OT: People's Park Update

9,486 Views | 98 Replies | Last: 28 days ago by bear2034
bear2034
User Profile
Private Message
Ignore User Stop Ignoring
How long do you want to ignore this user?
24 hours One week Permanently Cancel
In reply to MTbear22 • 10:15a, 1/5/24
MTbear22 said:
bear2034 said:
Cal Strong! said:


For decades, chancellor after chancellor has made the same mistake on this issue: you don't tiptoe into a street fight.
Maybe Christ was too busy thinking about shipping containers to pay attention to our athletic programs.

Or she was focused on raising 7 billion for the university? Or she was focused on both but isn't a god who can bend every aspect of the universe to her will? Don't make stupid comments. Unless you want to be called out for said dumbass comments.

LOL. My beef with Christ is with other matters. Overall, I think she's done a much better job than her predecessor.

How many trucks do you think it took to bring all those shipping containers?
Reply Quote
1 edit
bear2034
User Profile
Private Message
Ignore User Stop Ignoring
How long do you want to ignore this user?
24 hours One week Permanently Cancel
10:37a, 1/5/24


FYI, they've closed off streets if some of you are heading into Berkeley this week.
Reply Quote
Cal Strong!
User Profile
Private Message
Ignore User Stop Ignoring
How long do you want to ignore this user?
24 hours One week Permanently Cancel
In reply to annarborbear • 11:20a, 1/5/24
annarborbear said:
If you had not been by it lately, it was a drug-infested, crime-infested trash heap that you would not want your kids to go near. Hard to believe that anyone would see historical value in that,
As Cal Strong has said, Peoples Park is a historic monument to three important values:

1. Free Speech
2. Knife Crime
3. Homelessness

All three of these are significant, but only one is worth memorializing.
Reply Quote
3
Cal Strong!
User Profile
Private Message
Ignore User Stop Ignoring
How long do you want to ignore this user?
24 hours One week Permanently Cancel
In reply to calumnus • 11:22a, 1/5/24
calumnus said:
Cal Strong! said:
calumnus said:
bear2034 said:
And none of those lots are large enough like People's Park to accommodate the number of beds the university is trying to develop.


Collectively there is. The idea is a swap for value. Even city parking lots or commercial buildings. If you want equivalent student housing it doesn't have to be all on one place, or if you do want a huge lot, build it at Underhill or another university owned lot. The point is give the headache to the City. They are better equipped to manage it as a park or housing for the homeless. Or just keep banging your head for another 50 years and expecting a different result…
This not a bad idea. But there would need to be a legal agreement for the CoB not to oppose any university plans for new housing on those sites.


The CoB wants more housing, That is not an issue.
It is always an issue with CoB.

Cal Strong likes the idea. But we would need to get it firmly and irrevocably in writing.

CoB would also need to commit to having at least two officers at the Park at all times.
Reply Quote
1
2 edits
bear2034
User Profile
Private Message
Ignore User Stop Ignoring
How long do you want to ignore this user?
24 hours One week Permanently Cancel
In reply to Cal Strong! • 11:37a, 1/5/24
Cal Strong! said:
annarborbear said:
If you had not been by it lately, it was a drug-infested, crime-infested trash heap that you would not want your kids to go near. Hard to believe that anyone would see historical value in that,
As Cal Strong has said, Peoples Park is a historic monument to three important values:

1. Free Speech
2. Knife Crime
3. Homelessness

All three of these are significant, but only one is worth memorializing.


According to Berkeley's Capital Strategies website, there is an area of People's Park that will be dedicated to commemorate the history of the park.
Reply Quote
3
bearister
User Profile
Private Message
Ignore User Stop Ignoring
How long do you want to ignore this user?
24 hours One week Permanently Cancel
2:08p, 1/5/24
Cancel my subscription to the Resurrection
Send my credentials to the House of Detention
I got some friends inside
Reply Quote
2
Eastern Oregon Bear
User Profile
Private Message
Ignore User Stop Ignoring
How long do you want to ignore this user?
24 hours One week Permanently Cancel
In reply to bear2034 • 4:02p, 1/5/24
bear2034 said:
MTbear22 said:
bear2034 said:
Cal Strong! said:


For decades, chancellor after chancellor has made the same mistake on this issue: you don't tiptoe into a street fight.
Maybe Christ was too busy thinking about shipping containers to pay attention to our athletic programs.

