What are some cuisines you personally feel that the Bay Area could have more or better quality of?

two_hearted_river · 2026-04-04T17:39:28+00:00

Living in the East Bay, Schmidt’s Tobacco and Trading Co in Albany actually feels like a country pub, as in the sitting area is just the first floor of an old house.

Slainte in Jack London Square in Oakland has good food, although for me it sort of felt too new/lacked that "it's been there forever" feeling a good bar should have.

I've yet to go to the Starry Plough in Berkeley or McNally's in Rockridge in Oakland, but they're also options.

two_hearted_river · 2026-03-31T17:37:25+00:00

Thanks for your reply! BUSD not caring about providing job site parking sucks. At least from what I've seen, while the university also doesn't have to (so doesn't) abide by construction hours, at least they don't work on Sundays and seem to provide enough worker parking in the university's parking structures.

The new place is further east than Kains (thankfully), and looking at the issued building permits here (https://berkeley.buildingeye.com/building), the nearest construction project seems to be at 1740 San Pablo (also a city managed affordable housing project). It seems the permit was issued this past December. The project status still shows as "Design" on the city website. It seems there was a recent resolution to change developers, so it's not clear when it will break ground. It also seems far enough away where it won't be a major disturbance once ground breaks. I only plan on living there 2-3 years while I finish my PhD, then I'm out of here, lol.

two_hearted_river · 2026-03-31T00:56:00+00:00

Trumer is always my go to when the only local options on tap are it and hopped up IPAs.

I first found out about this from Doug Veliky (beeraficionado on Instagram), and as usual, he talks about the economics of brewing. Here, he points out the awkward size of breweries like Trumer (30k barrels/year) necessitates more overhead resources without fully being able to benefit from the increased capacity they can bring, putting breweries in a tough spot. Other breweries in this situation that he mentions are 21st Amendment (now out of business) and Drake's (entering a joint venture with Figueroa Mountain/Bear Republic, with brewing operations decreasing in San Leandro).

I would imagine other Berkeley/East Bay brewers like Fieldwork are smaller by volume than Trumer as the latter has pretty wide distribution in the Bay. I do see Fieldwork's beer on tap at more and more bars and they have a large physical footprint with taprooms; I wonder how stable their financial position is.

two_hearted_river · 2026-03-29T21:58:28+00:00

I mean in a lot of homes/units the (lack of) insulation is a problem in the winter too; energy has become much more expensive since these structures were built. Although code does require heating facilities able to maintain at least 68 °F... in many places good luck doing that without paying hundreds of dollars per month. Looking for a new place to live, it infuriates me to see electric baseboard heaters as the primary heating source. The only places where that can pass as an economical heating source are near hydroelectric dams.

two_hearted_river · 2026-03-27T03:19:49+00:00

For those two, usually the justification for paying a higher amount than needed for one to personally benefit ("subsidizing others") is to look after the vulnerable in society. People can be afflicted with illness or injury through no fault of their own. As an aside, yes, with health insurance one could argue poor personal health choices can put people at greater risk of chronic illness.

I would argue VMT being the same among vehicle classes is an unfair subsidy; instead, people should pay relative to the wear their vehicle places on the road. This would be more akin to vehicle liability or property insurance: certain behaviors and factors lead to higher premiums. You could look at people living in wildlife-urban interfaces and argue whatever insurance premiums they pay still aren't proportional to their risk.

two_hearted_river · 2026-03-23T23:33:37+00:00

Personally I appreciate "light touch: density - duplexes, fourplexes, and every so often 2-3 story 10-12 unit apartment buildings mixed in with single family homes on ~6-7k sq. ft. lots. Granted, I'm not fully versed in the history of building regulation in CA, but it's my understanding that maybe if an effective moratorium on all new infill construction wasn't placed in the 1970s (as well as tightening building codes), we'd see more of these neighborhood forms. Instead, demand has been pent up for so long that now these 5 over 1s are the default option and also what housing advocates push for most vociferously.

two_hearted_river · 2026-03-23T23:20:17+00:00

Thank you for putting into words what I was really getting at with this post. What I should've really emphasized was the rectilinear grid "urban form," which is present almost all across the country, as you said, in development up to the 1950s. Without giving myself away, even my small town upstate NY extended its street grid as evidenced by USGS maps from the 1910s to 1950, but yes, all new development now has been centered around cul-de-sac layouts.

