Oakland

Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. It is the third largest city overall in the Bay Area and the eighth most populated city in California. The Port of Oakland is the busiest port in Northern California, and the fifth busiest in the United States of America. The earliest known inhabitants were the Huchiun natives, who lived there for thousands of years. In the late 18th century, it became part of a large rancho grant in the colony of New Spain. Its land served as a resource when its hillside oak and redwood timber were logged to build San Francisco. After the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, many San Francisco citizens moved to Oakland, enlarging the 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. In 1852, the Oakland was incorporated by the state legislature. Two years later, on March 25, 1854, Oakland was re-incorporated as the City of Oakland. The first mayor, Horace Carpentier, was elected the first mayor of Oakland, though a scandal ended his mayorship in less than a year. In 1850s, people in China were struggling financially as a result of the First Opium War, the Second Opium war, andthe Taiping Rebellion, so they began migrating to Oakland. During this time, Oakland had 75,100 inhabitants, only a wharf, two hotels, two warehouses, and only cattle trails.

History

Oakland is the primary city name, but also Piedmont are acceptable city names or spellings. The earliest known inhabitants were the Huchiun natives, who lived there for thousands of years. In 1772, the area that later became Oakland was colonized, along with the rest of California, by Spanish settlers. The Spanish crown granted the East Bay area to Luis María Peralta for his Rancho San Antonio in the early 19th century. The city and its environs quickly grew with the railroads, becoming a major rail terminal in the late 1860s and 1870s. In 1852, the Town of Oakland was incorporated by the state legislature. Two years later, on March 25, 1854, Oakland re-incorporated as the City of Oakland. 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. During the 1900s, Oakland was one of the worst affected cities in California that was impacted by the San Francisco plague of1904. By 1908, over 5,000 people were detained in quarantine for yellow fever. In 1919, a small epidemic of the disease still resulted in a small number of cases of infected patients, but it resulted in the eradication of this disease in small amounts. In the 1930s and 1940s, the city was the site of the Second Opium War and the Taiping Rebellion. People in China began migrating to Oakland, many of whom were recruited to work on railroads. The Chinese struggled to settle because they were discriminated against by the white community and their living quarters were burned down.

Geography

Oakland is in the eastern region of the San Francisco Bay. The city's highest point is near Grizzly Peak Blvd, east of Berkeley, just over 1,760 feet (540 m) above sea level. About two-thirds of Oakland lies in the flat plain of the East Bay, with one-third rising into the foothills and hills of theEast Bay range. Oakland has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen Csb) with an average of 260 sunny days per year. In 2011, Oakland was ranked the tenth most walkable city in the United States by Walk Score. Oakland's climate is typified by the temperate and seasonal Mediterranean climate. Summers are usually dry and warm and winters are cool and damp. Oakland is home to a number of rare and endangered species, many of which are localized to serpentine soils and bedrock. It has 19 miles (31 km) of shoreline, but Radio Beach is the only beach in Oakland. In 1991, the high temperature was 104 °F (40 °C) on June 24, 1957, and the record low was 24 °C (4 °F) on January 23, 1949. Dry, warm, offshore "Diablo winds" (similar to the Santa Ana winds of Southern California) sometimes occur, especially in fall and raise the fire danger in the Oakland Hills. In 2010, the city was ranked No. 1 in climate among U.S. cities by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Demographics

The 2020 United States Census reported Oakland had a population of 440,646. The population density was 7,898.30 inhabitants per square mile (3,049.55/km²) The racial makeup of Oakland was 156,429 (35.5%) White, 104,873 (23.8%) Black or African American, 68,300 (15.5) Asian, 2,643 (0.6%) Pacific Islander, and 30,404 (6.9%) multiracial (two or more races) There were 118,974 (27.0%) of Hispanic or Latino ancestry, of any race. By ethnicity, 26.8% of the total population is Hispanic-Latino (of any race) and 73.2% is Non-Hispanic (ofany race) White Americans are the largest racial/ethnic group at either 34.5% (including White Hispanics) or 29.3% (excluding White Hispanics). Hispanics have been the second largest ethnic group since 2012 when they displaced the Black population. The Asian population continues to remain the fourth largest group at 14.3%. Oakland ranks in the top 20 of American cities in median household income, with a 2012 value of US$51,863. The mean income for a household was US$77,888 for males and US$90,4848 for females. The unemployment rate as December 2013 was 9.7%. In 2007, approximately 15.3 percent of the general population were below the general poverty line.

