Author Archives: Kim Weisberg
Berkeley: Say hello to Cal football season
School is officially in session at UC Berkeley, which means the 2010 Cal football season is upon us.
It officially begins on Saturday with the 1:00pm game against UC Davis at Memorial Stadium. Next year, games will be taking place at AT&T Park due to construction, so I’m guessing this season opener will be particularly enthusiastic.
What’s that you say? You’re not into football? You just don’t get it and think it’s all just a waste of time?
Oh, my … Continue reading »
Message to renters and landlords: you have rights
Berkeleyside contributing writer Kim Weisberg has been chronicling her search for a new home on Berkeleyside, reporting on lessons learned and listing scams, among other things. Recently she found a condo she and her partner loved in the Adam’s Point neighborhood of Lake Merritt and signed a rental agreement. Before they moved in, however, there was the little matter of settling a dispute with their Berkeley landlord.
Berkeley (like many university-oriented cities) has a reputation … Continue reading »
Funny Business: Listing scams and malapropisms
Berkeleyside contributing writer Kim Weisberg is looking for a new home to rent. Today, in the third part of an occasional column in which she reveals the dark underbelly of house hunting in our city, she dwells on the unreadability of apartment listings and other misleading information.
When involved in an intense apartment hunt, you will undoubtedly come across some odd listings from time to time. Aside from the misspellings and poor grammar (I’m a snob, I know), there are … Continue reading »
Home hunting in Berkeley: Lamenting the listings
Berkeleyside contributing writer Kim Weisberg is looking for a new home to rent. Today, in the second part of an occasional column in which she reveals the dark underbelly of house hunting in our city, she dwells on the bottomless pit that is the Craigslist Apartment Listing.
I’ve developed a list I am calling Things All Listings Should Contain. Attention, landlords of the San Francisco Bay Area. This one’s for you.
Approximate location (and no, “Berkeley” is not specific enough). Cross … Continue reading »
Home hunting in Berkeley: Lessons learned
Berkeleyside contributing writer Kim Weisberg is looking for a new home to rent. Today she kicks off an occasional column in which she reveals the dark underbelly of house hunting in our city.
My boyfriend and I have been looking for a new home for a few months, mostly casually, with the occasional “two open houses in one evening after work” or “can we really see that many places in one weekend?” marathon. We are mainly focusing on Berkeley (from about Alcatraz to North Berkeley BART, and from Sacramento to College) and Rockridge, though we are investigating the Adams Point neighborhood of Lake Merritt as well. Our situation is not unique by any means, but we do have several… shall we say, “stipulations” that make our search a little challenging.
First and foremost: laundry hook-ups in-unit. We own a stacked washer/dryer, and finding an apartment that can accommodate even our small machine is a challenge. It’s hard to imagine going back to shared, coin-operated facilities when you are used to your own private machine in your apartment. And after dropping over $1,000 for this machine a year ago, it just doesn’t make much sense to sell it for half its value and go back to hoarding quarters. Hard truth: Most Berkeley-area apartments come with coin-op laundry in the basement. Some have fancy, clean (coin-op) laundry rooms (the ad will usually mention this). Very few have hook-ups in unit.
Second, there is the parking/transportation issue. I own a car — he doesn’t. We need either one off-street parking space, or safe, easy street parking. We also need to be close enough to BART so that he can safely ride his bike to and from the station. Hard truth: Apartments that are close to BART are either affordable and in sketchy neighborhoods or expensive and in fantastic neighborhoods. Many places have off-street parking, though often it comes at an additional monthly fee. Tip: Always ask if the neighborhood street parking requires a permit. … Continue reading »
Want to help with the Gulf oil spill? Think spare hair
You know about the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. You may even be sick of hearing about it. I know that every time I hear an update, I feel increasingly discouraged and helpless; if you can’t fly to the frontlines and you don’t have money to donate, it can feel easier just to shake your head, sigh, and hope for the best. But this oil is not going anywhere, and a wonderful San Francisco-based organization called Continue reading »
Berkeley beautification: Transforming the utilitarian
Following our coverage of the mosaic-covered bollards on Ashby and Fulton, the person behind their metamorphosis, Lisa Bullwinkel, got in touch to let us know of a great way for people to get involved with a beautifying project for our fair city. She writes:
Attention local businesses and artists:
There are 60 utility boxes within the Downtown Berkeley Area. All of them are grey. [Ed: As shown in photo, top left. The other … Continue reading »
Scouting Berkeley: Mosaic street blockers
Berkeley has a reputation for eclectic creativity, often reflected in brightly painted murals, BART station drum circles, and colorful protests. Some of my favorite random examples of Berkeley character are the “concrete street blocker thingies” (for lack of a better term — does anyone actually know their technical name?) at the intersection of Ashby and Fulton. [Update: reader Thomas Lord helpfully informs us they are called bollards.] Each of the four bollards has a unique mosaic, and … Continue reading »
Scouting Berkeley: Biking 101
A few weeks ago, at the age of 25, I learned how to ride a bike. Yes, I had been taught as a child; but upon trying to ride after over ten years with virtually zero bicycling experiences, I realized that riding as an adult is quite different. Luckily, our local Berkeley REI offers a class just for folks like me.
At 10 a.m. on SuperBowl Sunday, I met five other adults … Continue reading »
