San Francisco lies across the Bay from Oakland. It has its own local wiki: SF Wiki. In recent years, Oakland has seen a large number of refugees from the west bay due to the influx of tech money dollars and the google buses driving right up into the rent. The refugee problem has become particularly severe in Uptown where refugees are stored in high density temporary housing units which are becoming more and more permanent as time goes on.
The Oakland City Council has sometimes killed crazy awesome ideas from the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, such as re-naming the Bay Bridge the Emperor Norton Bridge.
You can reach SF via BART, one of the many transbay buses that AC Transit operates, or take a Ferry. You could also swim if you're desperate, sail if you're rich, or drive across the Bay Bridge if you're lazy. When the new bridge is completed, you'll be able to bike across halfway to Treasure Island.
San Francisco is that other place that we can't quite manage to ignore. Its looming, gravity well of influence can't help but insert itself into the goings on of the town. I don't like to think about San Francisco much, but sometimes the issue forces itself.