I agree. I don't see Berkeley growing too much outside of the downtown simply because it has a lot of character that people are attached to - and lots of wealth

I agree. I don't see Berkeley growing too much outside of the downtown simply because it has a lot of character that people are attached to - and lots of wealthy people that are retired or just aren't looking for change. Still, there are still empty lots around so loosening the process to get housing approved would help. However, the long term fix I think should be that UC should stop annually increasing the number of students it accepts to UC Berkeley. I know this probably would never happen - but I don't see another solution. Why not benefit another aspiring area of California? Berkeley will not grow so where will the students go? Similarly, if the Bay area has decided it doesn't want to grow upwards, then there should be more incentive to grow outwards. There should be a cap on the amount of office space growth in any given city unless housing grows equally... again I doubt this will happen. But I think it would be smart. People go where the money is, then comes the infrastructure, then comes other small businesses, etc.