The Uptown Downtown Oakland Community Benefit District supports local businesses, creates vibrant public spaces, keeps the district clean and welcoming, and builds partnerships that help shape the future of Oakland. You’ve landed in the heart of our city – the energy, excitement and beauty of the area that connects Uptown, Downtown and Jack London Square. The Oakland Central project and this web platform are sponsored by two of Oakland’s largest Community Benefit Districts (CBDs) –Uptown/Lake Merritt and Downtown Oakland. While our districts provide important services to our stakeholders there is a bigger story here, one that’s already being told by extraordinary artists, vibrant small businesses, community organizations, residents and the people who work in this area every day.
“Oakland Central” is not a specific neighborhood or business district but a brand uniting the area that extends from “Uptown” at 27th St. through “Downtown” and all the way to Jack London Square – and not just on Broadway but extending from Lake Merritt over to the 880 Freeway. Oakland Central isn’t just a destination, it’s a state of mind. It’s the heartbeat of the central business district, Oakland’s hip arts and entertainment hub, the area with the largest concentration of art galleries as well as some of the city (and country’s) best- reviewed restaurants. It’s streets lined with diverse small businesses, big tech companies like Pandora, and tech startups located in innovative co-working spaces. It includes one of the largest urban lakes, our historic waterfront, and the Beaux Arts architecture of City Hall (the nation’s tallest when it opened in 1914). It’s the 10-minute walk that can take you from the historic Fox theater to the spot where you can see rowers skim across the 140-acre Lake Merritt, the nation’s first official wildlife refuge and the largest salt water lake in the country that’s within city limits. Whether you’re the employee on the 15th floor who has never wandered out to Ike’s Place for a sandwich or to Café Van Kleef for a fresh-squeezed Greyhound or the visitor from a neighboring city or even another country who wants to know where to get a great meal or a craft beer, this is the place to share the great stories, events and happenings that the center of our beautiful city has to offer. Welcome to Oakland Central.
