If You're Traveling Into Oakland...
Some helpful information from the Wikipedia:
Oakland has a number of attractions tailored to those who want to learn or are just curious about the world around them. Chabot Space and Science Center, located in Oakland, California, is a hands-on center featuring interactive exhibits, a digital planetarium, a large screen theater, hands-on activities and three powerful telescopes. The Center is the continuation and expansion of a public observatory that has served San Francisco Bay Area schools and citizens with astronomy and science education programs for over 123 years. Oakland Zoo, in the past known as the Knowland Zoo, is located in southeastern Oakland. Oakland Zoo is relatively small for a city of its size, but it contains modern exhibits. Many of its animals are kept in relatively "natural" habitats, and expanded natural habitats are planned. The newly completed Valley Children's Zoo is a good example of where the zoo is headed, with interactive exhibits, state of the art animal housing facilities and children's play areas. The Zoo is nationally known for its excellent elephant exhibit and has been praised for allowing their elephants to roam freely. Oakland Museum of California is dedicated to the art, history, and natural science of California located in Oakland, California. Opened in 1969, the museum's architecture, designed by Kevin Roche, is a three-tiered blend of galleries, terraces, patios, sculpture gardens and ponds. It is 3 separate museums in one building.
If you would like to spend some time outside and enjoy nature then there are plenty of things here for you. The Morcom Rose Garden (formerly the Morcom Amphitheater of Roses) is located in a residential neighborhood in Oakland, California, near the Piedmont border. The Rose Garden was constructed in 1934 as a project of the Works Progress Administration. It was named in honor of former Oakland mayor Fred N. Morcom. As well as thousands of roses, the garden features winding walkways, a reflecting pool, and a cascading fountain. The William Joseph McInnes Botanic Garden and Campus Arboretum is located at the corner of Seminary Avenue and MacArthur Boulevard, on the campus of Mills College in Oakland. Joaquin Miller Park is a park in the Oakland Hills owned and operated by the city and named after early California writer and poet Joaquin Miller. Its 500 acres are heavily wooded with redwoods, oaks and pines, and include miles of hiking, biking and horseback riding trails. The park contains the 2,000-seat outdoor Woodminster Amphitheater and Cascade, an outdoor theater regularly used to stage both amateur and professional musicals and plays. The Amphitheater with its "water feature" (the Cascade, which still has flowing water) was designed by Howard Gilkey. It was built in 1941 and dedicated to California writers.
Oakland is one of the most ethnically diverse and integrated cities in the country. A prime example of this is the Chinatown neighborhood. It is a pan-Asian neighborhood which reflects Oakland's diverse Asian American community and is frequently referred to as "Oakland Chinatown" in order to distinguish it from nearby San Francisco's Chinatown. 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 dialects can be heard in Chinatown due to its diverse population. Chinatown is located in downtown Oakland, with its center at 8th and Webster st. Chinese opera was one of the first traditional Chinese art forms in Oakland. Today, three styles of Chinese opera clubs are active in Oakland: Cantonese opera. Beijing opera, and Kunqu.
. . . Transportation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Oakland is served by several major highways: The Eastshore Freeway Interstate 80, the MacArthur Freeway Interstate 580, the Nimitz Freeway Interstate 880, the John Williams Freeway Interstate 980, the Warren Freeway California State Route 13 and the Rumford Freeway California State Route 24. Two underwater tunnels, the Webster and Posey Tubes, connect the main island of Alameda to Downtown Oakland, coming above ground in Chinatown. In addition, the Park Street, Fruitvale, and High Street Bridges connect Alameda to East Oakland. In the hills, the Leimert Bridge crosses Dimond Canyon, connecting the Oakmore neighborhood to Park Boulevard. The Caldecott Tunnel carries Highway 24 through the Oakland Hills, connecting central Contra Costa County to Oakland.
The metropolitan area is served by Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) from eight convenient stations for Oakland commuters. The system has headquarters in Oakland, with major transfer hubs at MacArthur and Oakland City Center/12th Street stations. BART's headquarters was located in a building above the Lake Merritt Station until 2006, when it relocated to the Kaiser Center over seismic safety concerns. Public bus service is provided by AC Transit, which was created from the old privately owned Key System. The Alameda/Oakland Ferry operates ferry service from Jack London Square to Alameda, San Francisco, and Angel Island.
Oakland is served by the Oakland International Airport, one of three international airports in the San Francisco Bay Area, which is located a few miles south of downtown Oakland. Airlines serving Oakland International provide service to numerous destinations in the United States, as well as Mexico. Right now it is served by AirBART, which links the airport to the Coliseum BART Station, and a rail connector is tentatively in the works.
The oakland has regional and long distance passenger train service provided by Amtrak, with a station located blocks from Jack London Square served by the Amtrak Capitol Corridor, Coast Starlight and San Joaquin train routes. Capitol Corridor trains also stop at a second, newer Oakland Coliseum station. Amtrak's California Zephyr has its western terminus at Emeryville station, just outside of Oakland's borders in the oakland of the same name.
Historically, Oakland was served by several railroads. Besides the transcontinental line (the "overland") of the Southern Pacific, the Western Pacific Railroad (who built a pier adjacent to the SP's), there was also the Santa Fe (whose Oakland terminal was actually in Emeryville), and the Sacramento Northern Railroad (eventually absorbed by the Western Pacific which in turn was absorbed by Union Pacific in 1980).
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