Uptown Oakland  Uptown Oakland or The Uptown is a neighborhood in Downtown Oakland, California. Its boundaries are ill-defined, but most definitions include the area between 27th Street to the north, San Pablo Avenue to the west, City Center to the south, and Harrison St to the east. The neighborhood has become an important entertainment district in recent years. The area near 20th Street and Broadway had been Oakland's main shopping district in the mid-20th century. Several buildings from that era remain, including the former H.C. Capwell department store, which later became Sears and is currently being developed into a mixed-use retail and office building called "Uptown Station;" the I. Magnin department store; the Paramount Theater; and the Fox Oakland Theatre. The Payless Drug Store and Market located at Telegraph Ave. and 20th St, housed the drug store small produce markets and seafood sellers. It included a SAAG's sausage counter and even a USO branch. This structure was demolished in the early 1960s to construct a parking structure for Capwell's Department store. The area was home to one of the original Kwik Way hamburger outlets and also at Broadway and Grand Ave the Oakland branch of Breuners furniture. West of Telegraph Avenue, the neighborhood was for many years largely made up of parking lots and garages. The area has gone through several failed urban renewal projects and proposals, including proposals for a shopping mall, an entertainment district, high-rise housing, and a professional baseball stadium. The area now contains several attractive high-rise apartment buildings. During Jerry Brown's time as Mayor (1999-2007) The Uptown District was deemed the Entertainment center of the city. Redevelopment has taken place by large upscale apartments and restaurants, bringing some much needed money and foot traffic into the area. The centerpiece has been the city government's 10K program, an effort to bring 10,000 additional residents to the downtown area. The largest of the new apartment complexes is a five-story, three-building apartment complex called "The Uptown" built by Forest City Enterprises, including a new dog-friendly park called Fox Square. A new surface street, Rashida Muhammad Street, was named after the late community activist who died of lung cancer in 2006. Alice Walker immortalized Rashida Muhammad's (aka Dessie X. Woods) story in her collection of essays "Living by the Word". The street was built with the stated goal of The Uptown project of enhancing and building a new community in the area.