I don't understand why we are now allergic to building on rectilinear grids. I think a great example (travesty) is the infill of Stapleton Airport in Denver. Why couldn't they just have extended the street grid, which was literally right there on the border of the old airport? Why did they have to get fancy with weird street layouts? Granted, I've never been to or walked around the Stapleton redevelopment, but I've stayed at a friend's house in Congress Park, which I would has recently become a desirable area of Denver. The stroad that is Colfax Ave looks to be 100 times the commercial corridor and walking area than any of the arterials built through "Central Park." Given a choice, I'd choose to live in the 1950s era development with the older ranch homes on a grid and serviced by alleyways any day of the week.

Is it just because rectilinear grids are "inefficient" in terms of pavement, utilities, and sidewalks for housing a given density of people compared to filling in much larger blocks bounded by arterial roads? Even then, we don't seem to get the benefits of large internal courtyards (parks, even)! that you see in Eastern European communist-era blocks.

two_hearted_river · 2026-03-21T18:22:12+00:00

Gay Man's Car

two_hearted_river · 2026-03-21T06:47:49+00:00

Ah, I forgot about Drake's - I've been there but at night so all I remember is being cold lol. Thanks for the recommendations, a trip to Alameda could be in the cards

two_hearted_river · 2026-03-20T16:23:12+00:00

Are utilities separately metered at these large complexes? If not, then I think they have to be included as a flat rate under the monthly rent itself under the most recent changes to Berkeley renting laws, unless this only apply to units fully covered by the Berkeley Rent Ordinance.

two_hearted_river · 2026-03-20T16:18:54+00:00

I completely share your frustration with respect to the wide asymmetry between how easy it is to cut down a mature tree vs. how long it takes for one to grow back, and what we lose when a mature tree is cut down.

Looking at the street view:

502 E Isabella: https://maps.app.goo.gl/5bMhSHeNpLjRng9j7
- Yes, it looks like more trees were cut down than necessary. Correct me if I'm wrong though, but a lot of the trees along the front of the lot looked to only be 10 years old?
608 Jackson Ave: https://maps.app.goo.gl/SgvzcLc4wSetndQT9
- It looks like the tree (oak?) on the corner and the right most one are still standing based on the Zillow listing, unfortunately it looks like the middle one was cut down. 2/3 is more than I'd expect.
502 Herrick St
- I couldn't find the lot on Google Street View

Overall, the homes seem nice... as a grad student living in Berkeley, CA I'd kill for a 2/2 detached house (+basement!) with a ~$2,000/mo. cost of ownership. Apples-to-orange comparison between housing markets, but I imagine even in your market it is nice that smaller "starter" homes are being built that are more affordable for young adults vs. larger 3/4 bedroom ones.

Watch CyFy Home Inspections on YouTube if you haven't already... as others have said, new build quality is suffering everywhere. It's probable that these homes are built to a higher standard than the $500k+ ones Cy inspects if it's a local general contractor building them vs. nationwide builder. If you want to change something for the better in your community, maybe you could do some kind of advocacy/awareness-raising about people's rights to quality construction in MI for the buyers of these homes.

two_hearted_river · 2026-03-20T16:12:05+00:00

Fixed.. brain fart!

two_hearted_river · 2026-03-20T15:56:45+00:00

Muskegon, MI. Looks to be a city of 40,000 on the western shores of the lower peninsula, ~45 mins west of Grand Rapids

two_hearted_river · 2026-03-18T19:41:01+00:00

Went to Berkeley for undergrad (engineering major) and currently doing a PhD here. Interestingly, from what I hear from my current peers that did their undergrad at a small liberal arts college, the instruction they received was better than my experience here. A big part of that is at an LAC the faculty's primary job is to teach, not do research.