Or she was focused on raising 7 billion for the university? Or she was focused on both but isn't a god who can bend every aspect of the universe to her will? Don't make stupid comments. Unless you want to be called out for said dumbass comments.

LOL. My beef with Christ is with other matters. Overall, I think she's done a much better job than her predecessor.

How many trucks do you think it took to bring all those shipping containers?
The trucks and shipping containers are likely cheaper than repairing vandalized construction equipment over and over.
Reply Quote
7
ColoradoBear
User Profile
Private Message
Ignore User Stop Ignoring
How long do you want to ignore this user?
24 hours One week Permanently Cancel
In reply to calumnus • 4:04p, 1/5/24
calumnus said:
The University should swap the land for a parcel controlled by the City. Let the City maintain it as a park and memorial. Then the University can build student housing somewhere less controversial.


How about build up people's park, unilaterally declare all buildings student housing, and if challenged buy some crappy apartments down university somewhere for the homeless.
Reply Quote
6
bearister
User Profile
Private Message
Ignore User Stop Ignoring
How long do you want to ignore this user?
24 hours One week Permanently Cancel
In reply to Eastern Oregon Bear • 4:31p, 1/5/24
Eastern Oregon Bear said:
bear2034 said:
MTbear22 said:
bear2034 said:
Cal Strong! said:


For decades, chancellor after chancellor has made the same mistake on this issue: you don't tiptoe into a street fight.
Maybe Christ was too busy thinking about shipping containers to pay attention to our athletic programs.

Or she was focused on raising 7 billion for the university? Or she was focused on both but isn't a god who can bend every aspect of the universe to her will? Don't make stupid comments. Unless you want to be called out for said dumbass comments.

LOL. My beef with Christ is with other matters. Overall, I think she's done a much better job than her predecessor.

How many trucks do you think it took to bring all those shipping containers?
The trucks and shipping containers are likely cheaper than repairing vandalized construction equipment over and over.


I think the protestors in 2022 did at least $1.5M in damage to construction equipment.

Too bad thieves, junkies, vandals, murderers and violent assaulters can't muster the number of protestors that turned out in 1969

Cancel my subscription to the Resurrection
Send my credentials to the House of Detention
I got some friends inside
Reply Quote
2
Cal Strong!
User Profile
Private Message
Ignore User Stop Ignoring
How long do you want to ignore this user?
24 hours One week Permanently Cancel
In reply to bearister • 6:07p, 1/5/24
bearister said:
You've got to hand it to Moguluf and his team. Granted, he is a swarmy and conniving person. That is a big part of his job after all. But when the administration is finally ready to do something big, his team always has a strong plan and even stronger execution.

Once we got the final okay to cut down the Oak Grove, those cage towers they built around the last remaining trees were awesome. It was a very dangerous situation, but they kept the groundling protesters under control while they methodically walked up those cage towers and brought those weak idiots down. And once they were down, the last tree was felled in just a matter of minutes.

In this case, the area was surrounded by two-story high shipping containers while the students were on break and all of Berkeley was asleep.

Those of us on this board like to dump on the administration. And they certainly deserve criticism at times.

But Cal Strong thinks we should all take a moment and applaud them for their execution of such plans. They maintained secrecy (which is fairly hard to do these days) and executed the plan graciously and perfectly under difficult and potentially dangerous circumstances.
Reply Quote
18
2 edits
bipolarbear
User Profile
Private Message
Ignore User Stop Ignoring
How long do you want to ignore this user?
24 hours One week Permanently Cancel
In reply to Cal Strong! • 6:22p, 1/5/24
Cal Strong! said:
bearister said:
You've got to hand it to Moguluf and his team. Granted, he is a swarmy and conniving person. That is a big part of his job after all. But when the administration is finally ready to do something big, his team always has a strong plan and even stronger execution.

