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9th Street is located in downtown Oakland. Ignore basically the beginning where 9th begins at Martin Luther King Jr Way. Because that area is pretty ghetto and a slew of low income people live over there.

For the most part, Oakland areas are seperated by good parts and bad parts. The bad parts outnumber the good parts. And chinatown is a good area surrounded by shady neighborhoods.

East of Broadway, 9th goes right through chinatown. And I would classify this street, as the street to go buy chinese groceries. This street is filled with stores with food ingredients. Go here for them.
Not only are there groceries here, you can buy baked goods, tea, and pearl drinks along this street.

9th street ends at the Lake Merritt BART station and Laney College. So, if you needed a ride to
Laney College, this would be the stop to get off at.

Oakland chinatown is full of one way streets, so drive precisely.
Parking is also a pain, and finding side street parking is nearly impossible along here.
Use the underground parking lots to save time and a headache for parking.

Trucks and cars often stop in the middle of the road to drop off goods to the stores
halting traffic. So if someone is on the road stopped, its best to drive around them.

Starting from MacArthur Blvd and going North is Piedmont Ave.
Starting from MacArthur Blvd and going South is still Piedmont Ave, but you ignore that part.
Because nothing is there except apartments and part of Kaiser hospital.

So, when you are walking/driving on Piedmont Ave. You'll notice a huge difference here compared to the rest of east oakland. The community here is fairly mixed. Caucasians, asians, few latinos and blacks respectively. It's a nice blend. Also people tend to dress nicely here, and less Ghetto.
It's like the sophistication level went up.

There are like 2 coffee shops, Gaylords and Pete's. And last time I checked, someone opened a tea drink shop. Compared to the rest of the east bay, this place seems classy in when compared.

There are a few cafe's and some restaurants. One of the restaurant's is a gourmet burger joint.
Gourmet Burgers! Holy crap...! Then there is a pretty decent indian restaurant here.

There is Wi-Fi here for people who need to use their laptops.

And there is Fenton's Ice Creamery on this street. Its been around for at least 100 years.
And burned down a few years ago. It was rebuilt and is back in business. They are local
ice creamery and make ice cream themselves. Which makes them special. The ice cream
is so good there, I would recommend everyone stop by there if your going to Oakland.

Parking is a bit rough on this street always. So its best to come early or park on a side street.
Saturdays and Sunday afternoons are rough because everyone always wants Ice cream.

North of Piedmont Ave is dedicated to flower shops, funeral homes, and a few cemeteries.
Its also pretty hilly here, so prepare yourself to walk an uphill battle.

Nearby is Kaiser Hospital in case anything bad happens. Then theres Broadway which will
either take you towards Jack London Square or towards Berkeley if you decide to go north.

E 8th Street are pretty wide roads that run parallel with the train tracks and the BART station.
I wouldnt call this a residential area, but there are few houses here. Followed by Commercial warehouses and asian businesses.

This road is pretty desolate. There are few businesses along this route. There is a large fence
that seperates the train tracks and road. This fence use to be electric. I'm not sure if its still
like that these days. It would sure give you jolt if you touched it.

When E 8th Street intersects with E12th, there is a burger king there.
Its a decent burger king, its pretty isolated from everything else.
Heading west, it ends at Laney College.

Laney College is the local community school and I would say resides in the largest asian community in Oakland. Just west of Laney College is Oakland Chinatown, where you can find good eats.

Embarcadero street is a pretty sweet road. Its a road that come close to the water front of the east bay. You can follow it for a good distance and always have the water near by to see.

Even better is that Jack London Square (Oakland Tourist attraction) is on this road.
Jack London Square is an overrated tourist spot. But its nice, because there are
some recognizable named stores here, like Barnes and Noble, Ben and Jerry's, and BevMo.
Theres even a movie theater here.

You should be careful as you drive here because the trains share the road with cars
as you come up to Jack London Square. There is also an amtrak station nearby in case you
want to use the train instead.

To get to chinatown, all you have to do is go up from Embarcadero and Broadway. Then there you go. Broadway, Embarcadero, and Jack London Square all connect. So its pretty easy to get to chinatown.

There are also two smallish parks connected to Embarcadero, Estuary Park and Vantage Point.
No one really uses these parks, but they look great. And if you go there, i'm pretty sure no one will be there.

There are few seafood restaurants along the embarcadero in case you want your seafood fix.

