Jingletown, USA

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Jingletown, USA is a town from Green Day's "punk rock opera" American Idiot. "Jingletown" is actually located in the East Side of Oakland, California; today it is a largely Latino populated area that got its name from Portuguese cannery workers who would walk home from canning fruits from Fruitvale when they got paid and "jingle" their pockets to express pride in their earnings. The band reportedly recorded some or all of the tracks in the real Jingletown. In the American Idiot album, Jingletown is focused around drugs, boredom, and broken relationships. Jesus of Suburbia leaves the town to find adventure at the beginning of the album, but returns with memories and thoughts of his ex-girlfriend, Whatsername, at the end of the album.

The Jingletown section of Oakland is currently thriving as one of the fastest growing arts districts in the San Francisco Bay area. Among other notable artistic enterprises, it is the location of the one of the only Mosaic Art Schools, Institute of Mosaic Art, [1] in the United States. Also Float,Floatation Center and Art Gallery,[2] is located in the Historic Cotton Mill Factory, now know as the Cotton Mill Studios. EventMagic/Custom Scenic[3] studios are also on Chapman Street, providers of props & unique hand painted backdrops for concerts & theatrical productions. There is a large occupancy of residential artists living in the lofts that are situated between the Park and Fruitvale street bridges and a plethora of new residential lofts now line the banks of the estuary separates Oakland from the island of Alameda.