"[8] Many of these millionaires built mansions that still stand, notably on Sea View Avenue and Sotelo Avenue/Glen Alpine Road in 'Alta' Piedmont.

They could not count on the city of Piedmont to protect them from violent threats against their lives—the chief of police at the time, Burton Becker, was an active member of the Ku Klux Klan.

They couple sold their property to the city for $25,000 after a mob surrounded their home and demanded that they leave.

[15] The American sociologist and historian James W. Loewen identified Piedmont as a "probable" sundown town, meaning that non-whites were not welcome after dusk and could face violence and intimidation.

[16] In early 2021, the city council indicated that it intended "to move forward with public acknowledgement and an apology for the abhorrent treatment Sidney Dearing and his family received in 1924.

"[17] In August 2017, the mayor of Piedmont, Jeffrey Wieler,[18] resigned after making disparaging Facebook posts about Black Lives Matter and transgender people.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.7 square miles (4.4 km2), all land.

Special, incremental property tax assessments on Piedmont real estate for schools and some public services are not shared with Oakland.

Regular town events include the July 4 Parade, Movies in the Park, Harvest Festival, Haunted House, Thanksgiving Turkey Trot, and Christmas Tree Lighting.

Many graduates continue their post-secondary education at very prestigious and competitive public and private colleges and universities.

[28] Piedmont voters have approved several local bond measures earmarked for maintaining and/or improving PUSD's educational facilities.

The city-owned field adjacent to Beach Elementary School was resurfaced with natural cork-based artificial turf in early 2015.

The PUSD-owned artificial turf field at Havens Elementary School (Becker Playfield) was placed in 2010.

Most recently, with the passage of Measure E in 2006, voters authorized the Piedmont Unified School District to issue up to $56 million in bonds to improve Piedmont public school buildings to reduce dangers from earthquakes, eliminate major collapse risks, and to meet or exceed all current state and federal seismic safety standards.

In addition to the public bond measures approved for PUSD facility upgrades and modernization, Piedmont voters have quadrennially approved, since 1980, a supplemental parcel tax (collected annually) which accounts for a very significant portion of PUSD's basic operational budget.

In 2005, two measures were approved by voters, one of which renewed the basic school district parcel tax, paying for 21% of the district's budget, and another which added an incremental amount, short-term, to compensate for reduced funding from mainly state, and some federal, sources.

Route P, to the Transbay Terminal in Downtown San Francisco during peak commute hours.

The city appeared in the Disney show Gravity Falls as the hometown of the main characters Dipper and Mabel Pines.

Piedmont is home to a number of notable individuals in the political, business, sports, and academic communities, including: ex-Major League Baseball player David McCarty; ex-National Football League player Bubba Paris, San Francisco 49ers; ex-National Football League player Bill Romanowski; Ambassador to Australia Jeff Bleich; Pete Docter, director of Pixar's Monsters, Inc., Up, and Inside Out and co-writer of WALL-E; Alex Hirsch, the creator of the animated television series Gravity Falls; and Billie Joe Armstrong, lead singer of Green Day.

Author Jack London wrote Call of the Wild while living on Blair Avenue in a house that exists today; since this predated incorporation, technically he was never a citizen of Piedmont.

John F. Kennedy's Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara grew up in Piedmont, where his family lived on Annerley Road.

Other residents have included: F. Wayne Valley, philanthropist, construction magnate, owner of the Oakland Raiders and founding member of the AFL; Frank C. Havens, for whom Havens Elementary School is named; and James Gamble, president of the Western Union Telegraph Company, who, in 1877, founded the Piedmont Land Company, introducing the name adopted by the city upon incorporation.