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SUMMER CHOI | STAFF<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Berkeley community reflects on Downtown Berkeley \u2014 the block between Allston St. and Kittredge St. \u2014 and how it is an area devoid of businesses and one of ‘bygone abundance.’<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n CHRISSA OLSON<\/a> | STAFF<\/p>\n\n\n\n JUNE 07, 2023 (DailyCal.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stare into the storefront of any business in Berkeley and you might see the kind of eclectic offerings Berkeley is known for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But in Downtown Berkeley, on the block between Allston St. and Kittredge St., where the only open business is a Starbucks, a glance to the storefronts will yield only your reflection. Unless you walk past the now-closed Regal UA 7 Theater \u2014 you\u2019ll instead be met<\/a> with a god.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The theater\u2019s former doors are now a mural of the Egyptian goddess of healing and magic, Isis, painted by Doran Dada, a Berkeley resident and artist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI just painted the UA Regal Theater a mural,\u201d Dada said. \u201cThat was really bittersweet because I used to go there as a kid a lot. And luckily, I took my kids there too. To be able to represent Berkeley as an artist and do a mural for a theater, that meant a lot to me \u2014 that was a wonderful feeling to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Combining his portrayal of Egyptian gods with European Art Deco, he matched the building \u2014 infusing the theater\u2019s 1930s Art Deco style, defined by its geometric shapes, decorated glass, ornamentation and floral and animal patterns, according to historic context, with a mural that pops with color, mythology and wonder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dada has painted something new on something that, while old, will be greatly, greatly missed<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For those who grew up frequenting Downtown Berkeley, a common memory is of bygone abundance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cShattuck cinema was great,\u201d said Jason Novak, who grew up visiting, and now works in Downtown Berkeley. \u201c(It) had, at any given moment, a dozen different movies \u2014 from mainstream, to art house, to movies from Japan \u2026 I was never disappointed, I could walk blind into that place. What a loss that was.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2021, 15.7% of Downtown Berkeley was vacant according to the city of Berkeley\u2019s 2022 Snapshot. In 2018, it was just 3.1%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Running a business in Berkeley means coming to terms with the rent, something that the co-owner of Victory Point Cafe, Derek DeSantis, says is \u201calways on (his) mind.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s the number one deterrence to doing business in Berkeley,\u201d DeSantis said. \u201cIn conjunction with the astronomical minimum wage, it\u2019s a double whammy. We haven\u2019t thought about moving \u2014 we\u2019re too entrenched and well-loved by the community to consider that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marcella Casetta, who grew up in Berkeley, has watched some of her favorite businesses leave the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But it\u2019s not just businesses that are struggling to stay; people are too. Casetta said that half the people she grew up with moved to neighboring cities where housing is more affordable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She and DeSantis noted that the high costs aren\u2019t specific to Berkeley \u2014 California struggles with a housing crisis causing people to leave for more affordable states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat strikes me the most are the contrasts,\u201d Novak said. \u201cAs new families come in, they tend to be making more than the families leaving as the cost of living increases. But because Berkeley has all these resources for the unhoused, you get two extremes: people who are functionally millionaires and people who have nothing. And they\u2019re coexisting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Novak noted that many people involved in the Free Speech Movement and radicalism in the 1960s started to \u201cgo dormant\u201d in the 2000s as the population aged. But he feels that the spirit of radicalism may be like a pendulum, swinging back into the present.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, Novak acknowledged that the \u201cquirky, wild, interesting\u201d personality of Downtown Berkeley was partially colored by the nostalgia of being a teen exploring Shattuck. It might be \u201cdarker\u201d today because instead of playing, he\u2019s clocking in at work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As for Dada, he hopes that the building of more housing, like the development planned on top of the location of the UA 7 theater, will bring a resurgence in business downtown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere\u2019s all these new high-rises,\u201d Dada said. \u201cI have a feeling it\u2019s gonna come back because all these people are living there. It\u2019s gonna be good; Retail will go up. It\u2019ll be a good spot again. It\u2019s in a dead zone. It\u2019s void.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Contact Chrissa Olson at colson@dailycal.org<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n LAST UPDATED<\/p>\n\n\n\n JUNE 07, 2023<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" SUMMER CHOI | STAFF The Berkeley community reflects on Downtown Berkeley \u2014 the block between Allston St. and Kittredge St. \u2014 and how it is an area devoid of businesses and one of ‘bygone abundance.’ CHRISSA OLSON | STAFF JUNE 07, 2023 (DailyCal.org) Stare into the storefront of any business… Continue reading