InBerkeley

Susan Henderson writes: “Wouldn’t it be great to have piazzas in Berkeley. With all the urban development it would be nice for planners to recognize that we need urban squares to relax and share time with neighbors. I live off of San Pablo and as the city approves 4-5 story buildings it would be wonderful to include some plazas to be lined with small retail businesses, cafes, news stands, etc.”

Amen!

General

[Photo: baybridgeinfo.org]

Transport, Transportation Bay Bridge, Transportation

Strolled past this cascade of white Bougainvillea on Domingo Avenue today. Lovely.

[Photo: Melissa Rapp.]

Nature

When I first came to Berkeley a friend, a long-time professor at UC Berkeley, patiently explained one particular phenomenon to me: “There are two institutions — Berkeley and Cal. Berkeley is a world- famous university with a host of Nobel prize winners. Cal plays football and has a fraternity row.”

Cal will be back in action tomorrow (Saturday) when the nationally ranked Golden Bears take on Maryland. For the 70,000-odd fans who make their way to Memorial Stadium it will be the beginning of another season of hope and expectation. Will this, at last, be the year that the Bears topple USC and grab a BCS berth? For many others in Berkeley, it will be a day of plenty of extra traffic and further parking nightmares.

I yield to few people in my enthusiasm for sports. I’ll be rooting for the Bears (although not in the stadium tomorrow), but I have to confess that my feelings for this city are fostered more by Berkeley than Cal. I think there’s something desperately wrong that the highest paid person in the University of California system is a football coach, even though I’m happy to admit that he’s a very, very good coach.

There is a richness, however, that Cal does contribute to Berkeley. I just wouldn’t point to the high-profile goings on at Memorial Stadium particularly. If you like sports, have a look at the Cal Bears site. You could go see women’s soccer take on Texas A&M this afternoon at Edward’s Field. Field hockey has a couple of games this weekend. Men’s water polo, one of the best teams in the country, has a home match next Thursday. And you could go on and on. It’s never hard to get into these largely neglected contests, and it’s a lot of fun.

Photo by Ian Ransley from Flickr

Sports, UC Berkeley

(NOTE: this was a comment added to this post: What did we learn from the fire of 1991? and was cleaned up and corrected a bit after being written in that tiny little comment box at the bottom of posts, which is a little hard to see in that context.. so this version is slightly different from the original comment back at that post.)

I was in Berkeley at the time of the ‘91 fire.. watching from the roof of my warehouse at the time, on 3rd street.

After the fire I was hired by an architecture firm, and I spent a year doing 100 fire booklets for 100 homeowners, coordinating with the architects in the office who drew the “as was” plans of the old homes.

These were homes that typically had been purchased in the prior 10 years for approximately $200 – 250k. They were typically 1500-1800 square feet. The “to be” drawings had to replicate the house, except bring it to 1991 code, and then there was what the client really wanted (typically if they were rebuilding: a 10,000 sq ft house in order to feel cocooned and protected). So the insurance company would typically pay for my work documenting the old house and cost to build the “as was house” and the “to code but as was house,” plus three sets of plans by architects, plus construction management (at that time, about $100k in architecture fees). Then the insurance would pay the client 3 yrs of rent on a comparable house (usually at that time about $300k) plus permit fees, plus landscaping, plus the cost to rebuild the house, plus 90% for contents no matter what they had inside (warhols or posters, gucci suits or gap tshirts). Plus the values of their cars, boats, etc. Most clients did really well. We were typically able to get a cash settlement of around $3m tax free or more depending. Many clients sold their lots for $100k and went to Italy or somewhere to decompress after the trauma and just hang with the cash.

At first, most of us working with these people felt really badly for them. They had lost all of their worldly possessions, maybe pets, one woman ran all the way down the hill with flames leaping after her with her pet in her arms and the clothes on her back. But after about a year, and gobs of compensation later, the fire loss people had become a bunch of overly entitled whiners who still wanted more more more: money, sympathy, possessions, protection. It was ridiculous.

Honestly most of the people working for them couldn’t even afford to buys houses in the flats in bad neighborhoods, much less the nice ones the victims had with those gorgeous views, and we had to listen to the traumatic whining over and over daily of these very rich self-centered people and just be sympathetic. Not all but a lot of them were unable to get perspective or to see how incredibly privileged they were, despite their losses. They became pathetic and the newspapers began to report on backlash reactions because of how incredibly demanding some of these people were behaving.

I would say do these things in addition to the things mentioned in What did we learn from the fire of 1991? (like clearing brush throughout the neighborhood or managing fire roads):

• Make sure you have a insurance policy that pays for “replacement” of the house, plus contents, plus vehicles, plus services like architectural drawings and rental while the house is being redone. Less than that will result in an actual cash loss when trying to rebuild.

