Oakland CA Real Estate and Homes – Community Information

Oakland CA Real Estate and Homes – Community Information

Start Your Utility Services in City of Oakland, CA:

http://www.cityofoaklandca.gov/

Oakland, California Community

Oakland is a major West Coast port city in the U.S. state of California. Oakland is the third largest city in the San Francisco Bay Area, the eighth-largest city in California, and the 45th largest city in the U.S., with a population of 413,775 as of 2014. It serves as a trade center for the San Francisco Bay Area; its Port of Oakland is the busiest port for San Francisco Bay, all of Northern California, and fifth busiest in the United States. Incorporated in 1852, Oakland is the county seat of Alameda County. It is also the principal city of the Bay Area Region known as the East Bay. The city is situated directly across the bay, six miles east of San Francisco.

Oakland’s territory covers what was once a mosaic of California coastal terrace prairie, oak woodland, and north coastal scrub. Its land served as a rich resource when its hillside oak and redwood timber were logged to build San Francisco, and Oakland’s fertile flatland soils helped it become a prolific agricultural region. In the late 1860s, Oakland was selected as the western terminal of the Transcontinental Railroad. Following the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, many San Franciscans relocated to Oakland, enlarging the city’s population, increasing its housing stock and improving its infrastructure. It continued to grow in the 20th century with its busy port, shipyards, and a thriving automobile manufacturing industry.

Oakland is known for its sustainability practices, including a top ranking for usage of electricity from renewable resources. Oakland is also known for its history of political activism, as well as its professional sports franchises and major corporations, which include health care, dot-com companies and manufacturers of household products. In addition, due to a steady influx of immigrants during the 20th century, along with thousands of African-American war-industry workers who relocated from the Deep South during the 1940s, Oakland is one of the most ethnically diverse major cities in the country.

Oakland Community & Neighborhoods

Oakland has more than 50 distinct neighborhoods. The greater divisions in the city include downtown Oakland and its greater Central Business District, Lake Merritt, East Oakland, North Oakland, West Oakland, and the Oakland Hills. East Oakland, which includes the East Oakland Hills, encompasses more than half of Oakland’s land area, stretching from Lakeshore Avenue on the east shore of Lake Merritt southeast to the San Leandro border. North Oakland encompasses the neighborhoods between downtown and Berkeley and Emeryville. West Oakland is the area between downtown and the Bay, partially surrounded by the Oakland Point, and encompassing the Port of Oakland. In 2011, Oakland was ranked the 10th most walkable city in the United States.

Oakland was ranked No. 8 on Lonely Planet’s roster of Top Ten U.S. Travel Destinations for 2015. The compilation is published to highlight the best travel destinations in the U.S. for the upcoming year. Oakland is buzzing with energy from a thriving restaurant scene, diverse entertainment and arts offerings and a vibrant nightlife. Lonely Planet describes Oakland as an “incubator for adventurous restaurants” and spotlights Oakland’s Art Murmur and First Fridays as a “can’t-miss cultural event”. Click here to view Lonely Planet’s roster. This follows Oakland being ranked as the 5th most desirable destination to visit by The New York Times in 2012. To learn more about visiting Oakland, please visit www.visitoakland.org. Click here for a roster of other recent accolades.

Oakland History

In 1851, three men—Horace Carpentier, Edson Adams, and Andrew Moon—began developing what is now downtown Oakland. On May 4, 1852, the Town of Oakland incorporated. Two years later, on March 25, 1854, Oakland re-incorporated as the City of Oakland, with Horace Carpentier elected the first mayor, though a scandal ended his mayorship in less than a year. The city and its environs quickly grew with the railroads, becoming a major rail terminal 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.

A number of horsecar and cable car lines were constructed in Oakland during the latter half of the 19th century. 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.

