California St, Shoreline West

California Street runs through most of Mountain View, ending at the lovely downtown near Castro Street. Shopping and ambiance varies from massive shopping centers to quaint pedestrian streets filled with ethnic restaurants.

San Antonio Shopping Center definitely can meet any shoppers' needs, although it has an abnormal amount of panhandlers, which is annoying at best. Further east, the street mellows out and becomes more residential. The eastern terminus is filled with ethnic restaurants, coffee shops, and several bars, characteristic of downtown Mountain View.

Like many connector streets that parallel large, major roads, traffic is diffused to neighboring blocks and is not too bad here, although the street is still far too big to feel residential. The whole area is definitely more modest than nearby Palo Alto, but still somewhat affluent.

Let it be noted that the public bus also uses this street as one of its primary lines, so it is relatively easy to access by public transportation, although drivers may get slightly annoyed.