City of Alameda

Once known as "the city of beaches," Alameda is now known for maintaining a small-town atmosphere in the midst of the metropolitan Bay Area.

The city, nearly 23 square miles, consists of an island and a peninsula adjacent to Oakland Airport. Between 1957 and 1969, the Utah Construction Company altered the city's beach-lined waterfront by adding 942 acres of bay fill.

The main island was part of the peninsula until a tidal canal was dug in 1902.

The peninsula, once the site of dense forests, was home to the Ohlone Indians for about 4,000 years. They mysteriously disappeared before the first American settlers arrived in the Bay Area.

By 1800, the Bay Area had been sparsely settled by Spain and Mexico. Present-day Alameda, called the "Bolsa de Encinal," was part of a 44,800 acre ranch granted to Luis Maria Peralta, a professional soldier at Mission San Jose, in 1820. In 1851, Bolsa de Encinal was sold to two American entrepreneurs, William Chipman and Gideon Auginbaugh

The city was incorporated December 27, 1884, and boomed after the tidal canal, known as the Oakland Estuary, was built. A number of marine-related industries sprouted along the narrow channel, including shipbuilding firms during World War II.

In 1940, when the Alameda Naval Air Station moved into the city's West End, it occupied about one-third of the main island of Alameda and provided an economic foundation for local businesses. That ended in 1997, when the base closed as part of our nation's military downsizing.

The city recently approved a base reuse plan that is to guide re-development of the 1,700-acre base during the next 20-30 years. It calls for a variety of new uses including light industry, commercial, a college campus, marina, wildlife refuge, residential neighborhoods and a variety of parks, including a shoreline trail that outlines three quarters of the base.

The city, with the Bay on one side and the Oakland airport on the other, is almost built-out. The city's housing stock isn't likely to increase because of local laws prohibiting apartment buildings. Voters established a ban on development of anything larger than a duplex in 1973; mostly to preserve the city's distinctive Victorian homes.

While most of the main island consists of older residences and tree-lined streets, two newer developments have added to the city's tax base granted and housing stock.

Harbor Bay is a 3,000 home development built on bay fill added to Bay Farm Island. The Harbor Bay residential project was accompanied by a business park, which developers hope to one-day transform into a biotechnology hub. The business park is a five-minute ride to the Oakland Airport.

Marina Village, on the main island near the Webster Tube, offers a 37-store shopping center and 578 town homes, as well as 15 high- tech businesses.

Weather

The weather of Alameda County can be accurately described as almost delightful. The qualifying "almost" is necessary because there will be days when you will curse the heat, bewail the fog and wish the rain would cease, but these days will be few and the days of balm many.

Although erratic, Alameda weather does not hold to broad patterns. Rain almost never falls in the summer. September and October will usually usher in winter with several spells of heat. Snow every few years will powder the mountain tops.

Livermore in the summer will be warmer than Newark, and Newark will be warmer than Berkeley. In the winter the reverse will show: Berkeley cool, Newark cooler, Livermore coolest.

Understanding how the weather works -an easy task -will make you appreciate it all the more. There is a perverse but charming logic to the play of the elements.

If you are shopping for a home in the Bay area, knowledge of the weather can save you from buying in an area unsuitable to your temperament.

Weather Tidbits

• September & October are the best months to go swimming in the ocean. The upwelling of the cold water has stopped. Often the fog has gone. Sunshine kisses the water and the coast.
• While cooler, the coast is also delightful in April & May. Winter has departed and the summer fogs have yet to arrive.
• Like sunshine? You're in the right place. Records show that during daylight hours the sun shines in New York City 60% of the time, in Boston 57%, in Detroit 53%, and in Seattle 43%. In San Francisco the sun shines during 66% of daylight hours. Atop Mt Tamalpais in Marin County, where conditions are comparable to Alameda County, the sun shines 73% of daylight hours.
• Although moist, the coastline climate is rarely muggy because the fog keeps the temperature too low.
• Rain is rain, generally welcome all the time in dry California. But some rains are more welcome than others. Storms from the vicinity of Hawaii turn Sierra slopes to slush and, in the upper elevations, deposit soft snow that sinks under the weight of skis. Alaskan storms bring snow to the lower mountains and deposit a fine powder, ideal for skiing. When snow caps Mt Diablo and the mountains above Fremont, thank Alaska.

About California

California is the most populous state in the United States, located in the Far West; bordered by Oregon (N), Nevada and, across the Colorado River, Arizona (E), Mexico (S), and the Pacific Ocean (W).

Area, 158,693 sq mi (411,015 sq km).
Pop. (2000) 33,871,648, a 13.8% increase since the 1990 census.
Capital, Sacramento.
Largest city, Los Angeles
Nickname, Golden State.
Motto, Eureka [I Have Found It].
State bird, California valley quail.
State flower, Golden poppy.
State tree, California redwood

Ranking third among the U.S. states in area, California has a diverse topography and climate. A series of low mountains known as the Coast Ranges extends along the 1,200-mi (1,930-km) coast. The region from Point Arena, north of San Francisco, to the southern part of the state is subject to tremors and sometimes to severe earthquakes caused by tectonic stress along the San Andreas Fault. The Coast Ranges receive heavy rainfall in the north, where the giant cathedral-like redwood forests prevail, but the climate of these mountains is considerably drier in southern California, and south of the Golden Gate no major rivers reach the ocean. Behind the coastal ranges in central California lies the great Central Valley , a long alluvial valley drained by the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers. In the southeast lie vast wastelands, notably the Mojave Desert, site of Joshua Tree National Park. 

Rising as an almost impenetrable granite barrier East of the Central Valley is the Sierra Nevada range, which includes Mt. Whitney, Kings Canyon National Park, Sequoia National Park, and Yosemite National Park. The Cascade Range, the northern continuation of the Sierra Nevada, includes Lassen Volcanic National Park. Lying East of the Sierra Nevada is Death Valley National Park. California has an enormously productive economy, which for a nation would be one of the ten largest in the world. Although agriculture is gradually yielding to industry as the core of the state's economy, California leads the nation in the production of fruits and vegetables, including carrots, lettuce, onions, broccoli, tomatoes, strawberries, and almonds. The state's most valuable crops are grapes, cotton, flowers, and oranges; dairy products, however, contribute the single largest share of farm income, and California is again the national leader in this sector. The state also produces the major share of U.S. domestic wine.

California's farms are highly productive as a result of good soil, a long growing season, and the use of modern agricultural methods. Irrigation is critical, especially in the San Joaquin Valley and Imperial Valley. The gathering and packing of crops is done largely by seasonal migrant labor. Fishing is another important industry.

California continues to be a major U.S. center for motion-picture, television film, and related entertainment industries, especially in Hollywood and Burbank. Tourism also is an important source of income. Disneyland, Sea World, and other theme parks draw millions of visitors each year, as do San Francisco with its numerous attractions.

*Information from Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition