Walking Berkeley

A couple of weeks ago I finally started reading a book that had been on my list for years now, Jane Jacobs’ The Death and Life of Great American Cities. If you read anything related to city planning, neighborhoods, community, and the like, it will likely contain quotes from this book. I am only about a third of the way through, mainly because it so though-provoking that I am finding it easier to read it in small pieces. Now this book is about large cities, but it is still interesting to think about Jacobs’ ideas and how they apply to a smaller city like Berkeley. After reading the book’s chapter on parks, I spent some time thinking about all of the parks I have visited while walking throughout Berkeley. The first thing I had observed while walking is that Berkeley has quite a few parks for a small city; I think most of my walks ended up passing at least one park, if not a few. Second, Berkeley has a mix of general use and specialized parks. Some of the specialized uses include the Adventure Playground (tools and building experiences for children), boating at the Aquatic Park, kite flying at Cesar Chavez Park, bouldering and rock climbing at the rock parks, skateboarding ramps at Harrison Park, and off-leash dog areas at Cesar Chavez and Ohlone parks. Playing fields and courts for various sports are available at several parks.

Despite my observations about lots of people being out and about at all times of the day in Berkeley, I have found that most of the parks are not filled with people all day long. The city has several “tot lots,” which are small parks with playground equipment, but many are fairly empty during the daytime hours. One exception is Virginia-McGee Totland, which has a huge selection of toys and play equipment and seems to be packed with children and parents all day long. Totland may explain part of the absence of crowds at the other parks (it definitely appears that people come to Totland from other neighborhoods to for the social and play opportunities), as does the great number of children who go to pre-school these days. Adults who have leisure time during the day are more likely to be at the numerous cafes around town. Would this change if wireless Internet access where available throughout town? And what if there where coffee carts located at or within a block of some of the parks? The Sea Breeze Market/Deli is a good example of this in Berkeley, as it is a nice coffee and snack stop for cyclists and walkers coming over the bicycle bridge and to the Berkeley Marina, (although many people also stop there in their cars getting off the freeway, and then drive the rest of the way to the Marina). In San Francisco, I’ve witnessed many people picking up some coffee at the Blue Bottle Coffee kiosk in San Francisco and taking it over to the Hayes Green (which I highly recommend visiting if you are interested in successful parks/public commons).

I don’t walk through parks at night, but during the day most of the Berkeley parks I visited seemed safe. One park, Greg Brown, has limited hours and has been locked up when I have walked in the neighborhood. It is pretty secluded, and I imagine the closing is due to concerns about drug dealing and other illegal activity in the park after dark. Previously I had mentioned my concerns about safety at the Aquatic Park. After reading Jacobs’ writing about parks, I realized that the location of the park has much to do with this. Because it is at the waterfront near the edge of the city, you don’t walk through the park to get to anything else. The railroad tracks further isolate the park because it cannot be accessed at every east-west street it intersects. It will be interesting to see what happens at the south end of the Aquatic Park once the West Berkeley Bowl opens a few blocks away and brings lots of people to the area at all hours of the day. Will more people visit or will they not even realize there is a park a few blocks away?

If you are interested in learning more about some of the parks I have mentioned here and in past entries, Berkeley Partners for Parks has organized a series of events to celebrate the centennial of the city’s parks. This Sunday, a fundraiser will be held at the Aquatic Park, and there will be an opportunity that day to walk at future site of the labyrinth that the East Bay Labyrinth project hopes to build, and a fall equinox celebration at Cesar Chavez Park’s solar calendar. Other park events will be happening through mid-November and are listed on the website’s calendar. Another fun project for learning about the parks and city would be to visit a different Berkeley park each week; conveniently Berkeley has 52 official parks! Even if you have been to all of the parks, I recommend visiting them again and at different times of the year. You never know what interesting things you will find, such as the strange scene (pictured below) that I came upon last year, at Oak Park, with a felled oak tree!

Photo by Joe Reifer

Berkeley Peace Lantern Ceremony, photo by Joe Reifer

I was just marking my calendar for the Berkeley Peace Lantern Ceremony, which is held in early August to commemorate the Hiroshima atomic bombing. Attendees of the event make paper lanterns, which are sent afloat at the Berkeley Aquatic Park. There are also music and speeches, and in the past I have enjoyed attending this event. I realized as I noted the event that I had not written yet about the Aquatic Park. If you’re not familiar with Berkeley, the Aquatic Park is located in southwest Berkeley on the east side of I-80. At the north end of the Aquatic Park is the bicycle bridge, connecting to the Berkeley Marina. The Parks dept. map shows it pretty well (blue at bottom left).

Because I am including paths in my walk, I have walked around the Aquatic Park on the walk/bike path. The east side is nice (but watch out for flying objects — there’s a disc golf course along this side), but the west side was not as pleasant; you are walking right next to the freeway wall with the sounds and smells of cars and trucks whizzing by. This side is really best travelled by bicycle in my opinion. On the water itself, I have seen rowing and canoeing. There is a water ski ramp, but I have not actually seen anyone using it yet. The Aquatic Park was a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project build in the 1930s; its existence was apparently threatened in 1963 when developers wanted to fill it in and make it into a business park.

