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.