
Downtown Oakland is the
central business district
A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides wit ...
of
Oakland, California
Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...
, United States. It is located roughly bounded by both the
Oakland Estuary
The Oakland Estuary is the strait in the San Francisco Bay Area, California, separating the cities of Oakland, California, Oakland and Alameda, California, Alameda and the Alameda (island), Alameda Island from the East Bay mainland. On its weste ...
and
Interstate 880 on the southwest,
Interstate 980 on the northwest, Grand Avenue on the northeast, and
Lake Merritt on the east.
The Downtown Oakland area is sometimes expanded to refer to the industrial and residential
Jack London Square and
Jack London warehouse district areas, the
Lakeside Apartments District, which are a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of
Lake Merritt, the
Civic Center district,
Chinatown
Chinatown ( zh, t=唐人街) is the catch-all name for an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, Asia, Africa, O ...
, and the south end of Oakland's
Broadway Auto Row, an area along Broadway which has historically been used by
car dealers and
automobile repair shop
An automobile repair shop (also known regionally as a garage or a workshop) is an establishment where automobiles are repaired by auto mechanics and technicians. The customer interface is typically a Customer service representative, service adv ...
s. While many consider these areas outside of downtown proper, they are generally considered more geographically proximate to Downtown Oakland than to
East Oakland,
North Oakland or to
West Oakland and are thus sometimes associated with Downtown Oakland. In the 21st century, during and after the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, Downtown Oakland experienced a significant exodus of businesses.
Culture
Black Cowboy Parade

Downtown Oakland hosts the only celebration of its kind in the nation in memory of the
black
Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...
cowboy
A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the ''vaquero'' ...
s who helped settle the
American West
The Western United States (also called the American West, the Western States, the Far West, the Western territories, and the West) is census regions United States Census Bureau
As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the mea ...
. The annual parade typically begins on an early October weekend at DeFremery Park in West Oakland en route to
Frank H. Ogawa Plaza where judging booths are set up. After an awards ceremony, the parade returns to DeFremery Park for a celebration.
Murder of Chauncey Bailey
On August 2, 2007, journalist and editor-in-chief of the ''
Oakland Post'',
Chauncey Bailey was
assassinated
Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives.
Assassinations are orde ...
by
YBMB handyman Devaughdre Broussard as Bailey was walking to work, around 7:30 am at the southeast corner of 14th and Alice streets; across from
Lakeside Apartments District.
Land use and points of interest
Downtown Oakland is home to apartment and condominium dwellers, numerous retail businesses, tall modern office buildings, shorter
mixed-use
Mixed use is a type of urban development, urban design, urban planning and/or a zoning classification that blends multiple uses, such as residential, commercial, cultural, institutional, or entertainment, into one space, where those functions ...
historic buildings, the hubs of
AC Transit
AC Transit is the main Public transport bus service, bus transit operator in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, California. AC Transit is the third largest bus operator in California, serving the western portions of Alameda and C ...
and
BART
Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is a rapid transit system serving the San Francisco Bay Area in California. BART serves List of Bay Area Rapid Transit stations, 50 stations along six routes and of track, including eBART, a spur line running t ...
, which has three underground stations, the city's official Entertainment District which includes the historic
Paramount
Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to:
Entertainment and music companies
* Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS.
**Paramount Picture ...
and
Fox Theatres, nightclubs, and restaurants, the headquarters of
Clorox
The Clorox Company (formerly Clorox Chemical Company) is an American multinational manufacturer and marketer of consumer and professional products. As of 2024, the Oakland, California-based company had approximately 8,000 employees worldwide. N ...
,
City Center, a portion of
Old Oakland, and a portion of
Chinatown
Chinatown ( zh, t=唐人街) is the catch-all name for an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, Asia, Africa, O ...
.
Downtown includes a portion of the oldest part of the city. The area from the
Oakland Estuary
The Oakland Estuary is the strait in the San Francisco Bay Area, California, separating the cities of Oakland, California, Oakland and Alameda, California, Alameda and the Alameda (island), Alameda Island from the East Bay mainland. On its weste ...
inland to 14th Street between West Street and the Lake Merritt Channel was the original site of Oakland, and there are several 19th century houses scattered around the edges of downtown and in Chinatown.
The
Oakland Museum
Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...
is located on Oak Street near the southeastern edge of Downtown.
Education
Higher education
Laney College
Laney College is a public community college in Oakland, California. Laney is the largest of the four colleges of the Peralta Community College District which serves northern Alameda County. Laney College is named after Joseph Clarence Laney. ...
