Chinatown, Oakland, California
Encyclopedia
The Chinatown neighborhood in Oakland, California
, is a pan-Asia
n neighborhood which reflects Oakland's diverse Asian American
community. It is frequently referred to as "Oakland Chinatown" in order to distinguish it from nearby San Francisco's Chinatown
. It lies at an elevation of 39 feet (12 m).
Chinese were the first Asians to arrive in Oakland in the 1850s, followed by Japanese in the 1890s, Koreans in the 1900s, and Filipinos in the 1930s-1940s. Southeast Asians began arriving in the 1970s during the Vietnam War
. Many Asian languages and dialect
s can be heard in Chinatown due to its diverse population.
Chinatown is located in downtown Oakland, with its center at 8th Street and Webster Street. Its northern edge is 12th Street, and its southern edge is I-880 (located approximately at 6th Street). It stretches from Broadway on the west to the southern tip of Lake Merritt
in the east.
in the 1850s, making it one of the oldest Chinatowns in North America
. By 1860, the census of Oakland included 96 "Asiatics" among a total of 1,543. More Chinese arrived to help build the Central Pacific Railroad
western portion of the First Transcontinental Railroad
during the 1860s.
The Chinese settled in shrimp camps on the estuary
of Oakland at 1st Street and Castro in the 1850s, near the Point in West Oakland which was referred to as "Chinese Point", and at 4th and Clay streets. The Chinese settlement at Telegraph
between 16th and 17th streets burnt down in 1867 and was relocated at the San Pablo Avenue Chinatown between 19th and 20th streets; it is now known as Oakland's Old Uptown Chinatown. Other areas settled were 14th Street between Washington and Clay, and the Charter line (22nd Street) between Castro and Brush Streets.
Fears of the Yellow Peril
and local exclusion laws forced the Chinese population to resettle to its current location centered at 8th Street and Webster Street in the 1870s.
The first Chinese in Oakland fished in the San Francisco Bay
for shrimp
similarly to the Chinese at China Camp near San Rafael
. In 1868, Chinese laborers built the Temescal
Dam in Oakland providing water for the East Bay as well as the Lake Chabot
Dam in 1874-75. They worked in canneries, cotton mills and fuse and explosive factories as well as farms. In the 1880s, discriminatory laws made it difficult for Chinese immigrants to own land or even find work. They found work as laundry
workers, cook
s, gardeners, houseboy
s, or as vegetable
peddler
s. The Chinese Exclusion Act
severely limited the further immigration of Chinese. By 1900, the Chinese in Oakland numbered less than 1,000.
The 1906 San Francisco earthquake
and fire destroyed most of San Francisco's Chinatown and more than 4,000 Chinese survivors found refuge in Oakland. Even while San Francisco Chinatown was rebuilding, many stayed in Oakland, bringing the Chinatown population to about 2,500. Because of immigration restrictions barring Chinese women and children, a bachelor
society was created.
In the 1920s, Oakland Chinatown grew from 10th Street to the waterfront from Broadway to Harrison.
Even until 1940, the Chinatown population grew only to about 3,000. With the United States involvement in World War II
and the fact that China was an ally, the Chinese Exclusion Act was repealed in 1943, however the immigration quota was maintained at 105 immigrants per year.
In 1950, Chinatown grew to a population of 5,500, but local housing was lost due to the construction of Interstate 880
, which runs through 8 blocks between 5th and 6th streets and serves as a transportation artery for some of Chinatown's commercial activity, Laney College
(8 blocks) and later in the late 1960s, the Bay Area Rapid Transit
headquarters and Lake Merritt station (2 blocks) and Oakland Museum of California
(4 blocks).
Oakland Chinatown was economically stagnant for many years, especially after multigenerational Chinatown residents began moving to the suburbs in the late 1960s. However, Chinatown saw much steady development during the 1980s and 1990s as Chinese American merchants relocated from San Francisco to Oakland, and due to increased immigration from mainland China, Hong Kong
, Vietnam
, Cambodia
, and Thailand
. During this time period, many ethnic Chinese Vietnamese and Chinese Cambodian
s began opening new small businesses, essentially replacing many of the older Taishanese-dominated businesses. Also, investors with Hong Kong backgrounds constructed the Pacific Renaissance Plaza in the early 1990s. Chinatown still retains the traditional aspects and characteristics of an older Chinatown. Oakland's Chinatown also includes a historic and still thriving fortune cookie
factory.
Although it is overshadowed by its more prominent, tourist-oriented counterpart in San Francisco, Oakland's Chinatown is bustling with activity and considered to be more authentic to many. Other Asian cultures are represented in Oakland's Chinatown as it has also been settled by non-Chinese Asians such as ethnic Vietnamese (many of whom operate many of Chinatown's jewelry businesses), Koreans, and Thais making it more of a pan-Asian area as opposed to a "Chinatown." As is the case with other retail and commercial districts around Oakland, the many customers and thriving businesses in Chinatown generate sales tax revenue for Oakland city and Redevelopment
Agency coffers.
Japanese immigrants began settling in Oakland in the 1890s mostly in West Oakland
around Market Street. Later, hundreds were living in the section between Harrison and Oak streets south of 8th Street. They owned several stores in Chinatown. After the attack on Pearl Harbor
in 1941, all Japanese American
s were sent to internment
camps. The Masuda family had posted a large "I Am An American" sign outside their Oakland grocery store, Wanto Company, at 8th and Franklin streets which was photographed by Dorothea Lange
. Many did not return to Oakland after the war ended. The Buddhist Church of Oakland is one of the few institutions remaining of Oakland's Japantown
.
Filipino
s immigrated to the area in the early 1900s. Oakland Chinatown was the center of commerce and community gathering for Filipinos in the East Bay during 1940 - 1960.
, Vietnamese
, Korean
, Filipino
, Japanese
, Cambodian
, Laotian
, Mien
, Thai, Samoan
and others. Consequently, many languages and dialects can be heard, including Cantonese, Chiu-Chow, Ilocano
, Japanese
, Khmer
, Khmu
, Korean
, Lao
, Malay
, Mandarin
, Mien
, Tagalog
, Taiwanese, Thai
, Toishan
, and Vietnamese
.
The church was located at several sites in Oakland Chinatown. By 1905, the church resided where it currently sits today. In 1913, a fire devastated the building and a new building was erected. But by the 1940s, the church outgrew even this building. Under the leadership of Rev Edwar Lee, a new church and the current main sanctuary was built in 1952. With more growth, more space was needed, and a new social hall and classrooms annex was built in 1970.
Today, the Chinese Community United Methodist Church conducts both a Chinese (Cantonese and Mandarin) language worship service and English worship service on Sundays.
was one of the first traditional Chinese art forms in Oakland. In 1907, a Chinese Theater at 9th and Franklin streets opened which could seat 500 people and had a company of 30 full-time actors from China. Today, three styles of Chinese opera clubs are active in Oakland: Cantonese opera
, Beijing opera
, and Kunqu
.
's branches and is located in Chinatown's "Pacific Renaissance Plaza." The Asian Library is unique among public library branches in the United States as it houses eight Asian languages (Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, Cambodian, Tagalog and Laotian) in major reference titles and general subject titles, an Asian Studies collection and an in-depth Asian American collection in English.