Economy

Oakland is a major West Coast port, and the fifth busiest in the United States by cargo volume. The Port of Oakland handles 99% of all containerized goods moving through Northern California, representing $41 billion worth of international trade. There are nearly 200,000 jobs related to marine cargo transport in the Oakland area. In 2014, Oakland was amongst the best cities to start a career, the highest ranked city in California after San Francisco. In 2013, over 2.5 million people visited Oakland, injecting US$1.3 billion into the economy. The city is also home to several major corporations including Kaiser Permanente, Clorox, and Dreyer's ice cream. Tech companies such as Ask.com and Pandora Radio are in Oakland, and in recent years many start-up high tech and green energy companies have found a home in the downtown neighborhoods of Uptown, City Center, Jack London Square and Lake Merritt Financial District. Numerous companies in San Francisco continue to expand in or migrate over to Oakland. Both Oakland and San Francisco were forecasted to experience the highest increases in ADR (Average daily rate) in the western region of the U.S. in 2013. Oakland has gained national recognition as a travel destination. In 2012, Oakland. was named the top North American city to visit, highlighting its growing number of sophisticated restaurants and bars, top music venues, and increasing nightlife appeal. Oakland also took the No. 16 spot in "America's Coolest Cities", ranked by metrics like entertainment options and recreational opportunities per capita.

Arts and culture

Oakland has a vibrant arts scene. The city has been named one of the top 12 art communities in the United States. It is home to a wide variety of music genres, including jazz, hip hop, blues, and rap. It has been called a "New Sin City" for its nightclub and bar scene. In 2013, the city was ranked 11th in the nation for artists per capita. It was also named the top city in the U.S. for designers and artists. In 2005 a sculpture called HERETHERE was installed by the City of Berkeley on the Berkeley-Oakland border at Martin Luther King Jr. Way. The sculpture consists of eight-foot-tall letters spelling "HERE" and "THERE" in front of the BART tracks. The Paramount Theater features headlining musical tours and productions, while Fox Oakland Theatre draws various musical genres including jam bands, rock, punk, jazz, and reggae. The Oakland Art Murmur takes place on the first Friday of every month. It attracts around 20,000 people along twenty city blocks, featuring live performances, food trucks, and over 30 galleries and venues. In 2012, Oakland was dubbed a "new Sin City", following its 2010 decision to relax its cabaret laws, which gave a boost to the city's nightclub and club scene. There is no there there in the 1937 book Everybody's Autobiography by Gertrude Stein. The quote is usually misconstrued to refer to Oakland as a whole, and the city has made steps to rebuke it.

Sports

The Oakland Athletics won three consecutive World Series championships in 1972, 1973, and 1974. The Oakland Raiders of the National Football League (NFL) won Super Bowl XI in 1976 and Super Bowl XV in 1980, during their tenure in Oakland. The Raiders relocated to Las Vegas in 2020 and are now known as the Las Vegas Raiders. Oakland's former basketball team, the Golden State Warriors won the 197475, 201415, 201617, and the 201718 NBA championships, while losing in 2016 and 2019. The Warriors, whose primary owners reside in Southern California, announced in April 2014 that they would leave Oakland once their new arena was built across the Bay in San Francisco. Oakland Roots SC are a soccer team that was formed in 2018. The Roots began play in 2019 in a new third division professional league called National Independent Soccer Association, however, the team announced that it would move to the second division and play in the USL Championship from the 2021 season onwards. Oakland Spiders, relocated to Oakland in 2022 after playing eight years as the San Jose Spiders. Oakland Skates, Roller Hockey International, 1993-1996. Oakland Slammers, International Basketball League, 2005-2006. Oakland Oaks, American Basketball Association, 1967-1969. Oakland Seals, National Hockey League, 1967-1976. Oakland Stompers, North American Soccer League, 1978.Oakland Larks, West Coast Negro Baseball League, 1946. (The Oaks played at Oaks Park in Emeryville after 1912.)Oakland Oaks, Pacific Coast League of Baseball, 1903-1955.

