Development and Up-zoning in the city of Berkeley Spring 2026
A young person might "wonder why study architecture?"
when design and planning
in a city with wealth, sophistication and admired legacy housing
yields a new building like this.
For the rest of my life this will the view from my sidewalk, the 2300 block of Prince St.
It is among the first of numberless similar projects we expect
from SB 79 (already passed by CA)
and "Corridors" (upzoning proposed by Berkeley city council)
The local, national and even the international press are in unison that the affluent coasts in general and the Bay Area in particular need more housing. The state of California has passed laws (SB 79, AB 893) which mandate density and prohibit local residents from challenging density-enhancing projects. Thus, a city-remaking engine of unfathomable power is accelerating to cruise speed. Very few (essentially no) residents and voters are cognizant of its origins, purpose and authority. We have not experienced the like for generations. Know what's coming! Or be run over.
| Opinion: Plunking high rises all over Berkeley will cancel an urban asset Berkeley currently enjoys. Much of Berkeley is quite dense. Open space in the dense areas is scarce to non-existent. There is zero prospect of creating more open space. What makes Berkeley nonetheless an urban environment enjoyable on foot are its density gradients. The existing old commercial districts are remnants of a past in which people walked. Time has made them more exceptional. They remain magnets for residents and visitors seeking the enjoyment of strolling in pleasant human-scaled urban space. Developers spend hundreds of millions building faux "Elmwoods" (witness Fourth Street, "Bay Street" and hundreds across the U.S.) These tiny neighborhoods exert a multiplier effect on nearby real estate and other urban uses. My neighborhood, a 20 minutes walk from The Elmwood, it touted by realtors as "Lower Elmwood," for example. Our city council appears to under-value our authentic "Elmwoods", approving their burial beneath large-footprint high rises. |
A reasonable-looking project,
density roughly comparable to that of the dense local neighborhood,
even includes some off-street parking.
But see what occupies this site, to be demolished.
2330 Prince existing building.
See design documents for proposed project.
We are a handful of local residents sharing concern. We do not oppose more housing. But must we "throw out baby with bathwater?" If we trash our existing urban qualities in blind haste to up the tally we have addressed the problem a different way - by making here undesirable.
@pacbell.net
