Page 56 - North Berkeley News Today

A Model For Other Cities? When I was speaking across the country promoting the housing policy changes urged in Generation Priced Out, I did not foresee my hometown of Berkeley, California ending exclusionary zoning before Seattle, Denver and other cities. To the contrary, my book discusses how Berkeley’s 1973 “Neighborhood Preservation Ordinance” became a national model for using “neighborhood character” and “public input” to stop new apartments. Through most of 2020,  Berkeley r...

Payson House. Photon: Alon Danino/City of Berkeley A 132-year-old brown shingle house in North Berkeley bears an interesting history, but doesn’t warrant landmark preservation status under the city’s preservation laws, the City Council decided on Thursday. The decision clears the way for the Payson House at 1915 Berryman St. to become a residential townhouse development with 10 units. The front of the Payson House is blocked by several live oak trees. Photo: Supriya Yelimeli About 70 Berkel...

The Sit List: 5 events in Berkeley to end the week Laugh with comedians, drink wine with the novelist Jonathan Lethem, learn about Berkeley’s food history, declutter your closet, watch a documentary about maternal mental health. Image: Lockdown Comedy We’re entered into a new era. It’s time to celebrate the change by laughing at a comedy special, joining a wine and novel pairing, perusing a Berkeley food history exhibit, decluttering your closet, and watching a documentary about maternal ...

This story first appeared on Berkeleyside’s sister site, The Oaklandside. Last Thursday, Samar “Sammy” Nassar, co-owner of Sammy’s Pupusas, was chatting with one of the residents at Operation HomeBase, an Oakland-sanctioned trailer camp for homeless seniors who are at high risk for COVID-19, located on Hegenberger Road in East Oakland. The man, Mark, was placing his food order with Nassar for the following day and he had a special request: a burrito with rice and beans, sour cream on th...

Opinion: New developments at Ashby and North Berkeley BART should include roof gardens I live within two blocks of the North Berkeley BART station. My family was redlined into living here in the 1950s. Gardening and horticultural appreciation is a part of my Asian cultural heritage, and in part, shaped the verdant character around the North Berkeley BART station. I am very conscious of the enjoyment I get passively as a pedestrian from the neighboring open spaces and landscaping. The North Berk...

Real, imagined Berkeley celebrated in Berkeley Rep audio series ‘Place/Settings’ The East Bay companys audio series is grounded in specific sites in Berkeley, penned by writers with strong ties to the city Lily Janiak January 8, 2021Updated: January 12, 2021, 5:47 pm Playwright Philip Kan Gotanda is seen at Jewel Lake in Berkeley. Photo: Santiago Mejia, The Chronicle When playwright Philip Kan Gotanda set out to write an audio short story about Jewel Lake for Berkeley Rep’s “Pla...

Mark Haggitt, known as “The Mayor of Thousand Oaks” whose kind and generous spirit in helping neighbors – no matter how great or small the task – touched literally hundreds in the North Berkeley community, died unexpectedly in his sleep Dec. 30 in his Berkeley home, apparently of heart-related issues. He was 63. “He always lent a helping hand,” said his son, Ian. “And he loved it here.” With his tall frame and long, blonde hair, Haggitt was for decades a familiar figure in the n...

Berkeley police officers shot a chain-wielding robbery suspect with a bullet and less-lethal projectiles Saturday night, sending the man to Highland Hospital with serious injuries.

Newly renovated, a Midcentury Modern in Berkeley sells for $4.4M Newly renovated, a Midcentury Modern in Berkeley sells for $4.4M A remodeled midcentury modern home in Berkeley, CA, quickly sold for $4.37 million. It first came on the market in early October this year. Claudine Zap, provided by FacebookTwitterEmail A remodeled midcentury modern home in Berkeley, CA, has quickly sold for $4.37 million. It first came on the market in early October 2020 for $4.35 million, but the sellers trimme...

Nature brought us both joy and anxiety in 2020. Photo: biosfer For many of us, it was the last straw when, in mid-August, the East Bay Regional Park District closed most of its parks because of an unprecedented number of local wildfires. Our one solution to lockdown-induced cabin fever — heading for the big outdoors — had been cruelly wrested away from us. Unfortunately, nature played it both ways this year. It was also behind many of our most anxiety-inducing days — whether it was the ti...