Once we got the final okay to cut down the Oak Grove, those cage towers they built around the last remaining trees were awesome. It was a very dangerous situation, but they kept the groundling protesters under control while they methodically walked up those cage towers and brought those weak idiots down. And once they were down, the last tree was felled in just a matter of minutes.

In this case, the area was surrounded by two-story high shipping containers while the students were on break and all of Berkeley was asleep.

Those of us on this board like to dump on the administration. And they certainly deserve criticism at times.

But Cal Strong thinks we should all take a moment and applaud them for their execution of such plans. They maintained secrecy (which is fairly hard to do these days) and executed the plan graciously and perfectly under difficult and potentially dangerous circumstances.
No more Mr. Nice Guy.
Reply Quote
1
bearister
User Profile
Private Message
Ignore User Stop Ignoring
How long do you want to ignore this user?
24 hours One week Permanently Cancel
In reply to bipolarbear • 6:34p, 1/5/24
The Governor wants the project to proceed. That backing can give one confidence.
Cancel my subscription to the Resurrection
Send my credentials to the House of Detention
I got some friends inside
Reply Quote
2
1 edit
prospeCt
User Profile
Private Message
Ignore User Stop Ignoring
How long do you want to ignore this user?
24 hours One week Permanently Cancel
7:55p, 1/5/24
https://www.sfgate.com/sf-culture/article/lennon-ono-peoples-park-berkeley-18590155.php

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/jan/04/uc-berkeley-peoples-park-police-operation

Reply Quote
Alkiadt
User Profile
Private Message
Ignore User Stop Ignoring
How long do you want to ignore this user?
24 hours One week Permanently Cancel
In reply to annarborbear • 7:56p, 1/5/24
annarborbear said:
If you had not been by it lately, it was a drug-infested, crime-infested trash heap that you would not want your kids to go near. Hard to believe that anyone would see historical value in that,


Lately? How about for the last 45 years or so….
Reply Quote
4
Alkiadt
User Profile
Private Message
Ignore User Stop Ignoring
How long do you want to ignore this user?
24 hours One week Permanently Cancel
In reply to BearlyCareAnymore • 7:59p, 1/5/24
BearlyCareAnymore said:
calumnus said:
The University should swap the land for a parcel controlled by the City. Let the City maintain it as a park and memorial. Then the University can build student housing somewhere less controversial.
Disagree. It isn't just about housing. The land has been a blight on the community for 50 years and that needed to end decades ago. We can pretend that we give it to the City and it is then their problem, but doing so will leave it a blight in perpetuity and that impacts our student community.

90% + of the people that make a stink about this have zero understanding of the actual history of People's Park. Building student housing on it is a win/win. It will wipe out the issue, make the neighborhood a better place, and add much needed student housing. Once built, you might get a protest when they open it and then no one will care anymore. This should have been done long ago except that previous chancellors preferred to pass the problem on then deal with it.

There is nothing special about the plot of land that merits more than a small monument and a stop on a Berkeley City walking tour if such a thing exists. Frankly, the People's Park protest wasn't even that important to all the liberal causes of the day and has been greatly exaggerated. In any case, no one was protesting for drug infested, crime ridden blight. It was more the opposite really. I think half a century is long enough.


Great post. Some of us were actually there back in the day.
Reply Quote
9
bearister
User Profile
Private Message
Ignore User Stop Ignoring
How long do you want to ignore this user?
24 hours One week Permanently Cancel
8:41p, 1/5/24
The protestors are bringing in a ringer to breach the storage container perimeter.

Cancel my subscription to the Resurrection
Send my credentials to the House of Detention
I got some friends inside
Reply Quote
bearister
User Profile
Private Message
Ignore User Stop Ignoring
How long do you want to ignore this user?
24 hours One week Permanently Cancel
8:45p, 1/5/24
Cancel my subscription to the Resurrection
Send my credentials to the House of Detention
I got some friends inside
Reply Quote
1
socaliganbear
User Profile
Private Message
Ignore User Stop Ignoring
How long do you want to ignore this user?
24 hours One week Permanently Cancel
9:21a, 1/6/24
Tearing down any vestige of this dump is the only way to go.
Reply Quote
8
Cal88
User Profile
Private Message
Ignore User Stop Ignoring
How long do you want to ignore this user?
24 hours One week Permanently Cancel
9:31a, 1/6/24
The only thing worth keeping is that fine redwood tree, which looks like it was planted in the late 60s.



