In Berkeley, I stayed with my mom’s childhood friend. He is quite a character, but a wonderful guy who’s interested in very similar things to me. He actually helped spearhead the creation of a small neighborhood park just a couple houses down the street from where he lives. His story of how the park got formed is very interesting from the perspective of a budding planner, so I will email him sometime soon and try to get his account of the process in more detail. But his description of the active hostility the city had toward the project, the advantages and disadvantages of democratic design, and the biggest costs being due to liability requirements were all very interesting to hear. If you’re interested in hearing more, I will probably post more information about it once I email with him, but in the meantime here is a link to the city’s website for the park, and another one to the Friends of Halcyon Commons site.