, with more than 12,000 students, is located on Fallon Street near the Lake Merritt BART station. Other educational institutions include
Lincoln University, a small business school catering mainly to international students, and a downtown office of
Cal State East Bay.
Oaksterdam University, a business college which prepares students for
medical cannabis
Medical cannabis, medicinal cannabis or medical marijuana (MMJ) refers to cannabis products and cannabinoid molecules that are prescribed by physicians for their patients. The use of cannabis as medicine has a long history, but has not ...
work, is located on 15th Street in an area referred to as "
Oaksterdam".
The
original campus of
UC Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkele ...
was located between Franklin, Harrison, 12th and 14th streets;
and the
University of California
The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...
system is currently headquartered in Downtown.
Public primary and secondary education
Lincoln Elementary School, one of the few public elementary schools in the downtown of a major US city, is on the edge of downtown, near the center of Chinatown. The
Oakland School for the Arts
Oakland School for the Arts (OSA) is a Visual arts, visual and performing arts charter school in Oakland, California, United States. OSA opened in 2002 with a curriculum that integrated college preparatory school, college preparatory academics wi ...
, a
charter school
A charter school is a school that receives government funding but operates independently of the established state school system in which it is located. It is independent in the sense that it operates according to the basic principle of autono ...
, is building a new facility surrounding the
Fox Oakland Theatre in Oakland's
Uptown Oakland.
Transportation
Motor vehicle limitations
City Hall Plaza is a city park and a "pedestrian plaza" which includes what was once the terminus of San Pablo Avenue where it met Broadway at 14th Street. It also includes 15th Street, which once ran through what is now "Kahn's Alley", past the 250
Frank H. Ogawa Plaza building, across Clay Street, through what is now a glass windowed lobby of the California State office building, connecting with Jefferson Street on the building's west side entrance. Motor vehicle traffic has also been excluded from where former city streets, Washington street and 13th street, were once aligned through what is now the
Oakland City Center development. Today, the area features an outdoor retail mall with pedestrian streets laid out to replicate the original street grid.
BART
Three subway
Bay Area Rapid Transit
Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is a rapid transit system serving the San Francisco Bay Area in California. BART serves 50 stations along six routes and of track, including eBART, a spur line running to Antioch, and Oakland Airport Connecto ...
stations serve downtown:
12th Street Oakland City Center station, located at 1245 Broadway, and
19th Street Oakland station, located at 1900 Broadway, are both located on the Broadway subway corridor. The
Lake Merritt station is in the eastern area of
Chinatown
Chinatown ( zh, t=唐人街) is the catch-all name for an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, Asia, Africa, O ...
, at 800 Madison Street. All of BART's main services travel through the
Oakland Wye, an underground
flying wye.
AC Transit
Several routes operated by AC Transit pass through or end in Downtown Oakland. These include:
Local Routes
*
1T: upgraded bus service featuring partial center dedicated lanes and median stops, from Downtown Oakland (11th + Clay) to
San Leandro BART via
International Boulevard
* 6: Downtown Oakland (10th + Washington) to Downtown Berkeley (Oxford + Addison) via most of
Telegraph Avenue
* 12:
Jack London Square Amtrak Station to Berkeley–Westbrae (Gilman + Sixth) via parts of Grand Avenue, Martin Luther King Jr. Way (mostly in Berkeley), and Gilman Street (Berkeley)
* 14:
West Oakland BART to
Fruitvale BART via 14th Street and parts of East 18th Street, East 21st Street, East 27th Street, School Street, and High Street
* 18:
Lake Merritt BART to
Albany–
UC Village via parts of Martin Luther King Jr. Way,
Shattuck Avenue (mostly Berkeley), and Solano Avenue (Berkeley and Albany)
* 19: Downtown Oakland (11th + Jefferson) to Fruitvale BART via Buena Vista Avenue (
Alameda)
* 20: Downtown Oakland (11th + Jefferson) to the
Dimond District (Fruitvale + MacArthur) via parts of Webster Street (in Alameda),
Alameda South Shore Center, Park Street (Alameda), and Fruitvale Avenue
* 29:
Emeryville (Christie + 64th) to
Trestle Glen (Lakeshore + Walavista) via Hollis Street (mostly Emeryville), Peralta Street, parts of 10th, 11th, and 12th Streets, and Lakeshore Avenue
* 33:
Piedmont
Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...
