Oakland Apartments for Rent

Trivia question: what do Kaiser Permanente healthcare, the Hells Angels, Tupac Shakur and a drink called the Mai Tai all have in common? Answer: they all got their start in Oakland, California.

This enigmatic city, a major port and transportation hub on San Francisco Bay, is the eighth-largest city in the state and its shipping port the fifth busiest in the United States. Oakland is ranked number one in climate among US cities, enjoying 300 sunny days per year.

Once a railroad termination point, Oakland continued to grow; a steady flow of immigrants into Oakland from around the world, combined with thousands of black workers who relocated from the Deep South during the 1940s, have made Oakland one of the most ethnically-diverse major cities in the US.

World War II attracted tens of thousands of laborers from around the country, most poor sharecroppers and tenant farmers who had been recruited by Henry J. Kaiser to work in his shipyards. The medical system devised for Kaiser shipyard workers became today’s Kaiser Permanente HMO, whose first medical center is still located at MacArthur and Broadway.

Oakland enjoyed an early tourist trade. Established in Oakland in 1932, Trader Vic’s restaurant became enormously successful , so much so that it was chosen by the State Department as the official entertainment center for United Nations meetings in San Francisco. It was here the Mai Tai cocktail was created in 1944, a historic day in mixology. Tourism continues to be a big industry in Oakland. Jack London Square, named for the author and former resident, is a tourist destination on the Oakland waterfront.

Nearly 200,000 of Oakland’s jobs are related to marine cargo transport, ranging from minimum-wage positions to managers who earn an annual average salary of more than $90,000. The city is also hosts several major companies including Clorox, Cost Plus World Markets and ask.com.

Oakland hosts a significant art community, boasting the highest concentration of artists per capita in the US. The newest galleries are mostly located in the Uptown area. Oakland is also home to musicians working in a mix of genres, and is home to well-known talents including Sly & the Family Stone, MC Hammer and Tupac Shakur.