Berkeley's Elmwood neighborhood was one of the first places in the country to institute single-family zoning, and it was done for overtly racist reasons, to prevent a black dance hall from going up in the neighborhood.

Fast forward to the 1970s, when Berkeley all but stopped building housing. For three decades, Berkeley permitted fewer than 100 new dwelling units per year, even seeing net dwelling unit decreases in the 1980s. The effect was unsurprising: Housing prices grew sharply, and diversity plummeted. The city lost more than half of its Black population: In 1970, Berkeley had about 27,000 Black residents, representing about 25% of its population, but in 2020, that number had fallen to about 9,500, or about 7.6% of its population.

In short, Berkeley has to contend with its history of restrictive zoning and the massive displacement that comes from artificial scarcity.

Thankfully, we have the opportunity to address some of the wrongs of our past in the proposed Middle Housing Ordinance. This is our chance to end single-family zoning in the city that invented it. However, to truly meet the moment, the Missing Middle Ordinance must:

• Treat historically red-lined versus historically exclusive neighborhoods equally (understanding that exceptions must be made for high-fire-risk areas)
• Be flexible enough to actually increase housing production and the number of projects that pencil. It would be a shame if our Missing Housing Ordinance were so restrictive that it resulted in very few homes getting built and becoming a de facto continuation of single-family zoning.

We need people to speak up for an equitable, ambitious Middle Housing Ordinance in Berkeley!