Housing Issue 2023

The 2021 creation of a Housing Accountability Unit in the HCD by Gov. Gavin Newsom has led to stricter judgment from the HCD — and harsher consequences for a noncompliant element.

26-year-old Darrell Owens didn’t plan on becoming a housing activist. But growing up in Berkeley, he couldn’t watch idly while the city’s homelessness crisis worsened.

While the physical locality of Berkeley will no longer be my home, I’ve come to see Berkeley everywhere and in everything.

For the two months, I was trying to come to terms with moving back to the Central Valley and being back in my hometown for my senior year. I had called Berkeley home for over a year and the sudden transition to suburbia was jarring to say the least.

If your personal environment reflects your mental state — mine is a messy, garish smorgasbord of junk. My rainbow wallpaper is uniquely made in my image, evolving with me and integrating memories as they are made.

As a Berkeley resident of two years, I feel I have the credentials to present to you — the most overrated and underrated spots in Southside, Northside and Downtown Berkeley.

The complications of securing my right to an ESA in a sorority were difficult, but I know I helped set up a process for people in the future to follow and get the accommodations they need.

The housing search in Berkeley may seem daunting — and I won’t lie, it certainly is — but tips like these can make it seem a whole lot easier. Set reasonable expectations, manage your time accordingly and I’m sure you’ll be moving into your new apartment in no time.

“Although, I’ve come to realize that home is not a place, a feeling of comfort or safety or simply a person. Home is an abstract concept that lives, breathes and loves in our brain — almost as if it’s its own entity.”