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Berkeley’s Hidden Network of Hillside Paths

16 points by shsachdev 5y ago

legerdemain 5y ago
One of the problems that cities like San Francisco and Berkeley have in the Bay Area is a surplus of unmonitored, poorly policed public spaces where vagrants can loiter and make mischief. Woodsy, shady hillside paths might sound romantic in the abstract, but are hazards and petty crime magnets in reality. I don't know anyone who would want one next to their property.
- TooSmugToFail 5y ago
  Your comment is very illustrative of how awful situation in SF must be. Woodsy, shady hillside paths actually are romantic, and in a normal, functional society, everybody should want one next to their property. Believe it, or not, most of Europe is actually like that. Problem is not in the surplus of unmonitored public spaces, it is the crime that’s the problem. Focusing on policing as the chief solution is a losers’ game.
  - legerdemain 5y ago
    Policing reduces crime. Or does Europe disagree?
    - TooSmugToFail 5y ago
      Policing indeed reduces crime. But, to paraphrase what I said above: there’s no way you can hope to solve the crime problem in SF by focusing on policing as a chief measure. US is already policing the shit out of its population, and that is obviously not working out great for you guys, does it? Advocating for more policing seems to me like insisting to crank up more of the same thing, even though it’s failing badly. It would probably result in more police violence and even more extreme (and likely unevenly distributed) incarcerations - both endemically American pathologies.
hodgesrm 5y ago
The Berkeley paths are one of the treasures of the city. Even after walking them for 30 years I still find new ones. It's hard not to feel admiration for the people that thought of adding paths with public rights of way to new neighborhoods before houses were even built. They envisioned a future of people walking through about and discovering the hidden corners of their fully built city. I sometimes feel we've lost the civic vision that animated much of America in the 1800s and early 1900s.
hodgesrm 5y ago
For people who know Berkeley paths, I believe the first path in the article is mislabeled. It's the Tamalpais Steps, not Covert Path. I walk both of them regularly.

16 points by shsachdev 5y ago

One of the problems that cities like San Francisco and Berkeley have in the Bay Area is a surplus of unmonitored, poorly policed public spaces where vagrants can loiter and make mischief. Woodsy, shady hillside paths might sound romantic in the abstract, but are hazards and petty crime magnets in reality. I don't know anyone who would want one next to their property.

TooSmugToFail 5y ago
Your comment is very illustrative of how awful situation in SF must be. Woodsy, shady hillside paths actually are romantic, and in a normal, functional society, everybody should want one next to their property. Believe it, or not, most of Europe is actually like that. Problem is not in the surplus of unmonitored public spaces, it is the crime that’s the problem. Focusing on policing as the chief solution is a losers’ game.
- legerdemain 5y ago
  Policing reduces crime. Or does Europe disagree?
  - TooSmugToFail 5y ago
    Policing indeed reduces crime. But, to paraphrase what I said above: there’s no way you can hope to solve the crime problem in SF by focusing on policing as a chief measure. US is already policing the shit out of its population, and that is obviously not working out great for you guys, does it? Advocating for more policing seems to me like insisting to crank up more of the same thing, even though it’s failing badly. It would probably result in more police violence and even more extreme (and likely unevenly distributed) incarcerations - both endemically American pathologies.

hodgesrm 5y ago

The Berkeley paths are one of the treasures of the city. Even after walking them for 30 years I still find new ones. It's hard not to feel admiration for the people that thought of adding paths with public rights of way to new neighborhoods before houses were even built. They envisioned a future of people walking through about and discovering the hidden corners of their fully built city. I sometimes feel we've lost the civic vision that animated much of America in the 1800s and early 1900s.

hodgesrm 5y ago

For people who know Berkeley paths, I believe the first path in the article is mislabeled. It's the Tamalpais Steps, not Covert Path. I walk both of them regularly.