And one time driving out, I found a dance hall where Embarcadero connects with E 7th Street.
So if you want to get your dance groove on, that would be a good spot to go. It looks pretty packed
and from what I can tell, its a formal dance hall. Guys were dressed in slacks and collared shirts
while the women were dressed in really nice looking dresses.

Fruitvale Ave. is a mixed bag and pretty hard to describe. I say that because its not a normal street made up of one type of housing or one type of business or one type of zones.

Fruitvale Ave. spans from Alameda/Fruitvale Bridge up until the Diamond district where theres a park.

Fruitvale Ave. coming from Alameda begins with an industrial section. Theres a fishing park on the south end of the street, a manufacturing plant, unused train tracks.

At the intersection of 880 Freeway and Fruitvale is a shopping center. Let me put up a list theres a lot there.

Lucky's Super Market
Office Depot
Burger King
Star Bucks
Donut/Chinese Food Store
Boston Market
Hollywood Video
Popeye's
Auto
Clothing Stores

Between E 9th/Fruitvale Ave and International/Fruitvale Ave are small owned businesses.
There is a fire extinguisher store there called ACME. But the rest of the stores here
are mostly latino owned.

Fruitvale Ave and Foothill is a small latino area. There is a walgreens and a kragen.
Not to mention lots of small latino grocery stores. If you need any mexican food stuffs,
you can find them here.

From International Blvd/Fruitvale Ave up until the 580 Freeway, is mostly houses and apartments.
The housing in this section does not look good at all. Ive passed up and down this street enough times to know that this area wont change much. The majority of residents here are latino and blacks.
Theres also a liquor store every few blocks. And there always seems to be groups of people
standing around for no reason around the stores. These people do not look happy.

And past the 580 Freeway/Fruitvale Ave up to the park is whats called the diamond district.
This section is mostly businesses and some banks. Washington Mutual is there.

It's hard to classify Fruitvale Ave, because its not made of one specific type. To sum it up,
I'd say its a mixed street with housing with commerical properties mostly.

Alameda Ave is an unused street before the river between Oakland and Alameda.
There is a Home Depot, 24 Hour Fitness, and a McDonald's here.

Before the Home Depot, 24 Hour Fitness, and McDonald's appeared, this use to be
the Super Kmart. But then they closed down because profits werent so good, and
employees kept stealing from the store.

There are fairly a lot of people who go to the 24 Hr Fitness place. It use to be no one went there,
but lately the past few months, there are lots of cars there. Even during the night.

The area around Alameda Ave is an industrial zone. So there are shops that sell
construction material. Specifically Lumber, Concrete, and Metals.

On Alameda Ave where it connects with Fruitvale Blvd/Bridge is what im guessing a smelting
business. There are always large puffs of smoke coming from that building.

And to the south of it, is the Fruitvale Bridge Park. Which has a mini pier. It really isnt much
of a pier. It's like 10X10 Feet of wood, where you can walk onto and drop your fishing pole.
I came by one saturday and actually found 10 people fishing there. Would I fish there?
No way. Boats pass by all the time. The water is slime green. Cars drive over the bridge. And its next to an industrial plant. But maybe its a great place to catch fish. But I wouldnt be caught dead
fishing there. Pollution risk is too high.

This street isnt long. But, it is the best way to get onto 880 North and 880 South Freeway.
All you have to do is follow this street south, and takes you straight onto the Freeway.

On the corner of 42nd and Foothill is currently a large Furniture store called Famisa, I think. (Don't Quote me on that) It use to be a TV cable one story building, then got rented out, bought out, resold, etc. So currently, it is a furniture store. I'm not sure if it is doing well. That building gets changed all the time.

Also on that corner is a mexican restaurant. Not sure what the name is. But, like the rest the mexican restaurants here. They cook outside using an Oil Drum can cut in half. And thats how
they BBQ. It recently went over a make over, so, it looks a bit better than it use to before.

On International/E14th St, there is a Smart and Final, Burger King, and a Kragen.
So, if you need bulk food, Smart and Final is the place to go. Fast Food is Burger King,
and Kragen for auto parts.

When you drive on 42nd Street onto 77 (880 Freeway entrance), the road actually goes down
and below E. 12 St, under San Leandro Street, and under the Freeways.

Also, one bit of useful late night information. If you exit High Street on 880, you'll eventually exit
here onto 42nd Street. On the right side, on the corner of 42nd St/International Blvd,
is a Mexican Taco truck. It sells burritos, tacos, sodas, and other various latino food.
The thing is that this truck only comes during the night. And stays late. Its one of the only places to get food past 12 AM in this area. I've seen it up as late as 3 AM.