Parks and recreation

Oakland has many parks and recreation centers which total 5,937 acres (2,403 ha) In its 2013 ParkScore ranking, The Trust for Public Land reported that Oakland had the 18th best park system among the 50 most populous U.S. cities. In 2013, Oakland ranked fourth among American cities as an urban destination for nature lovers. Some of the city's most notable parks include:Bushrod Park;Joaquin Miller Park;Joseph Knowland State Arboretum and Park; andLake Merritt Park. The Oakland Zoo is home to the Oakland Zoo, which is open from July through October. The city also has seven East Bay Regional Parks that are entirely or partially in the city of Oakland: Anthony Chabot Regional Park; Huckleberry Botanic Regional Preserve; Leona Canyon Regional Open Space Preserve and Redwood Regional Park. In addition to the parks, Oakland has many places of worship, such as the Oakland United Methodist Church and Oakland United Church of Christ, which are open to the public for worship. The City of Oakland is also home to a number of cultural institutions, including the Oakland Museum of Natural History, the Oakland Symphony, and the Oakland Public Library. The University of California, San Francisco has a campus that is open for classes from September through May. Oakland also has a library that is available to the general public, as well as a handful of museums and other public buildings. It is the only city in the Bay Area that has a public library.

Government

Oakland has a mayor-council government. The mayor is elected at-large for a four-year term. The Oakland City Council has eight council members representing seven districts in Oakland. Oakland is part of Alameda County, California. The last Republican presidential candidate to receive at least one-third of vote in Oakland was Richard Nixon in 1972. The Cook Partisan Voting Index of Congressional District 13, which includes Oakland and Berkeley, is D+40, making it the most Democratic congressional district in California and the fourth most Democratic district in the US. Oakland was a Republican Party bastion from the 1860s to the 1950s, with positions expressed by the Republican-oriented Oakland Tribune newspaper. In the 1960s, the majority of voters began to favor liberal policies and the Democratic Party. Oakland has the second highest percentage of registered Democrats of any of the incorporated cities in Alameda. County government is primarily composed of the elected five-member Board of Supervisors, other elected offices including the Sheriff/Coroner, the District Attorney, Assessor, Auditor- Controller/County Clerk/Recorder, and Treasurer/Tax Collector. The County government provides countywide services such as elections and voter registration, law enforcement, jails, vital records, property records, tax collection, public health, and social services. As of February 10, 2019, Oakland has 245,111 registered voters. Of those, 159,771 are registered Democrats, 9,544 (3.9%) are registered Republicans, and 65,416 (26.7%) have declined to state a political party.

Education

Oakland's three largest public high schools are Oakland High School, Oakland Technical High School and Skyline High School. North Oakland Community Charter School (NOCCS), an elementary and middle school, is one of the few public progressive schools in the country. Other charter schools include the Oakland Military Institute, Oakland School for the Arts, Bay Area Technology School, East Bay Innovation Academy, and Oakland Charter Academy. There are several religious and secular private high schools, including The College Preparatory School, Head-Royce School, Bishop O'Dowd High Schools, Holy Names High School, and Oakland Hebrew Day School. The Oakland Higher Education Consortium and the City of Oakland's Community and Economic Development Agency (CEDA) opened the Oakland Higher education Center downtown in 2002 to provide "access to multiple higher education service providers within a shared urban facility" Oakland is also the home of the headquarters of the University of California system, the U. of California Office of the President. In 2001, the SFSU Oakland Multimedia Center was opened, allowing San Francisco State University to conduct classes near downtown Oakland. As of 2015 there are 48,181 K12 students; among division-run schools, there are 4,600 plus employees. In 2017, the Oakland Unified School District has received funding from Pandora in partnership with Little Kids Rock, towards expanding music education programs within the schools. In 2013, over half the students at Hillcrest Elementary School in the Montclair upper hills neighborhood performed at the "advanced" level in the English portion of the test.