(Highland Avenue + Highland Way) to
Montclair (Moraga + La Salle) via Hampton Road (Piedmont), Oakland Avenue, Harrison Street, and eventually to Park Boulevard
* 40: Downtown Oakland (11th + Jefferson) to
Bay Fair BART via parts of Foothill Boulevard, Bancroft Avenue, and East 14th Street (San Leandro)
* 51A:
Rockridge BART to
Fruitvale BART via Broadway and parts of Webster Street and Santa Clara Avenue (both Alameda)
* 62: West Oakland BART to Fruitvale BART via parts of 7th and 8th Streets, 8th Avenue, and 23rd Avenue, passing in front of
Highland Hospital. This bus line is unique in not providing service near 12th Street BART station, instead continuing straight on 7th and 8th Streets through Chinatown and into
West Oakland.
* 72 and 72R:
Jack London Square (2nd + Clay; no Amtrak service) to
Hilltop Mall via parts of
San Pablo Avenue. The 72R serves limited stops along the 72 route at higher frequency from Jack London Square to
Contra Costa College; 72 line trips also short turn at Contra Costa College when Hilltop Mall is closed. A few 72, 72R, and 72M trips begin and end outside of downtown Oakland, usually at the beginning and end of service hours, or when providing supplementary service to schools in
El Cerrito.
* 72M: Jack London Square (2nd + Clay) to
Point Richmond (Castro + Tewksbury) via parts of San Pablo Avenue and
Macdonald Avenue (Richmond)
* 88: Lake Merritt BART to Downtown Berkeley via parts of 11th and 12th Streets, Market Street, and Sacramento Street (Berkeley)
* 96: Dimond District (Montana + Fruitvale) to Alameda Point (West Midway + Monarch) via 14th Avenue. This line serves both Lake Merritt and 12th Street BART stations before entering the
Posey and Webster Street tubes and serving the west of Alameda.
The 314 formerly made two trips per week through downtown Oakland from the West Oakland Post Office to the
Walmart Supercenter at Hegenberger Road and Edgewater Drive in
East Oakland, via Santa Clara Avenue (Alameda) and Doolittle Drive. Service has been suspended on this line since March 2020 due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
.
Transbay Routes
* NL:
Salesforce Transit Center (San Francisco) to
Eastmont Transit Center via parts of West Grand Avenue, 20th Street (Thomas L. Berkley Way), Grand Avenue, and MacArthur Boulevard, serving limited stops
* O: Salesforce Transit Center to Fruitvale BART, mainly via Santa Clara Avenue (Alameda). In the San Francisco direction, buses make one stop at 7th and Alice Streets in Chinatown; towards Fruitvale BART, one stop is made near downtown at 5th and Washington Streets, and another in West Oakland at 5th and Market Streets.
* W: Salesforce Transit Center to Bridgeside Shopping Center (Alameda) via parts of Webster Street and High Street (both only in Alameda). The W serves the same stops in Oakland as the O.
All-Nighter Routes (all routes meet near 20th Street and Broadway)
* 800: the sole late-night Transbay service, from the Salesforce Transit Center to
Richmond BART/Amtrak via parts of 7th Street, Telegraph Avenue, University Avenue (Berkeley), San Pablo Avenue (Berkeley, Albany, El Cerrito) and Macdonald Avenue (Richmond), approximating the route of BART service from Richmond
* 802: to
Berkeley Amtrak via San Pablo Avenue
* 805: to
Oakland International Airport
Oakland International Airport is an international airport in Oakland, California, United States. The airport is located south of downtown Oakland and east of San Francisco, serving the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. The airport is ...
via parts of Grand Avenue, MacArthur Boulevard, and 73rd Avenue
* 840: to
Eastmont Transit Center via parts of Foothill Boulevard
* 851:
Downtown Berkeley BART to Fruitvale BART via parts of Bancroft Way and Durant Avenue (Berkeley), College Avenue, Broadway, and Santa Clara Avenue (Alameda)
The 1T continues to run at late nights, replacing a segment of line 801 upon the opening of line 1T in August 2020. Passengers may transfer at
San Leandro BART to 801 service via International Boulevard, East 14th Street, and Mission Boulevard, approximating the route of BART service from Fremont.
