BillF

I love my neighborhood. My neighbors are a diverse bunch of humanity from pretty much everywhere on Earth. We have a great neighborhood group who like to meet for business reasons but also to socialize, pick up litter and look out for each other. I love getting a phone call reminding me that its street cleaning day!

When I moved in with my family in 2001 there was a fair amount of gang type activity right around my house. It has since moved away. Though about once a year there is an incident that we are aware of that makes us uneasy. We've seen other great changes in the neighborhood such as the opening of Casa Vino, a great place for wine and gourmet eats, the Actual Cafe, Addie's Pizza,The Shotgun Players (Theater),the Ed Roberts Campus, the Biofuel Oasis, and Spiral Gardens to name a few. Sprial gardens and the Biofuel Oasis promote urban farming and offer supplies and classes (beekeeping anyone?) for those interested in the greening of our cities. Other neighborhood amenities include the Thai Temple on Russell Street for Sunday Brunch, the Tool Lending Library at the South Branch of the Berkeley Public library on MLK (if you need a jack hammer they have them!) Ashby BART with its weekend flea markets, Berkeley Bowl(s), Sweet Adeline's Bake Shop, the Tuesday Night Farmers' Market, and the annual Juneteenth Street Festival.

The neighborhood is changing block by block with more families, artists and musicians moving in. Housing here is the most affordable in Berkeley which may account for the large numbers of new young families. Architecture is varied with lots of older Victorians and wide tree-lined streets in the Lorin and more 2 bedroom bungalows west of there.

Berkeley, as a rule, is difficult to get into or out of, but South Berkeley is very accessible. From my house I can choose whatever freeway I want and avoid the maze. I'm only 5 minutes from all that Emeryville has to offer and also a short walk to San Pablo Park or Berkeley Bowl.

Among the negatives are still too many corner liquor stores. There are some blocks where the residents don't seem to care about picking up trash. And there are areas where large boxy apartment buildings dominate.