The Chinatown neighborhood in Oakland, California (), is traditionally Chinese which reflects Oakland's diverse Chinese American, and more broadly Asian American community. It is frequently referred to as "Oakland Chinatown" in order to distinguish it from nearby San Francisco's Chinatown. It lies at an elevation of 39 feet (12 m).
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 and 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 Street and Webster Street. Its northern edge is 12th Street, and its southern edge is Interstate 880 (located approximately at 6th Street). It stretches from Broadway on the west to the southern tip of Lake Merritt in the east. Due to a combination of factors, some more broad-based related to difficult circumstances for Oakland itself, while other factors are more specific to this neighborhood, Oakland's Chinatown faces a struggle for survival.
Geography
Chinatown is located in Downtown Oakland, bounded by Broadway to the west, Interstate 880 to the south, Fallon Street and Laney College to the east, and 12th Street to the north, although the City of Oakland considers the northern edge to be 14th Street. The historic commercial core of the neighborhood lies along Webster (between 7th and 9th) and 8th (between Franklin and Harrison).
Many Chinatowns in America have added a formal entry gate (Paifang) since 1970, marking the entrance to the district, but Oakland has not; aside from the architecture, bilingual street signs are distinctive features of the neighborhood. The northern portals of the Posey and Webster Street Tubes, which carry traffic underneath the estuary between Oakland and Alameda, are on the edge of Chinatown. Unlike
The neighborhood can be roughly divided into two distinct areas: The western half, between Broadway and Harrison Street, is the commercial area, with busy streets lined with markets, restaurants, banks, and other businesses. The eastern half, east of Harrison Street, is more residential in character with more apartments and condominiums, less crowded sidewalks, and a mix of retail stores that are more service and product oriented, with fewer groceries and restaurants. Though most commercial activity is south of 10th Street, there are nonetheless many retail shops, stores, and restaurants north of 10th Street and in other parts of Downtown Oakland which are owned by Chinese and Korean merchants. In particular at the edge of Chinatown, 14th street between Webster and Harrison is a block which features numerous Korean restaurants and businesses, especially on the north side of the block.
Recent immigrants have also moved south into "New Oakland Chinatown" in the San Antonio neighborhood along International Boulevard (formerly East 14th Street) and Eastlake business district on East 18th Street. Owing to a combination of multifactorial issues, some more generally tied to socioeconomic difficulties afflicting Oakland itself, while other factors are more specific to this neighborhood, Oakland's Chinatown faces a struggle for survival and is shrinking.
Notable landmarks
Bill Louie's Corner - 8th and Franklin
Chinese Community United Methodist Church
The Chinese Community United Methodist Church (CCUMC), which was initially the Chinese Methodist Church was founded in 1887. The church was established as part of a chain of Methodist Chinese Missions by the Rev. Dr. Otis Gibson. The two primary missions of this ministry was schools and refuge for women escaping slavery and prostitution. This church has close connections with the Women's Missionary Society of the Pacific Coast in San Francisco. In the early days, the Chinese Methodist Church held worship service and Sunday School. Then to serve the needs of the growing Chinese community, an English school for immigrants, and a Chinese school for the American-born Chinese also operated. The early days of the church was sustained by courageous workers, both Chinese- and American-born as there were strong anti-Chinese sentiments in California at this time.