Editing Berkeley, California (section)

==History==

===Indigenous history===
[[File:Acorn pit at Indian Rock.jpg|thumb|left|upright|This pit in the surface of a rock at [[Indian Rock Park]] is typical of those used by the [[Ohlone]] people to grind [[acorn]]s.]]

The site of today's City of Berkeley was the territory of the Chochenyo/Huchiun [[Ohlone]] people when the first Europeans arrived.<ref>{{cite book|last=Golla|first=Victor|title=California Indian Languages|year=2011|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley, California|isbn=978-0-520-26667-4|page=380|url=http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520266674|access-date=March 23, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120321160100/http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520266674|archive-date=March 21, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> Evidence of their existence in the area include pits in rock formations, which they used to grind acorns. wildflower seeds, grass seeds, and many different foods, including squirrel fat, and a [[shellmound]], now mostly leveled and covered up, along the shoreline of [[San Francisco Bay]] at the mouth of [[Strawberry Creek]].  Human remains and skeletons from Native American burials have been unearthed in West Berkeley and on campus alongside [[Strawberry Creek]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Mongoloid Type Skeleton is Dug Up at Berkeley |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=OT19250620.1.15&srpos=57&e=-------en--20-OT-41--txt-txIN-%22strawberry+creek%22-------1 |access-date=December 4, 2022 |work=Oakland Tribune |date=June 20, 1925}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Dinkelspiel |first1=Frances |author-link=Frances Dinkelspiel |title=Ohlone human remains found in trench in West Berkeley |url=https://www.berkeleyside.org/2016/04/08/ohlone-remains-found-in-new-trench-on-berkeleys-fourth-st |access-date=December 12, 2022 |work=Bekeleyside |date=April 8, 2016}}</ref> Other artifacts were discovered in the 1950s in the [[Downtown Berkeley|downtown area]] during remodeling of a commercial building, near the upper course of the creek.

===Spanish and Mexican eras===
The first people of European descent (most of whom were of mixed race and born in America<ref>{{cite web|url=https://anzasociety.org/the-spanish-myth/|title=The Spanish Myth|date=April 3, 2016|access-date=March 3, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180304172443/https://anzasociety.org/the-spanish-myth/|archive-date=March 4, 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref>) arrived with the [[De Anza Expedition]] in 1776.<ref>{{cite web|last=National Park Service|title=Juan Bautista de Anza|url=http://www.borregospringschamber.com/juan_bautista_de_anza.html|publisher=Borrego Springs Chamber of Commerce|access-date=February 12, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130725052027/http://www.borregospringschamber.com/juan_bautista_de_anza.html|archive-date=July 25, 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> The De Anza Expedition led to establishment of the Spanish [[Presidio of San Francisco]] at the entrance to San Francisco Bay (the "[[Golden Gate]])." [[Luis María Peralta|Luis Peralta]] was among the soldiers at the Presidio. For his services to the [[King of Spain]], he was granted a vast stretch of land on the east shore of San Francisco Bay (the ''contra costa'', "opposite shore") for a ranch, including that portion that now comprises the City of Berkeley.
[[File:Peralta Family.jpg|thumb|right|Berkeley and much of the [[East Bay]] was part of [[Rancho San Antonio (Peralta)|Rancho San Antonio]], granted to the [[Luís María Peralta|Peralta family]] in 1820.]]
Luis Peralta named his holding "[[Rancho San Antonio (Peralta)|Rancho San Antonio]]." The primary activity of the ranch was raising cattle for meat and hides, but hunting and farming were also pursued. Eventually, Peralta gave portions of the ranch to each of his four sons. What is now Berkeley lies mostly in the portion that went to Peralta's son [[José Domingo Peralta|Domingo]], with a little in the portion that went to another son, Vicente. No artifact survives of the Domingo or Vicente ranches, but their names survive in Berkeley street names (Vicente, Domingo, and Peralta). However, legal title to all land in the City of Berkeley remains based on the original Peralta land grant.

The Peraltas' Rancho San Antonio continued after [[Alta California]] passed from Spanish to Mexican sovereignty after the [[Mexican War of Independence]]. However, the advent of U.S. sovereignty after the [[Mexican–American War]], and especially, the [[California gold rush|gold rush]], saw the Peraltas' lands quickly encroached on by [[squatter]]s and diminished by dubious legal proceedings. The lands of the brothers Domingo and Vicente were quickly reduced to reservations close to their respective ranch homes. The rest of the land was surveyed and parceled out to various American claimants (''See'' [[Kellersberger's Map]]).

Politically, the area that became Berkeley was initially part of a vast [[Contra Costa County]]. On March 25, 1853, Alameda County was created from a division of Contra Costa County, as well as from a small portion of [[Santa Clara County]]. The area that became Berkeley was then the northern part of the "Oakland Township" subdivision of Alameda County. During this period, "Berkeley" was mostly a mix of open land, farms, and ranches, with a small, though busy, wharf by the bay.

===Late 19th century===
[[File:William Hahn - Horses Grazing, Berkeley, 1875.jpg|thumb|left|''Horses Grazing, Berkeley''; painted by artist [[William Hahn]] in 1875]]
In 1866, Oakland's private [[College of California]] looked for a new site. It settled on a location north of Oakland along the foot of the [[Berkeley Hills|Contra Costa Range]] (later called the Berkeley Hills) on [[Strawberry Creek]], at an elevation of about {{convert|500|ft}} above the bay, commanding a view of the Bay Area and the Pacific Ocean through the [[Golden Gate]].

