Excellent news! What a relief for a city dominated by struggling students to have more housing per area.
It's not approved yet.
Berkeley's upzoning would be among nation's largest
61–70 of 289 posts
Re: Berkeley's upzoning would be among nation's largest
#62Are they going to add train lines, schools and parks? Or is it just cram in more people into a space until its unbearable. I live in a Jersey City which has sprouted lots of new apartments. Lack of parks and schools are a real problem, at least we have good train service though.
Re: Berkeley's upzoning would be among nation's largest
#63Has the author lived in Berkeley? I have, I don't think upzoning can fix it. It's a small community tucked up against the hills. New construction in the hills is just setting the stage for the next devastating fire. Closer to the bay, it's already pretty dense. This would do a lot of good in Emeryville and Oakland, but it's not like Berkeley is suburban sprawl like over the hills in the rest of Alameda... Berkeley ne…
I mean, cleaning up the streets gets a lot easier when there isn't as much homelessness, reducing homelessness only happens when you add more homes and reduce overcrowding. In addition, new homes pay 2024 market rate property taxes, which the city can reinvest in things like garbage cans and street sweepers.
This doesn't fix Prop 13 or rent control, which are bigger impediments to housing and taxation in Berkeley than housing.
Upzoning isn't going to turn the communes into townhomes or turn that parking lot over the shellmound into housing.
Re: Berkeley's upzoning would be among nation's largest
#64I’m still shocked by the notion that a highly dense population is inherently good. Pollution increases, energy requirements increase, crime per-capita increases, babies per-capita tend to decrease, time spent in traffic or commuting increases, space per person decreases. I get that you get more food or entertainment options, but in general it doesn’t appear that increasing density actually improves quality of life. T…
I've lived my entire life in urban cities of different countries, and I don't think I can agree. My quality of life would be dropped significantly if I had to move to a suburban or less dense city. It's a game of priorities and balance: - Space wise, I definitely don't need more than 2 bedroom apartment to myself. I don't think I would get a bigger place unless I partnered up or something. - Especially white collar j…
Downtown Costco, is this Vancouver perhaps?
Re: Berkeley's upzoning would be among nation's largest
#65Down in the article is what Berkeley residents should do to get this passed:
> No council meeting has been scheduled yet but Berkeley residents should email the city council at council@cityofberkeley.info with the title “Support Missing Middle Housing.” Request that the city council should pass the Planning Commission’s proposal “as is.” Feel free to discuss your own housing woes as reasons for why it should be passed. These letters will be filed by staff into the future item and can make or break Missing Middle housing in Berkeley.
Re: Berkeley's upzoning would be among nation's largest
#66[flagged]
What is a breeding population??
In case someone stumbles upon this in the future, I want to preserve the original comment they replied to:
> This is a mistake. Housing restrictions are what keep breeding populations from overrunning the world. Berkeley becomes Mumbai. It will be ruined, and within a generation of breeding, housing costs will be high yet again. So there is no permanent fix, only the uglification of beautiful places, and the environmental harm of more humans overrunning the Earth. Building more housing is like building more highways. It increases demand.
Re: Berkeley's upzoning would be among nation's largest
#67Now make a bookmark and check back in 5 years. What will happen: prices in Berkeley will go in lockstep with other areas around it (likely way up). Meanwhile, congestion will worsen and crime will also likely rise.
cyberax! YOU LIVE FOR THIS "against urban cities" battle. Hi again wave I'm the bicycle commuter dude who likes walkable and dense cities. Of course course I want just enough of my own private solitude to retreat to as well. But sign me up for density!
> Of course course I want just enough of my own private solitude to retreat to as well. But sign me up for density!
Then why do you want density? Do you want other people to live in bunk beds in 40 years?
Re: Berkeley's upzoning would be among nation's largest
#68Now make a bookmark and check back in 5 years. What will happen: prices in Berkeley will go in lockstep with other areas around it (likely way up). Meanwhile, congestion will worsen and crime will also likely rise.
In reality rents in Berkeley have been falling for several years because the city has added a lot more new housing over the past few years. https://twitter.com/Jeffinatorator/status/173039356154234085... Congestion may get worse in some places but the status quo is people commuting from places like Antioch to get to service jobs in Berkeley/Oakland/SF so from a "vehicle miles traveled" perspective it might get better…
New housing has nothing to do with it. The general decline of the rent prices SFBA caused that: https://www.sfchronicle.com/realestate/article/sf-rent-price...
In general, rents for the dense housing have declined the most.
Re: Berkeley's upzoning would be among nation's largest
#69Excellent news! What a relief for a city dominated by struggling students to have more housing per area.
Excellent news! More handouts for developers, targeting already-residential neighborhoods instead of mandating the redevelopment of blighted formerly-industrial and -commercial areas and dying malls with boarded-up Macy's and Fry's.
And in a drought- and heat-stricken state, let's pave over what little soil remains, to prevent groundwater percolation and exacerbate urban "heat islands."
This article regurgitates all the usual bullshit with no citations, such as "The ensuing housing shortage caused mass homelessness." What a crock. That doesn't even make sense.
Re: Berkeley's upzoning would be among nation's largest
#70Now make a bookmark and check back in 5 years. What will happen: prices in Berkeley will go in lockstep with other areas around it (likely way up). Meanwhile, congestion will worsen and crime will also likely rise.
Rent will go down which will reduce suffering. Look at changes in rent in Austin vs San Francisco. One builds and the other doesn't.
LOL, rents have declined by around 20% in SF from the peak in 2019: https://www.sfchronicle.com/realestate/article/sf-rent-price...
During the same time, Austin rents skyrocketed: https://www.kut.org/austin/2023-05-09/after-two-years-of-inc...
Again, proving my prediction: more construction equals higher prices.