Oakland Neighborhoods The city of Oakland stretches from the San Francisco Bay up into the East Bay Hills. The character of these neighborhoods continues to change as waves of immigrants from within the United States and other countries relocate here. Also, the changing economy lures more technically skilled workers to Oakland. Oakland is commonly divided into broad regions in two different ways: "The Hills" and "The Flats" (or "The Flatlands"); with the Flatlands being the historically working-class neighborhoods located in the relatively flat areas closer to San Francisco Bay, and the Hills being the mainly upper-class hillside neighborhoods along the east side of the city. This hills/flats division is found throughout much of the western part of the East Bay, especially in Berkeley and El Cerrito. The other common method is to divide the city into "Downtown Oakland," "East Oakland," "North Oakland," and "West Oakland". East Oakland is the largest of these areas, stretching from Lake Merritt southeast to San Leandro. North Oakland encompasses the neighborhoods spread between Downtown and Berkeley. West Oakland is the area between Downtown and the bay, partially surrounded by the Port of Oakland. Both North and East Oakland include neighborhoods in both the Flatlands and hills, while West Oakland and Downtown are entirely within the Flatlands. There are many neighborhoods which dont fit neatly into one or both of these schemes. The Hills/Flats division ignores the middle-class neighborhoods which run along the base of the hills, as well as the reality that parts of "The Flatlands" can be as hilly as much of "The Hills." The East/North/West division ignores the neighborhoods which are northeast of Lake Merritt, and the areas along Highway 13 in the hills behind Piedmont.