Reply Quote
3
1 edit
bipolarbear
User Profile
Private Message
Ignore User Stop Ignoring
How long do you want to ignore this user?
24 hours One week Permanently Cancel
In reply to bear2034 • 10:20a, 1/6/24
bear2034 said:


FYI, they've closed off streets if some of you are heading into Berkeley this week.
I am very impressed with the planning and coordination and cajones to finally do this. And especially the secrecy necessary, with so many people and agencies involved.
Reply Quote
9
bear2034
User Profile
Private Message
Ignore User Stop Ignoring
How long do you want to ignore this user?
24 hours One week Permanently Cancel
In reply to bipolarbear • 10:37a, 1/6/24
It appears the last of the tree sitters have been kicked out.
Reply Quote
3
91Cal
User Profile
Private Message
Ignore User Stop Ignoring
How long do you want to ignore this user?
24 hours One week Permanently Cancel
In reply to Alkiadt • 10:47a, 1/6/24
Alkiadt said:
annarborbear said:
If you had not been by it lately, it was a drug-infested, crime-infested trash heap that you would not want your kids to go near. Hard to believe that anyone would see historical value in that,


Lately? How about for the last 45 years or so….


100%

I was going to reply similarly…my first afternoon in Berkeley in 1986 after saying goodbye to my mom in front of after she helped move me into Cunningham Hall Unit 2, I walked straight down Haste towards Telegraph eager to see this "People's Park" I had read about and get a slice of the legendary Blondie's Pizza. As soon as I stepped onto the sidewalk after crossing Bowditch, a guy dressed in tattered clothes asked me, "You want some nose weed?" I was solicited three more times before I made it to Telegraph…naive suburban kid much?
Reply Quote
8
bearister
User Profile
Private Message
Ignore User Stop Ignoring
How long do you want to ignore this user?
24 hours One week Permanently Cancel
In reply to Cal88 • 11:54a, 1/6/24
When I was in school we used to call that broken down apartment building on the East border of PP the Hanoi Hilton because there was an eatery at street level called the Hanoi Dining Room.
Cancel my subscription to the Resurrection
Send my credentials to the House of Detention
I got some friends inside
Reply Quote
1
MoragaBear
User Profile
Private Message
How long do you want to ignore this user?
24 hours One week Permanently Cancel
1:50p, 1/6/24
Staff
Reply Quote Next Staff
bear2034
User Profile
Private Message
Ignore User Stop Ignoring
How long do you want to ignore this user?
24 hours One week Permanently Cancel
In reply to MoragaBear • 1:56p, 1/6/24
The funny thing is, Site J is already slated to be used for student housing. The university plans to tear down the parking lot and tennis courts to build 1500 beds there at 2302 Channing Way.

https://housing.berkeley.edu/resources/campus-housing-upcoming-construction-and-redevelopment-projects/
Reply Quote
3
MoragaBear
User Profile
Private Message
How long do you want to ignore this user?
24 hours One week Permanently Cancel
2:19p, 1/6/24
Staff
Big plans. So much more student housing options now than there were back in the day.

Upcoming Housing Projects


In 2023, UC Berkeley has three additional housing developments that are in various stages of the planning process. Additional information about these projects will be available as they are designed and subsequently approved for construction in the coming years.

2200 Bancroft Way
New housing: approx. 1,200 beds* | 2200 Bancroft Way, Berkeley
Details: Currently a small office building and a parking lot.

2302 Channing Way
New housing: approx. 1,500 beds* | 2302 Channing Way, Berkeley
Details: Currently tennis courts and a parking lot.

Upper Hearst
New housing: approx. 150 apartment units* | corner of Hearst and La Loma Avenues, Berkeley
Details: Currently a parking lot.