The Asian Branch Library was founded in 1975 as part of a Federal Library Services Construction Act grant to create a model library serving the Asian community in Oakland with multilingual staff and collections. In 1978, the branch moved from its original location at the Park Boulevard to the Main Library. In 1981, it moved to its own building at 9th Street and Broadway. The current location in the Pacific Renaissance Plaza opened to the public in 1995.
Chinatown is located in Downtown
between Broadway to the west, Interstate 880
to the south, Oak Street and Laney College
to the east, and 12th Street to the north. The entrance to the Webster Tube, which carries traffic underneath the estuary, is on the edge of Chinatown. Unlike many Chinatowns, it has no formal arch
(Paifang
) or gate
, but it does have bilingual street sign
s.
The neighborhood can be roughly divided into two distinct areas: Between Broadway and Harrison Street is the commercial
area, with busy streets lined with markets, restaurants, banks, and other businesses. East of Harrison Street, the neighborhood is more residential in character with more apartments and condominiums, less crowded sidewalks, and a mix of retail stores that are more service and product oriented, with less groceries and restaurants. Though the mainstay of commercial activity is south of 10th Street, there are nonetheless many retail shops, stores, and restaurtants north of 10th Street and in other parts of Downtown Oakland which are owned by Chinese and Korean merchants. In particular at the edge of Chinatown, 14th street between Webster and Harrison is block which features numerous Korean restaurants and businesses, especially on the north side of the block.
Recent immigrants have also moved south into "New Oakland Chinatown" in the San Antonio neighborhood along International Boulevard
(formerly East 14th Street) and Eastlake business district on East 18th Street.
Chinatown is in Oakland Police Department's Beat 3X. The Community Services Section hosts the Asian Advisory Committee on Crime and the Asian Youth Services Committee.
The Chinatown Neighborhood Crime Prevention Council for beat 3x, a neighborhood community-policing board meets monthly. Meetings are conducted in Cantonese
and are open to all.
Oakland Fire Department, Engine Company No. 12 is located at 822 Alice Street at 9th Street. Fire engine
2552 is assigned to this fire station
. The citizens of Oakland and the Oakland Fire Department will remember the service and sacrifice of Oakland Engine Company No. 12. Hoseman Tracy Toomey who died in the line of duty on January 10, 1999 in a 2 story building collapse after responding to a 6 alarm fire on upper Broadway.
Located at the crossroads of the 880 freeway, the tubes linking Alameda and Oakland, and downtown, Oakland Chinatown bears a significant transportation burden that dates back to the 1950s. Weekday and everyday commerce in the area creates thousands of peak period private automobile trips daily and resulting air pollution impacts on the neighborhood's elderly residents. Over 20,000 shoppers and tourists use its sidewalks every weekend. The traffic on I-880 is over 100,000 cars per day. The neighborhood is served by a freeway on-ramp to I-880 south at 5th and Oak Street. It is also is served by a freeway on-ramp to I-980 at 6th and Jackson. Recently Oakland's Public Works Agency reconfigured travel lanes on Jackson Street to separate traffic travelling South on Jackson from traffic merging-into Jackson from Eastbound 7th Street. This effectively eliminated, through lane re-marking, any possibility of the lost art of the "alternating merge." The volume of automobile traffic travelling away from the core of Chinatown on 7th street towards the freeway connections was so voluminous and unrelenting, that accidents were occurring.
Chinatown has the highest number of automobile-pedestrian collisions in the City of Oakland. A pedestrian safety campaign brought in the first scramble
system in Alameda County to Oakland Chinatown to prevent further pedestrian fatalities and injuries.
Until recently, California Auto Insurance company actuarial models charged higher rates to residents in the Chinatown's zip code under a practice known as territorial rating, or zip code profiling. The insurance actuarial theory behind this market practice purports that drivers residing or "principally garaging" their cars in a certain area face a greater loss and accident ratio. This practice, was outlawed by California voters in 1988 by Proposition 103 on the statewide ballot. The law made its way through the courts for 18 years before several insurance companies settled with California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi
in 2006 to put an end to the practice.
Oakland is served by several AC Transit
bus lines which run on 7th, 8th, 11th, 12th, Broadway, and Franklin Streets. Many visitors to the neighborhood use nearby mass transit connections. The neighborhood has two BART stations: 12th Street Station
on its northwest corner, and Lake Merritt Station
at its eastern edge.
Residents of Chinatown are zoned to schools in the Oakland Unified School District
.
Zoned schools include http://mapstacker.ousd.k12.ca.us/newdefault.htm:
American Indian Public Charter School II, a charter school campus of the American Indian Model Schools
system, is located in Chinatown. It caters to students living in the Chinatown and Lake Merritt
areas. In 2008 it shared a campus with Oakland Charter Academies (now Amethod Public Schools
).
The Lighthouse Community Charter School started in the 2004 - 2005 school year with grades K-2 and 6-8. LCCS intends to enroll two new grade levels each year until it serves grades K – 12 school in 2008–2009. It will move to new facilities near the airport for the 2009-2010 school year.
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
, is a pan-Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
n neighborhood which reflects Oakland's diverse Asian American
Asian American
Asian Americans are Americans of Asian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau definition of Asians as "Asian” refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan,...
community. It is frequently referred to as "Oakland Chinatown" in order to distinguish it from nearby San Francisco's Chinatown
Chinatown, San Francisco, California
San Francisco's Chinatown is the oldest Chinatown in North America and the largest Chinese community outside Asia. Since its establishment in 1848, it has been highly important and influential in the history and culture of ethnic Chinese immigrants to the United States and North America...
. It lies at an elevation of 39 feet (12 m).
Chinese were the first Asians to arrive in Oakland in the 1850s, followed by Japanese in the 1890s, Koreans in the 1900s, and Filipinos in the 1930s-1940s. Southeast Asians began arriving in the 1970s during the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. Many Asian languages and dialect
Dialect
The term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors,...
s can be heard in Chinatown due to its diverse population.
Chinatown is located in downtown Oakland, with its center at 8th Street and Webster Street. Its northern edge is 12th Street, and its southern edge is I-880 (located approximately at 6th Street). It stretches from Broadway on the west to the southern tip of Lake Merritt
Lake Merritt
Lake Merritt is a large tidal lagoon that lies just east of downtown Oakland, California. It is surrounded by parkland and city neighborhoods. A popular 3.1 mile walking and jogging path runs along its perimeter...
in the east.
History
Oakland Chinatown dates back to the arrival of Chinese immigrantsChinese American
Chinese Americans represent Americans of Chinese descent. Chinese Americans constitute one group of overseas Chinese and also a subgroup of East Asian Americans, which is further a subgroup of Asian Americans...
in the 1850s, making it one of the oldest Chinatowns in North America
Chinatowns in North America
This is a list of Chinatowns located in Canada and the United States.-Edmonton:There are actually two Chinatowns in Edmonton: the newer Chinatown North and the older Chinatown South. Chinatown North stretches on 97 St from 107A Ave to 105 Ave and boasts mostly of shops, restaurants, and supermarkets...
