Berkeleyside’s Thanksgiving: reasons to be thankful

Unless major news breaks, Berkeleyside will be taking full advantage of the Thanksgiving holiday, as we hope our readers do as well. It seemed right, however, to remember some of the things we’re thankful for in Berkeley. Here they are, in no particular order. If you’d like to add to the list, we encourage you to do so in the comments below.

1. Berkeleyside’s wonderfully engaged readers.
2. Our diverse, endlessly fascinating city.
3. The support Berkeleyans provide to our school system.
4. The richness we gain from having a world-leading university in the midst of the city. (Thankful as well that the state hasn’t managed to destroy it yet, despite the constant budgetary depredations.)
5. The views we have of the San Francisco Bay.
6. Claremont Canyon, Tilden, Ohlone Park, the Rose Garden… the nature that surrounds us.
7. Our perfect weather, even when it rains.
8. Berkeley’s farmers markets.
9. The advertisers that support Berkeleyside and enable us to continue our work.
10. The bike station downtown and an increasingly bike-friendly city.
11. One restaurant for every 300 people in Berkeley — and the support they get from the community.
12. A slate of candidates for the school board that made it hard for any thinking person to choose only three.
13. New leadership in the Berkeley Police Department that seems to be moving so many things in the right direction.
14. The opening of the Ed Roberts Campus.
15. Fresh, sustainably grown, delicious food at every turn.
16. The prospect of our own Apple Store on Fourth Street.
17. The continued presence of many excellent independent businesses, whether bookstores, grocery stores, fashion boutiques or toy shops.
18. The annual kite festival.
19. Increasing vitality of the downtown theater and arts district and the myriad under-the-radar arts organizations in the city that are doing wonderful work.
20. The pioneering Berkeley Tool Lending Library.
21. The city’s huge variety of architecture, from brown-shingles to craftsman bungalows through stately mansions, mid-century ranch houses and eco-fabulous contemporaries.