* Actual bed counts for these projects are not yet determined.
Sites Identified for Future Housing Development

UC Berkeley has identified several additional campus properties for new housing. These sites will subsequently be developed as they first require relocation of existing programs, are redevelopments of existing housing to increase capacity, or are sites in which development is restricted by legal covenants.
2000 Carlton Street

New housing: estimated 400 beds | 2000 Carleton St, Berkeley
Details: Requires relocation of existing Facilities Services uses.
Beverly Cleary

New housing: estimated 300 beds | Beverly Cleary Hall, Channing Way, Berkeley
Details: Redevelopment of existing housing to increase capacity.**
Clark Kerr Campus

New housing: To be determined | 2601 Warring Street, Berkeley
Details: New housing development at Clark Kerr Campus is restricted until after 2032 by legal covenants.**
Foothill North

New housing: estimated 70 beds | 2700 Hearst Avenue, Berkeley
Details: Redevelopment of existing housing in Foothill (Unit 4) residence hall to increase capacity.**
Oxford Tract

New housing: estimated 2,000 beds | Oxford Tract, Berkeley
Details: Requires relocation of existing Rausser College programs.
Unit 3

New housing: estimated 600 beds | 2400 Durant Avenue, Berkeley
Details: Redevelopment of existing housing in Unit 3 residence hall to increase capacity.**

**Planned redevelopment projects for existing residence halls and apartments will not impact the availability of housing space currently offered to students.
Reply Quote Next Staff
Cal Strong!
User Profile
Private Message
Ignore User Stop Ignoring
How long do you want to ignore this user?
24 hours One week Permanently Cancel
In reply to MoragaBear • 2:20p, 1/6/24
MoragaBear said:
This a good one by Jackson Sirmon.

Cal Strong very happy for the Park to be transformed into housing (or basically anything other than what it is). But like with most transformations, the old will be missed even if the new is 1000x better.

Cal Strong is a bit concerned about the corporatization of Telegraph and the perceived lack of grit of the latest generation of Cal students. Maybe this is all in Cal Strong's head. But part of the toughness of being a Cal alum is that you survived not only a brutal sink or swim academic culture but a thousand other challenges besides -- from the homelessness and danger at People's Park to the chaos of getting to class through a thousand groups handing you flyers on Sproul Plaza. It was part of the culture that (while dangerous, disgusting and annoying) certainly contributed to making us all tougher.

That being said, Cal Strong is a very strong 6'2 male. If he were a 5'2 skinny female, he might feel very different.

(BTW - 6'2 the strongest height to be. Other heights strong too. But 6'2 the strongest)
Reply Quote
3
2 edits
MoragaBear
User Profile
Private Message
How long do you want to ignore this user?
24 hours One week Permanently Cancel
2:21p, 1/6/24
Staff


A rendering of the student housing that will be built in People's Park with a view from the corner of Bowditch Street and Dwight Way.

New housing: 1,113 beds | corner of Haste and Bowditch Streets, Berkeley
Details: People's Park Housing project will build below-market rate apartments for more than 1,100 continuing undergraduates (second-, third-, and fourth-year students). Located a few blocks from campus, apartments will include a fully equipped kitchen and, consistent with our goal to design new student housing with a higher level of accessibility, every unit will be accessible. The project was developed over the course of more than five years of extensive planning, public engagement, and rigorous environmental review. Plans for People's Park incorporate four fundamental objectives: urgently needed student housing; in a separate building, approx. 100 units of permanent supportive housing; revitalized open space (more than 60% of the site); and a commemoration of the park's past and historical significance.
Reply Quote
Cal88
User Profile
Private Message
Ignore User Stop Ignoring
How long do you want to ignore this user?
24 hours One week Permanently Cancel
3:12p, 1/6/24
Excellent news, it looks like the majority of undergrads will have on-campus housing once all these projects are completed. It will also change the atmosphere on Southside to a more campus-like and student-friendly vibe.

There is some extra space in Clark Kerr campus, they could add more density there.

Hope they keep the playing field at Underhill though, there is a scarcity of fields for IM and pickup games around campus.
Reply Quote
8
HoopDreams
User Profile
Private Message
Ignore User Stop Ignoring
How long do you want to ignore this user?
24 hours One week Permanently Cancel
4:57p, 1/6/24
the crazy thing about this is the University's plan to also built 100 units for the unhoused on the site. This plan seems to be the best for every 'stakeholder'

from a historic perspective, building a memorial that describes the history of the park is good for that compared to much more meaningful places. For example, have you ever seen the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia?