. By 1860, the census of Oakland included 96 "Asiatics" among a total of 1,543. More Chinese arrived to help build the Central Pacific Railroad
Central Pacific Railroad
The Central Pacific Railroad is the former name of the railroad network built between California and Utah, USA that formed part of the "First Transcontinental Railroad" in North America. It is now part of the Union Pacific Railroad. Many 19th century national proposals to build a transcontinental...
western portion of the First Transcontinental Railroad
First Transcontinental Railroad
The First Transcontinental Railroad was a railroad line built in the United States of America between 1863 and 1869 by the Central Pacific Railroad of California and the Union Pacific Railroad that connected its statutory Eastern terminus at Council Bluffs, Iowa/Omaha, Nebraska The First...
during the 1860s.
The Chinese settled in shrimp camps on the estuary
Estuary
An estuary is a partly enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea....
of Oakland at 1st Street and Castro in the 1850s, near the Point in West Oakland which was referred to as "Chinese Point", and at 4th and Clay streets. The Chinese settlement at Telegraph
Telegraph Avenue
Telegraph Avenue is a street that begins, at its southernmost point, in the midst of the historic downtown district of Oakland, California, USA, and ends, at its northernmost point, at the southern edge of the University of California campus in Berkeley, California...
between 16th and 17th streets burnt down in 1867 and was relocated at the San Pablo Avenue Chinatown between 19th and 20th streets; it is now known as Oakland's Old Uptown Chinatown. Other areas settled were 14th Street between Washington and Clay, and the Charter line (22nd Street) between Castro and Brush Streets.
Fears of the Yellow Peril
Yellow Peril
Yellow Peril was a colour metaphor for race that originated in the late nineteenth century with immigration of Chinese laborers to various Western countries, notably the United States, and later associated with the Japanese during the mid 20th century, due to Japanese military expansion.The term...
and local exclusion laws forced the Chinese population to resettle to its current location centered at 8th Street and Webster Street in the 1870s.
The first Chinese in Oakland fished in the San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
for shrimp
Shrimp
Shrimp are swimming, decapod crustaceans classified in the infraorder Caridea, found widely around the world in both fresh and salt water. Adult shrimp are filter feeding benthic animals living close to the bottom. They can live in schools and can swim rapidly backwards. Shrimp are an important...
similarly to the Chinese at China Camp near San Rafael
San Rafael, California
San Rafael is a city and the county seat of Marin County, California, United States. The city is located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area...
. In 1868, Chinese laborers built the Temescal
Lake Temescal
Lake Temescal is a small lake in the northeastern hills section of Oakland, California. It is the centerpiece of Temescal Regional Park...
Dam in Oakland providing water for the East Bay as well as the Lake Chabot
Lake Chabot
Lake Chabot is a man-made lake covering in Alameda County, California. Part of the lake lies within Oakland city limits, but most of it lies in unincorporated Castro Valley, just east of San Leandro. It was formed by the damming of San Leandro Creek....
Dam in 1874-75. They worked in canneries, cotton mills and fuse and explosive factories as well as farms. In the 1880s, discriminatory laws made it difficult for Chinese immigrants to own land or even find work. They found work as laundry
Laundry
Laundry is a noun that refers to the act of washing clothing and linens, the place where that washing is done, and/or that which needs to be, is being, or has been laundered...
workers, cook
Cook (profession)
A cook is a person who prepares food for consumption. In Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Canada this profession requires government approval ....
s, gardeners, houseboy
Houseboy
A Houseboy is typically a male servant or assistant who performs domestic or personal chores. Examples of its usage include:*An American slang term that originated in World War II for a native boy who helped a soldier perform basic responsibilities like cleaning, laundry, ironing, shoe-shining,...
s, or as vegetable
Vegetable
The noun vegetable usually means an edible plant or part of a plant other than a sweet fruit or seed. This typically means the leaf, stem, or root of a plant....
peddler
Peddler
A peddler, in British English pedlar, also known as a canvasser, cheapjack, monger, or solicitor , is a travelling vendor of goods. In England, the term was mostly used for travellers hawking goods in the countryside to small towns and villages; they might also be called tinkers or gypsies...
s. The Chinese Exclusion Act
Chinese Exclusion Act (United States)
The Chinese Exclusion Act was a United States federal law signed by Chester A. Arthur on May 8, 1882, following revisions made in 1880 to the Burlingame Treaty of 1868. Those revisions allowed the U.S. to suspend immigration, and Congress subsequently acted quickly to implement the suspension of...
severely limited the further immigration of Chinese. By 1900, the Chinese in Oakland numbered less than 1,000.
The 1906 San Francisco earthquake
1906 San Francisco earthquake
The San Francisco earthquake of 1906 was a major earthquake that struck San Francisco, California, and the coast of Northern California at 5:12 a.m. on Wednesday, April 18, 1906. The most widely accepted estimate for the magnitude of the earthquake is a moment magnitude of 7.9; however, other...
and fire destroyed most of San Francisco's Chinatown and more than 4,000 Chinese survivors found refuge in Oakland. Even while San Francisco Chinatown was rebuilding, many stayed in Oakland, bringing the Chinatown population to about 2,500. Because of immigration restrictions barring Chinese women and children, a bachelor
Bachelor
A bachelor is a man above the age of majority who has never been married . Unlike his female counterpart, the spinster, a bachelor may have had children...
society was created.
In the 1920s, Oakland Chinatown grew from 10th Street to the waterfront from Broadway to Harrison.
Even until 1940, the Chinatown population grew only to about 3,000. With the United States involvement in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and the fact that China was an ally, the Chinese Exclusion Act was repealed in 1943, however the immigration quota was maintained at 105 immigrants per year.
In 1950, Chinatown grew to a population of 5,500, but local housing was lost due to the construction of Interstate 880
Interstate 880
Interstate 880 is an Interstate Highway in the San Francisco Bay Area connecting San Jose and Oakland, running parallel to the southeastern shore of San Francisco Bay...
, which runs through 8 blocks between 5th and 6th streets and serves as a transportation artery for some of Chinatown's commercial activity, Laney College
Laney College
Laney College is a community college located in Oakland, California, next to the Lake Merritt BART station and the Kaiser Convention Center. Laney is the largest of the four colleges of the Peralta Community College District which serves northern Alameda County.Laney College originally opened in...
(8 blocks) and later in the late 1960s, the Bay Area Rapid Transit
Bay Area Rapid Transit
Bay Area Rapid Transit is a rapid transit system serving the San Francisco Bay Area. The heavy-rail public transit and subway system connects San Francisco with cities in the East Bay and suburbs in northern San Mateo County. BART operates five lines on of track with 44 stations in four counties...
headquarters and Lake Merritt station (2 blocks) and Oakland Museum of California
Oakland Museum of California
Oakland Museum of California or Oakland Museum is a museum dedicated to the art, history, and natural science of California located in Oakland, California....
(4 blocks).
