usually mild compared to cities further inland, which can get uncomfortably hot. |
| Oakland is in the East Bay, on the eastern side of the San Francisco Bay. Berkeley lies to the north, Alameda lies to the south, and San Francisco is over the Bay Bridge to the west. Within Oakland and surrounded by it is the upscale city of Piedmont. The eastern side of the city rises up into the hills and there is a stark ecomonic divide between the residents of the large houses in the hills and the 2/3 of Oaklanders who live in the flats. |
| Oakland's ecomony was long based on shipbuilding. After WWII when this industry became less important, the city experienced an economic downturn. Today the city is experiencing an economic revival thanks to aggressive anti-crime policies and the sky-rocketing rents in Berkeley and San Francisco. Still, many Oakland residents work in these other neighborhoods. |
Oakland is the county seat of Alameda County and has the same political leanings as Berkeley to the north: it is famously liberal, from the founding of the Black Panther Party in 1960s to today. In 1996 Oakland became the center of national attention briefly when its school board declared "Ebonics" to be its own language. This move was derided in the national media, largely because people mistakenly thought classes would be taught in Ebonics.
The current mayor of Oakland is Democrat Jerry Brown, two-time California governor, one-time presidential nomineee, and colleague of Mother Teresa. During his failed presidential bid he refused to accept donations of larger than $100 and, consequently, had a hard time beating out heavyweight Bill Clinton for the nomination. During his time as mayor of Oakland, however, property values increased by $7.7 billion, 10,000 new jobs were created, and crime dropped by 30%. |
Oakland has a many notable residents who have made contributions to art in its many forms, from Gurtrude Stein to Tom Hanks to Billy Joe Armstrong of Green Day. But the city is without a doubt most famous as a founding locus of West Coast Hip Hop. The list of influential hip-hop artists starts with Digital Underground and includes such mainstream behemoths as Tupac Shakur and underground legends as Too $hort and Del Tha Funkee Homosapien.
Oakland's current music scene flourishes as well. Cafe Van Kleef is one of the best small jazz venues in the Bay Area, regularly hosting edgy new combos. And Yoshi's, in Jack London Square, is on the short list for best jazz venue in the nation with its A-list acts and unbeatable atmosphere. |
Oakland society is diverse. Economically, it ranges from wealthy neighborhoods in the Oakland hills and near the bay to the more working-class neighborhoods in the flats. Although Oakland's Chinatown is less of a tourist attraction than that of San Francisco, there is a strong East Asian community in the city that may be more authentic just for that reason.
Crime has traditionally been a problem in Oakland but under the stewardship of mayor Brown it has dropped dramatically. |
The official language in Oakland is English. The large East Asian community in Oakland also means a lot of Korean and Chinese is spoken.
In 1996 Oakland's school district recognized Ebonics, African-American vernacular English, as a language, but the significance of this issue was blown way out of proportion in the national media. |
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