Bank of America--the Ugliest Front Yard in Pretty West Berkeley

West Berkeley is gentrifying at a stunning pace. Upscale condos are going up almost as fast as across the border in Emeryville. Home prices have doubled in the last five years. Even the prostitutes have temporarily moved on (although they could come back, but the neighbors are less likely to tolerate their presence.)

The commerical strip south of Dwight has been healthy for a while. Cafe Trieste moved in two years ago and along with Good Vibrations--truly the anchor tenant of the block--and Salt, the restaurant, and a collection of cute gift shops, the strip is a destination for shoppers looking for something unique in several gift and cuisine categories.

However, the pretty strip ends at the property of an entity that has likely profitted more than any other from the increased commercial activity and rise in residential values--Bank of America!



The old B of A looks like a fortress, with no landscaping or anything to welcome in the public. BofA takes the neighborhoods money, but does less than nothing to beautify its building.

B of A's visual appearance is a symbol of its connection with the neighborhood around it--it has none. Maximize profits, minimize costs.

The place is scary. Of course, they don't want to welcome in consumers off the streets. They have their ugly outpost to profit off the local businesses, and perhaps the increasing home prices. However, BofA apparently has no interest in connecting with or encouraging the low-income neighbors around their outpost who may need the bank's less profitable services and who might set up small accounts.

"Hey," Bof A's thinking goes, "let the poor go to the check cashing storefront where they can pay 3 percent of their paycheck."

That kind of thinking helps nobody.

The Death of Pick-Up Basketball

What happened to pick-up basketball? I see a game every now and again as I drive around Berkeley. Usually it is a 3 on 3 game; or a group of homogenous young men who appear to have arranged in advance to meet at the court.

These are pictures from Live Oak in 1980 from a book called "Take it to the Hoop".

In the 1970s and 80s, there would be 3 or 4 games on a weekend afternoon–Live Oak, Ohlone, several courts at Cal (not People's Park which does not have a comfortable vibe most days), Willard, Marin School in Albany.

There were always games at Live Oak Park in N. Berkeley. Usually there were at least two games. One was a full-court game dominated by black men of great skill. There were also secondary games that seemed to be dominated (verbally, at least) by middle-aged men who grew up in New York. I usually played with the middle-aged men.

Playing in these games across Berkeley transformed many a lonely day into afternoons filled with shared jokes, camaraderie, a few arguments and a good workout. And respect for myself and the people I played with.

Once in a while I would get summoned to fill out a side in the big game at Live Oak. I would run around and try not to assert myself. I lacked confidence and, perhaps, the skill for the game. But I was happy to be there.

Now, games are rare at Live Oak's four hoops. This is a picture on Sunday, April 22 at 2:30 p.m.–the Warriors are in the playoffs, the sun is out, and there is one guy shooting!

The unique process of creating a small little culture on the fly was wonderful. Better than the illusions created by drugs or alchohol and without the hangovers.

Sharing a pass to a cutting teammate was a rare act of unselfishness for adolescents or an gesture of trust for an older man to a younger one. Race was always an issue, but if you could play it was a minimal one. For the good of the run, people worked things out.

So what happened? Is it video games? Did kids get to violent to call their own fouls and play without adult supervision? Did grownups just get out of shape? Do we not want to socialize and interact with people who are different than we are?

Now, players join leagues, fitness clubs or rent out gyms to get a good game. As with many pursuits in 2007, there are barriers to the poor and disaffected to participate and spontaneity is difficult.

Banned in Berkeley

Tuesday night, the City Council unanimously passed a resolution opposing the intensive confinement of egg-laying hens in tiny wire battery cages. Is anyone for this practice?

A few other cities have passed such resolutions.

Albany-based (really, Berkeley) Andronico's Markets and a few other chains have announced they will stop selling eggs laid in cages. Soon, nobody will sell them.

Is this the kind of motion that the rest of the country mocks us for? Of course.

Does anyone want to eat eggs laid by hens standing in feces and next to diseased of dying hens? Of course not.

This is a perfect example that what often starts a a lefty "fringe" position on an issue--this is about more than just compassion for hens--turns out to be based on common sense and generally accepted.

This is a picture of anti-conscription rally in 1940--Berkeley's questioning attitude was around before hippies and Mario Savio came to town.

That will be the case on this issue. People in Berkeley, and a few other places, initiate the discussions. (Of course, there is plenty of gibberish in our community dialogue as well.) The people open to change and new ways of handling old circustances are mocked as being idealistic, unreasonable, silly or just Berserkely.

However, the mainstream often comes to realize the wisdom of change: free speech, civil rights and fresh coffee are good things; apartheid, and wars in Vietman and Iraq are bad things.

We in Berkeley are not alone, but we are sure outnumbered.

My Berkeley is Not Your Berkeley

We all bring our own perspectives to Berkeley. A few residents can't get over the 60's. Some are here to be part of the foment of ideas centered at the campus. Many came to Berkeley because the City tolerates, and encourages, folks who are freaks in their own home town. Many are here because they have always been here and can't imagine living anywhere else.

Most just want to live in a nice neighborhood, have a few friends and go about their business with as little hassle as possible.

I moved to Berkeley in 1973. I graduated from Berkeley High School in 1977 and from UCB in 1984. I have two kids in the Berkeley public shool system and serve on the City's Human Welfare commission. Most of my best friends went to BHS. I now work in Emeryville and live in N. Berkeley. I am a townie with a good education, a beautiful wife and a good job.

However, the changes in Berkeley have not been as kind to everyone. As much as the good people of Berkeley are fighting the changes in the world around us, the poor are being forced out of Berkeley. Further, the low-income residents are marginalized by their limited funds to access the bounty of Berkeley in the new millenium. There is plenty of blame and responsibility for everyone.

The struggle to do the right thing, and the consequent competition of ideas, is what makes Berkeley wonderful. The answer isn't always found, but the effort is often made.