Oakland Art, Entertainment & Culture

Oakland has a significant art scene and claims the highest concentration of artists per capita in the United States. In 2013, Oakland was designated as one of America’s top twelve art communities, recognizing Downtown (including Uptown), Chinatown, Old Oakland, and Jack London Square as communities “that have most successfully combine art, artists and venues for creativity and expression with independent businesses, retail shops and restaurants, and a walkable lifestyle to make vibrant neighborhoods.” Galleries exist in various parts of Oakland, with the newest additions centered mostly in the Uptown Oakland  area. Oakland ranked 11th in cities for designers and artists. The city offers a wide variety of cuisine in restaurants and markets, often featuring locally grown produce and international foods such as Asian, Hispanic/Latino, African-Caribbean, and etc. that reflect the city’s ethnically diverse population. Historically a focal point of the West Coast blues and jazz scenes, Oakland is also home to musicians representing such genres as rhythm and blues, gospel, funk, punk, heavy metal, Rap/Gangsta rap, and hip hop.

Oakland, California Attractions:

Oakland School Districts

Oakland Unified School District includes numerous public and charter elementary and secondary schools.

List of Oakland, California elementary and secondary schools:

  • Acorn Woodland Elementary School
  • Allendale Elementary School
  • Ascend Elementary School
  • Bella Vista Elementary School
  • Bridges Academy
  • Brookfield Elementary School
  • Burckhalter Elementary School
  • Carl B. Munck Elementary School
  • Chabot Elementary School
  • Cleveland Elementary School
  • Community United Elementary School
  • Crocker Highlands Elementary School
  • East Oakland Pride Elementary School
  • Emerson Elementary School
  • Encompass Academy
  • Esperanza
  • Franklin Elementary School
  • Fred T. Korematsu Discovery Academy
  • Fruitvale Elementary School
  • Futures Elementary School
  • Garfield Elementary School
  • Glenview Elementary School
  • Global Family School
  • Grass Valley Elementary School
  • Greenleaf Elementary School
  • Hillcrest Elementary School
  • Hoover Elementary School
  • Horace Mann Elementary School
  • (Charles P.) Howard Elementary School
  • International Community School
  • Joaquin Miller Elementary School
  • Kaiser Elementary School
  • La Escuelita Elementary School
  • Lafayette Elementary School
  • Laurel Elementary School
  • Lincoln Elementary School
  • Manzanita Community School
  • Manzanita Seed
  • Markham Elementary School
  • Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School
  • Melrose Leadership Academy
  • Montclair Elementary
  • New Highland Academy
  • Parker Elementary School
  • Peralta Elementary School
  • Piedmont Avenue Elementary School
  • Place @ Prescott
  • Reach Academy
  • Redwood Heights Elementary School
  • Rise Community School
  • Sankofa Academy
  • Sequoia Elementary School
  • Sobrante Park Elementary School
  • Sojourner Truth Independent Study
  • Think College Now Elementary School
  • Thornhill Elementary School

Charter schools

  • COVA – Conservatory of Vocal/Instrumental Arts
  • Yu Ming Charter School – Mandarin Immersion Charter School

Child Development Centers

  • Webster Academy

Oakland, California’s Accredited Colleges and Universities include:

City of Oakland Parks

Oakland has many parks and recreation centers which total 5,937 acres. In its 2013 ParkScore ranking, The Trust for Public Land, a national land conservation organization, reported that Oakland had the 18th best park system among the 50 most populous U.S. cities. In 2013, Oakland ranked 4th among American cities as an urban destination for nature lovers.

Some of the city’s most notable parks include:

City of Oakland Crime Map

http://www.neighborhoodscout.com/ca/Oakland/

Oakland Chamber of Commerce

Programs to Help Your Business Thrive – Education, Events, Networking and Groups

Oakland, California Cost of Living

Visit Sperling’s Best Places for info on Oakland, California cost of living, education statistics, crime rates, health, commute times, and more.

Shopping & Dining

Oakland Public Library

The Oakland Public Library is a part of the City of Oakland in California and has been in existence since 1878. Locations currently include 16 branches, a Main Library, a Second Start Adult Literacy Program, the Tool Lending Library, and the African-American Museum and Library. They also offer many other special services for residents of Oakland and California.

The Oakland Public Library system consists of a downtown Main Library, sixteen neighborhood branches, and three special collection libraries – the African American Museum and Library at Oakland, the Oakland History Room, and the Temescal Tool Lending Library.

Hotels & Lodging

Looking to visit? Find the best hotels in Oakland California  at TripAdvisor.

Established Neighborhoods:

New Home Communities:

(page excerpts from  http://www2.oaklandnet.com/, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oakland,_California)