Oakland Chinatown was economically stagnant for many years, especially after multigenerational Chinatown residents began moving to the suburbs in the late 1960s. However, Chinatown saw much steady development during the 1980s and 1990s as Chinese American merchants relocated from San Francisco to Oakland, and due to increased immigration from mainland China, Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
, and Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
. During this time period, many ethnic Chinese Vietnamese and Chinese Cambodian
Chinese Cambodian
Chinese Cambodians are Cambodian citizens of Chinese descent. "Khmer-Chen", is used for peoples of either mixed Cambodian & Chinese descent or people of whom are Cambodian born citizens with Chinese ancestry;...
s began opening new small businesses, essentially replacing many of the older Taishanese-dominated businesses. Also, investors with Hong Kong backgrounds constructed the Pacific Renaissance Plaza in the early 1990s. Chinatown still retains the traditional aspects and characteristics of an older Chinatown. Oakland's Chinatown also includes a historic and still thriving fortune cookie
Fortune cookie
A fortune cookie is a crisp cookie usually made from flour, sugar, vanilla, and oil with a "fortune" wrapped inside. A "fortune" is a piece of paper with words of faux wisdom or a vague prophecy...
factory.
Although it is overshadowed by its more prominent, tourist-oriented counterpart in San Francisco, Oakland's Chinatown is bustling with activity and considered to be more authentic to many. Other Asian cultures are represented in Oakland's Chinatown as it has also been settled by non-Chinese Asians such as ethnic Vietnamese (many of whom operate many of Chinatown's jewelry businesses), Koreans, and Thais making it more of a pan-Asian area as opposed to a "Chinatown." As is the case with other retail and commercial districts around Oakland, the many customers and thriving businesses in Chinatown generate sales tax revenue for Oakland city and Redevelopment
Redevelopment
Redevelopment is any new construction on a site that has pre-existing uses.-Description:Variations on redevelopment include:* Urban infill on vacant parcels that have no existing activity but were previously developed, especially on Brownfield land, such as the redevelopment of an industrial site...
Agency coffers.
Japanese immigrants began settling in Oakland in the 1890s mostly in West Oakland
West Oakland, Oakland, California
West Oakland is a neighborhood situated in the northwestern corner of Oakland, California along the waterfront near the Port of Oakland and San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge. It lies at an elevation of 13 feet .-History:...
around Market Street. Later, hundreds were living in the section between Harrison and Oak streets south of 8th Street. They owned several stores in Chinatown. After the attack on Pearl Harbor
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
in 1941, all Japanese American
Japanese American
are American people of Japanese heritage. Japanese Americans have historically been among the three largest Asian American communities, but in recent decades have become the sixth largest group at roughly 1,204,205, including those of mixed-race or mixed-ethnicity...
s were sent to internment
Japanese American internment
Japanese-American internment was the relocation and internment by the United States government in 1942 of approximately 110,000 Japanese Americans and Japanese who lived along the Pacific coast of the United States to camps called "War Relocation Camps," in the wake of Imperial Japan's attack on...
camps. The Masuda family had posted a large "I Am An American" sign outside their Oakland grocery store, Wanto Company, at 8th and Franklin streets which was photographed by Dorothea Lange
Dorothea Lange
Dorothea Lange was an influential American documentary photographer and photojournalist, best known for her Depression-era work for the Farm Security Administration...
. Many did not return to Oakland after the war ended. The Buddhist Church of Oakland is one of the few institutions remaining of Oakland's Japantown
Japantown
is a common name for official Japanese communities in big cities outside Japan. Alternatively, a Japantown may be called J-town, Little Tokyo, or Nihonmachi , the first two being common names for the Japanese communities in San Francisco and Los Angeles, respectively.-North America:Japantowns were...
.
Filipino
Filipino American
Filipino Americans are Americans of Filipino ancestry. Filipino Americans, often shortened to "Fil-Ams", or "Pinoy",Filipinos in what is now the United States were first documented in the 16th century, with small settlements beginning in the 18th century...
s immigrated to the area in the early 1900s. Oakland Chinatown was the center of commerce and community gathering for Filipinos in the East Bay during 1940 - 1960.
People and culture
The residents of Oakland Chinatown include ChineseChinese American
Chinese Americans represent Americans of Chinese descent. Chinese Americans constitute one group of overseas Chinese and also a subgroup of East Asian Americans, which is further a subgroup of Asian Americans...
, Vietnamese
Vietnamese American
A Vietnamese American is an American of Vietnamese descent. They make up about half of all overseas Vietnamese and are the fourth-largest Asian American group....
, Korean
Korean American
Korean Americans are Americans of Korean descent, mostly from South Korea, with a small minority from North Korea...
, Filipino
Filipino American
Filipino Americans are Americans of Filipino ancestry. Filipino Americans, often shortened to "Fil-Ams", or "Pinoy",Filipinos in what is now the United States were first documented in the 16th century, with small settlements beginning in the 18th century...
, Japanese
Japanese American
are American people of Japanese heritage. Japanese Americans have historically been among the three largest Asian American communities, but in recent decades have become the sixth largest group at roughly 1,204,205, including those of mixed-race or mixed-ethnicity...
, Cambodian
Cambodian American
A Cambodian American is an American who is born, raised, or from Cambodia usually of Khmer descent but also including Chinese Cambodians, Vietnamese Cambodians, Cham people and other ethnicities of Cambodia...
, Laotian
Laotian American
A Laotian American is a resident of the United States who was originally from Laos, a person of Laotian descent residing in America, or a citizen born in the United States whose parents were originally from Laos. Laotian Americans are included in the larger category of Asian Americans...
, Mien
Mien American
Iu Mien Americans are primarily Indochinese refugees that may have been born in or have become naturalized citizens of the United States of America. This group arrived in between the late 1970s to the early 1990s as the last wave of refugees post-Vietnam War....
, Thai, Samoan
American Samoa
American Samoa is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the sovereign state of Samoa...
and others. Consequently, many languages and dialects can be heard, including Cantonese, Chiu-Chow, Ilocano
Ilokano language
Ilokano or Ilocano is the third most-spoken language of the Republic of the Philippines....
, Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
, Khmer
Khmer language
Khmer , or Cambodian, is the language of the Khmer people and the official language of Cambodia. It is the second most widely spoken Austroasiatic language , with speakers in the tens of millions. Khmer has been considerably influenced by Sanskrit and Pali, especially in the royal and religious...
, Khmu
Khmu language
Khmu is the language of the Khmu people of the northern Laos region. It is also spoken in adjacent areas of Vietnam, Thailand and China. Khmu lends its name to the Khmuic branch of the Austro-Asiatic language family, which also includes Khmer and Vietnamese. Within Austro-Asiatic, Khmu is often...
, Korean
Korean language
Korean is the official language of the country Korea, in both South and North. It is also one of the two official languages in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in People's Republic of China. There are about 78 million Korean speakers worldwide. In the 15th century, a national writing...
, Lao
Lao language
Lao or Laotian is a tonal language of the Tai–Kadai language family. It is the official language of Laos, and also spoken in the northeast of Thailand, where it is usually referred to as the Isan language. Being the primary language of the Lao people, Lao is also an important second language for...
, Malay
Malay language
Malay is a major language of the Austronesian family. It is the official language of Malaysia , Indonesia , Brunei and Singapore...
, Mandarin
Standard Mandarin
Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Chinese, also known as Mandarin or Putonghua, is the official language of the People's Republic of China and Republic of China , and is one of the four official languages of Singapore....
, Mien
Iu Mien language
The Iu Mien language is one of the main languages spoken by the Yao people in China, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand and more recently the United States, in diaspora. There are about 2,172,000 speakers in total, according to census data in 2000 from China, Vietnam, Thai, Laos, United States of America,...