The area isn't that great. There are some bad people up late at night in that area. But at least,
its a place to get food. Sometimes, there is a pretty big crowd there during the wee hours.

40th Ave in Oakland is just pure housing. There are no shops or stores on this Avenue.
You will get shops as you walk/drive towards the intersections of E12th Street/Foothill/International Blvd. But for all basic purposes, this street is housing.

Southern most portion of 40th Ave is probably the loudest. It crosses the train tracks and the BART station.

There are two elementary schools near 40th Ave. The southern most is connected at E12th Street closer to 38th/39th Ave. The northern most is connected on 40th near Mera St. Are these schools great? I'd probably say no.

Population on 40th Ave is mostly latino and black. More towards the hispanic ethnicity.

There is a fair amount of motorcycle traffic on Foothill Blvd and 40th. There is a Hells Angel's Motorcycle club there. Also a mexican bakery on that corner.

Heading north on 40th Ave, past Foothill Blvd is a hilling section road. So, it begins to get steep there. Your car better have good brakes as you drive up this slanted section.

40th Avenue seems to be a fairly standard neighborhood, but during the night, I'd probably say it gets dangerous. Houses and side walls tend to have graffiti, but they get painted over quickly.
You can hear gun shots every few nights. And if you drive out late at night, there certainly is some questionable activity on the street corners.

If E14th/International street is too busy to drive on, take Foothill Blvd.
If Foothill and International street are too busy to drive on, take E 12th.

This probably describes this street the best. Its not used too much and only gets busy
as you approach the Fruitvale BART station. Some reason, the roads get wide to
really close at the BART station, making it a pain to drive in that area. People are always crossing
E12th making it hard to drive by.

E12th has the widest road sections, much larger than International and Foothill.
Very few people park on the sides of the roads here compared to the other two.

E12th is a street that runs parallel to International Blvd, and Foothill Blvd.
It is the lesser known of the two, which makes it great to travel on when the other two roads
are busy.

E12th gets you near Lake Merritt, but not close enough.

From 2nd Ave/E12th to 10th Ave/E12th Ave is the asian sector of E12th. It blends along together with E14th/International. There are lots of asian grocery stores from 2nd-10th Avenue. If you need asian food, this is a good place to buy them. The restaurants are not close together. There is like 1 restaurant per block at this section.

There is a burger king between 14th/E12th and 15th Ave/E12th. And a McDonalds at 25th Ave/E12th.

Once you hit 29th Ave/E12th, there is a soccer field that is always in use. On weekends,
you see LOTS of people here playing soccer. This area has a high population of mexicans.
It's pretty well maintained and on saturday it is always busy.

I would also like to mention all through E12th street, every few blocks are so are tire shops, paint shops, automotive shops, building materials. All of these are small businesses. I haven't really needed any of there services, but theres a lot of them.

Once you hit hit Fruitvale Blvd and E12th, thats basically the BART station. Before, it
use to be just the station. But recently, they have renovated this part of E12th and
there are mini stores in front of the station. It use to be just a large parking lot. But that
parking lot is gone and in comes the plaza. It looks to be a combination of apartments and
mini stores.

One thing to also note about E12th which is cool is that if you follow it, the BART tracks will be above you. So you may be following or be underneath a BART train as you drive by.

Following E12th east of the BART station, will take you to the 880 N/S entrance. It's a very unused section to go to 880 N and 880 S. So, i recommend using this entrance when possible because the other nearby 880 Freeway entrances are always crowded in the morning/evening.

Past E12th after High Street is just industrial sections and housing, not much really to describe that area besides that.

Living near this street for 20+ years, I'd like to share my experiences about this street.

Foothill Blvd is really a road that was called a boulevard. It runs parallel of International/E14 Street until it becomes Macarthur Blvd. Which is way east of Lake Merritt.

The nice part about Foothill is that if you follow it west, you eventually hit Lake Merritt.
And Lake Merritt is a great place to go exercising during the day/morning. I'd avoid exercising at
night because bad things tend to happen at night in Oakland. A former co-worker of mine
got robbed while he was walking around Lake Merritt.

