Oakland

Oakland ( /ˈoʊklənd/) is the eighth-largest city in the U.S. state of California, with a 2010 population of 390,724. It is a major West Coast port, located on San Francisco Bay, about 8 miles (13 km) east of San Francisco. Originally incorporated in 1852, Oakland is the county seat of Alameda County, and it is a central hub city for the Bay Area subregion collectively called the East Bay. Oakland is ranked #1 in climate in the U.S. and Forbes Magazine has ranked it the 10th best city in the U.S. for business. In 2011 Oakland was ranked the 10th most walkable city in the United States Oakland tops the list of the 50 largest US cities using electricity from renewable sources.

The land that Oakland covers was once a mosaic of coastal terrace prairie, oak woodland, and north coastal scrub. Oakland 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. During the California Gold Rush, Oakland became the main staging post for passengers and cargo journeying between the Bay Area and the Sierra foothills. In the late 1860s, Oakland was selected as the western terminal of the Transcontinental Railroad. It continued to grow into the 20th century with its busy port, shipyards, and a thriving automobile industry. Following the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, many San Franciscans left that city's destruction, and a great number of Oakland's homes were built during the 1910s and 1920s. An extensive streetcar network connected most of Oakland's neighborhoods to inter-city rail lines and to ferry lines. During the 1940s, thousands of war-industry workers moved to Oakland from the Deep South.

Ruptures along the nearby San Andreas fault caused severe earth movement in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1906 and 1989. San Andreas quakes induces creep (movement occurring on earthquake faults) in the Hayward fault, which runs directly through Oakland, Berkeley, San Jose and other Bay Area cities. In 1991, an urban firestorm destroyed nearly 4,000 homes and killed 25 people in the Oakland hills; it was the worst such firestorm in American history.

The 20th century saw a steady influx of immigrants to Oakland from around the globe, making Oakland is one of the most ethnically diverse cities in Alameda County.The city has experienced its own 'renaissance" during recent years with the opening of theaters and art galleries, trendy shops, modern downtown condos, pubs, and restaurants with top chefs. In spite of its large size (56 square miles (150 km2), from the hills to the waterfront), Oakland and its neighborhoods are easily accessible, with convenient BART trains and city buses. Some progress has been made during recent years reducing Oakland's high crime rate; violent crime is primarily concentrated in certain neighborhoods, although property crime remains problematic throughout the city.