Transit passengers traveling in and out of downtown are serviced by various
AC Transit
AC Transit is the main Public transport bus service, bus transit operator in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, California. AC Transit is the third largest bus operator in California, serving the western portions of Alameda and C ...
stops near Broadway and 12th Street, loosely connected to 12th Street BART, as well as the
Uptown Transit Center
bus mall on 20th Street, connected to 19th Street BART. The Uptown Transit Center features multiple bus shelters with seating,
NextBus arrival prediction signs, and local and
Rapid Bus
Rapid Bus Sdn Bhd is the largest bus operator in Malaysia operating mainly in urban areas of Klang Valley, Penang & Kuantan. As of February 2023, Rapid KL service brands unit of Rapid Bus, has operates 113 normal routes and also 69 MRT Fee ...
service to Oakland's
streetcar suburb
A streetcar suburb is a residential community whose growth and development was strongly shaped by the use of streetcar lines as a primary means of transportation. Such suburbs developed in the United States in the years before the automobile, when ...
s. These stations host local service,
Rapid
Rapid(s) or RAPID may refer to:
Hydrological features
* Rapids, sections of a river with turbulent water flow
* Rapid Creek (Iowa River tributary), Iowa, United States
* Rapid Creek (South Dakota), United States, namesake of Rapid City
Sport ...
service, Transbay Express, and
All Nighter service. (Some, but not all, other bus stops in downtown Oakland also include shelters and arrival signs.) A
Clipper
A clipper was a type of mid-19th-century merchant sailing vessel, designed for speed. The term was also retrospectively applied to the Baltimore clipper, which originated in the late 18th century.
Clippers were generally narrow for their len ...
Add Value Machine is located at AC Transit headquarters at 1600 Franklin Street, as well as at all BART stations.
Gondola
The
Oakland Athletics
The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...
made a proposal to have a privately financed
gondola lift
A gondola lift is a means of cable transport and type of aerial lift which is supported and propelled by cables from above. It consists of a loop of steel wire rope that is strung between two stations, sometimes over intermediate suppo ...
travel on Washington Street from 10th Street near City Center to Water Street in Jack London Square. It is proposed as a new mode of transportation to the team's
future ballpark in Jack London Square. There would be approximately 12-14 gondola cabins, each of which would carry about 35 people, with a projection of 6,000 people transported per hour. This project is estimated to be completed in 2023.
Community Benefit District

The Downtown Oakland and Lake Merritt/Uptown District Associations are community benefit districts that were formed in February 2009. Property owners in both Downtown Oakland and the Lake Merritt/Uptown Districts voted by a margin of almost 8 to 1 to support a voluntary property tax to fund services that would improve the quality of life in their respective communities. The associations meet and function jointly. Services funded by these Districts include maintaining cleanliness and order in the public rights of way, improving district identity and advocating on behalf of the area's property owners, business owners and residents. In June 2013, the districts were recognized by the International Downtown Association (IDA) and named the IDA's June Downtown of the Month.
The district boards have three organizational committees, including the DISI (District Identity and Street Improvement) Committee, the SOBO (Sidewalk Operations, Beautification & Order) Committee and the Joint ORG (Organization) Committee. The DISI Committee promotes the identity of the districts, encourages economic development and works to create a vibrant downtown through public relations, marketing, and special events. The SOBO Committee oversees cleanliness and order in the public rights of way and manages service providers in keeping with the expectations of our organization and the needs of the community. Through diligent planning and thoughtful allocation of resources, the SOBO committee executes projects that effectively beautify and enhance the safety of the districts for the long term, creating vibrant and celebrated public spaces. And lastly, the Joint Organization Committee oversees the general administration of the corporations, ensures the effective operation of the board, acts as the coordinating framework through which the other committees function efficiently, and works to increase involvement and support for the organizations.
The districts have helped fund several neighborhood beautification/improvement projects and initiatives, including The Latham Square pedestrian plaza, back of BART planter boxes, hanging flower baskets and banners,
and median landscaping projects, to name a few.
Historic districts
The
Downtown Oakland Historic District was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
in 1998. The listing included 43
contributing buildings
In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic dist ...
, one
contributing site and one
contributing object.
[ and ]
Other historic districts have been designated in Old Oakland: the Lakeside Apartments district, Preservation Park, and the Waterfront
Warehouse district.
See also
*
10k Plan
*
African American Museum and Library at Oakland
*
Black Bloc
A black bloc (sometimes black block) is a tactic used by protesters who wear black clothing, ski masks, scarves, sunglasses, motorcycle helmets with padding or other face-concealing and face-protecting items.
*
Cathedral of Christ the Light
The Cathedral of Christ the Light, also called Oakland Cathedral, is the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland in Oakland, California, Oakland, California. It is the seat of the Bishop of Oakland. Christ the Light was the first cathe ...
*
Oakland Chinatown
*
Jack London Square
*
Jack London Warehouse District
*
Lake Merritt
*
List of tallest buildings in Oakland
*
Oaksterdam
*
Oakland City Center
*
Old Oakland
*
Ordway Building
*
Tribune Tower
*
Uptown Oakland
References
{{Oakland, California neighborhoods
Economy of Oakland, California
Neighborhoods in Oakland, California
Oakland
Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...