The first community update about building housing at Berkeley's neighborhood BART stations starts at 6. We anticipate lots of input, its the biggest topic in town! Call in Berkeleyans! I'll be live tweeting our goal for 1,000 homes at North Berkeley below. https://zoom.us/j/94464446137?pwd=QkF4ZGtQc2I2eTRSRDhVYlovbldEdz09 https://twitter.com/IDoTheThinking/status/1207320122077016066

The goal is develop zoning standards for these two parking lots that are currently unzoned. This will more or less decide the number of homes built here. 125 participants and growing!

The Mayor is speaking now. Here we go!

Arreguin: "We're still very early in the process! I hope the development at Ashby and North Berkeley gives us an opportunity to address the housing crisis, particularly affordable housing and addressing historical injustice."

@RashiKesarwani (North Berkeley station): Its important to realize that the wildfires burning throughout the Bay Area is an indication that climate change is real. We have to build homes at the station and away from firezones. Also maximizing aff hsg at the station.

We mobilized hard for Rashi, fyi especially because of this issue and won!

@benbartlettberk (South Berkeley, Ashby station): View this project as more than just an apartment building but also driving equity, historic redlining, economic recovery, community benefits and the facets of equity at play. We are enthusiastic about moving forward.

@RebeccaForBART (BART district rep): Berkeley is a high priority to assign developers in 5 years, because of the dozens of meetings where hundreds have come to express support for equitable development. Our goals are climate and affordable housing. https://twitter.com/IDoTheThinking/status/1295886266962046976?s=20

@lateefahsimon (also BART district rep): We have once in a lifetime to do this right. This process has taken years and I have a deep commitment to the Ashby station and the Flea Market. It's not enough to make BART TOD about luxury housing

BTW shout out to my group @NBerkeleyNow and all the pro-housing activists for whom we wouldn't even be talking 'bout this without overwhelmingly pro housing neighborhood mobilization and the passing of AB 2923.

I also must note that thanks to @eb4everyone @bnhca and the major pro housing victories in 2018, there's quite a tone shift on the support of housing at these stations in contrast to the decades of skepticism and opposition.

We are at 183 people shortly.

We're now about to conduct a "demographic poll" on Zoom.

Heres the results. Mostly North Berkeleyans, mostly folks over 31 years old, >90% white and within 1/4th mi of stn.

"not a good mix of race", says staff

So this is a very North Berkeley heavy meeting!
And most South Berkeleyans on call must be white.
The age gap between 31 and 64 is kinda unhelpful though since thats a huge gap. As for the race mix, I mean this is North Berkeley what did you expect?

For some reason staff is letting people un mute themselves so a kid said "shut the fuck up" and then he moaned on the mic before staff wised up and muted everyone. lol

That kid sounded like me but he was not me! I didn't do that!

Oh no they think some random kid was me who bombed the mic. It wasnt me! This is why i hate having a high pitched voice dammit

The ideas staff is explaining is: where do we find funding, whats the balance between market-rate and affordable housing, and open space priority. And what BART owned parcels can be turned into housing. (North Berkeley has a big tunnel in the middle)

The Ashby Flea Market is a South Berkeley staple and the Adeline corridor is a deadly freeway like blvd. The South Berkeley community has been pretty clear that the preservation of the flea market is key to any development here. (Ive been going to the FM since I was 4).

The North Berkeley site is interesting! They looked at 3 different ways of dividing up development at the BART station parking lot (with the subway entry in the middle). Create streets over the former parking lot vs elimination of cars altogether.

Hell yeah, no cars!