Comments on: Downtown Berkeley’s Growing Pains

By: Jon

Jon — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 06:16:53 +0000

i’m absolutely amazed at the fights in berkeley over the gaia building. its the perfect downtown infill building.

By: BERKELEY DOWNTOWN AREA PLAN « Hohbach-Lewin's Blog

BERKELEY DOWNTOWN AREA PLAN « Hohbach-Lewin's Blog — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 02:33:35 +0000

[...] Plan calls for 800,000 square feet of new development in and adjacent to Downtown. Here is a more in depth synopsis of the situation. Berkeley City Council just passed the [...]

By: Eric

Eric — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 00:13:58 +0000

This is getting a bit off the topic of the Berkeley DAP, but… Jerry Brown was indeed quite focused on 10K, and you could say that it was a flaw, or you could say that a strong downtown, coupled with a truly open policy toward development, would in time trickle down the avenues toward the neighborhoods. In any case, his downtown focus makes sense in part given the large gap between where downtown was and where it should be. Revitalization has to start somewhere.

By: Becks

Becks — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 23:57:00 +0000

Daniel – It’s true that much of the growth in Oakland has been in Uptown, but certainly not all of it (or even a majority of it). Jack London Square has seen a huge amount of growth, and there’s been growth in other areas, like Temescal and West Oakland.

By: Daniel

Daniel — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 19:01:23 +0000

What I was getting at is that Berkeley has grown in a way that has really supported its existing neighborhoods and encouraged walking, bicycling, and transit use. Emeryville hasn’t been as successful at improving its neighborhoods (there are some exceptions, such as 40th and San Pablo), and Oakland hasn’t had nearly as much growth in neighborhoods such as Rockridge, Piedmont Ave, Temescal, Laurel, Grand/Lakeshore, etc. compared to University, Shattuck, or Telegraph in Berkeley. It seems like Oakland’s flaw is that it has focused nearly all of its growth in Jerry Brown’s 10K plan while other neighborhoods have remained stagnant.

By: Streetsblog San Francisco » Today’s Headlines

Streetsblog San Francisco » Today’s Headlines — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 16:16:18 +0000

[...] Transbay Blog Examines Downtown Berkeley Development Plan [...]

By: Eric

Eric — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 04:02:16 +0000

I certainly don’t dispute that there has been good development on commercial corridors in Berkeley, and that will have to continue long-term. But there has also been determined resistance to good development, and that resistance is often considerably more vocal than what you see in other cities. Calling Berkeley “anti-growth” would be simplistic (and, thankfully, increasingly incorrect), but its reputation for blocking projects, housing or otherwise, has historical basis. My rationale for mentioning it here was not so much to dwell in the past, but to show the tide turning, so to speak.

In any case, the point is that this is a post about the downtown plan and its pluses and minuses. Major corridors are important, but downtown is also an important issue for an array of reasons that include and go beyond the number of units built there.

I think you unfairly discount Emeryville and Oakland. Emeryville has produced a lot of housing, though it falls short on housing for lower income levels. Also, Oakland certainly hasn’t limited development to Uptown (and even if so, the main point is that it gets built).

By: Daniel

Daniel — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 01:59:50 +0000

For all the flack Berkeley gets about resisting growth, it has experienced a tremendous amount of 4-6 story mixed-use development the past few years Downtown and along the Shattuck and University corridors. I think the most important issue isn’t necessarily a couple of taller buildings downtown–as you mentioned, they’ll add a solid but not transformative 3,100 units downtown–but the consistent low rise growth throughout the city main commercial and transit corridors. Either way, Berkeley has already done a lot compared to Albany, El Cerrito, and even Emeryville and Oakland (except the Uptown area) to grow in a smart and sustainable way.

By: Berkeley Interested in Becoming Actual City

Berkeley Interested in Becoming Actual City — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 21:01:11 +0000

[...] University of California, Berkeley campus. The plan is fit to turn downtown Berkeley into a “lively, more sustainable urban destination” than it is now. So, what’s in the plan? The Planning Commissioners are all for taller [...]

By: InBerkeley » High time Berkeley grew up?

InBerkeley » High time Berkeley grew up? — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 20:26:08 +0000

[...] Read “Downtown Berkeley’s Growing Pains” in full here. [...]