According to the ''Centennial Record of the University of California'', "In 1866, at [[Founders' Rock]], a group of College of California men watched two ships standing out to sea through the Golden Gate. One of them, [[Frederick Billings]], thought of the lines of the Anglo-Irish Anglican Bishop [[George Berkeley]], 'westward the course of empire takes its way,' and suggested that the town and college site be named for the eighteenth-century Anglo-Irish philosopher."<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Stadtman |editor-first=Verne |title=The Centennial Record of the University of California |publisher=[[Regents of the University of California]] |year=1967 |page=114 |url=http://content.cdlib.org/view?docId=hb4v19n9zb;NAAN=13030&doc.view=frames&chunk.id=div00219&toc.depth=1&toc.id=div00219&brand=calisphere |access-date=June 23, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140629052749/http://content.cdlib.org/view?docId=hb4v19n9zb;NAAN=13030&doc.view=frames&chunk.id=div00219&toc.depth=1&toc.id=div00219&brand=calisphere |archive-date=June 29, 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The philosopher's name is pronounced ''BARK-lee'', but the city's name, to accommodate [[American English]], is pronounced ''BERK-lee''.<ref>{{cite web |title=George Berkeley – Biography |publisher=[[European Graduate School]] |url=http://www.egs.edu/library/george-berkeley/biography/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130225225047/http://www.egs.edu/library/george-berkeley/biography/ |archive-date=February 25, 2013 |url-status=dead  }}</ref>

The College of California's College Homestead Association planned to raise funds for the new campus by selling off adjacent parcels of land. To this end, they laid out a plat and street grid that became the basis of Berkeley's modern street plan. Their plans fell far short of their desires, and they began a collaboration with the [[California|State of California]] that culminated in 1868 with the creation of the public [[University of California]].
[[File:PeraltaParkHotel_BerkeleyCalifornia_1889.jpg|thumb|right|The Peralta Park Hotel, built by [[Maurice Curtis]] in 1889]]
[[File:Berkeley. LOC 75693088.jpg|thumb|right|View of Berkeley in 1900]]
As construction began on the new site, more residences were constructed in the vicinity of the new campus. At the same time, a settlement of residences, saloons, and various industries grew around the wharf area called [[Ocean View, Berkeley, California|Ocean View]]. A [[horsecar]] ran from [[Temescal, Oakland, California|Temescal]] in Oakland to the university campus along what is now [[Telegraph Avenue]]. The first post office opened in 1872.<ref name=CGN>{{California's Geographic Names|601}}</ref>

By the 1870s, the [[transcontinental railroad]] reached its terminus in Oakland. In 1876, a branch line of the [[Central Pacific Railroad]], the [[Berkeley Branch Railroad]], was laid from a junction with the mainline called Shellmound (now a part of Emeryville) into what is now [[Downtown Berkeley, California|downtown Berkeley]]. That same year, the mainline of the transcontinental railroad into Oakland was re-routed, putting the right-of-way along the bay shore through Ocean View.

There was a strong prohibition movement in Berkeley at this time. In 1876, the state enacted the "mile limit law", which forbade sale or public consumption of alcohol within {{convert|1|mi|km|spell=in}} of the new University of California.<ref>Berkeley Gazette. 1900 April 9</ref> Then, in 1899, Berkeley residents voted to make their city an alcohol-free zone. Scientists, scholars and religious leaders spoke vehemently of the dangers of alcohol.<ref>Berkeley 1900: ''Daily Life at the Turn of the Century'', by Richard Schwartz. 2000. page 187</ref>

On April 1, 1878, the people of Ocean View and the area around the university campus, together with local farmers, were granted [[municipal corporation|incorporation]] by the State of California as the Town of Berkeley.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://clerk.assembly.ca.gov/sites/clerk.assembly.ca.gov/files/archive/Statutes/1877/1877_78.PDF#page=956 |title = ''Statutes of California'', 1877–78, p. 888 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161227230928/http://clerk.assembly.ca.gov/sites/clerk.assembly.ca.gov/files/archive/Statutes/1877/1877_78.PDF#page=956 |archive-date=December 27, 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The first elected trustees of the town were the slate of [[Denis Kearney]]'s anti-Chinese [[Workingman's Party]], who were particularly favored in the working-class area of the former Ocean View, now called West Berkeley.  During the 1880s Berkeley had segregated housing and anti-Chinese laws.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Schwartz |first1=Richard |title=The Chinese workers who fought discrimination at an 1880s West Berkeley soap factory |url=https://www.berkeleyside.org/2021/10/17/berkeley-soap-factory-chinese-workers-discrimination |access-date=October 13, 2022 |work=BerkeleySide}}</ref> The area near the university became known for a time as East Berkeley.

Due to the influence of the university, the modern age came quickly to Berkeley. [[Electric light]]s and the telephone were in use by 1888. Electric [[streetcar]]s soon replaced the [[horsecar]]. A silent film of one of these early streetcars in Berkeley can be seen at the [[Library of Congress]] website.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/item/00694420/|title=Trip to Berkeley, California, Lcmp003 M3a29754|publisher=Library of Congress}}<!-- https://www.loc.gov/collections/san-francisco-earthquake-and-fire-1897-to-1916/?q=lcmp003%20m3a29754 --></ref>

===Early 20th century===
[[File:Wheeler Hall--UC Berkeley--Panoramic (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|[[Wheeler Hall]], built in 1917, was designed by [[John Galen Howard]].]]
Berkeley's slow growth ended abruptly with the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|Great San Francisco earthquake of 1906]]. The town and other parts of the [[East Bay]] escaped serious damage, and thousands of refugees flowed across the Bay. Among them were most of San Francisco's painters and sculptors, who between 1907 and 1911 created one of the largest art colonies west of Chicago. Artist and critic [[Jennie V. Cannon]] described the founding of the Berkeley Art Association and the rivalries of competing studios and art clubs.<ref name="edwards">{{cite book|last1=Edwards|first1=Robert W.| title=Jennie V. Cannon: The Untold History of the Carmel and Berkeley Art Colonies, Vol. 1|date=2012|publisher=East Bay Heritage Project| location=Oakland, Calif.| isbn=9781467545679|pages=72–105}} An online facsimile of the entire text of Vol. 1 is posted on the [http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/10aa/10aa557.htm Traditional Fine Arts Organization website.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160429115613/http://tfaoi.com/aa/10aa/10aa557.htm |date=April 29, 2016 }}</ref>

