ZAB Passes Big West Berkeley Project on Brennan’s Site
The Berkeley Zoning Adjustments Board approved a mixed-use project at 700 University Ave. Thursday. -more-
The Berkeley Zoning Adjustments Board approved a mixed-use project at 700 University Ave. Thursday. -more-
March is Arts Education Month, according to press releases from the City of Berkeley, Alameda County and county education superintendent Sheila Jordan. It’s a cause everyone can get behind: kids and arts, what’s not to like? We’d like to get on the bandwagon too, before it’s too late. We believe that art is good for kids, and kids are good for art. We’ll even endorse the slogan some creative PR firm dreamed up: “Art IS education.” Of course it is. -more-
The law of the jungle is survival of the fittest; the law of civilization is cooperation! -more-
By Diane Douglas, David Schweidel, Rachel Greenberg, Sunny Solis, Darryl Dickerhoff and Lori Simpson -more-
Ten years or so ago, the new-born Downtown Berkeley Association flexed its taxpayer-funded muscle and pressured the City Council to pass a raft of laws against “problematic street behavior,” widely touted as responsible for local economic decline. -more-
Regarding the current battle at the Fantasy Building, where its new owner, San Rafael-based Wareham Property Group, is threatening Berkeley’s community of independent filmmakers with skyrocketing rents and odious-termed leases: -more-
“We want to turn this into a new type of artists’ community,” said Doug Herst, owner of 5.5 acres of industrial land in West Berkeley, speaking at a special meeting at City Hall. He came over as a nice guy, and he really seemed to like artists and the arts. Sounded great. Until he unveiled the real project: a million square feet of mostly commercial, office, and residential development, with only seven thousand square feet for arts/crafts workshops, and only 20 percent of the residential units as artist live/work studios. -more-