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This issue has two requests that we strongly urge all of our readers to consider:
A Berkeley Downtown Traffic Plan
Submitted by Jurgen Aust, AICP, Urban Design, Land Use and Transportation Planning Consultant who lives in the South of Campus area.
Many residents wonder who our downtown is for. It’s not what could be called a shopping destination. It seems to be more for groups with a specific purpose — to see a movie, attend the performance of a play, a point of destination for students — high school, City College, UC Berkeley, or BART riders coming to or from work headed south or north to or from home. All of this, of course, is good business for the restaurants, but when you look around, it’s hard to find the connection between them and this place. The downtown has become a place of interest to many different groups, but not Berkeley residents.
Of course, more downtown residents, in appropriate number, will help, but downtown should be a place for everyone, including residents who live in other parts of the City. Besides the lack of retail, parking is part of the issue and that will be getting worse as time goes on, especially with the large amount of construction of large buildings that will go on for years. The coming closure of the Shattuck Cinemas, and the plans to place construction staging areas in the front of the Main Branch of the Library will make the downtown even less attractive.
In 2015 the City Council voted to spend more money to continue designing a downtown traffic circulation plan as conceived by the Public Works Department. You can find the complete plan by going to www.cityofberekley.info, then to the Transportation Commission October 15, 2015 agenda.
In 2006, I submitted a plan for the downtown that turns the West side of Shattuck Avenue (between University Ave. and Center Street) into a town square, tying it into the Arts District rather than separating the latter. Creation of a Berkeley Town Square downtown, as is done in countless European cities, gives residents from near and far, a place to be, a place to socialize and connect with others. The plan also includes a comprehensive transit and parking plan.
People who saw that plan were very enthusiastic about it. It turns the two blocks of Shattuck Avenue into a pedestrian plaza that, in addition to providing easy access for delivery, drop-off and pick-up services, allows for a variety of parking configurations. The illustration below shows just Alternative B of the plan, with parking between University Ave and Addison St., To see more details, please go to “Berkeley Town Square Proposal” on the internet or to Facebook under the same title — the latter allowing you more easily to spread the word should you like what you see.
BERKELEY TOWN SQUARE PROPOSAL
The Place to Go, The Place to be Seen
The Need for a Student Winter Break Housing Program
The ASUC Student Advocate’s Office (SAO) and the Independent Student Community (ISC) provided the following Statement to BNC:
SAO and ISC are seeking to establish a sustainable winter break housing program for students who are unable to return home due to extreme family circumstances or financial reasons. Currently, all on-campus residence halls close for the academic winter break, a four week period, leaving students to return home or try to find temporary housing for that period. Many freshmen and junior transfers often do not learn about the residential halls’ winter break closure until as late as early December. Most notably, these populations encompass independent and international students:
- Independent students are students that do not report their parents’ information on their FAFSA. Students may be exempted from this requirement because they are over the age of 24, married, a veteran, an orphan, a ward of the state (such as foster youth), a student parent, or have special circumstances which prove they would be safer if independent from their parents or guardians. These students, most notably those with special family circumstances, are financially independent and may be unable to secure temporary housing for winter break.
- International students are students that require a visa to study in the United States. These students may find it difficult to fund transportation to return to their home countries for the duration of winter break.
SAO/ISC is currently identifying potential housing locations that are able and willing to provide room to these students for the Winter Break Housing Program. We estimate that there will be 10-30 students who may qualify for our program.
If BNC eNEWS readers want to learn more about helping to start the UC Berkeley Winter Break Housing Program, please contact Caitlin Olson, Policy Coordinator for the SAO Financial Aid Division, at caitlin@berkeleysao.org.
BNC Note: We would welcome comments about either of these matters. We are also going to write the UC Berkeley Chancellor urging him to find space on the campus that could be kept open to house 10 to 30 students during Winter Break.