The status quo has not helped West Berkeley be the best it can be, argues Alan Tobey in an Opinionator piece published today. Because there is little space available for new or growing businesses, he writes that Berkeley has lost 75 companies and over 1,500 jobs to other cities in recent years, including Clif Bar and SunPower. For West Berkeley to thrive, in order to create new jobs and successful companies and gain millions in new tax revenues to support citywide programs, we need to adopt a development strategy that keeps pace with changing technologies, new markets and green manufacturing models, he argues. Measure T will do just that, Tobey writes.
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