The Berkeley City Council will consider tonight the scope of capital projects in the city during the next five years. With Berkeley’s population growing, and new investment flowing in, in the form of apartment buildings and new restaurants around town, residents might expect Berkeley would start spending more to improve its parks, streets and other facilities. But, Isabelle Gaston argues in an Opinionator piece published on Berkeleyside, capital spending will actually go down, leading to a further decay of the city’s infrastructure. The culprit: the rising cost of employee benefits.
On Thursday, the Zoning Adjustments Board will once again consider the final Environmental Impact Report for the 18-story apartment complex at 2211 Harold Way in downtown Berkeley. It is an important step toward the approval of this 302-unit project, one of Berkeley’s biggest. Kelly Hammargren, who has lived in Berkeley for 25 years, says in an op-ed “not so fast.” She argues that there are too many unanswered questions about what will be called The Residences at Berkeley Plaza. And, she adds, there are too many detriments, such as the loss of Habitot Children’s Museum and the potential loss of Shattuck Cinemas.
What do you think? Read the op-eds and share your thoughts in the Comments’ sections.
Berkeleyside welcomes submissions of op-ed articles. We ask that we are given first refusal to publish. Topics should be Berkeley-related, local authors are preferred, and we don’t publish anonymous pieces. Email submissions, as Word documents or embedded in the email, to editors@berkeleyside.com. The recommended length is 500-800 words. Please include your name and a one-line bio that includes full, relevant disclosures. Berkeleyside will publish op-ed pieces at its discretion.