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Oakland Essential Info

Overview

Oakland is a port city in the San Francisco Bay Area of California in the United States of America. The city was rated by Rand McNally as having some of the best weather in the country. Oakland does not have the concentration of tourist amenities present in neighbor city San Francisco directly across the bay to the west, or possess the suburban ethos of San Jose to the south, but the visitor to Oakland could easily spend a few pleasant days here with many things to see and do. Oakland consistently receives a negative image but the city does have some great neighborhoods in its hills, and in recent years Oakland's image has begun to undergo a radical improvement. More middle- and upper-middle class residents of all races have moved into Oakland seeking affordable homes; at least homes more affordable than in nearby San Francisco or San Jose. Oakland already has a good balance of Black, White, Asian, and Latino residents, and in recent years there has still been a steady influx of "hipsters" moving to the city. The city as a whole does indeed have a crime issue. However, the increasing and controversial gentrification of sections of Oakland's downtown has brought the city an undoubted reappraisal. Journals ranging from the Wall Street Journal to the UK Guardian have all ran features extolling Oakland's innovative culinary scene.

Description is available from Wikitravel under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 license. A list of contributors is available at the original article.

Basics

Best Time To Go

Year round

Current Time

Current Weather

49 °F

Mostly Clear

Fun Facts

  1. Oakland is only city in the world with a natural saltwater lake, Lake Merritt.
  2. Oakland has more artists per capita than any city in the country.
  3. More sourdough bread is produced in Oakland than any other city in the world.
  4. Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1928 by William Dreyer and Joseph Edy in Oakland.
  5. Bruce Lee, the famous martial arts expert, got his start fighting and teaching in Oakland.

Popular Foods