Not Visible

The Campanile view is not really just about the view. It is about a culture coming together to found a flagship, world class university for the state of California and making it a worthy monument to the ideals of education, the ideals of citizenry, the ideals of empire. Public buildings are, or they used to be, given a bit larger grandeur because they represent lofty ideas. 

This view represents important values that should not be readily discarded. Make no mistake, the values deteriorate when the symbols used 100 years ago to create the Campanile are denigrated. 

Has anyone been to the U. of WA in Seattle? That entire campus is built around a long, unfettered sloping mountain, covered with steps to the edge of campus, to display the view of Mt. Rainier. I mention this to point out that in the 19th Century, we have political leaders who acted from the common good and did not allow themselves to be driven by for-profit corporate greed. It is very moving to stand at the top of the UW Seattle stairs that preserve the view of Mt. Rainier from the campus. 

And it should be moving to everyone, even the venture capitalist from LA, to be able to view the Golden Gate (and I do not refer to the bridge but the natural gate the bridge traverses), that 'we' can see ourselves tied to the majestic Golden Gate. 

Has anyone ever been on a ferry, maybe to Sausalito, as the sunsets? Not every day, but sometimes, the real golden gate is made plain at sunset. The sun shines so brightly one cannot see the gate, the opposite points of land or even the bridge. It is a gate of golden light. 

And it is right and just that the view, like all of this bay area, is sometimes obscured by fog and overcast skies. It makes the glimpses of the Golden Gate more special, even magical and mystical. 

What kind of world do you want to live in? One driven by already-extremely-wealthy people grabbing more money or one driven by high ideals, respect for this majestic natural setting we all live in and respect for the values that lead the founders of UC Cal to preserve the view with the Campanile? 

This is not the same thing as protecting views from private homes. This is a view that belongs to the entire state. We've all paid for it. We all own it. And now an LA venture capitalist who has never built anything before is going to own it and sell it to rich people. We can't all owns homes in the hills with the view of the Golden Gate. And few Berkeley residents will be able to afford the apartments, or condos, that will be able to buy the view of the Golden Gate, a view that blocks the public view that was preserved for all the rest of us. 

Declining to landmark the Campanile view amounts to depriving everyone who isn't rich from the special glory of living within, theoretically, the Golden Gate. 

It should matter to everyone in CA that this view will be diminished. The Golden Gate is one of the world's most recognized and beautiful spots. Preserving that view from the Campanile amounts to preserving our heritage, which is, isn't it, what a Landmark Preservation Commission is supposed to be about. 

And to the nauseating BARF group: they chose a name that achieves many things at once. They mock people who care about quality of life and recognize that building homes for the rich will not solve the Bay Area's housing crisis. The name draws attention quickly. They didn't exist until recently and overnight everyone knew about BARF. And, for those who disagree, BARF is an accurate acronym for what they represent. Make me barf, eh?