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Milvia Street is another designated Bicycle Boulevard in Berkeley. It makes a quick run of things from north to south and is a nice alternative to taking Shattuck. Apart from the immediate high school area (from Channing Way through Allston Way) it's mostly a super quiet street. Theres a late night cafe at the intersection with University Ave which is worth checking out if you're starving at one in the morning, otherwise there are better options just a block east on Shattuck. Traffic calming devices have been installed north of University, which helps with cycling safety. Not only bikes use Milvia as a shortcut, and drivers can get a little out of hand sometimes, but it helps that Milvia dead-ends for cars south at Blake Street and on the north at Cedar Street. There are some Berkeley government offices on Milvia in the downtown area and are easily accessible by any means. The downtown Berkeley YMCA and Post Office are also nearby, located across from each other at the intersection of Milvia and Allston Way.

Broadway in Oakland is akin to Market Street in San Francisco. Buses run up and down the street at all hours of the day and night. BART has two stops within a few blocks of each other, at 12th St and 19th St. There's a little bit of something for everyone on Broadway, from the Jack London Square area with shops and restaurants, to the bustling (well, during the weekday anyway) downtown area. DeLauer's Super Newsstand, which almost closed, is worth checking out 24 hours a day. Broadway just skirts into Chinatown's western edge, and then just skirts Old Oakland on it's eastern edge, so it's a street that rapidly changes from block to block. Various restaurants are found here and there, but be warned that things can get pretty quiet at night and on the weekend when the workers all clear out. As it continues out of downtown, it becomes Auto Row, with car dealerships lining both sides of the street. Even further out, it again mimics Market Street by becoming fully residential once it passes by the California College of the Arts. If you're in this area, Broadway at the intersection of 51st St affords one of the few all night shopping options in the bay area, where the shopping center has a 24 hour Safeway and a 24 hour department-store sized Longs Drugs.

Jackson Street is like a little oasis just on the outskirts of downtown Oakland. Trees line the street in front of mid-century apartment buildings. The Hill Castle apartment building majestically towers over the neighborhood. On it's ground level is a quaint but surprisingly well appointed health food store, which does a great service to the neighborhood. Most of the apartment buildings seem well cared for and maintained, and it's not uncommon to see neighbors chatting in the street or taking a dog for a walk.

Ashby Avenue, also known as State Route 13, is a mostly hectic and cramped street that runs from the far western edge of Berkeley to the eastern edge where it ends in the hills. It's mostly a tight and narrow two lanes (one in each direction) which leads to traffic buildup during heavy driving times. This also means the 9 Dwight, which runs up and down a long length of the street, gets delayed as well. It's no joy to be a pedestrian either, as the traffic is hectic and in many spots the sidewalk narrow. Most people seem to just want to use it as a means of getting from the freeway to the eastern side of town. Theres a small post-industrial area near San Pablo that offers some shops, and the Berkeley Whole Foods can be found at the intersection of Ashby at Telegraph.

University Avenue is one of the main streets in Berkeley. It runs all the way from the waterfront to the University of California. It has a very ungentrified feel throughout, which is refreshing considering how some of the other neighborhoods in Berkeley have changed. There are multiple grocery stores at the west end, many, many, many shops for items from India, restaurants (both fast food and classy) multiple thrift stores, bookstores, hardware stores.... really just about anything you could ever need. For driving, it can get really, really backed up at times especially near the freeway. There are multiple bus lines, including the 51 and the 52L, which both run frequently during both day and night. There are BART stations a few blocks away on either side, in North Berkeley and Downtown. The Berkeley Amtrak station is on University as well. Mostly safe all hours, but it can be just a little seedy in certain pockets near San Pablo.

The best thing Channing Way has going for it is that it's a Bicycle Boulevard. It's a completely residential street from end to end, very quiet, but it's great for biking because of the traffic calming measures that are in place. There are numerous traffic circles intended to slow down vehicular traffic so that cyclists have a safer space to ride. At major intersections there are special lanes for bicycles to pull into so that it will trip the sensor and change the traffic lights from red to green. Overall it's a quick way to get from west Berkeley to the Cal campus and anywhere inbetween.

I have a small soft spot for the Outer Sunset. It's quiet, at night you can hear the ocean, and it's cheaper than other areas of San Francisco. But other than that, things get pretty drab. In the Sunset, 30th Ave. is bounded by parks on the north and south. There's an L Taraval streetcar stop at the corner of 30th and Taraval, but it's far enough from the start of the line that in the morning trains are often already full by the time they get there. The best thing is the 66 Quintara, which runs up 30th from Vicente to Quintara. It offers a great and really quick shortcut out of the neighborhood to the shopping and dining area around 9th and Judah. On the other side of Golden Gate Park, 30th remains residential.

40th Street is mostly residential, but does traverse into Emeryville with it's big box stores. It's a little bit seedy, especially after dark if you're west of MacArthur BART. MacArthur BART is busy, but there never seems to be a lot of people walking around nearby and I think most people drive here. East of the station, and east of Telegraph Ave, things cheer up a little, and the neighborhood seems to be inviting to a lot of younger people looking for a good deal on an apartment, of which many line both sides of the street up until it crosses Broadway. A little independent record store, 1-2-3-4 Go!!!, has opened and although it's TINY it has a great selection of new and used punk and indie records.

Addison Street starts in West Berkeley at San Pablo, where the famous Freight and Salvage Coffeehouse has live music almost every night of the week. Travelling east leads you into a mostly residential area, where the small Strawberry Creek Park is a great place to relax and watch people and their dogs. A small shopping center is nearby with a grocery store, hair salon and a taqueria that is open until midnight. The street resumes being residential until it reaches downtown, where it is slowly turning into a thriving spot for the arts. The Freight and Salvage is going to move to a new location downtown on Addison later in 2009. There's the Jazzcaffe (a place to catch some more live music), the Aurora Theatre, and the Berkeley Reportory Theatre. With all these choices, most nights of the week there's something going on, be it a live theater performance or live music.

Durant Avenue begins it's life at the intersection with Milvia Street, which is right in front of Berkeley High School. When lunchtime hits or school lets out, hordes of teenagers roam the area and it can get pretty hectic. As Durant crosses Shattuck, the intersection brings with it a great independent bookstore, Pegasus Books Downtown, right on the corner. Drop in to say hi to the resident cat!

The street returns to residential as you make your way up to Telegraph Ave. There's many larger apartment buildings that mostly house Cal students. It's actually pretty quiet for being so close to the school. Where Durant crosses Telegraph, you'll find Smart Alec's, Noah's Bagels, and T-Shirt Orgy, three of the more popular places in the area. Just up the street from that are a popular food court that is open late, as well as Top Dog, open late as well. Durant returns to being residential apartment buildings after that, and in this area east of Telegraph are many large Co-Op houses for Cal students.