This is great news. The current issue with Downtown Oakland is that there are pockets of cool places but they aren't necessarily next to each other. Jack London Square (where Centrro resides) is up and coming while the Uptown area has its own bustling restaurant/bar scene. The free shuttle that will run up and down Broadway from JLS to Uptown (and all points in between) will help get more cross pollination of people between these two areas. Plus, it'll be a great way to move people from BART to their respective destinations. I'm toying with the idea of walking from my place in Rockridge down to Uptown and taking the shuttle the rest of the way to JLS. Would be a great way to exercise and save on gas/pollution/etc.

Taking a stroll in the old hood. Dinner at Tachibana and then dessert at Tara's Ice Cream. Really interesting flavors. I ended up getting Chocolate, Turkish Coffee, and Tasmanian Honey. Wife got Sage, Saffron, and Pink Peppercorn. I even tried Lemongrass! Not my favorite but interesting to see the experimentation.