In 1904, the first hospitals in Berkeley were created: the Alta Bates Sanatorium (today Alta Bates Summit Medical Center) for women and children, founded by nurse [[Alta Bates]] on Walnut Street, and the Roosevelt Hospital (later [[Herrick Hospital]]), founded by LeRoy Francis Herrick, on the corner of Dwight Way and Milvia Street.<ref name="pettitt">{{cite book |last= Pettitt|first= George Albert|date= 1973|title= Berkeley: the Town and Gown of it|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=zWhwAAAAMAAJ|publisher= Howell-North Books|page= 106|isbn=978-0-8310-7101-1}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/uploadedFiles/Planning_and_Development/Level_3_-_DAP/5%20Health%20and%20Medicine.pdf|title= Downtown Berkeley Historic Resources Reconnaissance Survey|date= August 2007|website= City of Berkeley|access-date= January 14, 2017|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170524231419/http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/uploadedFiles/Planning_and_Development/Level_3_-_DAP/5%20Health%20and%20Medicine.pdf|archive-date= May 24, 2017|url-status= dead}}</ref>

In 1908, a statewide referendum that proposed moving the California state capital to Berkeley was defeated by a margin of about 33,000 votes.<ref>''Exactly Opposite the Golden Gate'', edited by Phil McCardle, published 1983 by the Berkeley Historical Society, p.251</ref> The city had named streets around the proposed capitol grounds for California counties. They bear those names today, a legacy of the failed referendum.
[[File:Berkeley Women's City Club (Berkeley, CA) (cropped).JPG|thumb|right|The historic [[Spanish Colonial Revival]]–style [[Berkeley City Club]], designed by famed architect [[Julia Morgan]] in 1929]]
On March 4, 1909, following public referendums, the citizens of Berkeley were granted a new charter by the State of California, and the Town of Berkeley became the City of Berkeley.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://clerk.assembly.ca.gov/sites/clerk.assembly.ca.gov/files/archive/Statutes/1907_09/1909.pdf#page=1261 |title=''Statutes of California'', 1907-9, p.1208 |access-date=November 28, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191204065621/https://clerk.assembly.ca.gov/sites/clerk.assembly.ca.gov/files/archive/Statutes/1907_09/1909.pdf#page=1261 |archive-date=December 4, 2019 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Rapid growth continued up to the [[Wall Street crash of 1929|crash of 1929]]. The [[Great Depression]] hit Berkeley hard, but not as hard as many other places in the U.S., thanks in part to the university.

In 1916, Berkeley implemented [[single-family zoning]] as an effort to keep minorities out of white neighborhoods. This has been described as the first implementation of single-family zoning in the United States<ref name=SJMN_2021-03-01 >{{ cite news | url=https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/03/01/is-this-the-end-of-single-family-zoning-in-the-bay-area/ | title= Is this the end of single-family zoning in the Bay Area? San Jose, Berkeley, other cities consider sweeping changes | last=Hansen | first=Louis | newspaper=[[San Jose Mercury News]] | date=March 1, 2021 | quote=Single-family zoning, a form of exclusionary zoning, traces its roots in the U.S. to Berkeley in 1916, when city leaders sought to segregate white homeowners from apartment complexes rented by minority residents. It's become the default policy in cities and suburbs across the country. }}</ref><ref name=SJMN_2021-02-24 >{{ cite news | url=https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/02/24/berkeley-to-end-single-family-residential-zoning-citing-racist-ties/ | title=Berkeley to end single-family residential zoning, citing racist ties | last=Ruggiero | first=Angela | newspaper=[[San Jose Mercury News]] | date=February 24, 2021 | quote=Berkeley is thought to be the birthplace of single-family residential zoning; it began in the Elmwood neighborhood in 1916, where it forbade the construction of anything other than one home per lot. That has historically made it difficult for people of color or those with lower incomes to purchase or lease property in sought-after neighborhoods, city officials said. ... Even after racial discrimination such as redlining – refusing home loans to those in low-income neighborhoods – was outlawed, it continued in the form of single-family zoning, he said. }}</ref><ref name=KQED >{{ cite news | url=https://www.kqed.org/news/11840548/the-racist-history-of-single-family-home-zoning | title=The Racist History of Single-Family Home Zoning | last1=Baldassari | first1=Erin | last2=Solomon | first2=Molly | publisher=[[NPR]] | date=October 5, 2020 | access-date= | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201114004918/https://www.kqed.org/news/11840548/the-racist-history-of-single-family-home-zoning | archive-date=November 14, 2020 | url-status=live | pages= | quote=Where Did Single-Family Zoning Get Its Start? In none other than true-blue Berkeley, California. The progressive Bay Area enclave was the first city in the country to implement single-family zoning. It adopted the zoning rule for the Elmwood neighborhood in 1916, making it illegal to build anything other than one home on one lot in the neighborhood. }}</ref> By 2021, nearly half of Berkeley's residential neighborhoods were still exclusively zoned for single-family homes.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Metcalfe |first=John |date=February 17, 2021 |title=Berkeley may get rid of single-family zoning as a way to correct the arc of its ugly housing history |url=https://www.berkeleyside.org/2021/02/17/berkeley-may-get-rid-of-single-family-zoning-as-a-way-to-correct-the-arc-of-its-ugly-housing-history |website=Berkeleyside |language=en-US}}</ref>

On September 17, 1923, [[1923 Berkeley Fire|a major fire]] swept down the hills toward the university campus and the downtown section. Around 640 structures burned before a late-afternoon sea breeze stopped its progress, allowing firefighters to put it out.

The next big growth occurred with the advent of [[World War II]], when large numbers of people moved to the Bay Area to work in the many war industries, such as the immense [[Kaiser Shipyards]] in nearby [[Richmond, California|Richmond]]. One who moved out, but played a big role in the outcome of the war, was U.C. professor and Berkeley resident [[J. Robert Oppenheimer]]. During the war, an Army base, [[Camp Ashby]], was temporarily sited in Berkeley.

The element [[berkelium]] was synthesized utilizing the {{Convert|60|in|m|adj=on}} [[cyclotron]] at UC Berkeley, and named in 1949, in recognition of the university, thus placing the city's name in the list of elements.

