Oakland, California

San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, California
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bridge-sm.jpg
Author: BLuP1


Oakland is a major city in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. Located just 8 miles (13 km) from downtown San Francisco, Oakland is a major port city as well as the county seat of Alameda County. The city has a population of around 391,000 (2011 estimate) and is the eighth biggest city in California.

Oakland got its name from the forestry industry of the 19th century, when its hills were a rich source of oak and redwood timber. Due to its geographical location in the Bay Area called the East Bay, it was selected as the terminus of the Transcontinental Railroad. The railway line helped it to develop its shipping industry, which spilled over to enhance an automotive industry.

Moss Cottage, Oakland
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Moss_mansion.jpg
Author: Binksternet


Being near the San Andreas fault, Oakland suffers each time there is a major earthquake, as happened in 1906 and 1989. Other major calamities to have hit the city include the 1991 urban firestorm - the worst in American history - which destroyed 4,000 homes and claimed 25 lives. The city also faces social issues ranging from high unemployment and povery to high incidence of violent crimes.

On the other hand, Oakland is credited as the birthplace of Rocky Road ice cream and Mai Tai cocktail. The ice cream is said to have been invented by William Dryer in 1929 while Mai Tai, despite its seemingly Polynesian name, was invented in 1944 at Trader Vic's restaurant in Oakland.

Chabot Space and Science Center, Oakland
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chabot_SSC_entrance.jpg
Author: Daniel Olsen

Visiting Oakland, California

Oakland has its own international airport. The Oakland International Airport (OAK) is served mostly by Southwest Airlines and JetBlue. It has flights connecting it with major cities in the United States. The only international flights connect it to Mexico.

Places of Interest in Oakland, California

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Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.

While I try my best to provide you information as accurate as I can get it to be, I do apologize for any errors and for outdated information which I am unaware. Nevertheless, I hope that what I have described here will be useful to you.