Alameda is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. It is located on a small island of the same name next to Oakland in the San Francisco Bay. Bay Farm Island is also part of the city, and is adjacent and connected to the Oakland International Airport. The city has a small town feeling with its Victorian homes and tree-lined neighborhoods. At the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 72,259. Alameda is a charter city, rather than a general law city, meaning that the city can provide for any form of government. Alameda became a charter city and adopted a council-manager government in 1916, which it retains to the present.