Northbrae, Berkeley, California
Northbrae is neighborhood in Berkeley, California built as part of the northern expansion of North Berkeley. Its technical border is Solano Avenue to the North, Spruce Street to the East, the Albany city limits to the West, and Hopkins Street, Yolo Avenue, and Eunice Street to the south. Northbrae however broadly refers to the upper half of North Berkeley starting at or around Rose Street but ending before Solano. It's bordered by the two commercial districts on Solano Avenue and Hopkins Street, as well as hilly terrain made up of volcanic rock, rhyolite, and 136 stairways carved into the landscape. The neighborhood is visibly distinct for its pink sidewalks and many stone pillars topped with concrete globes denoting street names. The central hub of Northbrae is the Fountain at the Circle, a water fountain designed by the head architect of the University of California surrounded by terra cotta roundabout and stairwell. Northbrae made it into the American Planning Association's list of Great Places in America in 2011.[2][3]
History
After a
Duncan McDuffie led Berkeley to become the first city in the United States to prohibit multifamily housing through zoning and Northbrae was the widest zoned single-family district. As with all of Mason-McDuffie Co. subdivisions, their homes in Northbrae included deed restrictions prohibiting sale to anyone who wasn't white.[4][5]
Natural and physical features
The Northbrae neighborhood is known for its hilly terrain. The built environment follows along the natural topography which includes trees and existing outcropping of volcanic rock. The volcanic rock in the area, rhyolite, is primarily composed of quartz and is a significant feature of the area. The streets are arranged predominantly N-S in order to emphasize the views of the San Francisco bay and the hills. Most of the homes are bungalows and are tucked into the hills, connected by stairways that have been carved into the landscape. The original subdivision is visible by its pink colored sidewalks and stone pillars, though several rock pillars have been destroyed by property owners and automobiles over the years. The rock pillars and fountain were designed by John Galen Howard, the lead architect of the University of California, Berkeley campus.
Notable places and public amenities
The North Branch Berkeley Library, the
Transportation
The neighborhood was originally designed with the intention of each single family home having direct access to the train under the 1916 zoning law. Today, however, the North Berkeley BART station is a half mile away. Four AC Transit bus lines currently run through the neighborhood. There are 2 bicycle boulevards that promote alternative transportation.
Works cited
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-12-17.
- ^ "Northbrae: Berkeley, California". American Planning Association. Archived from the original on March 11, 2016. Retrieved 2023-12-17.
- ^ Yurovsky, Oksana (2011-10-06). "Northbrae in Berkeley voted one of best neighborhoods the nation". The Daily Californian. Retrieved 2023-12-17.
- ^ Lorey, Maya Tulip (2013). "A History Of Residential Segregation In Berkeley, California, 1878–1960" (PDF). The Concord Review, Inc.
- ^ Barber, Jesse (March 12, 2019). "Berkeley zoning has served for many decades to separate the poor from the rich and whites from people of color". Berkeleyside. Retrieved August 4, 2020.