Oakland is a city in the Bay Area of California in the United States of America. While it neither has the concentration of tourist amenities present in its glamorous neighbor San Francisco nor the suburban safety of sprawling San Jose to the south, the visitor can easily spend a few pleasant days here. The often negative opinions of those who have neither lived in nor even visited Oakland should not deter you from exploring what is the Bay Area's and probably America's most diverse city and undervalued cultural center. If nothing else, you can simply enjoy what Rand McNally rated as the best weather in the country.