Tag Archives: subway

BART Transbay Tunnel Closures.

Posted on by
Reply
The BART transbay tunnel will be closed for repairs August 1-2 and September 5-7, Labor Day weekend. BART will operate buses between the West Oakland and Embarcadero BART stations, but you should expect very slow traffic on the Bay Bridge while BART is shut down. There will be additional ferries between Jack London Square in Oakland and the Ferry Building in San Francisco while BART’s transbay tunnel is out of service, but if I were you, I wouldn’t go to San Francisco while BART is shut down unless you absolutely have to.

 

Measure ‘R’, The Anti-Green Green Initiative.

Posted on by
Reply

I never write partisan political articles for my tenant newsletter, but I feel so strongly about this issue, that I am breaking my own rule. In November, Berkeley citizens will vote on Measure R ‘The Downtown Green Initiative.’ While the name of this initiative sounds very appealing, it is misleading. This measure will do precisely the opposite of what the name implies.

Subways or Freeways. The city of Berkeley should be encouraging real estate developers to build new apartments near subway stations and the U.C. Berkeley campus, not next to freeway entrances. This law will do precisely the opposite. Only one freeway goes through Berkeley, Highway 880, and it is choked with traffic every day. Berkeley has 3 subways stations. This city has never allowed high-rise residential buildings to be built near 2 of its 3 subway stations, Ashby and North Berkeley. That leaves the downtown Berkeley BART station, where a lot of new apartment houses have been built over the past decade. However, if Measure R passes, new apartment construction near the downtown Berkeley subway station will be severely reduced, probably down to near zero, while allowing unfettered construction of new apartments near freeway entrances. This is terrible environmental policy.

Real estate developers already have powerful incentives to build apartments near the freeway instead of downtown. Land in Berkeley near freeway entrances is much cheaper than downtown. It is also easier to get demolition and building permits near the freeway. Although apartments are cheaper to build near the freeway, rents are the same as downtown. This explains why hundreds of new apartments are now under construction near Berkeley’s freeway entrances. Consider Avalon Apartments, which just opened last month. It is 2 blocks from the University Avenue freeway entrance. 1 bedroom apartments start at $2,750 a month, and 2 bedrooms start at $3,400.

Measure R is opposed by many environmental organizations, including the League of Conservation Voters and the Greenbelt Alliance. Please remember on election day that ballot initiatives often have misleading names. Don’t vote for this measure simply because the word ‘green’ is in it’s name. Think about what this measure will actually do.

If we build housing at places where people have to get and drive cars in order to get to work or school, then that is what they will do. That is a no-brainer.