\It was a night of celebration as more than 700 residents, supporters, and musicians joined Mayor Jean Quan on Sunday evening at the Chabot Space & Science Center.

The celebration featured food, drinks, and several musical performances from a range of local artists including; the Edna Brewer Middle School Jazz Band, the Adam Green String Quartet from Skyline High School, and Fade to Black, a collaboration of students from Bishop O' Dowd, the Oakland School for the Arts, and Hillsdale School.

The center overflowed with Quan supporters who braved the cold, damp, foggy weather to tour the center and congratulate the mayor for her victory.

Jacqueline Lam said the weather did not deter her from making the trip into the Oakland Hills.

"It was so foggy out, I almost lost my way. But I feel that this is a good moment for Oakland. I'm very excited, I can't believe there are so many people here."

Many residents at the center said they have high hopes for the Quan administration.

"I'm really pleased that we're getting someone in office who's not a drop-in candidate," said Arthur Haskell. "We've seen a number of drop-in candidates, not mentioning any names, but they don't know what's going on with this city. And this city needs good leadership. Jean has worked her way up, and I think, at least I hope, that that will have different results than what we've seen in the past."

His wife, Marge Gibson Haskell agreed.

"I think we're going to see evolution in a number of areas in the city," she said.

Eileen Barrett said she's hopes Quan will be able to do more for public education in the city.

"I'm an educator, I teach at Cal State East Bay, so I love her commitment to education. And I'm hoping that she has an opportunity to get more resources for the schools."

Barrett said she also believes Quan's grassroots background will be an asset for Oakland.

"I like her commitment to grassroots organizing," she said. "I like that she wants to bring people together."

Barrett's partner, Elissa Dennis, said she's also impressed by Quan's grassroots background.

"She cares about community development issues, and I work in affordable housing development, and she's been basically supportive of affordable housing issues and issues of economic development throughout the city. I think that's exciting," Dennis said.

Attendees at the event got a chance to explore all areas of the center, including the Bill Nye's Climate  Lab, which features exhibits and hands-on demonstrations of climate change solutions.

The center also has interactive exhibits that explore chemistry, geology, space, and biology. And a short movie was shown Sunday evening during the Quan celebration called, "To Be an Astronaut".

Quan was upbeat and energetic as she spoke to supporters in the MegaDome Theater at the center.

"I'm very, very optimistic for the city," Quan said as she urged residents to explore Oakland.

"If there's a neighborhood you haven't been to, that you've been meaning to go to, go. If there's a kind of food you haven't had, you'll find it somewhere in the city."

Quan also promoted some of her upcoming city events including a "block by block" clean up of a neighborhood in East Oakland.

"One of our first projects, is we're going to take the beat near Sobrante Park, which has some of the highest crime rates and the highest dropout rate in the city, and we're going to literally knock on doors next week to get people involved," Quan said. "And then the following weekend, we're going to jointly do a cleanup on Martin Luther King Day, and we're going to pile our resources in there until we turn that neighborhood around."