, Tagalog
Tagalog language
Tagalog is an Austronesian language spoken as a first language by a third of the population of the Philippines and as a second language by most of the rest. It is the first language of the Philippine region IV and of Metro Manila...
, Taiwanese, Thai
Thai language
Thai , also known as Central Thai and Siamese, is the national and official language of Thailand and the native language of the Thai people, Thailand's dominant ethnic group. Thai is a member of the Tai group of the Tai–Kadai language family. Historical linguists have been unable to definitively...
, Toishan
Taishan dialect
Taishanese is a dialect of Yue Chinese. The dialect is closely related to Cantonese.Taishanese is spoken in the southern part of Guangdong Province in China, particularly in and around the city-level county of Taishan...
, and Vietnamese
Vietnamese language
Vietnamese is the national and official language of Vietnam. It is the mother tongue of 86% of Vietnam's population, and of about three million overseas Vietnamese. It is also spoken as a second language by many ethnic minorities of Vietnam...
.
Annual cultural events and fairs
- Chinese New YearChinese New YearChinese New Year – often called Chinese Lunar New Year although it actually is lunisolar – is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. It is an all East and South-East-Asia celebration...
(also known as Lunar New Year or Vietnamese TếtTetTet can mean:*Tết or Tết Nguyên Đán, the Vietnamese new year**Tet Offensive, a military campaign that began in 1968*Têt in Roussillon, France*Equal temperament, abbreviated as 12-TET, 19-TET and so on...
).
- Dragon boat races are held annually at Jack London SquareJack London SquareJack London Square is a popular tourist attraction on the waterfront of Oakland, California. Named after the author Jack London and owned by the Port of Oakland, it is the home of stores, restaurants, hotels, an Amtrak station, a ferry dock, the historic Saloon, the cabin Jack London lived in the...
or Treasure Island, CaliforniaTreasure Island, CaliforniaTreasure Island is an artificial island in the San Francisco Bay between San Francisco and Oakland, and an emerging neighborhood of San Francisco....
- The Oakland Chinatown StreetFest has been held on the 4th weekend of August annually since 1988.
- Mid-Autumn FestivalMid-Autumn FestivalThe Mid-Autumn Festival , also known as the Moon Festival or Mooncake Festival or Zhongqiu Festival, is a popular lunar harvest festival celebrated by Chinese and Vietnamese people. A description of the festival first appeared in Rites of Zhou, a written collection of rituals of the Western Zhou...
(also known as Moon Festival or Vietnamese Tết Trung Thu).
CCUMC
The Chinese Community United Methodist Church (CCUMC), which was founded in 1887. The church was established as part of a chain of Methodist Chinese Missions by the Rev. Dr. Otis Gibson. In the early days, the Chinese Methodist Church held worship service and Sunday School. To serve the community, an English school for immigrants, and a Chinese school for the American-born Chinese also operated. The early days were sustained by courageous workers, both Chinese- and American-born as there were strong anti-Chinese sentiments.The church was located at several sites in Oakland Chinatown. By 1905, the church resided where it currently sits today. In 1913, a fire devastated the building and a new building was erected. But by the 1940s, the church outgrew even this building. Under the leadership of Rev Edwar Lee, a new church and the current main sanctuary was built in 1952. With more growth, more space was needed, and a new social hall and classrooms annex was built in 1970.
Today, the Chinese Community United Methodist Church conducts both a Chinese (Cantonese and Mandarin) language worship service and English worship service on Sundays.
Performing arts
Chinese operaChinese opera
Chinese opera is a popular form of drama and musical theatre in China with roots going back as far as the third century CE...
was one of the first traditional Chinese art forms in Oakland. In 1907, a Chinese Theater at 9th and Franklin streets opened which could seat 500 people and had a company of 30 full-time actors from China. Today, three styles of Chinese opera clubs are active in Oakland: Cantonese opera
Cantonese opera
Cantonese opera is one of the major categories in Chinese opera, originating in southern China's Cantonese culture. It is popular in Guangdong, Guangxi, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore and Malaysia. Like all versions of Chinese opera, it is a traditional Chinese art form, involving music, singing,...
, Beijing opera
Beijing opera
Peking opera or Beijing opera is a form of traditional Chinese theatre which combines music, vocal performance, mime, dance and acrobatics. It arose in the late 18th century and became fully developed and recognized by the mid-19th century. The form was extremely popular in the Qing Dynasty court...
, and Kunqu
Kunqu
Kunqu , also known as Kunju , Kun opera or Kunqu Opera, is one of the oldest extant forms of Chinese opera. It evolved from the Kunshan melody, and dominated Chinese theatre from the 16th to the 18th centuries. The style originated in the Wu cultural area...
.
Pacific Renaissance Plaza
A plaza built by Hong Kong investors in the 1990s, this plaza is often viewed as the center of Oakland Chinatown, it consists of many restaurants, a library, jewelry store, bank, ice creamery, and other health services.Libraries
The Asian Branch Library is one of many of Oakland Public LibraryOakland Public Library
The Oakland Public Library is the public library in Oakland, California. Opened in 1878, the Oakland Public Library currently serves the city of Oakland, along with some neighboring smaller cities including Emeryville and Piedmont. The Oakland Public Library has the largest collection of any...
's branches and is located in Chinatown's "Pacific Renaissance Plaza." The Asian Library is unique among public library branches in the United States as it houses eight Asian languages (Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, Cambodian, Tagalog and Laotian) in major reference titles and general subject titles, an Asian Studies collection and an in-depth Asian American collection in English.
The Asian Branch Library was founded in 1975 as part of a Federal Library Services Construction Act grant to create a model library serving the Asian community in Oakland with multilingual staff and collections. In 1978, the branch moved from its original location at the Park Boulevard to the Main Library. In 1981, it moved to its own building at 9th Street and Broadway. The current location in the Pacific Renaissance Plaza opened to the public in 1995.
Notable natives and residents
- Bruce LeeBruce LeeBruce Lee was a Chinese American, Hong Kong actor, martial arts instructor, philosopher, film director, film producer, screenwriter, and founder of the Jeet Kune Do martial arts movement...
, martial artist, actor - Fred KorematsuFred Korematsuwas one of the many Japanese-American citizens living on the West Coast during World War II. Shortly after the Imperial Japanese Navy attacked Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, authorizing the Secretary of War and his military commanders to require all...
resisted, and then challenged in court, the forced internment of Japanese Americans during World War II (See Korematsu v. United StatesKorematsu v. United StatesKorematsu v. United States, 323 U.S. 214 , was a landmark United States Supreme Court case concerning the constitutionality of Executive Order 9066, which ordered Japanese Americans into internment camps during World War II....
for more information.) - Rodney YeeRodney YeeRodney Yee is an American New Age yoga instructor who rose to national prominence in the early 1990s when he began starring in a series of Gaiam/Living Arts yoga instructional videos and DVDs...
, yoga instructor - Amy TanAmy TanAmy Tan is an American writer whose works explore mother-daughter relationships. Her most well-known work is The Joy Luck Club, which has been translated into 35 languages...
