Jingletown, USA

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Jingletown" is a neighborhood located in the East Side of Oakland, California. Today, it is a largely Latino populated area which presumably received 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 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 Mosaic Art Schools Institute of Mosaic Art [1]. Also Float,Floatation Center and Art Gallery,[2] is located in the Historic Cotton Mill Factory, now know as 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.

Jingletown, USA is mentioned in Green Day's "punk rock opera" American Idiot. 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.