Three major cities form the basis of the popular San Francisco Bay Area in California: San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland. Although Oakland is the smallest of the three, it is loaded with bustling attractions and unique features that make it one of the most exciting cities to live in.

The eighth largest city in California and home to approximately 400,000 residents, Oakland is in the middle of the most exciting part of the Golden State. South of the popular university town, Berkely, and east of San Francisco, which is directly across the Bay Bridge, life in Oakland is one of great opportunities.

Known as Oak-town, Oakland was founded in 1852 and features a unique climate that is a mixture of coastal cities like San Francisco's climate and inland cities like San Jose's climate. This Northern California city stretches from San Francisco Bay to the East Bay Hills. A popular site for immigrants moving to America due to its liberal way of life, Oakland is also home to the Parkway, a fledgling gay and lesbian community.

A city that is at the forefront of America's liberal community, Oakland has a number of attractions that will appeal to anybody. With excellent neighborhoods that have homes designed in a number of styles including Art Deco, Oakland is also the home to such popular attractions as: Oakland Museum, Art Deco Paramount Theatre, Children's Fairyland, and the Oakland Raiders football team.