===1940–60s===
[[File:South Berkeley Community Church (Berkeley, CA) (cropped).JPG|thumb|left|The [[Mission Revival]] style [[South Berkeley Community Church]], b. 1943]]
During the 1940s, many African Americans migrated to Berkeley.<ref>[http://www.berkeleypubliclibrary.org/community/berkeley_history/a_city_in_history/07WWII_watershed.php "Berkeley, A City in History"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140102193742/http://www.berkeleypubliclibrary.org/community/berkeley_history/a_city_in_history/07WWII_watershed.php |date=January 2, 2014 }}. Berkeley Public Library.</ref> In 1950, the Census Bureau reported Berkeley's population as 11.7% black and 84.6% white.<ref name="census">{{cite web|title=California – Race and Hispanic Origin for Selected Cities and Other Places: Earliest Census to 1990 |publisher=United States Census Bureau |url=https://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0076/twps0076.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120812191959/http://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0076/twps0076.html |archive-date=August 12, 2012 }}</ref>

The postwar years brought moderate growth to the city, as events on the U.C. campus began to build up to the recognizable activism of the sixties. In the 1950s, [[McCarthyism]] induced the university to demand a loyalty oath from its professors, many of whom refused to sign the oath on the principle of freedom of thought. In 1960, a U.S. House committee ([[HUAC]]) came to San Francisco to investigate the influence of communists in the Bay Area. Their presence was met by protesters, including many from the university. Meanwhile, a number of U.C. students became active in the [[civil rights movement]]. Finally, in 1964, the university provoked a massive student protest by banning distribution of political literature on campus. This protest became the [[Free Speech Movement]]. As the [[Vietnam War]] rapidly escalated in the ensuing years, so did student activism at the university, particularly that organized by the [[Vietnam Day Committee]].

{{See also|1960s Berkeley protests}}
[[File:People's-Park.jpg|thumb|right|The [[People's Park (Berkeley)|People's Park]] was created via public occupation during the [[1960s Berkeley protests]].]]
Berkeley is strongly identified with the rapid social changes, civic unrest, and political upheaval that characterized the mid-to-late 1960s.<ref>[http://ohp.parks.ca.gov/pages/1054/files/berkeley%20shattuck%20context%2005-28-2015.pdf "Shattuck Avenue: Commercial Corridor Historic Context and Survey"]. City of Berkeley. Retrieved October 5, 2017.</ref> In that period, Berkeley—especially [[Telegraph Avenue]]—became a focal point for the [[hippie]] movement, which spilled over the Bay from San Francisco. Many hippies were apolitical drop-outs, rather than students, but in the heady atmosphere of Berkeley in 1967–1969 there was considerable overlap between the hippie movement and the radical left. An iconic event in the Berkeley Sixties scene was a conflict over a parcel of university property south of the contiguous campus site that came to be called "[[People's Park, Berkeley|People's Park]]".

The battle over the disposition of People's Park resulted in a month-long occupation of Berkeley by the [[United States National Guard|National Guard]] on orders of then-Governor [[Ronald Reagan]]. In the end, the park remained undeveloped, and remains so today. A spin-off, ''People's Park Annex'', was established at the same time by activist citizens of Berkeley on a strip of land above the [[Bay Area Rapid Transit]] ("BART") underground construction along Hearst Avenue northwest of the U.C. campus. The land had also been intended for development, but was turned over to the city by BART and is now [[Ohlone Park]].

The era of large public protest in Berkeley waned considerably with the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. While the 1960s were the heyday of liberal activism in Berkeley, it remains one of the most overwhelmingly Democratic cities in the United States.

===1970s and 1980s===
====Housing and zoning changes====
[[File:Berkeley BART Station 1973 Postcard.jpg|thumb|left|Shattuck Avenue at Center Street in downtown Berkeley, as seen in 1973]]
After the 1960s, Berkeley banned most new housing construction, in particular apartments.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Savidge |first=Nico |date=July 25, 2023 |title=Berkeley is adding new housing at the fastest rate in decades |url=https://www.berkeleyside.org/2023/07/25/berkeley-housing-boom-construction |website=Berkeleyside |language=en-US}}</ref>

Increasing enrollment at the university led to replacement of older buildings by large apartment buildings, especially in older parts of the city near the university and downtown. Increasing enrollment also led the university to wanting to redevelop certain places of Berkeley, especially Southside, but more specifically People's Park.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Mitchell|first=Don|title=Iconography and locational conflict from the underside: Free speech, People's Park, and the politics of homelessness in Berkeley, California|journal=Political Geography|volume=11|issue=2|pages=152–169|doi=10.1016/0962-6298(92)90046-V|year=1992}}</ref> [[Preservationists]] passed the Neighborhood Protection Ordinance in 1973 by ballot measure and the Landmarks Preservation Ordinance in 1974 by the City Council. Together, these ordinances brought most new construction to a halt.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/contentdisplay.aspx?id=500|title=Urban Design and Preservation Element|author=City of Berkeley|access-date=April 17, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170418081819/http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/contentdisplay.aspx?id=500|archive-date=April 18, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> Facing rising housing costs, residents voted to enact [[rent control]] and vacancy control in 1980.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Rent_Stabilization_Board/Home/Ordinance__Rent_Stabilization_and_Eviction_for_Good_Cause.aspx|title=Ordinance: Rent Stabilization and Eviction for Good Cause – City of Berkeley, CA|website=Cityofberkeley.info|access-date=September 29, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190929051037/https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Rent_Stabilization_Board/Home/Ordinance__Rent_Stabilization_and_Eviction_for_Good_Cause.aspx|archive-date=September 29, 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref> Though more far-reaching in their effect than those of some of the other jurisdictions in California that chose to use rent control where they could, these policies were limited by the [[Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act]], a statewide ban on rent control that came into effect in 1995 and limited rent control to multi-family units that were built (or technically buildings that were issued their original certificate of occupation) before the state law came into effect in 1995. For cities such as Berkeley, where rent control was already in place, the law limited the use of rent control to units built before the local rent-control law was enacted, i.e. 1980.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cityofberkeley.info/Rent_Stabilization_Board/Home/What_is_Rent_Control_.aspx|title=What is Rent Control? ... and How Does It Affect Me?|publisher=City of Berkeley|access-date=April 17, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170418081034/http://www.cityofberkeley.info/Rent_Stabilization_Board/Home/What_is_Rent_Control_.aspx|archive-date=April 18, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>