Air Quality, Water Quality, Superfund Sites & UV Index

The Air Quality index is in Oakland, Alameda County, California = 35.8. These Air Quality index is based on annual reports from the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The number of ozone alert days is used as an indicator of air quality, as are the amounts of seven pollutants including particulates, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, lead, and volatile organic chemicals. The Water Quality Index is 32. A measure of the quality of an area’s water supply as rated by the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The EPA has a complex method of measuring the watershed quality, using 15 indicators such as pollutants, turbidity, sediments, and toxic discharges. The Superfund Sites Index is 20. Higher is better (100=best). Based upon the number and impact of EPA Superfund pollution sites in the county, including spending on the cleanup efforts. The UV Index in Oakland = 5.4 and is a measure of an area's exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays. This is most often a combination of sunny weather, altitude, and latitude. The UV Index has been defined by the WHO (www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/radiation-the-ultraviolet-(uv)-index) and is uniform worldwide.

Employed

The most recent city population of 440,646 individuals with a median age of 36.8 age the population grows by 2.99% in Oakland, Alameda County, California population since 2000 and are distributed over a density of 7,878.53 residents per square mile of area (3,041.87/km²). There are average 2.65 people per household in the 152,716 households with an average household income of $49,404 a year. The unemployment rate in Alabama is 17.20% of the available work force and has dropped -5.07% over the most recent 12-month period and the projected change in job supply over the next decade based on migration patterns, economic growth, and other factors will increase by 12.66%. The number of physicians in Oakland per 100,000 population = 247.1.

Weather

The annual rainfall in Oakland = 23.3 inches and the annual snowfall = 0 inches. The annual number of days with measurable precipitation (over .01 inch) = 64. The average number of days per year that are predominantly sunny = 261. 72 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily high temperature for the month of July and 44.6 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily low temperature for the month of January. The Comfort Index (higher=better) is 65, where higher values mean a more pleasant climate. The Comfort Index measure recognizes that humidity by itself isn't the problem. (Have you noticed nobody ever complains about the weather being 'cold and humid?) It's in the summertime that we notice the humidity the most, when it's hot and muggy. Our Comfort Index uses a combination of afternoon summer temperature and humidity to closely predict the effect that the humidity will have on people.

Median Home Cost

The percentage of housing units in Oakland, Alameda County, California which are owned by the occupant = 38.47%. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, or room occupied as separate living quarters. The average age of homes = 55 years with median home cost = $292,050 and home appreciation of -14.29%. This is the value of the years most recent home sales data. Its important to note that this is not the average (or arithmetic mean). The median home price is the middle value when you arrange all the sales prices of homes from lowest to highest. This is a better indicator than the average, because the median is not changed as much by a few unusually high or low values. The property tax rate of $7.10 shown here is the rate per $1,000 of home value. If for simplification for example the tax rate is $14.00 and the home value is $250,000, the property tax would be $14.00 x ($250,000/1000), or $3500. This is the 'effective' tax rate.

Study

The local school district spends $4,921 per student. There are 27.8 students for each teacher in the school, 9594 students for each Librarian and 1517 students for each Counselor. 5.51% of the area’s population over the age of 25 with an Associate Degree or other 2-year college degree, 17.53% with a master’s degree, Ph.D. or other advanced college degree and 12.39% with high school diplomas or high school equivalency degrees (GEDs).