Although I like the Aquatic Park and its amenities, it seems in need of some upgrades — particularly those that would make it a bit safer. Although the park is pleasant and filled with people (joggers, dog walkers, picnickers, children, etc.) on weekends and after work, I’m not inclined to walk by myself along this path at non-busy times — especially because there seem to be shrubbery and other places where people could lurk, and I have also noted people just sitting and waiting in their cars at the south end of the park. Berkeley has big plans in place for streetscape improvements along the route from the Fourth Street shopping area and the Amtrak station to the Aquatic Park and bicycle bridge. It looks the improvements will mostly occur around the north area of the park near the bridge, but perhaps this will increase the amount of foot traffic and safety in the area a bit.

Lots of excitement here over the past few days. First of all, the traffic light is now functioning at University Ave. end of the newly paved section of the Santa Fe Right-of-Way. I happened to be there during the morning commute and school drop-off time, when University (a major thoroughfare) was busy and it was raining a bit. I pushed the button, and sure enough the light turned and traffic stopped. I was anticipating some surprise due to the newness of the light and its placement between intersections, but no cars came skidding to a stop. And if this wasn’t exciting enough, a few days ago I finally saw someone using the Parcourse along the Ohlone Greenway. I refrained from asking the man questions about whether this was a regular routine, how he dealt with the broken exercise stations, etc., because he looked intent on exercising. This reminded me that I had a couple of other things I wanted to point out recreation-wise in Berkeley.

Photo by Joe Reifer

Recreation facilities in Berkeley include the typical soccer fields, basketball courts, baseball and softball diamonds, as well as skateboard parks, Frisbee golf, and a lawn bowling green. I have seen other lawn bowling greens in the Bay Area and elsewhere, but I particularly like the one in Berkeley. I was looking for a website for the lawn bowling club, which I did not find. However, I did turn up an interesting page on the club from an activist website. It seems that a bit of controversy surrounded the green in the 1970s regarding the use of some of the bowling green land for construction of a tot lot. Quite a few references were made to clashes between the rich “hill people” who used the greens and the lower and moderate income “flatlanders” in the neighborhood of the bowling green. I haven’t heard of any issues with the greens these days.

A couple of months ago I was cutting through the old Berkeley Adult School campus and heard some music off in the distance. Turning the corner, I found a water aerobics class in session! It looked like a lot of fun, and I was all ready to sign up right there until I found out that it was for seniors only. Berkeley has a few pools and aquatics programs, and offers lessons, lap swimming, and programs for disabled swimmers. And speaking of disabilities, I spent some time recently looking at Ann Sieck’s wonderful website for wheelchair accessible trails in the Bay Area. Her website includes listings for Berkeley, describing wheelchair accessibility at UC Botanical Garden, Cesar Chavez Park, and Tilden Park. A very useful resource!

Though I understand the reasons why some people prefer to walk indoors at the gym on a treadmill, I would be bored out of my mind in under 5 minutes of walking on that giant conveyor belt staring outside where I could be walking. Of course most gyms have many more options for exercise, but they are also fairly expensive. One of the nice benefits of walking outside, in addition to all of the interesting experiences, is getting a bit of exercise along the way. No sign-up fee and monthly charges. If I wanted more exercise on a walk and was creative, I could come up with other ways to exercise for free. Walk to a local track for some laps. Run up stairs. Stop at a park and do some stretching exercises on the lawn. But the option that intrigues me the most is the outdoor fitness course (commonly known by the brand name Parcourse). The Parcourse is a set of exercise stations set along a path or trail. There might be sit-ups, pull-ups, a balance beam, and others, along with instructional signs. You would do an exercise, walk or jog to the next station, and so on until the end. Growing up in the suburban Bay Area, I remember the popularity of the Parcourse. As this article from Outside magazine notes, the Parcourse peaked in the mid-1980s and then faded from popularity.

I still think the Parcourse was a great idea, but it appears to have faded here in Berkeley as with other places. I have seen Parcourses out at the Berkeley Marina, at the Aquatic Park, and along the Ohlone Greenway. I tried on a few occasions to do the Parcourse circuit, and failed mostly because the stations were damaged. The station I show here is actually still usable despite the missing sign, but in other cases crucial parts of the equipment were missing. On the Ohlone Greenway, there are at least two, if not more different Parcourses, and I got really confused trying to find the next station in a particular course. My best guess is that they were funded and installed by different cities along the Greenway. Also (thought while doing jumping jacks alone, as cars and people passed by), many people would probably be less self-conscious and more motivated to do the Parcourse if others were doing it along with them. Berkeley has many “Friends of” groups for parks, trails, creeks, etc., but it does not appear that anyone has yet organized a “Friends of the Berkeley Outdoor Fitness Courses” group.