====Political movements====
During the 1970s and 1980s, activists increased their power in local government. This era also saw major developments in Berkeley's environmental and food culture. Berkeley's last Republican mayor, [[Wallace J. S. Johnson]], left office in 1971. [[Alice Waters]] opened [[Chez Panisse]] in 1971. The first curbside recycling program in the U.S. was started by the [[Ecology Center (Berkeley)|Ecology Center]] in 1973. Styrofoam was banned in 1988.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ecologycenter.org/about/history/|title=Our History|publisher=Ecology Center|access-date=April 17, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170418001331/http://ecologycenter.org/about/history/|archive-date=April 18, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>

As the city leaned more and more Democratic, local politics became divided between "Progressives" and "Moderates". 1984 saw the Progressives take the majority for the first time. [[Nancy Skinner (California politician)|Nancy Skinner]] became the first UC Berkeley student elected to City Council. In 1986, in reaction to the 1984 election, a ballot measure switched Berkeley from at-large to district-based elections for city council.<ref>{{cite news|author=Mark A. Stein |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-11-03-mn-14900-story.html |title=Progressives in Berkeley Challenged by Tradition |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=November 3, 1986 |access-date=April 17, 2017}}</ref>

In 1983, Berkeley's [[Domestic Partner Task Force]] was established, which in 1984 made policy recommendation to the school board, which passed [[domestic partner]] legislation. The legislation became a model for similar measures nationwide.<ref>{{cite news|author=Joe Garofoli |url=http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Ethel-Manheimer-Berkeley-activist-dies-4110179.php |title=Ethel Manheimer, Berkeley activist, dies |work=San Francisco Chronicle |date=December 12, 2012 |access-date=January 1, 2013}}</ref>

===1990s and 2000s===
[[File:IMAG4094-berkeley-shattuck-between-haste-and-dwight.jpg|thumb|Housing developments in Downtown Berkeley]]
In 1995, California's Costa–Hawkins Act ended vacancy control, allowing rents to increase when a tenant moved out. Despite a slow down in 2005–2007, median home prices and rents remain dramatically higher than the rest of the nation,<ref>{{cite web|last=|title=Berkeley, CA Home Prices & Housing Information|url=http://www.areavibes.com/berkeley-ca/housing/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141229110237/http://www.areavibes.com/berkeley-ca/housing/|archive-date=December 29, 2014|access-date=December 30, 2014|website=[[AreaVibes]]}}</ref> fueled by spillover from the [[San Francisco housing shortage]] and population growth.

South and West Berkeley underwent [[gentrification]], with some historically Black neighborhoods such as the Adeline Corridor seeing a 50% decline in Black / African American population from 1990 to 2010.<ref>{{cite news|title=South Berkeley residents mobilize around plan to develop Adeline Street corridor|url=http://www.dailycal.org/2015/06/07/south-berkeley-residents-mobilize-around-plan-to-develop-adeline-street-corridor/|author=Chloee Weiner|publisher=Daily Cal|date=June 8, 2015|access-date=April 17, 2017|archive-date=May 24, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170524230440/http://www.dailycal.org/2015/06/07/south-berkeley-residents-mobilize-around-plan-to-develop-adeline-street-corridor/|url-status=dead}}</ref>  In the 1990s, public television's [[Frontline (American TV program)|Frontline]] documentary series featured race relations at Berkeley's only public high school, [[Berkeley High School (California)|Berkeley High School]].<ref>{{cite web|title=School Colors|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/programs/info/1301.html|publisher=Frontline|access-date=July 2, 2015|archive-date=July 3, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150703125903/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/programs/info/1301.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

With an economy dominated by the University of California and a high-demand housing market, Berkeley was relatively unaffected by the [[Great Recession]]. State budget cuts caused the university to increase the number of out-of-state and international students, with international enrollment, mostly from Asia, rising from 2,785 in 2007 to 5,951 in 2016.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://internationaloffice.berkeley.edu/students/current/enrollment_data|title=International Student Enrollment Data|publisher=UC Berkeley|access-date=April 17, 2017}}</ref>  Since then, more international restaurants have opened downtown and on [[Telegraph Avenue]], including East Asian chains such as [[Ippudo]] and [[Daiso]].

A wave of downtown apartment construction began in 1998.<ref>{{cite news|author=Richard Brenneman|url=http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2007-04-06/article/26725|title=Panoramic Sells Off 7 Apartment Buildings|newspaper=Berkeley Daily Planet|date=April 6, 2007|access-date=April 17, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170418081607/http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2007-04-06/article/26725|archive-date=April 18, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 2006, the [[Berkeley Oak Grove Protest]] began protesting construction of a new sports center annex to Memorial Stadium at the expense of a grove of oak trees on the UC campus. The protest ended in September 2008 after a lengthy court process.

In 2007–2008, Berkeley received media attention due to demonstrations against a Marine Corps recruiting office in downtown Berkeley and a series of controversial motions by Berkeley's city council regarding opposition to Marine recruiting. (''See'' [[Berkeley Marine Corps Recruiting Center controversy]].)

===2010s and 2020s===
During the fall of 2010, the [[Berkeley Student Food Collective]] opened after many protests on the [[UC Berkeley]] campus due to the proposed opening of the fast food chain [[Panda Express]]. Students and community members worked together to open a collectively run grocery store right off of the UC Berkeley campus, where the community can buy local, seasonal, humane, and organic foods. The [[Berkeley Student Food Collective]] still operates at 2440 Bancroft Way.

