Tour Response 1 Berkeley Hills & Flatlands

Geog182: Tour Response 1[pic 1]

The Berkeley hills compared to the Berkeley flatlands

Reading urban investments and changes over time.

The experience of exploring the Berkeley, the hills flatlands and the downtown 29th May 2015 was exciting and though provoking. The Berkeley hill sort of illustrates how the upper class people in Berkeley lives and the Berkeley flatlands, notably how the middle class lives in the suburbs as well as their friendliness in comparison to the Berkeley hills where the rich people lives. Moreover, the streetcar suburbs in Berkeley flatlands was fascinating as it feels like travelling back in time to the late 19th century where people changed their mode of transportation from horse cars to street cars.

Initially, what struck me most was how the middle-upper class is able to design their own homes to express their individual modern tastes of high status in the suburban areas. The regulations there on how houses are designed also seemed to relax a bit as most residences living there are high-styled professional designers of the 19th century whom definitely “knows their stuff”. From the elaborate house designs to its location (ie: on the hills) and lack of sidewalks, it is clear that most of them perfers to live in peace and so they aren’t really friendly to outsiders.  Even along the road, houses are built inwards or hidden like the rose walk to make it inaccessible to public. Such feature is also quite substantial in the greenwood commons residences. Still, the designers (also homeowners) left common grounds like yards for neighbors to share for collective identity.

The Maybeck houses in Buena Vista way, on the other hand, is also authentically pleasing in a way that it does not show off wealth but still displayed an expansive taste. All this clearly shows how the upper class likes to congregate and make themselves distinct from others, giving themselves a high status and definitely a more superior taste.

In comparison, the Berkeley flatlands comprises of a variety of bungalows, apartments of mixed uses (ie: 1st floor commercial, 2nd floor residential) and community service buildings. I was first introduced to craftsman bungalows which were considerable large with interesting facades, but with a smaller front lawn, the middle-class people living there were much friendlier. Further, the California bungalows were also noteworthy even though it wasn’t as large and unique as the craftsman bungalows. Unlike the Berkeley hills where the middle-upper class resides, the Berkeley flatlands has more community service buildings such as churches and stores which I believe, made the neighborhood a more vibrant place to live in.