California (San Francisco Area)

Oakland

As solidly working class as San Francisco is upwardly mobile, Oakland is one of the busiest ports on the West Coast and the western terminal of the rail network. Though there are few major sights to lure tourists to “Oaktown,” as snootier San Franciscans sometimes refer to the city, a quick hop over from San Francisco on BART or the Bay Bridge is more than justified by the climate – rated the best in the US, it keeps the East Bay sunny and mild when San Francisco is cold and dreary – making for great hiking around the redwood and eucalyptus-covered hills above the downtown.

 
Still, Oakland has more historical and literary associations than important sights. It’s the spawning ground of some of America’s most unabashedly revolutionary political movements such as the militant Black Panthers, who drew national attention to African-American issues, and the Symbionese Liberation Army, who demanded a ransom for kidnapped heiress Patty Hearst in the form of free food distribution to the poor. It’s also the birthplace of literary legends Gertrude Stein and Jack London, who grew up here at approximately the same time, though in entirely different circumstances – Stein was a stockbroker’s daughter, while London, author of Call of the Wild, was an orphaned delinquent. The waterfront area where London used to steal oysters and lobsters is now named in his memory, while Stein, who was actually born in East Oakland, is all but ignored, not surprising given her famous proclamation about Oakland that “there is no there there.”

Nevertheless, until very recently, locals found it hard to argue: Oakland businesses have a long history of deserting the place once the going gets good; the city’s own football team, the Raiders, defected to Los Angeles for thirteen years. Residents who’ve stuck by the city through its duller and darker days recently elected a new mayor, former California governor and one-time presidential candidate Jerry “Moonbeam” Brown, who has promised to revitalize the town and slash its infamous crime rate without cramping its distinctive style. With his term not up until 2003, it remains to be seen how he’ll succeed at this Herculean task, but already he’s well on his way to meet his promise of bringing 10,000 affluent new citizens downtown, especially those basking in the new “e-conomy.” Increasingly popular with dot-commers and the like are the neighborhoods of Rockridge and Lake Merritt, whose rents are already approaching San Francisco prices. The city has also attracted a significant number of lesbians, who’ve formed a distinctive community near Lake Merritt along Grand Avenue, as well as a great number of artists, pushed from their SoMa lofts across the bay by sky-high rents and resettled now in the warehouses of West Oakland.

Black Panthers
Formed amidst the poverty of West Oakland in 1966 by black-rights activists Huey Newton and Bobby Seale, the leather jacket and beret-sporting members of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense captured the media spotlight with their militant rhetoric and occasional gun battles with police.

The party was actually started as a civil-rights organization influenced by Malcolm X’s call to black Americans to rely on themselves for defense and dignity. Mixing socialism with black pride, the Panthers aimed to eradicate poverty and drug use in America’s inner cities, arguing that if the government wouldn’t do it, they would. One of the first acts of the party was to establish patrols in local communities to monitor police brutality.

The Panthers’ membership grew as the group captured the national spotlight over the trial of Newton for the murder of an Oakland police officer in 1969. Released from prison a year later when his conviction was overturned, Newton sought to revamp the Panthers’ image – tainted by increasingly negative and sensational press coverage – by developing “survival programs” in black communities, including the establishment of free medical clinics, breakfasts for children, shelter for the homeless, and jobs for the unemployed. But infighting over leadership within the party took a heavy toll, and when Netwon fled to Cuba in 1974 to avoid prosecution for drug use, a series of resignations ensued. By the end of the 1970s, stripped of its original leadership and attacked by newspaper accounts of illicit internal activities, the group disbanded.

In 1999, former party Chief of Staff David Hilliard began giving school groups tours of West Oakland, stressing the positive contributions of the Panthers to the neighborhood, such as stoplights at dangerous intersections, health care centers, and food programs. Hilliard is now in a court battle with Newton’s widow over ownership of the Black Panther name, though he still conducts Black Panther Legacy Tours ($20–25; tel 510/986-0660) through the Huey P. Newton Foundation on the last Saturday of each month. Tours depart at noon across from the main library on W 18 St.

FREMONT
Named after California pioneer John Fremont, the city at various times has been a Spanish mission trade center, a Gold Rush supply stop, a resort featuring artesian spring water, and a Hollywood filming location. Today, Central Park and adjacent Lake Elizabeth are popular urban recreation areas.

HAYWARD
The anchor of the South Bay, Hayward has long been a mix of Bay-related industry and residential neighborhoods. The community is also home to California State University at Hayward.

PLEASANTON
A Bay Area bedroom community, Pleasanton has preserved its early-19th-century past at the Amador-Livermore Valley Historical Society Museum. Also in town is the Alameda County Fairgrounds, site of the late June county fair.

For more regional information on Oakland, go to:

See also the great drive: SFO Bay Area