On September 18, 2012, Berkeley became what may be the first city in the U.S. to officially proclaim a day recognizing bisexuals: September 23, which is known as [[Celebrate Bisexuality Day]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Berkeley becomes first US city to declare Bisexual Pride Day, support 'marginalized' group|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/berkeley-becomes-first-us-city-to-declare-bisexual-pride-day-support-marginalized-group/2012/09/18/8556fd92-0208-11e2-bbf0-e33b4ee2f0e8_story.html|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=September 19, 2012}}{{dead link|date=June 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

On September 2, 2014, the city council approved a measure to provide free [[medical marijuana]] to low-income patients.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/03/us/03berkeley.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220101/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/03/us/03berkeley.html |archive-date=January 1, 2022 |url-access=limited|title=Berkeley Pushes a Boundary on Medical Marijuana|newspaper=The New York Times|date=September 3, 2014 |access-date=January 21, 2015 |last1=Lovett |first1=Ian }}{{cbignore}}</ref>

The Measure D [[soda tax]] was approved by Berkeley voters on November 4, 2014, the first such tax in the United States.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2014/11/05/361793296/how-did-berkeley-pass-a-soda-tax-bloombergs-cash-didnt-hurt|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150509040937/http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/11/05/361793296/how-did-berkeley-pass-a-soda-tax-bloombergs-cash-didnt-hurt|url-status=dead|title=How Did Berkeley Pass A Soda Tax? Bloomberg's Cash Didn't Hurt|archive-date=May 9, 2015|publisher=NPR }}</ref>

====Protests====
In the fall of 2011, the nationwide [[Occupy Wall Street]] movement came to two Berkeley locations: on the campus of the University of California and as an encampment in Civic Center Park.

During a [[Black Lives Matter]] protest on December 6, 2014, police use of tear gas and batons to clear protesters from Telegraph Avenue led to a riot and five consecutive days and nights of protests, marches, and freeway occupations in Berkeley and Oakland.<ref>{{cite news|title=Police report mistakes, challenges in Berkeley protests|url=http://www.berkeleyside.com/2015/06/11/police-report-mistakes-challenges-in-berkeley-protests/|author=Emilie Raguso|publisher=Berkeleyside|date=June 11, 2015|access-date=April 17, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170426114050/http://www.berkeleyside.com/2015/06/11/police-report-mistakes-challenges-in-berkeley-protests/|archive-date=April 26, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> Afterwards, changes were implemented by the Police Department to avoid escalation of violence and to protect bystanders during protests.<ref>{{cite news|title=BPD chief: Lessons learned in 2014 'Black Lives Matter' protests guided us during Milo demonstrations|url=http://www.berkeleyside.com/2017/02/05/berkeley-police-chief-lessons-learned-2014-black-lives-matter-protests-guided-us-milo-demonstrations/|author=Emilie Raguso|publisher=Berkeleyside|date=June 11, 2015|access-date=April 17, 2017}}</ref>

During a protest against bigotry and U.S. President Donald Trump in August 2017, self-described anti-fascist protesters attacked Trump supporters in attendance. Police intervened, arresting 14 people. Sometimes called "[[Antifa (United States)|antifa]]", these ‘anti-fascist’ activists were clad in black shirts and other black attire, while some carried shields and others had masks or bandanas hiding their faces to help them evade capture after street fighting. .<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-berkeley-protests-20170827-story.html|title=Violence by far-left protesters in Berkeley sparks alarm |author1=James Queally |author2=Paige St John |author3=Benjamin Oreskes |author4=David Zahniser |website=Los Angeles Times|access-date=April 15, 2018|date=August 28, 2017}}</ref> These protests spanned February to September 2017 (See more at [[2017 Berkeley protests|2017 Berkeley Protests]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2017/04/27/political-violence-berkeley-ann-coulter-alt-right/|title=Heavy Police Presence Keeps Berkeley Coulter Protests Peaceful|date=April 27, 2017|language=en|access-date=March 4, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190810012229/https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2017/04/27/political-violence-berkeley-ann-coulter-alt-right/|archive-date=August 10, 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 2019, protesters took up residence in People's Park against tree-chopping and were arrested by police in riot gear. Many activists saw this as the university preparing to develop the park.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/01/15/peoples-park-protesters-arrested-by-uc-berkeley-police-before-removal-of-trees/|title=People's Park protesters arrested by UC Berkeley police before removal of trees|date=January 15, 2019|website=The Mercury News|language=en-US|access-date=March 4, 2019}}</ref>

=== Homelessness ===
The city of Berkeley has historically been a central location for [[Homelessness|homeless]] communities in the Bay Area.<ref name=Mitchell1997>{{cite journal |last1=Mitchell |first1=Don |title=The Annihilation of Space by Law: The Roots and Implications of Anti-Homeless Laws in the United States |journal=Antipode |date=July 1997 |volume=29 |issue=3 |pages=303–335 |doi=10.1111/1467-8330.00048 |doi-access=free |bibcode=1997Antip..29..303M }}</ref> Since the 1930s, the city of Berkeley has fostered a tradition of political activism.<ref name=Mitchell1992>{{cite journal |last1=Mitchell |first1=Don |title=Iconography and locational conflict from the underside |journal=Political Geography |date=March 1992 |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=152–169 |doi=10.1016/0962-6298(92)90046-V }}</ref> The city has been perceived as a hub for liberal thought and action and it has passed ordinances to oust homeless individuals from Berkeley on multiple occasions.<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal|last=Simon|first=Harry|date=March 1992|title=Towns without Pity: A Constitutional and Historical Analysis of Official Efforts to Drive Homeless Persons from American Cities|url=https://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/tulr66&div=29&g_sent=1&casa_token=&collection=journals|journal=Tulane Law Review|volume=66|page=47|via=HeinOnline|access-date=July 3, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191026212009/https://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals%2Ftulr66&div=29&g_sent=1&casa_token=&collection=journals|archive-date=October 26, 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref> Despite efforts to remove unhoused individuals from the streets and projects to improve social service provision for this demographic, homelessness has continued to be a significant problem in Berkeley.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Mitchell |first1=Don |last2=Heynen |first2=Nik |title=The Geography of Survival and the Right to the City: Speculations on Surveillance, Legal Innovation, and the Criminalization of Intervention |journal=Urban Geography |date=August 2009 |volume=30 |issue=6 |pages=611–632 |doi=10.2747/0272-3638.30.6.611 |s2cid=144592825 }}</ref>

