South Berkeley needs a People’s Plan for Adeline Street!

Speak out in support of the following changes in the City’s Adeline plan:

1. Guarantee a future for the Ashby flea market and its vendors at the Ashby BART site.
2. Provide a site and funding for the African American Holistic Resource Center.
3. 100% affordable housing at Ashby BART. Any housing on BART land must be 100% affordable for extremely low-, very low-, and low-income people.
4. No fee-out. Developers should not be allowed to pay a fee to get out of building the low-income housing we need. Low-income housing should be built on-site, in every project built in the neighborhood, and should include family-sized, 2-3 bedroom units.
5. Commit real money to affordable housing. Dedicate one-third of our Housing Trust Fund to South Berkeley, with at least a minimum of $50 million over 10 years.

We need a broader initiative for our entire community that goes beyond the City’s plan. Over the last several years, hundreds of South Berkeley neighbors have come together in community gatherings to determine what we actually need for our neighborhood. From these conversations, we have developed the Adeline Community Initiative.

Support the Adeline Community Initiative!

Development of the Adeline neighborhood must reverse the displacement of African Americans and the severe housing crisis for low-income, working-class, and unhoused people. The City of Berkeley is creating an Adeline Corridor Plan, but we need a plan that is about the people in our community, not just streets and buildings. Our vision is for an Adeline Community Initiative – the People’s Plan.

Why Create an Adeline Community Initiative?

South Berkeley is one of the few affordable, racially diverse neighborhoods in Berkeley. While the diversity of the area has decreased dramatically over the last 25 years, it continues to be one of the most diverse areas of the city. According to city data, we’ve gone from being nearly half African American in 1990, to less than 20% African American today. The African American population in the city overall has dropped from 20% to under 8% during that same time.

A significant number of residents who live in South Berkeley are renters or low-income homeowners and are at risk of displacement if housing costs increase. Two-thirds of residents in our community are renters, and 20% of the population is below the poverty line. Median household income in South Berkeley is nearly $17,000 less than the city overall. Nearly half of the population in the area are housing cost burdened (pay more than 30% of their income on housing costs), and nearly one in four are severely cost burdened (pay more than 50% of their income on housing costs).

African American displacement threatens important cultural, civic, and historical institutions in our city. It is unfathomable to have a Juneteenth celebration in South Berkeley without African Americans living in the community. Many of our businesses and institutions – the Berkeley Community Flea Market, numerous historically significant African American churches, the Berkeley Black Repertory Group, Black-owned businesses such as Imhotep Chiropractic, and the future African American Holistic Resource Center – rely on local African American residents in order to continue to operate. Displacement of the African American community threatens the continuation of these beloved and important places and events.

The City’s Adeline Corridor Plan will likely worsen these trends. A recent study in Chicago found that speculation and property values increase as a direct result of upzoning (zoning for increased density and height). These costs will be passed on to tenants and new homeowners. There is some evidence that this is already happening – between 2012 and 2018, the median home price in zip code 94703 (which includes most of the Adeline Corridor area) more than doubled, from $517,000 to $1,140,000. This increase was 7% faster than anywhere else in the city. Improvements to the streetscape will also likely cause housing prices to rise. In Atlanta, the development of the city’s Beltline increased housing values by as much as 26%. Similar effects have been seen in New York City around the High Line. While we welcome safety improvements, the effect of street improvements on affordability must be addressed.

Our vision is for an Adeline Community Initiative. We envision development that strengthens and brings together the communities along Adeline, and that does not continue the division of redlining and segregation. We envision homes that are affordable for low-income residents and those who’ve been displaced from our community or onto the streets. We envision economic development that prepares youth and adults for good-paying jobs and strengthens vulnerable populations. We envision a neighborhood with sustainable infrastructure that provides health care and facilities, parks and recreation. We envision a community that supports and nurtures the arts, which are integral to our community’s culture, while recognizing that improvements in public space and art must happen in concert with anti-displacement measures to prevent them from contributing to gentrification. The enhancement of South Berkeley, our racial and ethnic diversity, our economy, our culture, our sustainability, and our healthfulness must be at the heart of the new development of the Adeline Community. This is why we created the Adeline Community Initiative.

We demand the City adopt an Adeline Community Initiative to:

Create Community-Owned, Low-Income Housing

1. Dedicate all housing on publicly-owned land for low-income people. Any housing on BART land must be 100% affordable for extremely low-, very low-, and low-income people.
2. Establish a goal that half of all housing in our community, both new and old, is affordable for low-income people, and include family-sized, 2-3 bedroom units. Create a Housing Balance District for South Berkeley, which would only allow market-rate housing to be built once we’ve met our goal for building the low-income housing we need.
3. Developers should not be allowed to pay a fee to get out of building the low-income housing we need. Low-income housing should be built on-site, in every project built in the neighborhood.
4. Dedicate one-third of our Housing Trust Fund to South Berkeley, with at least a minimum of $50 million over 10 years. Create a preference for community ownership housing models, including community land trusts and housing co-operatives.
5. Pass the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase policy, which gives tenants the opportunity to buy their building if the landlord chooses to sell.

Reverse the Displacement of African Americans and Low-Income Residents

1. Pass a Right to Return/Local Preference policy, which gives people who are at risk of displacement or have been displaced preference for new, low-income housing built in the neighborhood, at a price they can afford. Create a Coming Home Day for people who’ve been displaced to come back and learn about how they can move back.
2. Provide a site and funding for the African American Holistic Resource Center.
3. Guarantee a future for the Ashby flea market and its vendors at the Ashby BART site.
4. Prohibit the city from targeting African American homeowners with code violations, causing evictions and loss of homes. Create a fund to help people make needed repairs.
5. Prioritize city funding for South Berkeley nonprofits and religious institutions that provide essential services for both low-income and African American residents.

Support People Over Profit

1. Remove South Berkeley from the federal Opportunity Zone, or, if that’s not possible, create an Anti-Displacement Overlay Zone to protect our neighborhood from speculation, and a moratorium on market-rate development until the Overlay Zone is in place.
2. Pass a vacant unit tax to stop speculators from holding homes empty for profit.
3. Require community benefit agreements to make development meet community needs. 
4. Increase funding for services that support unhoused people in our community, including nonprofits, religious centers, mental and public health services, sanitation, and housing.
5. Pass the Fair Chance Housing policy, which prohibits discrimination against people with criminal records by landlords. And enforce the new law that prohibits discrimination against people with Section 8 vouchers.