Reply Quote
1
philbert
User Profile
Private Message
Ignore User Stop Ignoring
How long do you want to ignore this user?
24 hours One week Permanently Cancel
8:51p, 1/6/24
Reply Quote
1
dmh65
User Profile
Private Message
Ignore User Stop Ignoring
How long do you want to ignore this user?
24 hours One week Permanently Cancel
11:16p, 1/6/24
Building more housing isn't just necessary, it's an important part of the university's financial plan. With less state money on the horizon, making money from its real estate will be increasingly important. It will not be 'non profit'; the university will be making good money. Of course, they'll also be wasteful in the cost control during construction and with the management costs, because that's what they do.
Reply Quote
3
AZ Bear
User Profile
Private Message
Ignore User Stop Ignoring
How long do you want to ignore this user?
24 hours One week Permanently Cancel
In reply to Cal Strong! • 6:11p, 1/7/24
(BTW - 6'2 the strongest height to be. Other heights strong too. But 6'2 the strongest)

That is good to know, Cal Strong. AZ Bear is 6'2 also, and has always been pleased with that, but I did not know this is the strongest height.

Out of curiosity, what is the strongest weight to go with 6'2? If you say 245 then AZ Bear is a winner. But it's probably more like 215...
Reply Quote
Cal Strong!
User Profile
Private Message
Ignore User Stop Ignoring
How long do you want to ignore this user?
24 hours One week Permanently Cancel
In reply to AZ Bear • 6:31p, 1/7/24
AZ Bear said:
(BTW - 6'2 the strongest height to be. Other heights strong too. But 6'2 the strongest)

That is good to know, Cal Strong. AZ Bear is 6'2 also, and has always been pleased with that, but I did not know this is the strongest height.

Out of curiosity, what is the strongest weight to go with 6'2? If you say 245 then AZ Bear is a winner. But it's probably more like 215...
The strongest weight is the weight that makes AZ Bear feel the strongest!

It a bit like height . . . lots of different weights are strong. But it also different than height . . . there is no objectively strongest weight.

If AZ Bear active, eating well, and is strong in charity, chivalry, and reading skills, then there no reason to worry about a specific weight.
Reply Quote
1
Bear Naked Ladies
User Profile
Private Message
Ignore User Stop Ignoring
How long do you want to ignore this user?
24 hours One week Permanently Cancel
In reply to Cal Strong! • 1:23a, 1/8/24
Cal Strong! said:
MoragaBear said:
This a good one by Jackson Sirmon.

Cal Strong very happy for the Park to be transformed into housing (or basically anything other than what it is). But like with most transformations, the old will be missed even if the new is 1000x better.

Cal Strong is a bit concerned about the corporatization of Telegraph and the perceived lack of grit of the latest generation of Cal students. Maybe this is all in Cal Strong's head. But part of the toughness of being a Cal alum is that you survived not only a brutal sink or swim academic culture but a thousand other challenges besides -- from the homelessness and danger at People's Park to the chaos of getting to class through a thousand groups handing you flyers on Sproul Plaza. It was part of the culture that (while dangerous, disgusting and annoying) certainly contributed to making us all tougher.

That being said, Cal Strong is a very strong 6'2 male. If he were a 5'2 skinny female, he might feel very different.

(BTW - 6'2 the strongest height to be. Other heights strong too. But 6'2 the strongest)
BNL miss the old Intermezzo. BNL happy when they finally bring Mezzo back after fire, but went there once with Mrs. BNL and food not as good as we remember from college days. Seems to have good reviews on Yelp, so maybe BNL and missus give it second chance.

BNL wake up this morning craving Berkeley food and half considering over hour drive for better lunch options than generic crap near BNL home. Even greasy bad for you I.B. Hoagie sound great compared to same boring options BNL used to in Suburbia.

BNL not miss People's Park and wish it bulldozed long ago when BNL was student.
Reply Quote
1
Page 2 of 3 ▼
 
×
subscribe Verify your student status
See Subscription Benefits
Trial only available to users who have never subscribed or participated in a previous trial.