==== 1960s ====
A culture of anti-establishment and sociopolitical activism marked the 1960s.<ref name=Mitchell1992/> The [[San Francisco Bay Area]] became a hotspot for [[hippie]] [[Counterculture of the 1960s|counterculture]], and Berkeley became a haven for nonconformists and anarchists<ref name=Mitchell1992/> from all over the United States.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dk55AgAAQBAJ&q=berkeley&pg=PP1|title=Children on the Streets of the Americas: Globalization, Homelessness and Education in the United States, Brazil, and Cuba|last=Mickelson|first=Roslyn Arlin|date=June 2002|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781134001866}}</ref> Most public discourse around homelessness in Berkeley at this time was centered around the idea of street-living as an expression of counterculture.<ref name=Mitchell1997/>

During the [[Free Speech Movement]] in the fall of 1964, Berkeley became a hub of civil unrest, with demonstrators and [[University of California, Berkeley|UC Berkeley]] students sympathizing with the statewide protests for free speech and assembly, as well as revolting against university restrictions against student political activities and organizations established by UC President [[Clark Kerr]] in 1959. Many non-student youth and adolescents sought alternative lifestyles and opted for voluntary homelessness during this time.<ref name=":6">{{cite web|url=https://www.c-span.org/video/?422677-2/1950s-60s-counterculture&start=3013|title=1950s '60s Counterculture, Feb 9 2017 {{!}} Video {{!}} C-SPAN.org|website=C-SPAN.org|language=en-US|access-date=April 27, 2018}}</ref><ref name=":12">{{cite conference |last1=Toro |first1=Paul A. |first2=Amy |last2=Dworsky |first3=Patrick J. |last3=Fowler |title=Homeless youth in the United States: Recent research findings and intervention approaches |conference=National symposium on homelessness research |year=2007 |url=https://aspe.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/private/pdf/180406/report.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://aspe.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/private/pdf/180406/report.pdf |archive-date=October 9, 2022 |url-status=live |citeseerx=10.1.1.498.2766 }}</ref>

In 1969, [[People's Park (Berkeley)|People's Park]] was created and eventually became a haven for "small-time drug dealers, street people, and the homeless".<ref name="Mitchell1995">{{cite journal |last1=Mitchell |first1=Don |title=The End of Public Space? People's Park, Definitions of the Public, and Democracy |journal=Annals of the Association of American Geographers |date=1995 |volume=85 |issue=1 |pages=108–133 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-8306.1995.tb01797.x |jstor=2564281 |s2cid=143224475 }}</ref> Although the City of Berkeley has moved unhoused individuals from its streets, sometimes even relocating them to an unused landfill, People's Park has remained a safe space for them since its inception.<ref name="Mitchell1995" /> The park has become one of the few relatively safe spaces for homeless individuals to congregate in Berkeley and the greater Bay Area.<ref name="Mitchell1995" />

==== 1970s ====
Stereotypes of homeless people as deviant individuals who chose to live vagrant lifestyles continued to color the discourse around street-dwellers in American cities.<ref name=Mitchell1997/> However, this time period was also characterized by a subtle shift in the perception of unhoused individuals. The public began to realize that homelessness affected not only single men, but also women, children, and entire families.<ref name=Mitchell1997/> This recognition set the stage for the City of Berkeley's attitude towards homelessness in the next decade.<ref name=":1">{{cite magazine |last1=Horowitz |first1=David |last2=Collier |first2=Peter |title=Slouching towards Berkeley: socialism in one city |magazine=The Public Interest |date=Winter 1989 |issue=94 |pages=47–68 |id={{ProQuest|222074477}} |url=https://www.nationalaffairs.com/public_interest/detail/slouching-towards-berkeley-socialism-in-one-city }}</ref>

==== 1980s ====
Organizations such as Building Opportunities for Self Sufficiency (BOSS) were established in 1971 in response to the needs of individuals with mental illness being released to the streets by state hospital closures.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://self-sufficiency.org/who-we-are/mission-history/| title=Mission & History| date=April 4, 2014| access-date=December 7, 2017| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171207140323/https://self-sufficiency.org/who-we-are/mission-history/| archive-date=December 7, 2017| url-status=dead}}</ref>

==== 1990s ====
In the 1990s, the City of Berkeley faced a substantial increase in the need for emergency housing shelters and saw a rise in the average amount of time individuals spent without stable housing.<ref name=":4" /> As housing became a more widespread problem, the general public, Berkeley City Council, and the University of California became increasingly anti-homeless in their opinions.<ref name=":4" /> In 1994, Berkeley City Council considered the implementation of a set of anti-homeless laws that the ''San Francisco Chronicle'' described as being "among the strictest in the country".<ref name=Mitchell1997/> These laws prohibited sitting, sleeping and begging in public spaces, and outlawed panhandling from people in a variety of contexts, such as sitting on public benches, buying a newspaper from a rack, or waiting in line for a movie.<ref name=Mitchell1997/> In February 1995, the [[American Civil Liberties Union]] (ACLU) sued the city for infringing free speech rights through its proposed anti-panhandling law.<ref name=Mitchell1997/> The following month, the [[Street Spirit (newspaper)|Street Spirit]], a monthly newspaper written for and by people experiencing homelessness, published its first of hundreds of issues covering homelessness in the Bay Area and across the nation.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Bay Area’s Street Spirit Newspaper - FoundSF |url=https://www.foundsf.org/index.php?title=The_Bay_Area%E2%80%99s_Street_Spirit_Newspaper |access-date=2025-04-10 |website=www.foundsf.org}}</ref> In May of that same year, a federal judge ruled that the anti-panhandling law did violate the [[First Amendment to the United States Constitution|First Amendment]], but left the anti-sitting and sleeping laws untouched.<ref name=Mitchell1997/>