There really isn't much to Foothill. Going from West to East. There is only one good park
I'd recommend, and thats the San Antonio recreation center. Its kept maintained and looks great
every time I drive past by it. Playing tennis was nice there too since the courts are maintained.
Every other park isn't quite so good on Foothill. Foothill Meadows Park was nice when I was kid.
Now, its a hang out for drop out kids dealing something. Cops drive by, but when they drive away, the bad guys come back.

The highlight of Foothill Blvd would have to be the intersection of Fruitvale Blvd.
Here, there are a lot of small mexican grocery stores. If you need anything, and I mean anything for cooking mexican food, you can find it here in these small shops. There are a few fashion shops here,
so if your looking into mexican fashion, this might be your stop. (I'm not very fashion conscious but they always have sexy dresses up for display)

At Fruitvale and Foothill, there is a Walgreens and a Kragen. So if you need medicine, american food stuffs, and automotive parts. This is a good place to start. But there are a lot of auto shops in this area, so they might give you a cheaper price. The nice thing about oakland, is there is no end to auto shops here. There are lots of auto shops and you can good a deal if you shop around.

If you need your fill on fast food, there is a Kentucky Fried Chicken on 34th and Foothill Blvd.
Unfortunately, its the only fast food place on this street. You need to walk down to International Blvd for more food choices.

On 35th Ave/Foothill Blvd, there are two tire shops in case you need wheels and tires for your car.
You can also get some liquor/snacks at the shop near by to it. The store name always changes so, I'm not even bothering writing it up. It would probably change now too by the time this review is posted up.

Past Fruitvale/Foothill, the next big stop is High Street/Foothill Blvd. There is 2 gas stations, Fremont High School, and a miniplex of restaurants. The miniplex is just fast food chinese food/mexican food and I believe a donut shop. Before, it use to be 3 gas stations, but one was demolished.

Once you go past High Street/Foothill towards Macarthur, its mostly housing. I cant think of anything notable to share there. Crime increases, gun shots are heard more commonly.

High Street is mostly housing with a few small mom and pop stores around.

Hi there, I would like to share my experiences about this street since I am a local and lived here for 20+ years.

E14th street in Oakland was renamed to International Blvd a few years ago.I cant recall when exactly.

International blvd spans from Lake Merritt through Oakland and into San Leandro city. So it is a pretty long street. E14th passes near to Bay Fair Mall, but that is in San Leandro city. This review focuses on International Blvd as it goes through Oakland.

International Blvd starts from Lake Merritt neighborhood and proceeds south-eastwards.
From around 1st Avenue to around 15th Avenue along International Blvd. You will find
a small batches of chinese, cambodian, and korean grocery stores. There are more chinese grocery stores than the rest. So, if you need asian food goods and hardware, this is a nice place to visit for east oakland.

From 15th Ave and International to 25th Ave, you'll see a transition from asian stores to mexican stores. Between 15th Ave/International and 25th Ave/International, you could say its a bunch of houses with some small stores in between. The stores arent really worth mentioning. One notable on 25th Ave/International is there is a Jack In The Box fast food restaurant there.

From 26th Ave/International Blvd up until Fruitvale Blvd/International Blvd is apartment homes and a school with a few mexican restaurants. Always keep an eye out for Mexican taco trucks. They are some of the best eats in this area. And there is a Wendy's on Fruitvale and International. There
is a small medical facility located along this route.

Now, we come up to Fruitvale Blvd/International Blvd to High Street/International Blvd.
This is probably the defacto mexican area of the east bay. Fruitvale BART station is near by.
Along with small mexican restaurants. This is probably the busiest area of the Oakland East bay
since the transportation hub is here. Buses go through this route every few minutes. And the
foot traffic is quite high from 3 PM - 6 PM. The added car congestion also make this a busy street.

On sunday, there is really really tiny farmers market between the BART station and International Blvd.

On Cinco de Mayo, (A Mexican holiday), the street is closed off for a parade and a festival where vendors sells goods and some games are played. It would be best to avoid driving cars at that time
as cops give tickets for any reason at that time.

Past High Street/International towards San Leandro, we start getting into the shader section of Oakland. This is a long stretch of road. Crime starts going up, and the area gets worse looking as you go away from the Fruitvale section. From High Street/International and getting into the triple digit 100th Ave, it goes from food into industrial with a mix of housing. Liquor stores start appearing, Check and cash stores pop up, a gun shop near the end. I'm sure there is probably drug and arms dealers around here somewhere.

Overall, International Blvd is a street of mixed goods. It starts off fine, gets great around Fruitvale,
but then after High street, it all goes downhill.