, author - Dong KingmanDong KingmanDong Kingman was a Chinese American artist and one of America's leading watercolor masters. As a painter on the forefront of the California Style School of painting, he was known for his urban and landscape paintings as well as his graphic design work in the Hollywood film industry...
(1911–2000), watercolorist, created paintings for Flower Drum SongFlower Drum SongFlower Drum Song was the eighth stage musical by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. It was based on the 1957 novel, The Flower Drum Song, by Chinese-American author C. Y. Lee. The piece opened in 1958 on Broadway and was afterwards presented in the West End and on tour...
and The World of Suzie WongThe World of Suzie WongThe World of Suzie Wong is a 1957 novel written by Richard Mason. The main characters are Robert Lomax, a young British artist living in Hong Kong, and Suzie Wong, the title character, a Chinese woman who works as a prostitute... - Dr. Charles Goodall Lee (1881–1973), dentist, first licensed Chinese dentist who financed the lodge building of the Chinese American Citizens AllianceChinese American Citizens AllianceChinese American Citizens Alliance is a non-partisan Chinese American fraternal, benevolent non-profit organization founded in 1895 in San Francisco, California to secure equal rights for Americans of Chinese ancestry and to better the welfare of their communities...
in Oakland - Lew HingLew HingLew Hing was an American businessman and industrialist. His formal married name was Lew Yu-ling....
(1858–1934), tycoon, founded successful cannery building an empire in banking, shipping, and real estate - Frank ChinFrank ChinFrank Chin is an American author and playwright.- Life and career :Frank Chin was born in Berkeley, California, but was raised to the age of six by a retired Vaudeville couple in Placerville, California. At six his mother brought him back to the San Francisco Bay Area to live in Oakland Chinatown...
, writer - March Fong EuMarch Fong EuMarch Kong Fong Eu is an American politician of the Democratic Party.Fong earned a Bachelor of Science in dentistry from the University of California, Berkeley in 1943 and a Master of Arts from Mills College. She earned a Ed.D...
, politician - Matt FongMatt FongMatthew Kipling Fong was a Republican who served as the 30th California State Treasurer and was also the adopted son of Democrat March Fong Eu, the 25th California Secretary of State....
, politician - Ben Fong-TorresBen Fong-TorresBenjamin Fong-Torres is an American rock journalist, author, and broadcaster best known for his association with Rolling Stone magazine and the San Francisco Chronicle .-Biography:Due to the Chinese Exclusion Act, Fong-Torres' father, Ricardo Fong-Torres Benjamin Fong-Torres (方振豪; Cantonese:...
, journalist, author, radio personality - Maxine Hong KingstonMaxine Hong KingstonMaxine Hong Kingston is a Chinese American author and Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley, where she graduated with a BA in English in 1962. Kingston has written three novels and several works of non-fiction about the experiences of Chinese immigrants living in the United...
, writer of The Woman WarriorThe Woman WarriorThe Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts is a memoir by Maxine Hong Kingston, published by Vintage Books in 1975. Although there are many scholarly debates surrounding the official genre classification of the book, it can best be described as a work of creative non-fiction.Throughout...
and China Men - Wendy YoshimuraWendy YoshimuraWendy Masako Yoshimura is an American still life watercolor painter better known for her involvement with the Symbionese Liberation Army. She was born in a World War II-era California internment camp, and raised in Japan and the Central Valley...
, watercolor artist - William Wong, journalist and author
Geography
Central business district
A central business district is the commercial and often geographic heart of a city. In North America this part of a city is commonly referred to as "downtown" or "city center"...
between Broadway to the west, Interstate 880
Interstate 880
Interstate 880 is an Interstate Highway in the San Francisco Bay Area connecting San Jose and Oakland, running parallel to the southeastern shore of San Francisco Bay...
to the south, Oak Street and Laney College
Laney College
Laney College is a community college located in Oakland, California, next to the Lake Merritt BART station and the Kaiser Convention Center. Laney is the largest of the four colleges of the Peralta Community College District which serves northern Alameda County.Laney College originally opened in...
to the east, and 12th Street to the north. The entrance to the Webster Tube, which carries traffic underneath the estuary, is on the edge of Chinatown. Unlike many Chinatowns, it has no formal arch
Arch
An arch is a structure that spans a space and supports a load. Arches appeared as early as the 2nd millennium BC in Mesopotamian brick architecture and their systematic use started with the Ancient Romans who were the first to apply the technique to a wide range of structures.-Technical aspects:The...
(Paifang
Paifang
Paifang, also called pailou, is a traditional Chinese architectural gating style as an archway.The word paifang originally was a collective term used to describe the top two levels of administrative division and subdivisions of ancient Chinese city. The largest division within a city in ancient...
) or gate
Gate
A gate is a point of entry to a space enclosed by walls, or a moderately sized opening in a fence. Gates may prevent or control entry or exit, or they may be merely decorative. Other terms for gate include yett and port...
, but it does have bilingual street sign
Traffic sign
Traffic signs or road signs are signs erected at the side of roads to provide information to road users. With traffic volumes increasing over the last eight decades, many countries have adopted pictorial signs or otherwise simplified and standardized their signs to facilitate international travel...
s.
The neighborhood can be roughly divided into two distinct areas: Between Broadway and Harrison Street is the commercial
Commerce
While business refers to the value-creating activities of an organization for profit, commerce means the whole system of an economy that constitutes an environment for business. The system includes legal, economic, political, social, cultural, and technological systems that are in operation in any...
area, with busy streets lined with markets, restaurants, banks, and other businesses. East of Harrison Street, the neighborhood is more residential in character with more apartments and condominiums, less crowded sidewalks, and a mix of retail stores that are more service and product oriented, with less groceries and restaurants. Though the mainstay of commercial activity is south of 10th Street, there are nonetheless many retail shops, stores, and restaurtants north of 10th Street and in other parts of Downtown Oakland which are owned by Chinese and Korean merchants. In particular at the edge of Chinatown, 14th street between Webster and Harrison is block which features numerous Korean restaurants and businesses, especially on the north side of the block.
Recent immigrants have also moved south into "New Oakland Chinatown" in the San Antonio neighborhood along International Boulevard
International Boulevard, Oakland, California
International Boulevard is a street in Oakland, California that changes names while stretching from suburban Hayward , through San Leandro International Boulevard is a street in Oakland, California (formerly known as East 14th Street) that changes names while stretching from suburban Hayward...
(formerly East 14th Street) and Eastlake business district on East 18th Street.
Representatives
- United States SenateUnited States SenateThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
represented by Dianne FeinsteinDianne FeinsteinDianne Goldman Berman Feinstein is the senior U.S. Senator from California. A member of the Democratic Party, she has served in the Senate since 1992. She also served as 38th Mayor of San Francisco from 1978 to 1988....
and Barbara BoxerBarbara BoxerBarbara Levy Boxer is the junior United States Senator from California . A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served in the U.S. House of Representatives .... - United States House of RepresentativesUnited States House of RepresentativesThe United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
District 9 represented by Barbara LeeBarbara LeeBarbara Jean Lee is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1998. She is a member of the Democratic Party. She is the first woman to represent that district. Lee was the Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus and was the Co-Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus...
