Every colorful garment stocked at Ifafunke Lola Oladigbolu’s store has been made by an independent Nigerian seamstress or tailor and, in this way, benefits entire communities.
Janis Mara
Janis Mara has worked at the Oakland Tribune, the Marin Independent Journal, the Contra Costa Times, Adweek and Inman News, an Emeryville-based national real estate trade publication, winning California Newspaper Publishers Association and Digital First Media awards for investigative work, business coverage and education writing. She is a public affairs officer for Caltrans (Alameda).
Posted inHousing & Development
Application filed for 12-story, 156-unit building in downtown Berkeley
The developers are targeting people who live and work in Berkeley, families and people who want to downsize, and professionals who want to be able to take public transit.
Posted inHousing & Development
Rising rents, home prices in Berkeley and the Bay Area displacing thousands
Scarcity of housing locally has driven up prices and prompted high rates of evictions and displacement with African Americans being affected disproportionately.
Posted inBusiness
Gilman Brewing Company in Berkeley is a brewery for pet lovers
Founders Sean Wells and Tim Sellmeyer are full-time veterinary surgeons by day, but their love of beer led them to start a pet project — a brewery and taproom in Berkeley.
Posted inHousing & Development
Richmond residents share their thoughts on gentrification, displacement
Richmond is changing. Berkeleyside spoke to a few of its residents to see how they feel about it.
Posted inHousing & Development
Fooding, hiking, drinking and renting with the dog: Some East Bay options
Oakland is the East Bay’s top dog haven, according to experts, but the whole area has lots to offer for our canine friends.
Posted inBusiness
Popular Gourmet Ghetto restaurant Poulet gets new owners, but will stick to tradition
The two brothers who now own the 39-year-old Berkeley institution plan to keep Poulet’s healthful focus, uniquely Berkeley spirit and, of course, its chicken recipes.
Posted inHousing & Development
From backyard toilets to shoddy renovations, East Bay home inspectors have seen it all
Secrets, and sometimes deceptive practices, are revealed when a house goes up for sale and home inspectors peer into basements, attics and behind electrical panels.
Posted inHousing & Development
East Bay real estate industry sorely lacks diversity, but there’s ‘light at the end of the tunnel’
Only a tiny percentage of real estate agents in the U.S. are people of color, and the same is true in Berkeley and the East Bay despite the relative diversity of the area.
Posted inHousing & Development
Music, cooking, lighting and joke-cracking: Smart home gadgets do it all
It’s now possible to whip out your phone at work and fire up your crockpot, turn on the heating and re-lock your front door at home. Smart-home gadgets are in the ascendant.
Posted inHousing & Development
As student numbers swell, UC Berkeley makes some, slow progress on housing
Cal’s undergraduate student population increased 15% in the last decade. The university is making some progress, although slow, at adding more housing.
Posted inHousing & Development
North Berkeley BART housing discussion gets big turnout, civil discussion
Hundreds of people gathered Thursday night to hear what kind of housing could be built at the North Berkeley BART station. Officials vowed to be as transparent as possible.