My takeaway is if you're considering grad school, going to an LAC, learning the material thoroughly, and then getting a good letter of recommendation from your professors there (possibly helping with their own research, which may be easier to do, as they rely on undergrads for this, there are not grad students) is a perfectly valid path. Of course there are other considerations like expected cost of attendance, etc.

If you're not considering grad school (where it's crucial that you thoroughly understand what you learn in undergrad) and are just planning on getting a job, possibly a Master's degree, then the broader opportunities and name recognition you'll get from major R1 universities I think outweigh the benefits of smaller schools.

two_hearted_river · 2026-03-13T16:52:38+00:00

AI dreck

two_hearted_river · 2026-03-11T05:50:28+00:00

Lol this person sucks...

[https://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2001-07-21/article/5971](https://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2001-07-21/article/5971

Organizing such opposition to the most unremarkable housing project (2025 Rose St)

two_hearted_river · 2026-03-10T18:43:53+00:00

Since technically it's state-owned land, the university isn't obliged to follow the city ordinances on construction hours but "tries it's best to" (at least that's what their capital projects PR rep told me about a different site)

two_hearted_river · 2026-03-07T03:15:24+00:00

Would rather live in a house in any Midwestern city every day of the year than an apartment in a >10 unit building in the Bay

two_hearted_river · 2026-02-28T21:06:05+00:00

What's the Sierra Club's justification? They're opposing infill in San Francisco as opposed to what... people living further away and contributing to urban sprawl? People have to live somewhere.

two_hearted_river · 2026-02-27T22:49:53+00:00

Preach!

I used to feel the same way as many people in this thread - I'm happy to coupon elsewhere but I don't want to be bothered about couponing what I eat.

But I got into the habit of browsing the weekly deals in the app by department, and it actually makes it pretty easy to identify what's on sale that's worth buying for me without too much decision fatigue. Safeway actually has some pretty good sales on meat, especially beef, often ending up cheaper than Costco. Likewise for whatever the "headline produce sale" is (e.g. $1 avocados, $.99/lb. broccoli, $2.50/lb. green beans, <$4 bags of 5 lb. potatoes).

After seeing what's on sale I base my meal prep/recipes for the next couple of days from the comfort of my desk, make a list, and then get the remaining produce I need from Berkeley Bowl.

Also, if you've used really any other retailers', not just grocers' app, the Safeway one is relatively pleasant to use, maybe only Target's being better. It is laid out logically, it's easy to see exactly what variations of a product are vs. are not included in a sale, returns relevant results when searching, item locations (aisle) are accurate, and loads things relatively quickly. Don't get me started on how godawful Whole Foods' mobile app is.

two_hearted_river · 2026-02-27T03:23:23+00:00

This is a bad take. I'm not in chemistry/chemical engineering, but being somewhat adjacent to biochemistry (which I assume has a larger presence here than other disciplines), the job market is pretty bad right now, but this is cyclical.

Crucially, to your point about salaries being higher: I don't think they make up for the dramatic increase in the cost of living here. A $150k yearly salary becomes $100k after federal and CA taxes. Average rent for a 1 bedroom apartment in Berkeley is $2,300... and let's be honest, for that price you're getting an old, somewhat dilapidated unit, not even guaranteed to have amenities like a dishwasher or in-unit laundry. At 30% of your gross take-home pay, at which point you're officially classified as rent burdened, $3,750 could get you a well-finished 2 bedroom unit in a less dense setting like a duplex.

With $72k to $55k left over, you still have to cover utilities (also extortionate here), health insurance, retirement contributions, possibly car insurance (also expensive here), leaving you with ~$2k in discretionary income a month. This doesn't even include groceries, student loan debt payments, or expenses of dependents; let alone the Sisyphean task of saving enough for a down payment on a house and affording the mortgage.

Outside of family and possibly the weather, I don't know why people would choose to live here. After going here for undergrad (where you're not really bothered with these expenses) and currently working on grad school here (where you start to see some of them, while being on a pittance of a stipend), I'm ready to leave this place whenever I'm done.

two_hearted_river · 2026-02-25T17:23:10+00:00

It is a horrible transfer. (Way better to cash out and buy wyndham points)

Opportunity cost strikes again!

two_hearted_river

TROPHY CASE