To understand and appreciate Adena Ishii's victory, it's important to understand how Berkeley got to this point and what the election really means vs. the bombastic headlines.
Re Arreguin’s turn around - it takes humility and self-reflection to be able to admit “I was wrong.” Good for him. And good for Berkeley for voting in a YIMBY. The whole Save People’s Park thing was just ridiculous - the place had become an untended eyesore long ago.
I wonder if part of the impetus toward finally embracing YIMBY-ism was, first, the NIMBYs who tried to block more student housing, were slapped down by California Supreme Court, and I think a lot of people woke up to the fact that Berkeley, as a town, would not exist without UC. Simple as that. Students are the lifeblood of the town. Another thing was the horrific incident 10 or so years ago where a balcony at a complex called “Library Gardens” collapsed and killed several people, most of whom were Irish immigrants or exchange students. Berkeley doesn’t want to look bad to foreign students who come to study. Hence, we need more and good quality housing.
I’m a neighbor (so to speak) not a Berkeley resident, but I am looking forward to seeing if this YIMBY momentum can ripple out of Berkeley, too. And if Adeena Ishii can do a good job with her new mandate just as Anne Hidalgo did with hers in Paris. Here’s hoping!
This is a really interesting account, thank you. I'm 3,000 miles away, but it's useful to see a good description of changing politics. As a boomer, I have changed my mind in similar ways - the activism of younger urbanists combined with actual evidence and research has been key in that shift. But also as you note, some of the worst opposition to denser housing is so explicitly exclusionary and ridiculous, it also forces many of us older liberals to rethink our own too-long-held anti-development stands.
Berkeley politics are quite...unique, but I am so unbelievably shocked and impressed at how the city is actively building a new future instead of being frozen in the '60s or '70s (which it very much was when I attended in the '90s). It was also very clear then that the residents' preferred solution was for students to leave the city. The scarcity and dumpy quality of available housing stock during DotCom 1.0 really primed me for "radicalization" on this issue.
I wasn't alive for the Free Speech Movement but it feels like Berkeley is finally the epicenter of significant change again. I visit frequently and the community energy is palpable.
Re Arreguin’s turn around - it takes humility and self-reflection to be able to admit “I was wrong.” Good for him. And good for Berkeley for voting in a YIMBY. The whole Save People’s Park thing was just ridiculous - the place had become an untended eyesore long ago.
I wonder if part of the impetus toward finally embracing YIMBY-ism was, first, the NIMBYs who tried to block more student housing, were slapped down by California Supreme Court, and I think a lot of people woke up to the fact that Berkeley, as a town, would not exist without UC. Simple as that. Students are the lifeblood of the town. Another thing was the horrific incident 10 or so years ago where a balcony at a complex called “Library Gardens” collapsed and killed several people, most of whom were Irish immigrants or exchange students. Berkeley doesn’t want to look bad to foreign students who come to study. Hence, we need more and good quality housing.
I’m a neighbor (so to speak) not a Berkeley resident, but I am looking forward to seeing if this YIMBY momentum can ripple out of Berkeley, too. And if Adeena Ishii can do a good job with her new mandate just as Anne Hidalgo did with hers in Paris. Here’s hoping!
This is a really interesting account, thank you. I'm 3,000 miles away, but it's useful to see a good description of changing politics. As a boomer, I have changed my mind in similar ways - the activism of younger urbanists combined with actual evidence and research has been key in that shift. But also as you note, some of the worst opposition to denser housing is so explicitly exclusionary and ridiculous, it also forces many of us older liberals to rethink our own too-long-held anti-development stands.
Wow, that was a great piece of writing. Cogent, good story and optimistic. Many thanks!
Berkeley politics are quite...unique, but I am so unbelievably shocked and impressed at how the city is actively building a new future instead of being frozen in the '60s or '70s (which it very much was when I attended in the '90s). It was also very clear then that the residents' preferred solution was for students to leave the city. The scarcity and dumpy quality of available housing stock during DotCom 1.0 really primed me for "radicalization" on this issue.
I wasn't alive for the Free Speech Movement but it feels like Berkeley is finally the epicenter of significant change again. I visit frequently and the community energy is palpable.