- California State AssemblyCalifornia State AssemblyThe California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature. There are 80 members in the Assembly, representing an approximately equal number of constituents, with each district having a population of at least 420,000...
District 16 represented by Sandré SwansonSandré SwansonSandré Swanson was elected to the California State Assembly in November 2006. Mr. Swanson represents the 16th Assembly District. The district includes the cities of Alameda, Oakland, and Piedmont. Swanson previously served as Chief of Staff to Congresswoman Barbara Lee, he was also district... - California State SenateCalifornia State SenateThe California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature. There are 40 state senators. The state legislature meets in the California State Capitol in Sacramento. The Lieutenant Governor is the ex officio President of the Senate and may break a tied vote...
District 9 represented by Don PerataDon PerataDon Richard Perata is a California Democratic politician, who was President pro tempore of the California State Senate from 2004 to 2008. He came in second place in the November 2010 ballot for Mayor of Oakland...
- Alameda CountyAlameda County, CaliforniaAlameda County is a county in the U.S. state of California. It occupies most of the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 1,510,271, making it the 7th most populous county in the state...
District 3 (Fruitvale, San Antonio, Chinatown portions of Oakland, San Leandro, Alameda, San Lorenzo, Ashland, Hillcrest Knolls) represented by Alice Lai-Bitker- Oakland City Council District 2 (Grand Lake-Chinatown) represented by Pat Kernighan
- Oakland Mayor Jean QuanJean QuanJean Quan is the Democratic mayor of Oakland, California. She previously served as City Council member for Oakland's 4th District...
.
- Alameda County
- California State Assembly
Police and fire
The Oakland Police Department's Administration Building is located at 455 Seventh St.Chinatown is in Oakland Police Department's Beat 3X. The Community Services Section hosts the Asian Advisory Committee on Crime and the Asian Youth Services Committee.
The Chinatown Neighborhood Crime Prevention Council for beat 3x, a neighborhood community-policing board meets monthly. Meetings are conducted in Cantonese
Standard Cantonese
Cantonese, or Standard Cantonese, is a language that originated in the vicinity of Canton in southern China, and is often regarded as the prestige dialect of Yue Chinese....
and are open to all.
Oakland Fire Department, Engine Company No. 12 is located at 822 Alice Street at 9th Street. Fire engine
Fire apparatus
A fire apparatus, fire engine, fire truck, or fire appliance is a vehicle designed to assist in fighting fires by transporting firefighters to the scene and providing them with access to the fire, along with water or other equipment...
2552 is assigned to this fire station
Fire station
A fire station is a structure or other area set aside for storage of firefighting apparatus , personal protective equipment, fire hose, fire extinguishers, and other fire extinguishing equipment...
. The citizens of Oakland and the Oakland Fire Department will remember the service and sacrifice of Oakland Engine Company No. 12. Hoseman Tracy Toomey who died in the line of duty on January 10, 1999 in a 2 story building collapse after responding to a 6 alarm fire on upper Broadway.
Transportation
Chinatown has the highest number of automobile-pedestrian collisions in the City of Oakland. A pedestrian safety campaign brought in the first scramble
Pedestrian scramble
A pedestrian scramble, also known as a 'X' Crossing , diagonal crossing , scramble intersection , and more poetically Barnes Dance, is a pedestrian crossing system that stops all vehicular traffic and allows pedestrians to cross an intersection in every direction, including diagonally, at the same...
system in Alameda County to Oakland Chinatown to prevent further pedestrian fatalities and injuries.
Until recently, California Auto Insurance company actuarial models charged higher rates to residents in the Chinatown's zip code under a practice known as territorial rating, or zip code profiling. The insurance actuarial theory behind this market practice purports that drivers residing or "principally garaging" their cars in a certain area face a greater loss and accident ratio. This practice, was outlawed by California voters in 1988 by Proposition 103 on the statewide ballot. The law made its way through the courts for 18 years before several insurance companies settled with California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi
John Garamendi
John Raymond Garamendi is the U.S. Representative for , serving since November 2009. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Garamendi was the California State Insurance Commissioner from 1991 to 1995, the U.S. Deputy Secretary of the Interior from 1995 to 1998, and the California State Insurance...
in 2006 to put an end to the practice.
Oakland is served by several AC Transit
AC Transit
AC Transit is an Oakland-based regional public transit agency serving the western half of Alameda County and parts of western Contra Costa County in the western, Bay-side area of the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area...
bus lines which run on 7th, 8th, 11th, 12th, Broadway, and Franklin Streets. Many visitors to the neighborhood use nearby mass transit connections. The neighborhood has two BART stations: 12th Street Station
Oakland City Center/12th Street (BART station)
12th Street Oakland City Center is an underground Bay Area Rapid Transit station located at 12th Street and Broadway next to the Oakland City Center in Downtown Oakland...
on its northwest corner, and Lake Merritt Station
Lake Merritt (BART station)
The Lake Merritt Bay Area Rapid Transit station is located in Downtown Oakland on Oak Street near Lake Merritt, Chinatown, Laney College and the Oakland Museum. This station consists of an underground island platform....
at its eastern edge.
Public schools
Residents of Chinatown are zoned to schools in the Oakland Unified School District
Oakland Unified School District
Oakland Unified School District is a public education school district which operates elementary schools , middle schools , and high schools in Oakland, California.-History:...
.
Zoned schools include http://mapstacker.ousd.k12.ca.us/newdefault.htm:
- Lincoln Elementary SchoolLincoln Elementary School (Oakland, California)Lincoln Elementary School is part of the Oakland Unified School District. It is located in Oakland Chinatown, in walking distance of Lake Merritt. Most of the students speak a foreign language at home, including Cantonese, Mandarin, and Mongolian...
(K-5) - Westlake Middle SchoolWestlake Middle SchoolThere are several schools in America named Westlake.California: Westlake Middle School is located on 27th and Harrison St. in Oakland Chinatown, CA. It currently is enrolled with 732 students. students of 6th, 7th, and 8th may attend there....
- Oakland Technical High SchoolOakland Technical High SchoolOakland Technical High School, known locally as Oakland Tech, or just simply "Tech", is a public high school in Oakland, California, and is operated under the jurisdiction of the Oakland Unified School District.-Background:...
American Indian Public Charter School II, a charter school campus of the American Indian Model Schools
American Indian Model Schools
American Indian Model Schools is a charter school system with its headquarters in Oakland, California.It includes American Indian Public Charter School , a 5th grade-8th grade school, American Indian Public Charter School II , a fifth grade through eighth grade school, and American Indian Public...
system, is located in Chinatown. It caters to students living in the Chinatown and Lake Merritt
Lake Merritt
Lake Merritt is a large tidal lagoon that lies just east of downtown Oakland, California. It is surrounded by parkland and city neighborhoods. A popular 3.1 mile walking and jogging path runs along its perimeter...
areas. In 2008 it shared a campus with Oakland Charter Academies (now Amethod Public Schools
Amethod Public Schools
Amethod Public Schools is a nonprofit charter school system with headquarters in Oakland, California....
).
The Lighthouse Community Charter School started in the 2004 - 2005 school year with grades K-2 and 6-8. LCCS intends to enroll two new grade levels each year until it serves grades K – 12 school in 2008–2009. It will move to new facilities near the airport for the 2009-2010 school year.
