Let’s Make Some Noise!
| Editor’s Note: Friends of Adeline (FOA) is a community advocacy group formed in 2015 after local residents attended a City meeting during which officials proclaimed their goal to fix up the neighborhood and make South Berkeley a colony. Shocked at this thought, a group of residents, who love the community, a home for Black, Brown and Asian people, as well as Causasians, came together. FOA is fighting for all of South Berkeley, a historically mixed race and originally redlined neighborhood, and advocates for its small businesses and nonprofits. |
Friends of Adeline Ask: What Makes the Best Developer at Ashby BART?
This is the first in a series of articles about BART’s relationship with South Berkeley. Our community’s relationship with BART started sixty years ago, when Mable Howard led a victorious fight to underground the BART tracks through Berkeley. For the last ten years, we have been fighting for South Berkeley to be heard. Today, we demand that BART and the City keep South Berkeley an inclusive, special place. Currently, developers have submitted proposals to BART and the City for this project. These plans include a mix of affordable and market rate homes in buildings up to 12 stories or more on both sides of Adeline Street.
Which developer is best suited to deliver the highest percentage (100%) of truly affordable housing, enables the right to return, and understands our unique community? Which developer will make the strongest effort? A developer who best meets these requirements must be chosen. Affordable housing needs to be of equal quality in visual design and construction as the market rate. Preserving historical gathering places for people of color, such as the Flea Market is key. The creation of jobs and hiring of local workers from our community is vital. Neighborhood nonprofits like Healthy Black Families, Youth Spirit Artworks and the Center for Independent Living have to be included in the planning. A developer who recognizes that beautiful, safe common areas for community groups to gather, will foster belonging for South Berkeley too. Local artists and landscapers setting a tone for gathering spots is essential for including the neighborhood. To sum it up, belonging and inclusiveness for South Berkeley is central to the success of this development. This process starts with a developer who actively engages the community and includes these ideas in their plans.
If you agree, now is the time to speak up and make some noise! Emails, letters or phone calls will tell officials we’re holding them accountable. Use these points and add your own to ensure that the community’s voice is included in the Objective Design Standards the City and BART are currently creating.
Act now, or the City, BART and the developers will change our neighborhood – and negatively impact our community forever. Let your representatives know that by listening and implementing our needs, they will support our community. The result will be a development which will be a more welcome destination in our neighborhood.
| Information: City of Berkeley: search: Ashby and North Berkeley Planning webpage BART: search: Ashby TOD webpage Independent Film about South Berkeley by Pam Uzzell: Welcome To The Neighborhoodhttps://www.kqed.org/trulyca/2277/welcome-to-the-neighborhood Contact any one or all of these people: Principal Property Development Officer BART: Shannon Dodge sdodge@bart.gov Barnali Ghosh District 3 BART Representative: Barnali.Ghosh@bart.gov, (510)-464-6095 District 7 BART/Ashby representative: Victor Flores victor.flores@bart.gov District 3 council member: Ben Bartlett BBartlett@berkeleyca.gov (510) 981-7130 Mayor of Berkeley: Adena Ishii mayor@berkeleyca.gov (510) 981-7100 Berkeley City Council Members: council@berkeleyca.gov FriendsofAdeline Facebook , friendsofadeline.org |