Oakland's character grew richer as the city did. The young Jack London prowled its waterfront before he ever wrote a word, and the wharves where he loafed are now Jack London Square. In the 1920s and '30s the city raised two of the finest movie palaces in the West — the Fox Oakland and the great Art Deco Paramount, all gilt and neon. And in 1950, on the shore of Lake Merritt, Oakland opened Children's Fairyland, a storybook park whose whimsy is said to have helped inspire Walt Disney's own. The Town had become a place of theaters, parks, and waterfront stories.
Today Oakland is the anchor of the East Bay — a city of hills and harbor, redwood groves and bay views, looking across the water at San Francisco. Its port, a pioneer of container shipping, is one of the busiest in the country, and the wooded ridges above town still hold stands of coast redwoods, survivors of the forests that once helped build San Francisco. It is a city of neighborhoods and food and art, proud of its diversity and proud of its table. Through every chapter, Oakland has been a crossroads — the western end of the line, where the continent meets the bay.
Why People Visit Oakland
Visitors come to Oakland for a Bay Area city with its own strong character: a wild lake at its center, Art Deco theaters and a historic waterfront, redwood hikes in the hills, and one of the most celebrated food scenes in California. The museums and Jack London Square sit minutes from the lake, and San Francisco is a quick trip across the bay. Equal parts oak-grove heritage and creative energy, Oakland rewards anyone drawn to the heart of the East Bay.
