F I R S TP R E V482NEXTLAST

A Tale of Two Cities, Oakland & San Francisco
Oakland (foreground) and San Francisco (background) are less than five miles apart, but much farther apart in personality. Oakland has historically been seen as a less glamorous town - from its railroad terminal days of the 1860s through its WWII history as shipyard town and on today where it still ranks statistically as the second most dangerous city in California after Compton. The city has experienced its population divide between 'The Flatlands' with its historically working-class neighborhoods near downtown and the hills with its more upper-class neighborhoods along the northeast side of the city. But Oakland is attempting a civic revitalization, former mayor Jerry Brown initiated a plan to bring an additional 10,000 residents to downtown Oakland through a number of redevelopment projects. Hopes are to raise the quality of life in Oakland closer to that of its more affluent neighbor cities such Berkeley, Piedmont, and San Francisco.
[ MAP K-13 & L-11 ]