Colleges and universities
- Laney CollegeLaney CollegeLaney College is a community college located in Oakland, California, next to the Lake Merritt BART station and the Kaiser Convention Center. Laney is the largest of the four colleges of the Peralta Community College District which serves northern Alameda County.Laney College originally opened in...
is a community collegeCommunity collegeA community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries.-Australia:Community colleges carry on the tradition of adult education, which was established in Australia around mid 19th century when evening classes were held to help adults...
located at the south end of Chinatown. Course offerings include Asian and Asian American StudiesEthnic studiesEthnic studies is the interdisciplinary study of racialized peoples in the world in relation to ethnicity. It evolved in the second half of the 20th century partly in response to charges that traditional disciplines such as anthropology, history, English, ethnology, Asian studies, and orientalism...
, Chinese language, Japanese language, and Chinese Opera (Music Department). It is a part of the Peralta Community College DistrictPeralta Community College DistrictThe Peralta Community College District is the community college district serving northern Alameda County, California. The district operates four community colleges: Berkeley City College, Laney College and Merritt College in Oakland, and College of Alameda. From 1968 to 1988, non-contiguous Plumas...
.
- Cal State East BayCalifornia State University, East BayCalifornia State University, East Bay is a public university located in the eastern region of the San Francisco Bay Area. The university, as part of the 23-campus California State University system, offers over 100 areas of study...
has the Oakland Professional Development and Conference Center at Broadway and 11th Street. Continuing educationContinuing educationContinuing education is an all-encompassing term within a broad spectrum of post-secondary learning activities and programs. The term is used mainly in the United States and Canada...
courses includes a certificate program in Teaching Chinese as a Heritage or Other Language.
Other education services
- The Mun Fu Yuen "Chinese schoolChinese schoolIn Western countries, a Chinese school is a school established explicitly for the purpose of teaching the Chinese languages and dialects to Americans with Chinese ancestry, Canadians with Chinese ancestry, Americans with Taiwanese ancestry, Canadians with Taiwanese ancestry, and the youth born in...
" has after school and weekend classes in Cantonese and Mandarin to promote the Chinese language and culture at the Shoong Family Chinese Cultural Center on 9th Street at Harrison. The Center was established in 1953 by philanthropist Joe Shoong with the support of the Oakland Chinese community. It is the original and longest established Chinese school in Oakland with graduates that have contributed much towards the welfare of our Oakland community.
See also
- List of named ethnic enclaves in North American cities
- Jack London SquareJack London SquareJack London Square is a popular tourist attraction on the waterfront of Oakland, California. Named after the author Jack London and owned by the Port of Oakland, it is the home of stores, restaurants, hotels, an Amtrak station, a ferry dock, the historic Saloon, the cabin Jack London lived in the...
- Lakeside Apartments DistrictLakeside Apartments District, Oakland, CaliforniaThe Lakeside Apartments District neighborhood, also known as The Gold Coast, and simply as The Lakeside, is one of Oakland, California's historic residential neighborhoods between its Downtown district and Lake Merritt...
- Oakland City CenterOakland City CenterOakland City Center is an office and shopping and hotel complex in Downtown Oakland, California. The complex is the product of a redevelopment project begun in the late 1950s. It covers twelve city blocks between Broadway on the east, Martin Luther King Jr. Way...
- Old OaklandOld OaklandOld Oakland, formally known as the Old Oakland Historic District, is a historic district in downtown Oakland, California. The area is located on the northwest side of Broadway, between the City Center complex and the Jack London Square district, and across Broadway from Chinatown.The Old Oakland...
Books
- Bagwell, Beth (1994). Oakland, the Story of a City. ISBN 0-9640087-1-8 (HC) or ISBN 0-9640087-0-X (PB)
- Collins, Willie R. (Ed.) (1994). Chinese traditional arts and folklore in Oakland. City of Oakland Cultural Arts Division's Traditional Arts Program.
- Ma, Eve Armentrout and Ma, Jeong Huei (1982). The Chinese of Oakland: Unsung Builders Oakland Chinese History Research Committee.
- National Park Service History. A History of Chinese Americans in California. Retrieved June 7, 2005.
- Wa Sung Community Service Club. Oakland Chinatown Community Directory 2005.
- Wong, William (2004). Oakland's Chinatown (Images of America: California). Arcadia PublishingArcadia PublishingArcadia Publishing is an American publisher of local history.-History:It was founded in Dover, New Hampshire in 1993 by United Kingdom-based Tempus Publishing, but became independent in 2004....
ISBN 0-7385-2925-7 AsianWeek review San Francisco Chronicle review - Fong Torres, Ben (1994). The Rice Room: Growing up Chinese-American—From Number Two Son to Rock 'n' Roll. ISBN 0-452-27412-5
Websites
Further reading
- Ah-Tye, Howard (1999). Resourceful Chinese. Matai Group.
- Chann, Ernest (1976). "Brief History of Oakland Chinatown." Unpublished monograph. At Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room.
- Chow, Willard T. (June 1, 1977). The Reemergence of an Inner City: The Pivot of Chinese Settlement in the East Bay Region of the San Francisco Bay Area. R & E Pub. ISBN 0-88247-457-X
- Ma, L. Eva Armentrout (January 1, 2001). Hometown Chinatown: A History of Oakland's Chinese Community, 1852-1995. (Asian Americans). Garland Publishing. ISBN 0-8153-3760-4
- Wong, William (2001). "Yellow Journalist: Dispatches from Asian America." Temple University Press. ISBN 1-56639-830-4
External links
- http://chinesecommunityumc.org/ About the Chinese Community United Methodist Church.
- Oakland Chinatown History overview, personal histories, and photos
- Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce
- Oakland Chinatown Interactive Map: Oakland Convention and Visitors Bureau
- Oakland Chinatown Without Bounds
- Stop Chinatown Evictions Coalition - Oakland Tenants Union
- Chinatown Community Information Book 2001, Alameda County Public Health Department
- Oakland Explorer requires Macromedia Flash plugin - interactive map, select Downtown and go to Webster and 8th Streets in the middle of Chinatown. Click on parcel upper middle box; pan with mouse right lower box for panoramic views.
- The Untold Chinatown (A Photo Essay) By Bruce Takeo Akizuki, Oakland, California (Selling Her Wares.. is from Oakland Chinatown)
- Asian & Pacific Islander Youth Violence Prevention Center (API Center)
- Publications includes several Oakland resources
- My Chinatown; An Indiana native gets an insider's view San Francisco Chronicle 8/15/97
- Taste More Than China In Oakland's Chinatown SF Chronicle August 9, 2000
- Oakland Chinatown Enjoying Renaissance AsianWeek Sept 2, 1999
- Reclaimed Stories: Chinatown, Oakland Project press release
- Chinese Historical Society of America
- Chinese in California, 1850-1920 Library of Congress' American Memory website
- Oakland Chinatown Tour interactive video tour of 10 Oakland Chinatown spots from The Organic City Mobile, a community storytelling project focused on the downtown Oakland area
- Oakland Asian Cultural Center
- Oakland Chinatown Oral History Project - inter-generational oral history project to collect and preserve the ongoing narrative of community life in Oakland Chinatown