• If you have expensive art have all of it scheduled separately. We had clients with houses full of Warhols and Picassos etc and none of it was listed… so they were simply reimbursed for “90% of whatever the house was determined to be worth”. Ditto for other collectibles or jewelry, rare cars or furniture.
• Make sure you have photos of your house, everywhere, inside and out somewhere else (online, with family members at their homes… whatever). We often would contact family to get old birthday party or other event photos… to show, say, wood paneling behind the cake in the background… whatever we could to document things.
• Make a safety plan for post disaster that includes a phone number that everyone in the house and relatives can call, and have everyone memorize it (no cell phone reliance, just in case). This phone should be able to relay messages to all about everyone’s whereabouts, etc. Don’t plan to use email because if the laptop burns, it may be a while before someone can get to email or figure out how to check in (think grandma).  You need to be able to call immediately, confirm you are alive, and communicate where you are and can be reached. Cell services often get overloaded during crises so think that one through as well.
• Make an exit plan for during a disaster with a place to go if any household members are at home when the disaster occurs. Know routes and locations, know where to go and what to do for multiple scenarios.
• Make a pet plan if you have those… including what to do if there is no car to get the pet out if someone is at home and the rest are gone with the cars.
• Lastly, think about the situation in advance, get valuables into safety deposit boxes, and remember that it’s just stuff and only the people, the pets and maybe data or family photos (in other words non-replaceable items) matter most. The rest doesn’t really matter and isn’t more important than other people. It can be replaced, given proper insurance or funding.

If a disaster does happen, get therapy. It is a loss and it’s scary, but life happens and it’s not the end of the world. Things will go on. I have a friend in Chicago whose family house burnt down twice (yeah… crazy.. once by lightening and once 20 years later due to an electrical fire). They are still healthy and happy and have perspective and know their friends and family, plus others in the community matter more than things. They have insurance and they just roll with it.

General

I don’t usually associate great information design with government websites, but California’s Recovery.gov.ca defies my expectations. They hired Stamen Design (the people behind the Oakland crime map that I covet for Berkeley) to design an interface that would enable users truly to see how stimulus funds are being spent.

How’s Berkeley doing? The map cites five projects for a total of $6.43 million, ranging from $2 million for the school district to $54,000 for the Aspire California College Preparatory Academy. You can click on the map image above to go directly to the interactive site.

I guess the $115 million allocated to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory doesn’t count as funds to the city of Berkeley. I’m curious about that distinction.

Issues, Lawrence Berkeley Lab

Green Day at Berkeley Rep rehearsal

One of the key institutions that helps our little city punch way above its weight is the Berkeley Repertory Theater. The Rep has a history of commissioning and premiering productions that go on to national fame. But it’s hard to recall more buzz about a production than that surrounding tonight’s opening of American Idiot.

Feature in Rolling Stone? Check. Daily Candy plug? Check. And of course lead stories for all the local media. If you follow Twitter for mentions of Berkeley, you’ll see lots of people either exulting that they have tickets or lamenting that they can’t go. The Rep is careful to tell people that Green Day itself is not in the production, but there are bound to be excited fans who don’t bother to read the fine print.

It’s of course only natural that Green Day’s theatrical debut should take place in Berkeley. Formed in 1987, the band was part of the punk rock revival centered around 924 Gilman. They first hit the mainstream in the mid-90s and since then have sold over 22 million records.

So what will theatergoers find? There’s an onstage band and a cast of 19. The music is, needless to say, by Green Day. The play has been co-written by Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong and director Michael Mayer (who won a Tony award for his Spring Awakening).

If you go to American Idiot, let us know what you think, either by emailing or posting a comment here.

Arts, Music, Theater

Whole Foods has been making the news recently, and not in a way that its publicity department will be happy about.

Meanwhile, the upmarket grocery store continues to address criticism leveled a few years ago by Berkeley’s resident uber-foodie Michael Pollan (who, by the way, does not approve of the current Whole Foods boycott) with an advertising campaign that highlights its commitment to local suppliers.

Open the current issue of Edible East Bay and take a look at the inside front cover.

There you will find a  map indicating where Whole Foods’ East Bay outposts — including Berkeley — source items such as dairy free ice cream (Maggie Mudd in San Francisco), baby chiogga beets (Marin Roots Farm) and sea kraut (Cultured in Berkeley).

It’s a nice map and, I think, a good marketing move. Click on the map to see it full size.

Food, Retail Advertising, Food, Whole Foods