Last night, Berkeley became the second city in California to move towards getting rid of single-family zoning.
Councilmember Lori Droste acknowledged that the move is largely symbolic, with the goal to bring an end to the racist legacy of single-family zoning in the city. Berkeley was the first city to adopt single-family zoning, in 1916, with the express purpose of preventing Black and brown people from being able to move into some parts of the city.
The council’s proposal [PDF] starts a process to explore the end of single family zoning by December of 2022, which means expect a lot of vituperative conversations in the next couple of years.