Following the implementation of these anti-sitting and sleeping ordinances in 1998, Berkeley increased its policing of homeless adults and youth, particularly in the shopping district surrounding [[Telegraph Avenue]].<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal|last=Amster|first=Randall|date=2003|title=Patterns of Exclusion: Sanitizing Space, Criminalizing Homelessness|jstor=29768172|journal=Social Justice|volume=30|issue=1 (91)|pages=195–221}}</ref> The mayor at that time, [[Shirley Dean]], proposed a plan to increase both social support services for homeless youth and enforcement of anti-encampment laws.<ref name=":5" /> Unhoused youth countered this plan with a request for the establishment of the city's first youth shelter, more trash cans, and more frequent cleaning of public bathrooms.<ref name=":5" />

==== 21st century ====
The City of Berkeley's 2017 annual homeless report and point-in-time count (PIT) estimate that on a given night, 972 people are homeless.<ref name=":3">{{cite web|title=2017 Berkeley Homeless Point-In-Time Count and Survey Data|last=Williams-Ridley|first=Dee|date=July 25, 2017|url=https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/City_Council/2017/07_Jul/Documents/2017-07-25_Item_53_2017_Berkeley_Homeless.aspx|access-date=April 28, 2018|archive-date=June 25, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180625194757/https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/City_Council/2017/07_Jul/Documents/2017-07-25_Item_53_2017_Berkeley_Homeless.aspx|url-status=dead}}</ref> Sixty-eight percent (664 people) of these individuals are also unsheltered, living in places not considered suitable for human habitation, such as cars or streets.<ref name=":3" /> Long-term homelessness in Berkeley is double the national average, with 27% of the city's homeless population facing chronic homelessness.<ref name=":3"/> Chronic homelessness has been on the rise since 2015, and has been largely a consequence of the constrained local housing market.<ref name=":3" /> In 2015, rent in Alameda County increased by 25%, while the average household income only grew by 5%.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=A Report on the 2015 Alameda County Point In Time Count|url=http://everyonehome.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/EOC_Full2.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://everyonehome.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/EOC_Full2.pdf |archive-date=October 9, 2022 |url-status=live|journal=Alameda County Public Health Department}}</ref> The City of Berkeley's 2017 report also estimated the number of unaccompanied youth in Berkeley at 189 individuals, 19% of the total homeless population in the city. Homeless youth display greater risk of mental health issues, behavioral problems, and substance abuse, than any other homeless age group.<ref name=":12"/> Furthermore, [[Homelessness among LGBT youth in the United States|homeless youth identifying as LGBTQ+]] are exposed to greater rates of physical and sexual abuse, and higher risk for sexually-transmitted diseases, predominantly HIV.<ref name=":153">{{Cite journal|last1=Keuroghlian|first1=Alex S.|last2=Shtasel|first2=Derri|last3=Bassuk|first3=Ellen L.|date=2014|title=Out on the Street: A Public Health and Policy Agenda for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth Who Are Homeless |journal=The American Journal of Orthopsychiatry|volume=84|issue=1|pages=66–72|doi=10.1037/h0098852 |pmc=4098056|pmid=24826829}}</ref><ref name=":33">{{cite web|title=2017 Berkeley Homeless Point-In-Time Count and Survey Data|last=Williams-Ridley|first=Dee|date=July 25, 2017|url=https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/City_Council/2017/07_Jul/Documents/2017-07-25_Item_53_2017_Berkeley_Homeless.aspx|access-date=April 28, 2018|archive-date=June 25, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180625194757/https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/City_Council/2017/07_Jul/Documents/2017-07-25_Item_53_2017_Berkeley_Homeless.aspx|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The City of Berkeley has seen a consistent rise in the number of chronically homeless individuals over the past 30 years, and has implemented a number of different projects to reduce the number of people living on the streets.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cityofberkeley.info/ContentDisplay.aspx?id=4222|title=Records Online – City of Berkeley, CA|website=Cityofberkeley.info|language=en|access-date=May 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180511150144/https://www.cityofberkeley.info/ContentDisplay.aspx?id=4222|archive-date=May 11, 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2008, the City focused its efforts on addressing chronic homelessness. This led to a 48% decline in the number of chronically homeless individuals reported in the 2009 Berkeley PIT.<ref name=":7">{{cite web|url=https://www.cityofberkeley.info/ContentDisplay.aspx?id=4222|title=Records Online – City of Berkeley, CA|website=Cityofberkeley.info|access-date=May 22, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200429004134/https://www.cityofberkeley.info/ContentDisplay.aspx?id=4222|archive-date=April 29, 2020|url-status=dead}}</ref> However, the number of "hidden homeless" individuals (those coping with [[Housing insecurity in the United States|housing insecurity]] by staying at a friend or relative's residence), increased significantly, likely in response to rising housing costs and costs of living.<ref name=":7" /> In 2012, the City considered measures that banned sitting in commercial areas throughout Berkeley.<ref name=":7" /> The measure was met with strong public opposition and did not pass. However, the City saw a strong need for it to implement rules addressing encampments and public usage of space as well as assessing the resources needed to assist the unhoused population.<ref name=":7" /> In response to these needs the City of Berkeley established the Homeless Task Force, headed by then-Councilmember [[Jesse Arreguín]].<ref name=":7" /> Since its formation, the Task Force has proposed a number of different recommendations, from expanding the City Homeless Outreach and Mobile Crisis Teams, to building a short-term transitional shelter for unhoused individuals.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/City_Council/2018/01_Jan/Documents/2018-01-23_Item_44_Update_On_Homeless_Task_Force.aspx|title=Arreguín, Jesse. "Update on Berkeley Homeless Task Force Recommendations." Received by Members of the City Council, City of Berkeley, 23 Jan. 2018|access-date=January 9, 2019|archive-date=January 9, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190109110921/https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/City_Council/2018/01_Jan/Documents/2018-01-23_Item_44_Update_On_Homeless_Task_Force.aspx|url-status=dead}}</ref>